The Fox and the Badger

 There was a very skillful hunter in the mountainous district of Shikoku.

The hunter had trapped and shot many foxes and badgers of the mountain. It so happened that the hunter was so good that only an old gray Badger and a female Fox with a Cub were all that remained alive. 

The Fox and the badger were hungry many times but they did not step out of their cave for fear of being killed or trapped by the hunter. 

The two animals decided that things could not be this way. 

The fox and the batcher both had powers to change into human form. So both came upon the simple idea. 

They wanted each one to transform into a human while the other creature pretended to be dead. This way the fake human could pick the dead body of the other animal and sell it in the town. Using the money the two animals could buy some food and share it with each other. 

The first day Mrs. Fox changed into a human form. She picked up the dead badger and took it to the town and sold the dead badger to a man there. 

Using the money she brought a lot of food. 

The man who had bought the dead Badger did not realize that the badger was alive and he did not watch over it. 

At night the Badger came alive and ran back to the mountain. 

There the two animals ate all the food happily.

The next day, the Badger took a human form and sold the dead body of the Fox. 

But the Badger was greedy and he warned the human who bought the dead Fox to make sure that the animal was actually dead. 

The badger bought a lot of food from the town and went back to his cave. 

The man who had purchased the dead Fox took a club and hit the Fox to make sure it was dead. 

The blow on the head finished the Fox. 

The fox’s cub waited for its mother to come back. 

Unfortunately when the mother did not come back the Cub suspected foul play. 

He knew that his mother had been working with the badger. He realized that the badger had something to do with his mother's disappearance. 

So the fox cub decided to avenge his mother by killing the badger. 

The fox cub searched and found the badger in the mountain. He nodded at the badger. “I also have the same power to change into anything.” The Fox club shrugged, “To prove it to you I will change my appearance and come to the Big Bridge with many followers. If you are able to recognise me you win or I lose and I will work harder.” 

The badger went to the Big Bridge.

The Barger saw a man on a rich palanquin with a group of courtiers following him. 

The Badger was surprised at the skill of the fox cub because he was sure that this was the fox cup with his magic. He went to the rich man and his group. “You have lost. I have identified you.”

The nobleman and his group on seeing the Barger beat the animal to death. 

The Fox cub looked at the whole thing from a hill nearby and realized that the treachery against his mother had been punished and walked away from there.

Adapted from folktales from Japan