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Right in the middle of Japan, high up among the mountains, an old
man lived in his little house. He was very proud of it, and never
tired of admiring the whiteness of his straw mats, and the pretty
papered walls, which in warm weather always slid back, so that the
smell of the trees and flowers might come in.
One day he was standing looking at the mountain opposite, when
he heard a kind of rumbling noise in the room behind him. He
turned round, and in the corner he beheld a rusty old iron kettle,
which could not have seen the light of day for many years. How
the kettle got there the old man did not know, but he took it up and
looked it over carefully, and when he found that it was quite whole
he cleaned the dust off it and carried it into his kitchen.
'That was a piece of luck,' he said, smiling to himself; 'a good kettle
costs money, and it is as well to have a second one at hand in case
of need; mine is getting worn out, and the water is already
beginning to come through its bottom.'
Then he took the other kettle off the fire, filled the new one with
water, and put it in its place.
No sooner was the water in the kettle getting warm than a strange
thing happened, and the man, who was standing by, thought he
must be dreaming. First the handle of the kettle gradually changed
its shape and became a head, and the spout grew into a tail, while
out of the body sprang four paws, and in a few minutes the man
found himself watching, not a kettle, but a tanuki! The creature
jumped off the fire, and bounded about the room like a kitten,
running up the walls and over the ceiling, till the old man was in an
agony lest his pretty room should be spoilt. He cried to a
neighbour for help, and between them they managed to catch the
tanuki, and shut him up safely in a wooden chest. Then, quite
exhausted, they sat down on the mats, and consulted together what
they should do with this troublesome beast. At length they decided
to sell him, and bade a child who was passing send them a certain
tradesman called Jimmu.
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Fairytales 
