“Humans and beasts are different species, but foxes are between humans and beasts. The dead and the living walk different roads, but foxes are between the dead and the living. Transcendents and monsters travel different paths, but foxes are between transcendents and monsters. Therefore one could say that to meet a fox is strange; one could also say that it is ordinary” (Quotations). So it is ordained that foxes are between all that humanity is and knows. If they are between humanity and all of our twists and turns then they know humanity and all of our spins and spirals. If they know all of these then they can choose to manipulate what we are to suit them. The fox does just that, choosing the human female as its vessel. As an archetype the fox represents the lonely and manipulative side of femininity.
The Miwok Indian story is a prime example of female manipulation and loneliness. The story starts with a lone female fox, called Silver Fox. Silver Fox, completely alone in a world that has yet to be created, prays for a companion. In her travels she soon meets Coyote and asks him to travel with her. He agrees and they begin to traipse together. Silver Fox then suggests that the two create the world together. Coyote agrees and the two begin to sing and dance, this, in turn, creates the earth. This story shows us our lonely and manipulative sides through the use of Silver Fox. On page three of Bruchac’s anthology Silver Fox begins her prayer song, “I want to meet someone,/I want to meet someone, /I want to meet someone,/ I want to meet someone” (Bruchac). In her loneliness she resorts to prayer. Also on page three, when she first meets Coyote he asks her why she is traveling, in response she says, “’I am traveling because I am lonely” (Bruchac). Again this shows her lonely and manipulative sides because she not only states her loneliness but when Coyote replies that he is also “wandering around” (Bruchac) she quickly follows this comment with another, “’Then it is better for two people to travel together” (Bruchac). She uses her lonely and dejected state to con Coyote into traveling together. Soon after Silver Fox suggests the idea of creating the earth to Coyote. Coyote asks her how this is done and Silver Fox, instead of simply explaining, starts the process. This shows female manipulation because in just starting the creation Coyote is given no choice but to follow.
Across the pond lies another myth, an Italian one, Mrs. Fox and Mr. Wolf. In this story a female fox and a male wolf make a pact to share everything they catch and to call each other brother and sister. One day the wolf goes out hunting; he sees a pasture filled with sheep. He steals one from the herder and gets nearly beaten to death in the process; because of this he decides that the sheep shall be entirely his own, going back on his pact with the fox to share everything. The fox finds out about this, and in her anger she storms out of their den and walks away. She soon comes across a large pot of honey hidden by smugglers. She comes back to the den and taunts the wolf with her knowledge of the honey. The wolf begs and begs and begs to be taken to the honey pot. The fox goes back to the honey pot every day, eating just a little bit more honey, until finally the honey is gone. She then decides to take the wolf to the honey. She first brings him to the empty honey pot, telling him that she going to go get the rest. The wolf, nearly starved, starts licking at the empty pot, trying to get the last of the honey. The smugglers choose this opportune moment to come back to their honey. They see the wolf and start beating him thinking that he was the one who ate all the honey. The wolf escapes badly wounded and a little while later the fox comes back. She feigns a sprained ankle and makes the already half dead wolf carry her. The wolf does so and soon collapses and dies (Calvino). This shows female manipulation because she deceives the wolf into her revenge: his death. She tells him that there is honey, when in fact she has eaten it all. The smugglers beat him close to death, again set up by the fox’s trick. She also plays on the wolf’s overall kind nature asking for a ride on his back, hardly in the position to say no he agrees, and is killed by sheer exhaustion.
