a general favourite with the ladies of the palace. These women saw in
Chow-sin's latest wife the most beautiful woman who had ever lived in
the royal harem. One would think that this beauty might have caused
them to hate Fox Sprite, but such was not the case. They admired the
plumpness of Fox Sprite's body, the fairness of Fox Sprite's complexion,
the fire in Fox Sprite's eyes, but most of all they wondered at the
smallness of Fox Sprite's feet, for, you remember, the supposed Ta-ki
now had fox's feet instead of those of human shape.

Thus small feet became the fashion among women. All the court ladies,
old and young, beautiful and ugly, began thinking of plans for making
their own feet as tiny as those of Fox Sprite. In this way they thought
to increase their chances of finding favour with the Emperor.

Gradually people outside the palace began to hear of this absurd
fashion. Mothers bound the feet of their little girls, in such a manner
as to stop their growth. The bones of the toes were bent backwards and
broken, so eager were the elders to have their daughters grow up into
tiny-footed maidens. Thus, for several years of their girlhood the
little ones were compelled to endure the most severe tortures. It was
not long before the new fashion took firm root in China. It became
almost impossible for parents to get husbands for their daughters unless
the girls had suffered the severe pains of foot-binding. And even to
this day we find that many of the people are still under the influence
of Fox Sprite's magic, and believe that a tiny, misshapen foot is more
beautiful than a natural one.

But let us return to the story of Fox Sprite and the wicked Emperor. For
a number of years matters grew continually worse in the country. At last
the people rose in a body against the ruler. A great battle was fought.