Accrding to Chinese folklore, foxes are evil. They are crafty, troublemakers, and just plain nasty.

One day a lady came to town. Her hair was pitch black and her skin like clear as moonbeams. She must have come from the northern part of China for she was tall and slender. She had a way of walking… swish, swish, swish, her hips swayed.

Her cart driver stopped in front of the local inn. The lady introduced herself to the innkeeper as Miss Brown. Miss Brown inquired about renting an apartment. Her cart driver brought in her traveling trunks as she proceeded upstairs… swish, swish, swish.

Mr. Ong watched Miss Brown from across the street and fell immediately in love with her. Each morning he brought her orchids and sweet morsels to make her smile. Every afternoon they took walks in the perfumed garden… swish, swish, swish.

Three full moons came and went when Mr. Ong asked for Miss Brown's hand in marriage. She agreed and everyone was happy.

It was until the fifth full moon since the arrival of Miss Brown that strange things started to happen. Wine became missing from the market. Flowers and shrubs were upturned from the dirt. Chickens were extra noisy after dark. Then the worst happened, children started to get sick and die. All of the doctors were saying that these children were dying of blood loss. The villagers were surprised and saddened for in a month's time, four families came across tragic endings.

Whispers started around Miss Brown. "She's always cold and wearing her furs." "She's starting to drink more and more wine." "She yelled at my son the other day threatening to hit him." "I've seen foxes hanging around the Ong household." All this talk started to worry Mr. Ong. The local magistrate was worried, too. He and Mr. Ong had a chat about Miss Brown. Mr. Ong confided that he doesn't share the same bedroom with Miss Brown. Each night she retires to her own bedroom and keeps her door locked. The magistrate tried to console Mr. Ong and told him that he'll have a guard stand outside Mr. Ong's house to keep watch.

During the first night, the guard heard a noise by the side of the house… swish, swish, swish. He saw a fox creeping along the veranda with a chicken in its mouth. Then he watched the fox jump into Miss Brown's bedroom window. The fox left bloody pawprints where it had walked. He made a record of this and continued to keep watch.

The second night's watch produced the same scene. A fox was seen creeping along side of Mr. Ong's house, but this time it had a bottle of wine in it's mouth. The fox again left bloody pawprints on the veranda before disappearing into Miss Brown's bedroom window.

At third night, the guard was ready to capture the fox. He left three jars of wine outside of Miss Brown's window. The guard sat at the edge of the veranda with a net ready for when the fox appears. Swish, swish, swish, the fox appeared among the wine jars. The guard watched the fox drink all three jars then fall asleep on the veranda. With one big motion, the guard tossed the net over the sleeping fox. The fox awoke, howled and tried to escape. The guard was ready and hit the fox over the head with a big stick, killing it instantly.

Since that night, no more wine or chickens were missing; no more children were dying mysteriously; and a guard had a fancy fox tail for an ornament on his bag. When he walked through town, you heard a faint swish, swish, swish.