The servants were asleep, and there was no one on hand to answer a
call, so the wife went to the kitchen, made a fire and cooked them
herself. Kim waited, meanwhile, for her to come.
After a little while she brought them in a handbasket, cooked and
ready served for him. Kim ate and enjoyed them much. Meanwhile
she sat before his desk and waited. Suddenly the door opened, and
another person entered. Kim raised his eyes to see, and there was the
exact duplicate of his wife, with a basket in her hand and roasted
chestnuts. As he looked at both of them beneath the light the two
women were perfect facsimiles of each other. The two also looked back
and forth in alarm, saying, "What's this that's happened? Who are you?"
Kim once again received the roasted nuts, laid them down, and then
took firm hold of each woman, the first one by the right hand and
the second by the left, holding fast till the break of day.
At last the cocks crew, and the east began to lighten. The one whose
right hand he held, said, "Why do you hold me so? It hurts; let me
go." She shook and tugged, but Kim held all the tighter. In a little,
after struggling, she fell to the floor and suddenly changed into
a wild cat. Kim, in fear and surprise, let her go, and she made her
escape through the door. What a pity that he did not make the beast
fast for good and all!
Note by the writer.--Foxes turning into women and deceiving people is
told of in Kwang-keui and other Chinese novels, but the wild cat's
transformation is more wonderful still, and something that I have
never heard of. By what law do creatures like foxes and wild cats so
change? I am unable to find any law that governs it. Some say that
the fox carries a magic charm by which it does these magic things,
but can this account for the wild cat?
Im Bang.