This week another recording from “Strange Stories From A Chinese Studio” by Songling Pu. Thanks to the readers from LibriVox who have read this book into the public domain.
During the reign of Shun Chih, of the people of T‘êng-i, seven in ten were opposed to the Manchu dynasty. The officials dared not touch them; and subsequently, when the country became more settled, the magistrates used to distinguish them from the others by always deciding any cases in their favour: for they feared lest these men should revert to their old opposition. And thus it came about that one litigant would begin by declaring himself to have been a “rebel,” while his adversary would follow up by shewing such statement to be false; so that before any case could be heard on its actual merits, it was necessary to determine the status both of plaintiff and defendant, whereby infinite labour was entailed upon the Registrars.
Now it chanced that the yamên of one of the officials was haunted by a fox, and the official’s daughter was bewitched by it. Her father, therefore, engaged the services of a magician, who succeeded in capturing the animal and putting it into a bottle; but just as he was going to commit it to the flames, the fox cried out from inside the bottle, “I’m a rebel!” at which the bystanders were unable to suppress their laughter.
The fox in this story is a fairy and it shows that fairies can warp stories around human secrets and conspiracies. This may explain why Hermetic Magi now use little tablets (that they can hand around) for poking holes in the Aegis of the Hearth. A faerie could give away a password, the secret phrase to a local society or criminal gang, or the method of entering an area protected by the spell The Shrouded Glen, or the verbal trigger for a magical item.
Games From Folktales 