The
story of Kachi-kachi Yama
By Nami Sugimoto
A
long
time ago, there was an old man and an old woman who lived at the
foot of a mountain. The old man had a vegetable patch and he and
the old woman lived in perfect harmony.
One
morning, the old man went to the vegetable patch. He heard a noise.
He looked quickly and saw a raccoon dog (tanuki). The raccoon dog
was eating his vegetables! He scolded the raccoon dog and it ran
away.
But
the raccoon dog came back every day and he ate all of the vegetables
in the patch. The old man got angry, so one day he caught the raccoon
dog. The raccoon dog cried and he apologized, so the old woman set
him free. But the raccoon dog bit her leg before he escaped.
The
old man was even more angry. He went to the mountain to get some
medicine for his wife's leg. On the way to the mountain, there was
a rabbit. The rabbit said "Why are you in such a hurry?"
The old man explained to him about the raccoon dog. Then the rabbit
said, "I'll get revenge on him for you."
The
rabbit went to the mountain with a rice ball and gathered some hay.
When
the raccoon dog passed, the rabbit offered him the rice ball. But
the rabbit said, "I'll give you the rice ball only if you help
me carry this hay." So the raccoon dog took him up on this.
When
the raccoon dog carried the hay, the rabbit set the hay on fire.
But the raccoon dog didn't notice. Soon the raccoon dog could feel
heat on his back, and the next thing he knew, his back was burned!
The
raccoon dog regretted his previous actions and reflected on what
he had done to the old woman and man. He went to the house and apologized
to them.
That
night they all had a delicious meal together.
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