Once, there lived an old man. One morning, he went out into his yard to sweep. He found a bean in the corner of the garden. He picked it up and planted it behind his house. In a few days, it sprouted and then grew into a big tree and yielded almost a bushel of beans. One day, it so happened that a fox came from somewhere and ate up all the beans. The old man was furious. He roared, “You hateful beast! You have stolen and eaten the beans which I have taken so much pains to raise! I will kill you! ’’ The fox begged to be forgiven and said, “Please let me go! If you leave me, I’ll help you earn a lot of money.” The old man agreed to release the fox. Immediately, the fox transformed himself into a pony. The old man took the pony to a house of a rich man and sold him for a huge amount.
The Fox Returns Kindness
The fox, which had turned into a pony, did not stay at the rich man’s house for a long time. It ran away after five days and came back to the old man. “This time I will change myself into a tea kettle,” the fox said and turned into a kettle. He took the kettle to the temple and sold it to the priest who was looking for a beautiful tea kettle. When the priest put the kettle over the fire, it made a sound. The servant took the kettle to the river to wash it. “Ouch! Ouch! ” it cried, “ Don’t rub so hard.” “This is terrible,” the servant said. He went back to the temple and told the priest everything. “Nonsense,” replied the priest, “How is that possible?” The priest built a big fire and hung the tea kettle over it. The fox could not bear the heat and cried, “That’s too hot, priest!” It showed its tail and ran off.
