Thursday’s Tale: The Fox Girl

I’m still in fox story mode. “The Fox Girl” was retold by James Riordan in Korean Folktales, 1994. It’s a sad, bloody story.

There was once a wealthy man who had a son but no daughter. So badly did he want a daughter that he spent much of his time praying at temples and consulting fortunetellers. Finally, his prayers were answered and a girl was born: she was the apple of her fathers’ eye and could do no wrong.

When she was fifteen years old, the girl went mushrooming on the mountainside and was so engaged in her task that she did not notice the gathering shadows of dusk. Meanwhile, at home, her parents were becoming anxious, and they formed a search-party to comb the hills. However, just as they reached the top of a ridge they spotted the girl through the gloom in the valley below. Her father was much relieved.

‘Where have you bee, my dear?’ asked her father ‘We were so worried for you; a wild beast could have killed you.’

‘Forgive me, Father,’ she replied. ‘I was so tired I fell asleep beneath a bush; when I awoke the sun was already going down.’

The incident was soon forgotten. But a few days later a strange thing happened: one of the master’s cows died in the night. During the next night another died, then another. The bodies showed no sign of wound or illness. The master was so concerned he ordered the cowherd to keep watch all through the night to catch the culprit.

That night, the man hid behind some hay in the corner of the cowshed and waited patently. At midnight he was astonished to see the master’s daughter creep into the shed and approach a cow. Anxiously he watched her oil her hands and arms with sesame oil; then to his horror, she slipped her arm into the cow’s belly and pulled out its liver and ate it. The poor cow rolled over and died.

In the morning the cowherd went to the master and recounted all he had seen. The father, who loved his daughter with all his hear, shouted angrily at the man, “How dare you invent such wicked stories against my daughter. You will pay for these lies.” He fired the man.

The next night, a second cowherd was set to guard the cows. He too hid behind some hay and witnessed the same thing. Next morning he went to the master and told him the story, and once again the father wouldn’t believe and the man was dismissed.

So it continued, and each night a cow died. Then, when no cows were left, the pigs began to die, and then the horses. In the end, all the cowherds, swineherds, and stable boys were dismissed and no one from the village would work for the rich man. All that was left of the once-mighty herd of cattle was a solitary old horse.

Finally, the master sent his only son to solve the mystery. The young man concealed himself behind some hay and kept watch. In the middle of the night he heard footsteps and the barn door opened. It was his sister stealthily entering. Her eyes were sly and narrow, her thin lips cruelly curled, her face stony and stern. He stared in disbelief as she greased her arms and thrust them into the horse’s belly, pulling out its liver. With blood dripping from her lips, she then chewed and swallowed the steaming meat.

At dawn he called his father into the barn and showed him the dead horse. “Father,” he said grimly, “you will not like what you hear; but I must tell you the truth. It is my sister. She it is who came in the night and ate the horse’s liver.”

His father stared at him with hurt and anger in his eyes. He was silent for a moment, then shouted at his son, “you must be madly jealous of you sister to make up such tales. No doubt you fell asleep and had a nightmare. Get out of my sight, I don’t want you in my house.”

Not knowing where to go, the disconsolate son wandered off into the hills. After several months he came upon an old monk struggling across a mountain stream. Having helped the monk to safety, he was invited to stay the night at a nearby temple. And there he told the story of this sister. The old man nodded sadly.

“Yes, I understand,” he said. “That night, when your sister was in the hills, she must have been eaten by a fox who took her form, the very likeness of your sister. So it was really the fox who killed the animals.”

“Then I must return at once,” the lad exclaimed, “and warn my parents.”

The old monk told the young man to set out in the morning. Before he left, the monk gave him three small bottles: red, green, and blue.

‘Take this horse,’ said the monk, ‘and use the bottles as I have instructed.’

With that the boy thanked the monk and rode off down the mountain track. It was several days before he arrived home. Once there, he could hardly believe his eyes: the house and yard were overgrown with weeds. And there, in the middle of the yard, was his sister, sitting in the sun, catching lice and worms, and eating them.

“My dear brother,” she cried on seeing him. “Where have you been all these months? How I’ve missed you.”

She went to hug and kiss him, but he drew back in alarm.

“Where are Father and Mother?” he asked.

“They lie in their graves,” she replied, giving no explanation for their deaths.

Realizing that she had eaten them too, the young man knew he had to escape before she killed him as well. He had an idea.

“Dear Sister, I have come a long way and I’m very hungry,” he said. “Could you prepare a meal?”

He thought he would escape while she was cooking. But the fox girl was cunning.

“Assuredly, dear Brother. But I shall tie a rope to your leg and the other end to my waist.”

She left him in the yard while she went to prepare some food; every now and then she tugged on the rope to make sure he had not run away. After some time he managed to undo the knot, tie the rope to a gatepost and ride swiftly away on his horse. It was some time before the fox girl realized she had been tricked.

She rushed after him with the speed of a fox and it was not long before she was gaining on him. He glanced back and, to his horror, saw her rapidly catching him up, reaching out her hand to grasp his horse’s tail. Recalling the old monk’s instructions, he swiftly took the little red bottle from his pocket and threw it behind him.

The bottle instantly burst into a ball of red fire, blocking the fox girl’s path. Although the flames singed her hair and clothes, she raced round the fire and was soon overtaking her brother again. This time he threw down the green bottle and straightaway a dense green bush of brambles sprang up, barring her way. Although she was scratched and bleeding from the thorns, she fought her way through and began to catch up with the fleeing brother.

Just as she was about to grab the horse’s tail, however, he took out the blue bottle and desperately cast it behind him. This time it formed a mighty blue lake that soon engulfed the fox girl who splashed and thrashed in the water before sinking below the waves.

As the brother watched from the shore, he saw the dead body of the fox float to the surface of the lake. At last he had killed the fox who had taken his sister’s form.

Thursday’s Tales is a weekly event here at Carol’s Notebook. Fairy tales, folktales, tall tales, even re-tellings, I love them all. Feel free to join in.