I Know It Myself

Once upon a time, in a small village, there lived a fox named Yamada. She was notorious for her mischievous and playful nature. The villagers often had to appease her: they would leave a bag of sweets by the roadside on their way back from town or bring offerings after weddings or funerals. "This is for Yamada the fox's amusement," they would say in the village.

In that same village lived an old man—honest and easygoing. However, he had one problem: he was completely blind in his left eye. He often went to the market in town. There, he would sell vegetables and various things he gathered in the mountains and buy fresh fish for his wife, who loved fish dearly. One market day, the old man was hurrying to town along an old, narrow, overgrown path that few people used. As he walked, he noticed a fox sleeping in the grass by the roadside. "Well, I never!" the old man exclaimed in surprise. "This is the first time I've seen a fox sleeping in broad daylight on the road. She must be a shapeshifter!" The old man picked up a large clump of dirt and swung it at the fox.

"Get out of here!" he shouted.

The fox woke up, frightened, and glared at the old man angrily. But the old man wasn't scared at all.

"Go on, shoo, shoo!" he yelled, laughing.

"Fine, fine," the fox hissed. "You'll have to come back this way eventually. We'll settle things then!"

The fox snorted, flicked her tail, and ran off into the mountains. "Let the old man go to the market," she thought. "In the meantime, I'll visit his wife and play a little trick on her."

The fox stopped, turned around, and in an instant transformed into the old man. She looked exactly like him—spitting image! But there was one problem: she had stared into the old man's eyes on the road and hadn't realized that he was blind in his left eye. Now, she herself was blind in her right eye.

The fox went to the village, found the old man's house, and called out:

"Hey, old woman, I'm back from the market!"

"You're early today," the old woman said, surprised. "Did something happen?"

She came out to meet her husband and noticed that his right eye was blind. "How can this be?" she wondered. "This morning, he couldn't see with his left eye, and now it's his right. Maybe this isn't my husband at all. Maybe it's Yamada the fox trying to trick me." The old woman figured it out but didn't let on.

"Well, tell me what happened," she said. "Did you buy any fish?"

"Of course I did," the fox replied, handing her a bag of fish she had grabbed by the door.

"What a fish!" the old woman exclaimed, praising it. "Fresh! Fatty! But you look so tired after the market. You shouldn't have gone to town today."

"I know I shouldn't have gone!" the fox replied.

"If that's the case, then you should say, 'I'm tired, old woman, I want to sleep!'"

"I know what I should say," the fox answered again.

"If you know, then add, 'It's not warm at all in our house, old woman. If I fall asleep, my feet will freeze. Bring me a straw sack and wrap my feet!'"

"I know my feet need warming!" the fox snapped. "Bring the sack, old woman!"

The old woman ran off and brought a sack filled with hay.

"Hey, old man," she said, "you should climb into the sack up to your waist. The hay will keep you warm."

"I know!" the fox said. "I always like to warm my feet in a sack of hay."

The old woman helped the fox into the sack and continued instructing her:

"Listen, old man, now you should tell me, 'Tie my feet with a straw rope, old woman, or the wind will blow through!'"

"I know!" the fox replied. "I don't want the wind to blow on me."

The old woman grabbed a straw rope and tied the "old man's" feet tightly from top to bottom.

"Sleep, old man, rest!" she said.

The fox, now warm, began to feel drowsy and was soon pulled into sleep. Just then, the real old man returned—the one who was blind in his left eye.

"Hey, old woman," he called, "I'm back from the market!"

"What kind of miracles are happening today?" the old woman exclaimed, throwing up her hands. "You both look exactly alike! Only that one can't see with his right eye, and this one can't see with his left!"

"What are you talking about?" the old man asked, puzzled.

The old woman took him by the hand and led him into the house. He entered and saw the fox sleeping in the room, tied up with ropes. Recognizing her, the old man said:

"That shameless fox! She wanted to get back at me for scaring her off earlier."

The fox heard voices and woke up. She realized she had reverted to her fox form in her sleep. She tried to jump up but couldn't—the ropes held her tightly. She thrashed to the right, then to the left, but it was no use. Then she pleaded:

"Let me go, old man, let me go, old woman! I'll never trick you again!"

"Alright," the old man said, taking pity on the fox. "Go on your way, but next time, think twice before messing with people."

They untied the fox and let her go. From that day on, no one in the village ever saw Yamada the fox again. She left those parts, and with her, all the troubles and misfortunes disappeared.

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I Know It Myself

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