1. This is a story I heard when I was very young. An old man in my village, Mohei, told it to me. Once upon a time, there was a small castle in a place called Nakayama. This castle was near my village. A king by the name of Nakayama-sama lived in that small castle. A short distance away from Nakayama lived a fox named Gon. Gon was a small fox who lived all by himself in a small hole he had dug in a forest full of ferns. Day and night, the small fox would go out to nearby villages and cause mischief. He would go into the fields, pull out the sweet potatoes and scatter them around. He would pull off the husks of the beautiful yellow rap seeds and set them on fire. He would pull down the red peppers stored behind the farmer’s house. He caused a lot of trouble. One autumn day, Gon sat in his cave and could not go outside all day. It had been raining for two or three days straight. As soon as the rain let up, Gon sighed a sigh of relief and crawled out of his hole. The sky was so crisp and clear that one could hear the beautiful song of the butcher-bird resonating through the air. Gon walked away from the forest until he reached the bank of a small river. Near the river bank, one could see the tops of the susuki sparkling with rain drops. The river, which usually held little water, was much fuller from the three days' rain . The hagi and susuki plants near the river were usually safely dry. Now they were pushed over and laying sideways in the muddy water. Gon walked downstream along the muddy road by the river. He was surprised to see a man in the river. Gon wondered what he was doing there. Gon crept quietly into the tall grass until he was out of sight, so the man wouldn’t see him. Gon watched the man from his hiding place without making a sound . “ Is that Hyojyu ? ” wondered Gon . Hyojyu was standing in waist-deep water wearing a tucked-up black Kimono. He was shaking a net which was used to catch fish. He had a bandana tied around his head and a round hagi leaf stuck to the side of his face. The leaf looked like a big mole . After a while, Hyojyu pushed the fish to the back of the fishing net into what looked like a bag . Then he picked up the bag out of the water. Inside the net some grass and rotting tree bark were mixed in with the fish, but still one could see fish sparkling here and there. Also in the net one could see fat eels and the shining bellies of the big Kisu fish . Hyojyu threw the eel and Kisu fish into his basket along with the grass. And after squeezing out the water, he threw the bag back into the river. Then, for some reason, Hyojyu picked up the fish bag and walked out of the river. He then put the bag down on the bank of the river and hurried away from the basket to look for something up stream. As soon as Hyojyu had gone, Gon happily bounded out from the tall grass and ran straight to the fishing basket. He was feeling a bit mischievous, so he took the fish out of the basket and one by one threw them down stream. With a splash, each fish Gon threw swam into the muddy waters. Lastly, Gon tried to grab a big eel but because it was so slippery, it was impossible to grab hold of it. Gon became impatient, so he stuck his head into the basket. He grasped the head of the eel in his mouth. With a shriek the eel wrapped itself around Gon’s neck. Just then, Hyojyu came back and upon seeing Gon, screamed “ Ahh, a thieving fox! ” Gon jumped up in surprise. Gon tried to throw the eel aside but the eel stayed wrapped around his neck and Gon couldn’t get the eel off of him. With the eel still wrapped around his neck, Gon jumped sideways and tried to run away. Gon stopped at a black alder tree near his hole and looked to see if the man was coming, but Hyojyu did not chase the fox. With a sigh of relief, Gon gnawed on the eel’s head and killed it. Gon was finally able to unwrap the eel from his neck. He put the dead eel on the grass near the entrance of the hole.

