Content area
Full Text
Although the fox is portrayed around the world as a wily creature, the manifestations of that trait vary from culture to culture. The Japanese, for instance, nurture a dual image of the fox, whereas the Western tradition treats the fox mainly as a trickster. The slender shape, long graceful tail, bright eyes and fleet-footedness of the fox, together with its nocturnal habits, have instilled a belief in Japan that foxes possess magic powers enabling them to change into human shape at will. This capacity to haunt and bewitch human beings gives the fox an unsavory reputation as a liar and cheat, and Japanese folklore abounds with stories about kitsune-tsuki, or fox possession, which manifests itself in a form of hysteria. Sometimes, a spell can encompass a whole family and last for generations.
Even so, the fox has been revered since ancient times as the embodiment of the rice spirit and, by extension, as a symbol of fertility and bearer of good fortune. Its golden tail and tendency to live in the proximity of rice fields makes the association with rice quite natural. The fox is worshiped as the messenger of Uga no Mitama, the god of grain, at more than 30,000 Inari shrines around Japan. The shrines not only far outnumber all other kinds, but also are easy to recognize with their vermilion torii gates and innumerable statues of foxes. During the New Year holidays, millions of Japanese make a special point of visiting the shrines to pray for prosperity.
The Western tradition of fox lore dates back to Aesop's fables in ancient Greece, which depict the fox as a clever creature that outfoxes others, but is sometimes outsmarted itself. It is even capable of self-deception: The expression "sour grapes" comes from the fable about a fox that could not reach a bunch of grapes on a vine and consoled itself by saying that "they were sour anyway."
The fox's reputation in Europe as a trickster was firmly fixed by Reynard, the main character in Roman de Renart, a medieval beast epic that satirized French society. Reynard's outrageous behavior included raping the wife of Isengrim the wolf and then promising at his trial to reform his ways, only to recant after he was set free....