A Story of the Fox

Yi Kwai was the son of a government minister, and when he grew up he passed the state examinations and held high office himself. But this story happened when he was still a little boy, living with his father, who was then Governor of Pyong-an Province. The Governor’s first wife had died, so Kwai’s stepmother ran the household.

One time, when the Governor was away on a tour of inspection, the official residence was left empty except for Kwai and his stepmother. Behind the government buildings was a garden with a pavilion called the Hill Pagoda, joined to the public hall by a narrow gateway. Kwai often went there to study, taking one of the office boys with him for company.

One night it grew late, and the boy who had been with him went home. Suddenly the door opened and a young woman walked in. Her clothes were neat and clean, and she was very pretty. Kwai looked at her closely but did not know her. She was clearly a stranger, for she was not one of the dancing girls who belonged to the Governor’s household.

He kept staring, wondering who she could be, while she went and sat in a corner of the room without a word.

“Who are you?” he asked. She only laughed and did not answer. He called her over, and she came and knelt in front of him. He took her hand and patted her shoulder, as if to welcome her, and she smiled as though she liked it.

But Kwai had made up his mind that she was no real woman. She was some kind of goblin, or perhaps a fox, and at first he did not know what to do. Then he thought of a plan. He grabbed her, swung her up onto his back and dashed out through the gate into the main residence, shouting at the top of his voice for his stepmother and the servants.

It was midnight, and everyone was fast asleep. Nobody answered, and nobody came. Then the woman on his back bit him hard on the back of the neck, and he knew for certain that she was the fox. The pain was too much for him. He loosened his grip, and she leaped to the ground, ran off and was never seen again.

What a pity nobody woke up to help Kwai and catch the creature!

About this story

“A Story of the Fox” is chapter III of Korean Folk Tales: Imps, Ghosts and Fairies (1913), James Scarth Gale’s translation of tales written down by the Korean scholars Im Bang and Yi Ryuk. This one is by Im Bang, who was born in 1640, the son of a provincial governor, and later rose to be governor of Seoul.

Gale opens the chapter with a note that, in Korean belief, the fox is one of the long-lived creatures, like the tortoise, the deer and the crane, and that a fox which lives long enough can take on different shapes and walk the earth in disguise.

Read the original: Korean Folk Tales (Project Gutenberg)

Best for ages 6–8 — a short, spooky encounter with a fox in disguise.

A suspicion without a revealed fox

Kwai is certain by the end, but the reader never sees the visitor change into an animal. Her silence, unexpected arrival and bite are the clues through which he interprets her. The bite also follows his attempt to carry her away. This order makes the encounter more ambiguous than a simple warning about a pretty stranger: we can distinguish the boy’s conclusion from what the story actually shows.

Clues and conclusions

Make two lists: things the visitor does, and things Kwai believes about her. Is “she is a fox” an action readers witness or a conclusion a character reaches? Discuss why asking for help would be different from trying to capture her himself.

Talk about it

• How did Kwai guess the young woman was not what she seemed?
• What was his plan, and why didn’t it work?
• Do you know other stories where animals take human shape?

Related stories

• The Old Woman Who Became a Goblin — another eerie tale from Im Bang
• An Encounter with a Hobgoblin — more strange visitors from Korean folklore
• The Snow Woman (Yuki-Onna) — a Japanese tale of a mysterious woman