2. Ten days later, Gon was walking behind a farmer’s house. The farmer's name was Yasuke. And while he was walking by the house, Gon saw Yasuke’s wife sitting under a fig tree, painting her teeth black. (It was an old Japanese custom for women to paint their teeth black. Women with black teeth were considered beautiful.) Next, Gon walked by the house of a black-smith named Shinbei, where he saw Shinbei’s wife brushing her hair. Gon thought to himself,“ Hmm, something's going on in the village. I wonder what it could be. Could it be the fall festival ? But if it is a festival, I should hear the sound of drums and flutes. And if it is a festival, shouldn’t there be flags up at the shrine? " While pondering upon these things, he continued to walk and found himself in front of Hyojyu’s house. It had a very noticeable red well in the front. Gon could see many people gathered inside of the small broken down house . In the house, women who were wearing their formal Kimonos with towels hanging from their obis, were starting a fire in the stove. In a big pot on the stove, something was noisily cooking. At that point Gon realized that they must be preparing for a funeral ceremony. “ I wonder who died at Hyojyu’s house. ” In the early afternoon, Gon went to the village graveyard and hid behind the Six Jizo Statues at the entrance. It was a beautiful day. In the distance, one could see the tiled roof of the castle, shining brightly. The red spider lilies bloomed all around, covering the cemetery ground like a red cloth . Then, from the direction of the village, Gon could hear the ringing of a bell . That was the signal that a funeral was about to start. Gon could see glimpses of people in white Kimonos, leading the funeral procession. He could also hear the voices getting closer. The funeral procession entered the graveyard. Where the people had tread, you could see the trampled spider lilies. Gon stretched his head up to see. Hyojyu who was wearing the ceremonial white Kimono and was holding the mortuary tablet of his mother . Hyojyu usually had a bright happy face, like a sweet potato, but today Hyojyu’s face look sad and withered. “Oh, I see,” said Gon to himself. “ Hyojyu’s mother is the one that died.”Upon this realization, Gon ducked his head back down behind the statues. That evening, Gon sat in his hole, thinking, “ While Hyojyu’s mother was sick, she must have said that she wanted to eat eels. So Hyojyu took out the net he used to catch fish. I was mean and took the eel out of the net. So, Hyojyu could not give his mother any eel to eat. She might have died while thinking, I want to eat an eel. Oh, how I wish I could have an eel. Ah, if only I hadn't ruined the rig. ”

3. Hyojyu was washing barley by his red-bricked well. Up until now, Hyojyu lived with his mother. They were poor　but poor together. Now, Hyojyu was all alone. “ Hyojyu is all alone, just like me," thought Gon to himself as he watched Hyojyu from behind a shed. As Gon started to leave, he heard a peddler's call. “ Sardines for sale ! Fresh sardines fo a bargain. Sardines! ” shouted the peddler. Gon walked towards the enthusiastic calls. From the back door, Yasuke’s wife shouted “I'll take some of your fish.” The peddler parked his wagon on the side of the road and carried some shiny sardines to Yasuke’s house. After a moment, Gon went to the cart, took 5 or 6 sardines from the basket and ran back the way he had come. Then, Gon went to Hyojyu’s house and threw the fish into the back door and quickly ran away. On the way back to his hole, Gon looked back. Part-way up the hill he could still vaguely see Hyojyu washing barley down by the well. That's one good deed for penance, thought Gon. The next day, Gon gathered loads of chestnuts in the mountains and took them to Hyojyu’s house. He went around and peered in through the back door. There, he could see Hyojyu just starting to eat his lunch. Hyojyu appeared to be deep in thought while holding his rice bowl in one hand. Strangely, Gon noticed that Hyojyu had some scratches on his cheek. “ I wonder what happened, ”thought Gon. Meanwhile, Hyojyu started to talk to himself. “ Who in the world threw those sardines into my house ? The peddler thought I had stolen the fish and beat me up. ”Hyojyu mumbled to himself. Gon had thought he had done a good deed, but it turned out that he had only made matter’s worse for Hyojyu. Gon felt bad for Hyojyu. Hyojyu was hit by the peddler because of him. With this thought on mind, he quietly got up and went around to the front of the house. There, he put the chestnuts down by the front door and left. The next day, and the day after that, Gon continued to gather and bring chestnuts to Hyojyu’s house. On the third day, Gon brought, not only chestnuts, but also matsutake mushrooms.

