81.第三只狐狸 The Third Fox

81.THE THIRD FOX

　　Wang Huonan was a rich man in Huainan. His family made their fortune running a pawnshop. Business was great. They needed more warehouse space, so they bought up some of the empty houses around their pawnshop to use as warehouses.In one of the empty houses, they surprised a litter of three little foxes. The workmen chased them away, but that wouldn’t do for Wang Huonan.

　　“There’ll be no end of trouble if we let them get away! Kill them all!” They killed two of the little foxes, but one of them escaped.

　　From then on, the Wangs never had a day’s peace. Things disappeared, other things broke mysteriously, nothing could be found where it belonged. Everybody said the third fox was behind all of this.

　　In the winter of 1815, a fire broke out, in their warehouses, for no apparent reason. Fortunately, it was discovered in time so the damage was not too serious. Wang Huonan had a sorcerer exorcise the property, but a few months later there was another fire. Everybody knows how tricky foxes are, and if one sets its mind to mischief, there’s no end of trouble.

　　Finally, some years and endless trouble later, Wang decided to sell the warehouses and be done with it. Zhen, a local rich man who also needed warehouses, inspected the property. They agreed on a fair price, 40,000 pieces of gold, and on a date to sign the contract and close the deal.

　　The day before they were to sign the contract, the Zhens heard a voice telling them, “This is a feud between Wang and me. It doesn’t have anything to do with you, so you’d better keep out of it.” They couldn’t tell where the voice was coming from, but Mr. Zhen was convinced that he ought to look elsewhere for a warehouse.

　　“All my wealth is going up in flames!” This is the cry that woke up the rest of the Wangs one night during March, 1841. He rushed out of his bedroom without even putting on his pants or shoes.

　　Somehow, a fire had started in the kitchen and spread to the warehouses. By the time the family was awake, all of the warehouses were on fire, and by morning,they had burned to the ground.

　　The third fox had finally taken its revenge.

　　Animals may not have the intelligence of human beings, but they remember who has been nice to them, and who has hurt them. Clever animals like foxes may even plot revenge with single- minded determination. They cannot be persuaded by reason, and even a skillful sorcerer may not be able to quell them.

　　The only way to reach such a soul is through penitence and mercy. Wang should have repented killing those foxes, and proved his sincerity by doing good deeds and killing nothing, Then, if he had been able to tell the fox the Buddhist dharmas that explain the balance and nature of the universe, they could have patched up their quarrel and become friends and avoided this disaster.

　　In the end, revenge doesn’t do anybody any good.

81.第三只狐狸

　　王獲楠是淮南的一個財主。他開了一家當舖。生意十分興隆。由于需要擴大倉庫，他買下了當鋪周圍的一些空房子當作庫房。在其中的一間空房子里，住著三只狐狸，它們被驚動了。夥計們想把這窩狐狸趕走就算了，可是王獲楠另有心機。

　　「要是讓它們跑了，以後會有很多麻煩的！把它們全殺了！」夥計們殺死了兩只小狐狸，但是另一只卻逃走了。

　　從那以後，王家就再沒有過一天的安生日子。有的東西不翼而飛，還有的東西被莫名其妙地弄壞了，所有的東西都不在原來的位置了。大家都說這一定是第三只狐狸乾的。

　　在1815年的冬天，倉庫無緣無故著了火。幸好人們及時發現，損失不算很大。王獲楠請了一個法師給家里驅邪，但是幾個月以後又著火了。大家都知道狐狸是很機靈的，如果它決意要捉弄人的話，麻煩就會不斷。

　　就這樣折騰了好幾年，王獲楠終于決定把這些倉庫賣掉，並且找到了買主。一位姓甄的財主正需要倉庫，他來看了這些房子。兩人談妥了一個公平的價錢，4萬塊金幣，並商量好了合同簽字的日子。

　　就在簽字的前一天，甄財主家聽到一個聲音對他們說話。「這是王獲楠和我之間的恩怨。和你們一點關系也沒有，所以你們最好不要插手。」甄家的人不知道聲音是從哪兒來的，不過甄財主還是堅信找別的地方的庫房更好些。

　　「我的家產都被燒掉了！」1841年三月的一個晚上，王獲楠的喊聲驚醒了其他的人。王獲楠沖出了臥房，連褲子和鞋都沒穿。

　　不知何故，廚房里著了火，火勢蔓延到了庫房。當全家人醒來時，所有的庫房都起火了，到了第二天早上，庫房成了廢墟。

　　那第三只狐狸終于報了仇。

　　動物也許不像人那樣聰明，可是它們知道誰對自己好，誰傷害了自己。一些像狐狸這樣聰明的動物甚至會鐵了心地設計復仇。什麼也勸阻不了它們的復仇行動，甚至有道行的法師也無法把它們鎮住。

　　悔過和行善是唯一的補救方法。王獲楠早就應當為殺死那些狐狸而悔過，並通過做善事和不殺生來證明自己的誠意。然後，如果他能 告訴狐狸闡釋因果和宇宙真相的佛經，那麼他們之間的嫌怨就會平息，他們也可以成為朋友，從而避免這場災難。

　　最後還要說的是，復仇對任何人都是沒有好處的。