A Wild Fox Repaid a Debt, and Saved a Man’s Life

Closeup of a fox.
A wild fox saved an old man's life. (Image: Tambako The Jaguar via Flickr)

On a business trip to Tangshan, I met an old man. As we talked, he related a story to me about how a wild fox repaid a debt and saved a man.

Before 1976, he was the administrator of a reservoir in Tangshan, and often stayed at the reservoir’s power station. It was easy work, and he spent a lot of time fishing. Whatever fish he caught, he placed in a large tank inside the kitchen.

One early summer night in 1976, he heard noises from the kitchen and got up to investigate. A fox had had tried to steal the fish and fallen into the fish tank. It tried to climb out, but couldn’t. Remembering previously stolen fish, he only wanted to kill the fox.

A wild fox repaid a debt and saved a man's life.
Remembering previously stolen fish, he only wanted to kill the fox. (Image 27707 via Pixabay)

In the beam of his flashlight, he saw the fox’s fearful eyes filled with tears. This so moved him that he let the fox go. After that, the fox stopped stealing fish.

The wild fox repaid a debt and saved a man

On July 28, 1976, the old man was sound asleep. Suddenly, he awoke to heavy scratching and mourning sounds. Opening the door, he saw the fox running around nervously in circles. The old man thought perhaps the fox was hungry, but then it grabbed his sandal, and tried to pull him out. The old man sensed he needed to follow the fox into the yard. At that point, a 7.8-magnitude earthquake violently shook the ground, and the power station collapsed, yet he survived.

To this day, the old man remembers the fox he spared that saved his life.

Translated by Yang Ming

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