4. One day, on a beautiful autumn evening, Gon went out for stroll. Gon walked toward Nakayama Castle. As Gon walked up the path leading to the castle he heard voices coming from the opposite direction. The crickets were chirping melodiously. Gon could hear the cricket’s singing their song . Gon quickly hid by the side of the road. The voices came closer and closer. The voices Gon heard were from Hyojyu and Kasuke, another farmer. “ Oh, I meant to tell you, Kasuke, ” Hyojyu said. “ Huh ? What ? ” said Kasuke. “ Lately, strange things have been happening around me, ”said Hyojyu. “ Like what ? ” said Kasuke. “ Well, since my mother died, someone has been giving me chestnuts and mushrooms and things, every day, ” said Hyojyu. “ Hmm, who ? ” asked Kasuke. “ I have no idea who it could be. Somebody just puts the things in my house and leaves, ” said Hyojyu . Gon followed the two men, while still hidden by the side of the road. “ Really ? ” asked Kasuke. “ It’s true. If you think I’m lying, come by my house tomorrow and I’ll show you the chestnuts. You can see for yourself. ” Hyojyu said adamantly. “ Hmm, that is strange. ” said Kasuke. Then, the two of them walked on in silence, for a while. Suddenly, Kasuke took a quick glance back. Gon was very surprised and shrank back in his tracks. Kasuke didn’t notice Gon and kept walking alongside Hyojyu. Upon arriving at Kichibei’s house, the two of them walked straight inside. They could hear the rhythmic pounding of the priest’s temple drum. From the light on the paper doors, Gon could see a shadow of the priest’s bald head, moving up and down as he prayed. “ Oh, it must be a nenbutsu (ceremonial prayer), ” thought Gon, as he squatted down near the well. After a while, three more men went into Kichibei’s house. Gon could hear the priest chanting the sutra.

5. Gon squatted down near the well until the priest finished chanting. Then, Hyojyu and Kasuke set out to leave together. Gon, wanting to hear the rest of Hyojyu and Kasuke’s conversation, followed them. Step by step Gon followed in his shadow. When they came near the castle again, Kasuke began to speak. “ About what we were talking about before… well, I think that God must have been giving those things to you. ” He said. “ What ? ” said Hyojyu, surprised. “ I’ve been thinking and I don’t think it could be a human who’s been leaving you those things. It must be God. God knew that you were now all alone and took pity on you.”Kasuke spoke convincingly. “ Hmm, could it be ? ” Hyojyu wondered. “ I think it must be. So, you should make sure to thank God everyday. ” Kasuke said. “ Yes, definitely, ” agreed Hyojyu. Gon thought, “ That’s ridiculous ! ” “ I’m the one who brought the chestnuts and mushrooms to Hyojyu. Hyojyu should be thanking me, not God. It’s not fair.”

6. The next day, Gon took some more chestnuts to Hyojyu’s house. Hyojyu was making rope in his shed. Noticing that Hyojyu was home, Gon crept around to the back door, and without a sound, slipped into the house. Just then, Hyojyu glanced up. To his surprise, a fox just went into his house. “ That’s the fox that stole my eel. He must be here to cause more mischief. ” “ Well, I’ll show him, ” said Hyojyu. 　Hyojyu stood up, got his gun off the wall, and loaded it with gunpowder. He took the gun and crept up behind Gon. “ Bang ! ” The loud noise resonated just as Gon was about to leave. Hyojyu had shot him. Gon fell down with a thud. Hyojyu ran closer to see. Stepping inside the house, he glanced towards the entrance. There, he saw the chestnuts, stacked in a neat pile. “ What ? ” Hyojyu was shocked to see the chestnuts. Then ,it dawned on him. “ It was you that was bringing me the chestnuts! ” Gon, still lying lifeless on the ground, could barely manage to nod. The gun slipped out of Hyojyu’s hands. A thin wisp of blue smoke rose from the gun.

sited from GONGITSUNE A Fox Named Gon