The Badger and the Little Fox

Long ago, in the dense forests near the city of Matsumoto, there lived many wild animals. Hunters learned of this and began venturing into the forest to hunt. From morning till evening, the forest echoed with shouts and gunfire. With each shot, the number of animals in the forest dwindled. Finally, the day came when only a badger and a fox with her cub remained in the forest.

For a long time, the badger and the fox did not leave their burrows, fearing they might encounter the hunters. The hunters, believing they had killed all the animals, stopped coming to the forest.

As she lay in her burrow, the fox thought to herself: "If I leave my burrow, I might run into a hunter. But if I stay here for a few more days, both my cub and I will starve to death."

Having thought this, the fox cautiously peeked out of her burrow and began to look and listen. But there was no sign of humans anywhere.

Relieved, the fox ran to the badger's burrow and called out:

"Mr. Badger! Come out, don't be afraid! The hunters have stopped coming to our forest! We are saved now!"

The timid badger hesitated for a long time before sticking his nose out of the burrow, but hunger eventually forced him to leave his refuge.

"What are we going to do?" the badger asked the fox. "There are no other animals left in our forest. In a day or two, we'll starve to death. It's better to die by a hunter's bullet than to starve!"

To this, the fox replied:

"But we both know how to take on any form. Let's do this: I'll turn into a hunter, and you pretend to be dead. I'll sell you to some merchant, and with the money, I'll buy whatever we need. Then, when the time is right, you'll escape back to the forest, and we'll split everything I get."

"Agreed!" the badger exclaimed joyfully. "Let's do it quickly—I can't bear the hunger any longer!"

"Alright," said the fox, and she transformed into a hunter. Seeing this, the badger immediately pretended to be dead.

The fox, now in the form of a hunter, slung the badger over her shoulder, bid farewell to her cub, and set off for the city of Matsumoto.

Everything went as the fox had planned. A merchant bought the badger and, tossing him into a corner, said:

"I'll skin him tomorrow morning. For now, here's your payment for the badger."

With the money in hand, the fox, still in the form of a hunter, headed to the market. She bought all sorts of things! With great effort, she dragged a sack of food back to her home.

When the hungry fox cub saw all the food, he jumped for joy. But the fox said:

"Don't touch anything! We'll wait for Mr. Badger and split everything equally."

All day long, the hungry cub whined and begged his mother for even a fish tail. The fox felt sorry for her son, but she still gave him nothing, only saying:

"Be patient, just a little longer. When Mr. Badger comes, we'll divide our spoils and start eating."

The badger managed to escape from the merchant at dawn. He rushed to the fox's burrow and angrily shouted:

"You've probably eaten everything without me, you gluttons!"

"Not at all, Mr. Badger!" the fox replied. "We didn't even dare to untie the sack without you!"

"Like I believe that," the badger grumbled, taking his share and heading back to his burrow.

A few days later, the badger returned to the fox and said:

"I've eaten everything. Now it's my turn to sell you. Pretend to be dead, and I'll take the form of a hunter and head to the city."

When the fox pretended to be dead, the badger transformed into a hunter and carried her off to sell.

As soon as he appeared at the market, a merchant called him into his shop and immediately bought the fox. While the merchant counted out the money, the badger thought: "I need to get rid of this annoying fox. Then I won't have to share the food with her."

And the wicked badger, pulling the merchant aside, whispered:

"The fox is only pretending to be dead. She's actually alive and plans to escape tonight."

Hearing this, the merchant swung a heavy stick and killed the unfortunate fox.

The heartless badger bought two sacks of food at the market and dragged them back to the forest.

In vain, the poor fox cub waited all day and all night for his mother. In the morning, he ran to the badger to find out what had happened to her.

The badger, who had already drunk a large cup of sake, was sprawled out on the sacks of food. Seeing the cub, he began to lie:

"Your mother doesn't love you at all! She didn't want to return to you, no matter how much I tried to persuade her."

When the cub saw how much food the badger had, he realized that the badger had killed his mother to avoid sharing the spoils.

The cub said nothing. He returned to his burrow and began to think about how to take revenge on the heartless badger.

One day, the cub couldn't sleep from hunger. Just before dawn, he decided to sneak into a nearby village and find something to eat. But the cub was unlucky. He thought everyone in the village would be asleep at that hour. Instead, he found many peasants working on the road near the village.

The cub hid in the tall grass and listened to what the people were saying. They were talking about how the daimyo (a powerful lord) would pass through the road at noon, and they needed to make the road smooth and pleasant.

Hearing this, the cub ran to the badger's burrow and said:

"Mr. Badger! My mother told me you can take on any form. Is that true?"

"Of course it's true," the badger boasted.

"Do you know that I can also take on any form?" the cub asked.

"Now you're lying!" the badger snapped.

"No, I'm not! Today at noon, I'll take on a different form, and if you recognize me, I'll be your slave for the rest of my life!"

"Agreed!" the badger shouted. "But remember: when you become my slave, don't expect any mercy from me!"

Just before noon, the badger went out to the forest road and began to look around. Suddenly, he saw people carrying a palanquin. Inside sat the daimyo himself, fanning himself.

"Ah, so that's the form the cunning cub has taken," the badger thought, and he leapt into the palanquin. Snatching the fan from the daimyo's hands, he shouted:

"Pathetic creature! You dared to think I'm dumber than you! From now on, you're my slave for life. Get out of the palanquin!"

The frightened daimyo jumped out of the palanquin and shouted:

"Mad badger! Mad badger! Kill him quickly!"

One of the servants drew his sword and cut off the badger's head.

And so, the fox cub avenged the death of his poor mother.

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The Badger and the Little Fox

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