法苑珠林 31.69

31.69

晉海西公時有一人。母終家貧無以葬。因移柩深山。於其側作屐晝夜不休。將暮有一婦人抱兒來寄宿。轉夜孝子作未竟。婦人每求眠而於火邊睡。乃是一貍抱一烏雞。孝因打殺擲後坑中。明日有男子來問細小。昨行以寄宿。今為何在。孝云。止有一貍即已殺之。男子曰。君枉殺吾婦何得言貍。貍今何在。因共至坑。視貍已成婦人。男子因縛孝。付官應償死。乃謂令曰。此實妖魅。但出獵犬則可知魅。復來催殺孝。令因問獵事。能別犬不。答云。性畏犬亦不別也。因放犬便化為老貍。則射殺之。婦人已還成貍。

At the time of the Duke of Haixi in the Jin dynasty, there was a man whose mother died. His family was poor and had no means to bury her, so he moved the coffin into the deep mountains, where he made clogs beside it day and night without rest. As evening fell, a woman holding a child came to seek lodging. As night wore on, the filial son had not finished working. The woman kept asking to sleep, and she fell asleep beside the fire. It turned out to be a wildcat holding a black chicken. The filial son thereupon struck and killed it, tossing it into a pit behind. The next day, a man came asking after his wife and child: 'Yesterday they traveled and lodged here; where are they now?' The filial son said, 'There was only a wildcat, and I have already killed it.' The man said, 'You have wrongly killed my wife—how can you say it was a wildcat? Where is the wildcat now?' They went together to the pit, and when they looked, the wildcat had already turned into the woman. The man then bound the filial son and handed him over to the magistrate, saying he ought to forfeit his life. [The filial son] said to the magistrate, 'This is truly a goblin. Only by bringing out hunting hounds can you know the goblin.' [The man] returned to urge the filial son's execution. The magistrate asked him about hunting affairs and whether he could distinguish dogs. He replied, 'By nature I fear dogs, nor can I distinguish them.' Thereupon hounds were released, and he at once transformed into an old wildcat, which was then shot and killed. The woman also turned back into a wildcat.