Andrew Lang_Fairy Book 08 (37 page)

Now Jimmu had not gone very far before he felt that the kettle was
getting heavier and heavier, and by the time he reached home he
was so tired that he was thankful to put it down in the corner of his
room, and then forgot all about it. In the middle of the night,
however, he was awakened by a loud noise in the corner where the
kettle stood, and raised himself up in bed to see what it was. But
nothing was there except the kettle, which seemed quiet enough.
He thought that he must have been dreaming, and fell asleep again,
only to be roused a second time by the same disturbance. He
jumped up and went to the corner, and by the light of the lamp that
he always kept burning he saw that the kettle had become a tanuki,
which was running round after his tail. After he grew weary of
that, he ran on the balcony, where he turned several somersaults,
from pure gladness of heart. The tradesman was much troubled as
to what to do with the animal, and it was only towards morning that
he managed to get any sleep; but when he opened his eyes again
there was no tanuki, only the old kettle he had left there the night
before.

As soon as he had tidied his house, Jimmu set off to tell his story to
a friend next door. The man listened quietly, and did not appear so
surprised as Jimmu expected, for he recollected having heard, in his
youth, something about a wonder-working kettle. 'Go and travel
with it, and show it off,' said he, 'and you will become a rich man;
but be careful first to ask the tanuki's leave, and also to perform
some magic ceremonies to prevent him from running away at the
sight of the people.'

Jimmu thanked his friend for his counsel, which he followed
exactly. The tanuki's consent was obtained, a booth was built, and
a notice was hung up outside it inviting the people to come and
witness the most wonderful transformation that ever was seen.

They came in crowds, and the kettle was passed from hand to hand,
and they were allowed to examine it all over, and even to look
inside. Then Jimmu took it back, and setting it on the platform,
commanded it to become a tanuki. In an instant the handle began
to change into a head, and the spout into a tail, while the four paws
appeared at the sides. 'Dance,' said Jimmu, and the tanuki did his
steps, and moved first on one side and then on the other, till the
people could not stand still any longer, and began to dance too.
Gracefully he led the fan dance, and glided without a pause into the
shadow dance and the umbrella dance, and it seemed as if he might
go on dancing for ever. And so very likely he would, if Jimmu had
not declared he had danced enough, and that the booth must now
be closed.

Day after day the booth was so full it was hardly possible to enter
it, and what the neighbour foretold had come to pass, and Jimmu
was a rich man. Yet he did not feel happy. He was an honest man,
and he thought that he owed some of his wealth to the man from
whom he had bought the kettle. So, one morning, he put a hundred
gold pieces into it, and hanging the kettle once more on his arm, he
returned to the seller of it. 'I have no right to keep it any longer,' he
added when he had ended his tale, 'so I have brought it back to you,
and inside you will find a hundred gold pieces as the price of its
hire.'

The man thanked Jimmu, and said that few people would have been
as honest as he. And the kettle brought them both luck, and
everything went well with them till they died, which they did when
they were very old, respected by everyone.

(Adapted from Japanische Mahrchen)