There are also tales of feminine manipulations through foxes as far as Siberia. In this tale, The One-Eyed Man and the Woman-Vixen, a young woman is married to a hideous man with one eye. Her husband is only with her during the night; he leaves as the sun rises. Distraught as to why her husband will not stay with her in the day, she follows him. As she follows him she sees that he turns into an even uglier beast of a man. Disgusted, she runs away as fast as she can, and while running away she is captured by a giant. The giant takes her to his home and throws her in. Throughout the trip her clothes became torn and ripped. Now cold and alone she begins to cry, and as she cries she hears a voice calling to her telling her to put on the skins of land birds. She looks around the house and sees a coat made of the skins of crows; she tries to put it on and sees that it doesn’t fit. She begins to cry again, and as she cries the voice calls back telling her to put on the skins of land animals. Looking about the house again, she finds the skins of foxes sewn together; she put on the skin and begins searching for a way out of the house. She eventually found an exit and started on her way to her father’s house. When she reached her father’s house she could not enter, despite how hard she tries (Riordan). This story shows loneliness through the fact that the wife follows her husband because she wishes his company in more than just the night.
The Korean fox is a far parallel to the previously described foxes. She is purely evil and almost always portrayed as female. “The only role the kumiho—the nine-tailed fox—plays in Korea is the demoness. Whether she appears as maid, wife, or succubus, the kumiho’s sole goals are power and death. She is the only kind of fox that kills with her own hands, and also the only kind of fox that eats her prey” (Kumiho). The Korean story, The Fox Girl, is about a daughterless man who, already having three sons, prays every day for a daughter. Finally he is given a daughter and in his eyes she could do no wrong. One day while she was exploring the woods, she falls asleep underneath a tree. Her family, worried sick, sends out a search party and they find her asleep. That night a cow falls over dead from no wound. The father sends a servant out to patrol and see what is killing the cows. The servant sees the daughter come out and oil her arms; confused, the servant watches closely. She then shoves her arm up the cow’s anus and pulls out its liver. Having gained the liver she eats it. The servant is disgusted and awestruck so he goes to tell her father what he saw. The father does not believe him and banishes him from his house. The father sends out another servant to watch over the cows. This servant sees the same thing as the first, and he tells the father. The father banishes him as well. This is continued with all the servants until only the family is left. The father then sends out his two oldest sons. They also see the same thing and they are banished. The last son is sent, and instead of going to tell his father he goes to a monk, who tells him that his sister is possessed by a fox. The son wishes to run home to save his parents but the monk stops him, already knowing their fate. The monk then gives the son three colored vials, red, green, and blue, and he tells him that the vials will help defeat the fox demon. The son then goes back to the house and sees his sister eating lice and ants off the ground. He asks of the well being of his mother and father and she tells him they had an accident. The son, knowing the truth that she ate their livers, thinks of a way to escape his sister. He then asks her cook him a meal, thinking that he would be able to run while she cooks. She agrees but ties a rope to her waist and his ankle so that she knows if he tries to run. After a while he then ties the other end around a gate post so that she won’t notice. He then runs away as fast as he can. The sister soon notices and runs after him. As she gains on him he throws the green vial behind him. When the vial hits the ground it turns into a large brush forest slowing down his sister who is slowly reverting into the form of a fox. She soon passes through it and advances on the brother. Seeing this he throws the blue vial behind him. This turns into a lake and his sister, who has now completely reformed into a fox, has to swim through to catch up to him. She does and he throws the last vial, the red one. This becomes a large fire and it burns the fox alive, finally defeating her (The Fox Girl). This shows female manipulation through a fox because the daughter, though possessed, has her father cast all the men that know the truth out of the home. Through this manipulation of her father she is able to always have a steady meal.
