The Northern Pacific farmer. [volume] (Wadena, Minn.) 1878-1885, 1881-01-27
A QUEER CHINESE TALE.
A Story that Might Have Been Told in the
"Arabian Nights

"A otOfy tnaC Might Have Been Told in the
''Arabian Nights
London Telegraph.
A correspondent forwards the following
illustration of superstition amongst the
Chinese with reference to very ancient and
widespread belief that the fox has the
power of assuming the human form to lead
mortals to their destruction. The same
powers are also attributed to the badger by
the Japanese. In this case the story is
given as true one, and the facts are stated
to be we'll known to everyone living in the
great street outside the Chen Men Front
Gate) at Pekin, where the affair is supposed
to have occurred:
certain Nlngpo man kept druggist
shop at Pezin: Having made good deal
OF money by it he commenced wholesale
business as we'll as the retail one. He
therefore bought warehouse for storing
drugs and put it in charge of a nephew.
His venture proved eminently successful.
and he grew richer daily, principally for the
extraordinary reason that the drugs stored
In the warehouse were less liable to get
damp or mouldy than anybody elses. As
the nephew was at work in the warehouse
he used constantly to notice the prettiest
girl ne had ever seen passing the door.
Though he sorely longed to try to make
acquaintance with her, he was restrained by
her modest and retiring demeanor. Time
went by, and one day an old gentleman
with long beard and leaning on staff.
called at the uncles shop. In the course of
conversation it appeared that he came from
the borders of Snensi and Kansu. and had
originally fled to Pekin to escape from Ma
hometan disturbances of the west. FINALLY he
said thathe had often remarked the nephew at
work in the warehouse and had been struck
by his steadiness and diligence, and he
would like to marry his only daughter to
him. He had sufficient money to make
liberal arrangements with regard to the
trousseau and wedding presents, and would
not quarrel about terms. The young man,
being so far from his home at Ningpo, was
not betrothed to any one. His uncle there
fore gladly accepted the proposal. AS both
parties We're strangers in Pekin, everything
was settled and the marriage ceremony per-
formed without any unnecessary fuss or
formality. When the time came for the
bride to unveil, the bridegroom, who had
never yet seen her, was most anxious to
know what she was like. At the first glance,
what was his joy to discover she was the girl
he used to see walking past the warehouse.
The marriage was happy one. He was
the fondest of husbands and she was the
IAoos 4OS4uB huu utltllul OF wives. Before
long the young mans father in Ningpo,
wishing to see his new daughter-in law
wrote and told his son to bring her home on
visit. The son accordingly made prepa-
1ations to start off as soon as possible.
For the last day or two before his departure
the uncle, who had not been home for
many years, was constantly coming to his
house, as he had a thousand things to talk
about "reminiscences to recall, messages to
be delivered, and the like. When the
moment for them to commence the Journey
actually arrived the uncle went across for
the last time to say good-by but to his as
constituent neither nephew nor peice was
to be found. After fruitless search he
went to the house of the girls father to see
if he could learn anything there. Butthere
was no house standing: merely two or three
wretched little rooms in ruins, without
doors or windows. He made inquiries
among the neighbours, but none of them
knew anything about the old man or the
house. Everything was then plain The
old man and his daughter were foxes, and
had made away with the young husband.
But stranger than any thing else was the
fact that from that day forth the drugs
stored in the warehouse became lust as
subject to mold as those kept anywhere
else.