Storytelling: Fire of Life (Week 7)

Red Fox taken in Parco al Bosco, near Verona

  The fox had long known the secret of the elixir of life.  The secret was contained within its inner fire, though no one but the fox knew about it.  One day, however, a man saw the fox blowing his fire.  It was obvious that man was covetous of the fox’s fire.  It made the fox wonder if given the chance the man would figure out the fire’s secret.  Finally, the fox decided that the man could handle having the fire.  He was unsure of how to give the fire to man, though.  The fox did not have words like the man did.  He would have to find a different way to share the fire.

  Eventually, the fox realized that he would have to get the man to swallow the fire like he did.  It took several tries, but eventually the man learned the ways of the fox and possessed the fire.  The fire gave the man many amazing abilities.  It allowed him to be invisible, gave the ability to see ghosts and devils, and allowed him access to the spirit-world.  The man did many good deeds with these powers.  The fox was proud of the man and was happy with his decision to share the fire.  Soon, however, the man started accepting gifts for his good deeds.  He was overcome by greed and stopped doing things out of the kindness of his heart.  Instead, he would request gold or treasure before helping people or performing miracles. 

  The fox gave the man thirty long years with his gift.  During those years, the man had grown complacent and lazy, often falling asleep with a goblet of wine in his hand.  It was then that the fox decided it was time to reclaim the gift he had given the man.  He knew he had to be clever about it though.  The man had grown accustomed to having those gifts and would not give them up willingly.  Instead, the fox came up with a plan.  He would wait until the man drank himself to sleep one night.  During his slumber, the fox would come up behind him and pat his back repeatedly until the man coughed, causing the fire to come shooting up out of his mouth.  Then, the fox would leap over the man and catch the fire into his mouth, where it should have remained. 

  That is exactly what the fox did.  Once he reclaimed the fire, the man was sorrowful and lamented his misuse of the fire.  This did not sway the fox, however.  He had learned his lesson.  Mankind was not yet ready for the secret of life. 

Author's Note:

I chose to write about the story of the fox-fire from the Chinese Fairy Tales unit.  I previously knew a little bit about fixes in Chinese/Japanese culture, so this really interested me.  While reading the original, I wondered why the fox didn't immediately take back his fire, and that is how this story came about.  I didn't change too much, but I added reasoning and details to make the story fit together better.  In the original, the fox doesn't decide to give the man the fire, instead the man is clever enough to steal it, but the fox lets him have it for thirty years.

The Chinese Fairy Book, ed. by R. Wilhelm and translated by Frederick H. Martens (1921).