The tales of a female fox reach as far as Inuit Alaska, the next story being Kajortoq the Red Fox hailing from an Eskimo region. This story is about a young female fox named Kajortoq. It starts with Kajortoq seeing a bear that claims he is hungry and he can’t catch anything because they all run away from him. Kajortoq says she will catch him food if he will bring her a human. They agree and Kajortoq catches him some birds. The bear then goes off to get her human. The bear comes back, not with a human, but with an arrow stuck in his shoulder and half bled to death. Kajortoq says she will heal him. He agrees and she says she will heal him with a hot rock. She instead kills him and uses his meat to keep her alive. One day a wolf comes along wanting to eat Kajortoq, so she lies and says that she caught a ton of fish using her tail as a line. She shows the wolf how to do it and he follows her example. He stays in the river all night and it freezes over his tail. Realizing her lie, the wolf breaks free, ripping his tail off in the process and goes to catch Kajortoq. She runs away from him until he has lost so much blood that he dies. She then eats his meat to keep her alive. Then, one day another bear comes, looking for her son, whom Kajortoq killed. Kajortoq tells her that she saw a bear kill her son. She then leads the mother bear to the other bear and they fight. The other bear is killed and the mother bear says to Kajortoq that she may keep the meat. The mother bear then starts to walk away from the battle but soon keels over from her wounds and dies. Now Kajortoq has the meat of two bears (Kitsune Page). This shows female manipulation because Kajortoq tricks four animals into becoming her meals.
Russia also is held within the manicured claws of the fox, this story being called The Tomcat and the Fox. In this story there was once a peasant who had a tomcat that he hated, so he sent him out to live in the woods. The tomcat meets a fox who claimed to be a maiden; this was later proved untrue when the wolf and the bear come to her looking to “make love to her” (Gerber 36). She then asks the tomcat if he wants to marry. They do. The next day she goes out to forage for food and she comes across the wolf who starts flirting with her. She tells the wolf that her husband is a beast that will eat anybody who displeases him. She tells the wolf to bring her a ram so that her husband will not eat him instead. The wolf agrees and on the way to get the ram he meets the bear, who was also going to the fox for some “fun.” The bear agrees to bring an ox to the fox. The fox and the cat were provided with meat for the whole winter (Gerber). This story shows feminine manipulation and loneliness because the fox tricks the tomcat into marriage by saying that she is a maiden, when it is proved by the bear that she is not. The fact that the fox gets the wolf and the bear to bring food because they fear a tomcat is also an example of manipulation. Loneliness is expressed through the fact that the fox lets two different animals make love to her before getting married.
The prominence of feminine foxes is not only just a myth, but there are also modern uses that show this. In a Japanese cartoon known as “Soul-Hunter” there lays a female character known as Dakki. Dakki is a fox demon in possession of a young human girl’s body. She is a temptress and rather conniving. At one point in time when her husband’s “first wife was imprisoned, Dakki knew the woman couldn't stand [being jailed] any longer and allowed the guard to give the true empress anything she wished for, knowing that she'll ask for a dagger in order to commit suicide” (Characters). Dakki manipulates both the guard and the empress by allowing the empress to have anything. She lets the true empress kill herself in order for Dakki to gain the throne.
The Italians also have a slightly newer story entitled Giovannuzza the Fox. This story starts with a simpleton named Joseph owns a magic pear tree that will grow pears even in the dead of winter. This is his only means of survival. One winter day he comes out and sees his pears have already been picked. The next night he stakes out with a shotgun to see what is stealing his pears. He sees Giovannuzza the fox stealing his pears and he comes at her with his shotgun. Afraid for her life she bargains with him asking for only a basket of pears and she will make his life wonderful; he agrees and gives her a basket full. She takes them to the king and he is awestruck at the presence of pears in the dead of winter. Giovannuzza tells him that they are from Count Peartree who is richer than anybody else in the world. The king tells Giovannuzza to send his thanks. Giovannuzza goes back to Joseph and asks for another basket. He disagrees but eventually gives