Can’t Outsmart a Kitsune (Kitsune means fox) Once
some friends sat together eating, drinking and making merry and having
as much fun as young friends could have as they told stories. In
particular they told many tales of the magical and ghostly kitsune
which haunted the countryside. They told of how the foxes who were
often white played tricks on humans which were often of the worst and
most cruel of pranks. One young man by the name of Tokutaro didn’t put
much stock in the tales told and claimed that it was ridiculous to be
afraid of foxes. “I
vow that I will go to where the foxes are most numerous and stay there
without having any fox able to play such a prank on me,” Tokutaro
boasted. “Don’t
be foolish,” his friends warned him. But the more they tried to get him
to rethink his plan the more he felt he must prove how great he was.
Thus it was decided that they would all enter a bet. If Tokutaro was
tricked by the foxes then he pay his friends. But should he return
without having been deceived by the foxes his friends would be obliged
to pay him. When
midnight drew near the courageous Tokutaro headed out walking
cheerfully up to the moor which was overgrown with yew bushes through
whose branches the wind was blowing. But despite the eerie atmosphere
Tokutaro remained brave and continued on his journey calmly. It was not
long before he saw a white fox slip into a thicket not from where he
stood. A moment later a pretty girl came out of the thicket the kitsune
had just slipped into causing him to chuckle to himself that he had
seen through the kitsune’s obvious trick. The
young girl who was a friend of his asked him to walk with her to her
parents house, and since the destination was not far he readily agreed.
But though he walked beside her and they talked back and forth he
firmly believed that his friend was really an enchanted kitsune in
disguise. When they arrived at her parents house Tokutaro secretly
motioned for her parents to join him in another room. When they had
done so he told them what had happened and that the girl was not their
daughter but a magical kitsune from the eerie more. The
girl’s parents were surprised to hear this but the young man spoke with
such earnest that his story seemed believable so they were convinced of
its accuracy. Indeed since their daughter had in fact gone off to visit
friends and was not supposed to return until the next day they were
certain that the girl in the next room must be a kitsune. So they
allowed Tokutaro to try to expose the girl as a kitsune. First
he pushed her down on the couch and burnt her skin with a candle but
when she did not change back he began to strangle her. That’s when they
begged him to stop but he was so certain he would not. “It must die!” he screamed. And
so the girl did, but she did not change back into a kitsune when she
did so, and that was absolute proof that the girl had been the daughter
of the two parents in the house and not a kitsune. Indeed the real
kitsune had probably run away long ago. The
parents upon seeing that their daughter was dead began to wail
miserably, and blamed Tokutaro for the death of their daughter. “You must die for what you have done,” they cried. And
with that they tackled him to the ground and bound him hand and foot
and were just about to finish him off when their was a knock at the
shutters. The girl’s parents looked out and saw a priest who asked for
admittance to the house. The priest had seen the unfortunate situation
which poor Tokutaro was in and asked the parents the cause. So the
parents told horrible story of their daughter’s death from beginning to
end. When the priest had heard everything he spoke to them of peace as
was his role asking: “What use is his death to you? Does it actually
help to avenge your daughter?” No, for he is stupid young man but he
acted in good faith. Let me make another suggestion, I will ordain him
a priest and then he will have the best opportunities to repent and
atone for what he’s done.” After
a moment the girl’s parents agreed that if they saw that the priest was
series in taking on Tokutaro as a priest they would release him. So the
priest called for someone to come and shave Tokutaro’s head bald. The
man seemed to be a companion of the priest, for he understood well how
to prepare a man to be a priest. First he cut Tokutaro beautiful top
knot and then the hair on the sides and the back until his head was
shaved as smooth as glass. All the while the priest chanted and prayed.
When the last of Tokutaro’s hair fell to the ground the house, the
girls parents, the priest, the house and everything disappeared so that
Tokutaro found himself standing in the midst of the dismal swamp the
shrill sound of barking kitsune resounding like laughter around him. As
he looked around he was suddenly glad to realize that it had all been
an illusion, that he hadn’t really killed his friend but as he ran his
hand over his head he found that his fine beautiful hair was actually
gone and in its place was the mirror smooth skin of a monks shaved
scalp. Ashamed and embarrassed he went back to his friends who received
him joyfully and teased him greatly. He told them his story and paid
his debt. As he went home that night alone with his thoughts he came to
a decision and signed up for the priesthood.
