The Old Man and the Creature

　　An old man named Sun—the uncle of my in-law Qingfu, by the way—had always been known for his courage. One day, as he lay dozing on his bed in broad daylight, he felt something climb onto the mattress. All at once, his body began to sway as if he were riding on clouds and mist. He thought to himself, Could this be a nightmare demon or a fox spirit? He stole a glance at it. The creature was about the size of a cat, with yellow fur and a greenish beak. It was creeping toward him from the foot of the bed, moving in a slow, writhing crawl, as if afraid of waking him.

　　It inched closer and climbed onto his body. When it touched his feet, his feet went limp. When it touched his thighs, his thighs turned to jelly. Just as it reached his belly, the old man sprang up, pinned it down with his hand, and grabbed it by the scruff of its neck. The creature squealed and struggled, but it couldn't break free.

　　The old man quickly called for his wife. "Bring a sash—tie it around its waist!" he shouted. She did. Then, holding both ends of the sash in his hands, he laughed and said, "I've heard you're good at shape‑shifting. Well, my eyes are on you right now. Let's see how you do it."

　　No sooner had he spoken than the creature suddenly sucked in its belly, shrinking it as thin as a pipe, and nearly slipped out of the sash. The old man was taken aback. He quickly tightened the sash with all his might. At that, the creature puffed up its belly again—thicker than a bowl, so hard and swollen that the sash couldn't squeeze it down. The moment he relaxed his grip just a little, the belly shrank once more.

　　Afraid that the creature would escape, the old man ordered his wife, "Kill it—now!" His wife looked around in a panic, not knowing where the knife was. The old man turned his head to the left to show her. But by the time he looked back, the sash in his hand had become a limp loop—empty. The creature had vanished without a trace.


中文如下：

捉狐

　　原文 ：

　　孙翁者，余姻家清服之伯父也，素有胆。一日，昼卧，仿佛有物登床，遂觉身摇摇如驾云雾。窃意无乃魇狐耶？微窥之，物大如猫，黄毛而碧嘴，自足边来。蠕蠕伏行，如恐翁寤。逡巡附体：着足，足痿；着股，股耎。甫及腹，翁骤起，按而捉之，握其项。物鸣，急莫能脱。翁亟呼夫人，以带絷其腰。乃执带之两端，笑曰：“闻汝善化，今注目在此，看作如何化法。”言次，物忽缩其腹，细如管，几脱去。翁大愕，急力缚之。则又鼓其腹，粗于碗，坚不可下。力稍懈，又缩之。翁恐其脱，命夫人急杀之。夫人张皇四顾，不知刀之所在。翁左顾示以处。比回首，则带在手如环然，物已渺矣。

　　【翻译】

　　有位孙姓的老翁，是我的亲家清服的伯父，向来有胆量。有一天，他白天躺在床上歇息，突然感到好像有个什么东西爬上了床，于是觉得身体摇摇晃晃地像是腾云驾雾一般。他暗想，是不是遇上了作怪的狐狸精？偷偷一看，有个和猫一般大的东西，黄毛绿嘴，正从他脚边蠕动着慢慢往前爬，好像是怕把他惊醒似的。那东西小心翼翼地爬上了他的身体，碰着他的脚，脚就发麻，碰着他的大腿，大腿就发软。等到刚爬到他的肚子，孙老翁突然坐起来，用手一按抓住了它，紧握住了它的脖子。那东西急声嘶鸣，一时间却无法挣脱。孙老翁急忙叫来老伴，用带子捆住它的腰。于是，他用手抓牢带子的两端，笑着说：“听说你善于变化，现在我盯着你，看你怎么变。”他话音刚落，那东西忽然紧缩起了肚子，把肚子缩得像个细管子，差一点儿逃出去。孙老翁大吃一惊，急忙用力捆紧它。这时，它又把肚子鼓起来，肚子变得有碗口那么粗，十分坚硬，带子根本勒不进去。孙老翁稍有松懈，那东西又是一缩。孙老翁怕它逃掉，就叫老伴赶紧杀了它。老伴慌慌忙忙地四处乱看，不知道刀放在什么地方。孙老翁把脸转向左边，示意放刀的地方。等到他回过头来，却见带子像个空环儿一般攥在手中，那东西已经无影无踪了。