in. She takes his basket to the king again. He asks Giovannuzza what Count Peartree wants in return for more pears. She says he wants his daughter’s hand in marriage. The king agrees and Giovannuzza goes to tell Joseph the news. Joseph is happy but he asks her where he is to house his new wife. Giovannuzza says she will take care of it. Joseph and the daughter marry. They follow Giovannuzza to where she claims the house is. She goes ahead and tells all the herders and farmers to tell the marriage party that the land belongs to Count Peartree and not the Papa Ogre. Giovannuzza then goes to the castle of Papa Ogre and tells them that the king has sent out a party to kill the Ogres. She tells them to hide in the oven and they do. She then sets them on fire, and gives the house to Joseph and his wife. They ask what Giovannuzza wants in return and all she says is that she wants a burial and a coffin fit for a human. Joseph and his wife heartily agree. One day Giovannuzza decides to test Joseph and she plays dead. His wife begs of him to give the burial she wanted but Joseph says that he’ll just throw the corpse out the window. Hearing this Giovannuzza comes back from playing dead and she yells at Joseph saying that she will never return or help him again (Calvino). This shows feminine manipulation and loneliness because Giovannuzza tricks the king into think that Joseph, a mere simpleton, is actually richer than he. Giovannuzza also shows manipulation by the way that she tricks the ogres into giving up their house, and consequently, dying. “‘What has happened?’ asked Papa Ogre, scared to death. ‘See that cloud of dust approaching? It’s a regiment of cavalry dispatched by the king to kill you!’ ‘Sister fox, sister fox, help us!’ whimpered the couple” (Calvino 664). This shows Giovannuzza’s exploitation because she lures the ogres into the oven under the premise of hiding them, instead she sets them on fire. This story also shows loneliness because all Giovannuzza wants is a home, a place to stay and people to be with, and most importantly to feel like she belongs with Joseph and his wife. By asking for a human funeral she is asking for Joseph to welcome her as human in his eyes, and by asking that she is asking to be part of what he now has a family.
Foxes are always seen as tricksters, prank-pullers, and exploiters, but now with a new feminine lilt it displays the precise dichotomy of humanity. By putting a female twist on a predominantly male creature it shows the fact that humanity is malleable enough to create parallels upon parallels. A male, a female, a human, an animal, entirety. Humanity creates all, and with humanity’s creation comes the coiling of stories from generations spanning back before time was created and the cultures all spiraled around a similar theory; anything can be portrayed as anything else. Foxes are just a thick-rimmed lens for us to see what we cannot otherwise. Through femininity we are given a slightly more sinister view point, even melancholic. Loneliness and manipulation are both human vices and even more so female malignance. A stark contradiction to the feeble, weak portrayal of females in most ancient mythology these fox stories enlighten the masses to the darker, though more subtle, side of femininity in earlier times.
These few stories show us that archetypes are just as predominate in one area as they are in another. Foxes are found in almost every corner of the earth, and where they are their stories follow. Loneliness and manipulation are also found in every human; on every continent. The stark combination leads us back to realization of human creation within myth.
Works Cited
Bruchac, Joseph. Native American Animal Stories. Golden: Fulcrum Publishing; 1992.
Calvino, Italo. Italian Folktales. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich Publishers, 1956.
Characters. May 3, 2007. < http://s86984411.onlinehome.us/he/characters/c_dakki.html >.
Gerber, Adolph. “The Tomcat and the Fox.” Great Russian Animal Tales. Baltimore: Association, 1891. Publications of the Modern Language Association of America. 2 May 2007 < http://books.google.com/books?id=c-MNAAAAIAAJ&pg=RA1-PA82&lpg=RA1-PA82&dq=%22the+fox+and+the+tomcat%22&source=web&ots=6DFbGzWAp2&sig=8ruL67sdlz40Zhk770tz3wCXf6I#PRA1-PA36,M1> .
Kistune Page. May 1, 2007. <http://www.coyotes.org/kitsune/myths_nativeam.html>.
Kuhimo – The Korean Fox. 1 May 2007 <http://academia.issendai.com/fox-korean.shtml> .
Quotations of the Nature of Chinese Foxes. 1 May 2007. <http://academia.issendai.com/chinese-fox-quotes.shtml>.
Riordan, James. Siberian Folk Tales. New York: Interlink Books, 1991.
The Fox Girl. May 1, 2007. <http://myhome.naver.com/cknah/Folktales/fox%20sister/fox%20sister.htm>.
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