Foxes can't make matches, so every Lantern Festival, the foxes of Crow's Beak Mountain come down the mountain to ask people for a lit candle. At night, they often carry a lantern in one hand and clutch a red candle in the other, stopping passersby on the road: "Hello! Please, can you help me light a candle?" Whenever someone takes the candle, retrieves a lighter or a match to ignite it, the foxes bow repeatedly in gratitude and then run back home, holding the candle high.
In Crow's Beak Mountain, there was a little fox named Ah Xiang. Every year when the foxes picked their lanterns, they sent the most polite Ah Xiang to ask for a flame. On one Lantern Festival, Ah Xiang transformed into the appearance of a cartoon fox (the same height as a child). With its experience, this appearance always won people's hearts and could easily get a lit candle. Clutching a red candle, Ah Xiang approached the people passing by at the foot of the mountain.
That time, it met a mischievous boy. Ah Xiang said, "Hello! Dear sir, could you please help me light a candle? Please!"
The boy recognized it was a fox coming to borrow fire and immediately had a wicked idea. He pretended to take the candle, pocketed it, and slyly exchanged it for a red firecracker. Lighting the firecracker, he handed it to Ah Xiang while telling it, "The wind is strong, and the fire may go out. Hold it tight!"
"Thank you! I will," Ah Xiang responded with a firm nod, clutching the firecracker as it ran off. Just as it darted into the woods, there was a deafening explosion, and Ah Xiang's left paw was blown off.
The following year, on Lantern Festival, the foxes of Crow's Beak Mountain once again began choosing lanterns. Ah Xiang had lost one paw, and they decided to send someone else this time. However, Ah Xiang insisted, saying, "It's alright, let me borrow the fire again. I'm the most experienced."
As the sun set, Ah Xiang stood by the road, waiting. After a few hours, a slow-moving figure in black appeared. A fox's eyesight was excellent, and in the dark, Ah Xiang could discern even the tiniest details. It recognized the person approaching as the same boy from the previous year.
"Hey! What are you doing here?" Seeing the fox, the boy immediately called out.
"Hello, sir. It's me. Do you remember?" Ah Xiang replied.
"You?!" The boy approached for a closer look and couldn't help but take a few steps back. He recognized Ah Xiang as the little fox he had tricked the year before. However, the left paw was missing and looked like it had been blown off.
"What does it want from me? Is it here for revenge?" The boy thought, his teeth chattering in fear. He had heard stories about foxes, knowing they could perform illusions and easily confuse people, even taking their lives.
"What do you want from me?" the boy asked nervously.
"Ha-ha, I'm terribly sorry, dear sir. I have to trouble you once again. Could you please help me light a candle?" Ah Xiang said politely.
"Oh? Lighting a candle again?" The boy relaxed, thinking it was just another request. "Alright, hand me the candle."
Ah Xiang respectfully handed over the candle, watched as the boy lit it, and waited for him to hand it back. However, instead of reaching out to take the candle, Ah Xiang bowed deeply and pleaded, "I'm sorry, but could you please place the candle on the ground?"
The boy was puzzled by this request, "Oh? Place it on the ground?" He put the candle down and walked away.
Ah Xiang looked at the candle, waited for a while, and approached it slowly. It sniffed the flame closely, making sure everything was safe. After confirming that there was no danger, it picked up the candle with joy and walked back home. As it passed the woods where it had lost its paw, Ah Xiang couldn't help but burst into tears.
Ah Xiang, of course, knew that the boy had intentionally harmed it by blowing off its paw. Yet, it never sought revenge, nor could it. It understood that if it were to retaliate against the boy, humans would learn that foxes could harm people, and they would no longer be willing to light candles for them.