Tanokyu

Tanokyu

Long,long ago, there lived a man called Tanokyu, who was an actor.
Now he was going to come home because his mother was ill.
When he reached a tea-house at the foot of the mountain, it had already become dark.
But he wanted to cross the mountain in the day.
The old hostess of the house said to him,
“Don’t cross the mountain at night. A big snake lives there and it will eat you.”

But he, thinking of his mother, was determined to cross it.
While he was walking in the mountain, he was afraid of the snake. It was very dark in the mountain.
Then he saw something flash.
He was very surprised.
There appeared a big man.
He said to Tanokyu, “Who are you?”
“Ta,Ta,Tanukyu.” he answered in surprise.
“Tanuki?” he misheard Tanokyu for Tanuki(Raccoon).
“If you are so, you can transform yourself in front of me.”
Tanokyu was at a loss, but he remembered he was an actor.
Taking out clothes and a wig, he took his form of a young woman.
The big man was very pleased to see it, and he told Tanokyu he would show his true figure.
Tanokyu fainted to see it.
His true figure was, as you know, a big snake.
This big snake was very kind.
It looked after Tanokyu.
When he came to himself, it said to him, “Don’t be afraid. I don’t eat Tanuki.”
After he relaxed himself, he smoked his cigarette with an easy mind; suddenly the big snake began to tremble.
“Oh, No! I dislike smoke. Don’t smoke. I’m afraid of smoke. If you should tell my secret to people in the village, I would kill you.” said the snake trembling and in anger.
The snake asked Tanokyu,
“Wat are you afraid the most?”
After thinking for a moment, Tanokyu said, “I am very afraid of money.”
When he climbed down to his village,he told about the big snake to people there.
Immediately they climbed the mountain, all smoking.
The snake suffered from smokes and decided to revenge on Tanokyu.
It threw much, much money on him.
“I am afraid of money. I’m very afraid of money. I’m very fond of money.”
Tanokyu became very rich.

The end