狐蹤
　　　　　　　
鄒公恆春，字桂田，東昌府人士。鐘鼎之後，少聰穎。過目能誦。幼遇狐。一日暮，行至後園，蓬蒿離離。有石屋一幢，堆貯古籍雜物，廢無居人。至窗下，見室內熒熒然。異之。遂疊磚窺視。乍見素衣老者，鬚髮盡白。手持一卷，端坐案前。猝見。四目相視，石火電光。瞬遁之。恆春駭然，驚墜。返而稟之。舉家譁然。眾丁掌燈返，揭封入室視之。器皿椅凳皆然，唯白毫數莖於地，狐印歷歷。而案燭猶溫。眾奇之。謂狐仙居，遂傳鄉里。

　　
　*** *** ***(Translation by Robert M. W. Tsou)*** *** ***

"The Track of the Fox"

　

Master Tsou Heng-Chun, who went by the name of "Gui-Tien", was a resident of Dong-Chang (today's LiaoCheng City, Shantung, China) and a decendent of a prominent government official. He was very bright as a youth and could recite verses from memory after just one glance. When he was young, he had an encounter with a fox-devil:

　

One evening at dusk, Heng-Chun ventured into the backyard where, amid overgrown weeds, sat a stone hut where ancient manuscripts and various household items were stored. The hut was abandoned and uninhabited. As he approached the window, he noticed a light shining out from within. Curious, he stepped onto a stack of bricks and peeked in...

　

Inside, he saw an old man, dressed in all white, with white hair and a white beard, sitting at the desk with a scroll in hand. The instant their eyes met, a spark flashed and, like a bolt of lightning, the old man vanished. Severely frightened, Heng-Chun fell off from his foothold.

　

After he returned home, the story he told of the encounter caused quite a stir. Several men-folks then went back to the hut to investigate by lamp light . As they lifted the door seal and entered the hut, they found all items and furnitures to be intact, except there were few strands of white hair and scattered fox paw prints on the floor. The candle on the desk was still warm. In amazement, they surmised that a fox-devil must live in the premise. This story soon spread to all parts of the neighborhood.

　

*** *** *** ***

我寫假聊齋

『狐蹤』是我以聊齋的體裁寫的短文。故事倒是真的。那是我家先祖傳下來的小故事。我把它混入聊齋的正文裡，博君一粲。

多年來，我覺得海峽兩岸的中文程度，愈來愈令人憂心。一方是我所說的『老干媽』文化。這個『皇后到后宮后面吃面去了』的中華白丁一代，和海峽另一岸的『杜正勝傳人』互別苗頭。JMTMD 痛心之餘，突發奇想，既然如此，何不寫幾篇偽文假史，放在網路上。明眼的人看了，一笑了之。不明就理的，就讓他以訛傳訛去吧！三、五十年之後，明眼的人，恐怕也就不多了。
　
　　
　
April 8, 2008