{"collection":"myth-cosmogony","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_57339/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_57339","id":"gutenberg_57339","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/57339","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Children & Young Adult Reading","Category: Mythology, Legends & Folklore","Category: Science-Fiction & Fantasy","Fairy tales","Foxes -- Juvenile fiction"],"text":"Produced by Mary Glenn Krause, amsibert, David E. Brown,\nand the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at\nhttp://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images\ngenerously made available by The Internet Archive/American\nLibraries.)\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n    THE FOX THAT WANTED\n    NINE GOLDEN TAILS\n\n\n[Illustration: \u201cThe most beautiful girl he had ever seen stood before\nhim.\u201d]\n\n\n\n\n    The Fox That Wanted\n    Nine Golden Tails\n\n    BY\n    Kathleen Gray Nelson\n\n    [Illustration]\n\n    THE DEVIN-ADAIR COMPANY\n    NEW YORK\n\n\n\n\n    COPYRIGHT, 1915, BY\n    THE DEVIN-ADAIR COMPANY\n\n    All rights reserved\n\n\n\n\nTHE FOX THAT WANTED NINE GOLDEN TAILS\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER I\n\n\nHe was a Japanese fox, and although he looked just like any other fox,\nhe knew a few things that his American brothers have never heard about\neven to this day. One of these things was that if he lived to be one\nhundred years old without ever being chased by a dog, he could become\na beautiful woman; if he lived for five hundred years and never a dog\npursued him, he could be changed into a mighty wizard who would know\nmore than any man on earth; but, better than all, after a thousand\nyears of peace he would turn into a celestial fox and have nine golden\ntails.\n\nNow a beautiful woman does very well in her place and it is a great\nhonor to be a wise man, but a fox with nine golden tails is the most\nwonderful thing in all the world. For that reason when the fox was very\nyoung, only about sixty or seventy-five, he thought he would refuse\nto be changed into either a woman or a wizard and would wait for his\nthousandth birthday.\n\n\u201cThere are enough pretty women and wise men in the world now,\u201d he\nexplained to his friends of the forest. \u201cThe pretty women make the\ntrouble and the wise men try to straighten it out, and they are both\nkept busy. They don\u2019t have half as much fun as a fox.\u201d But as the years\nwent by he grew so tired of skulking and hiding about, and being\nnothing but a common, every-day, bushy-tailed gray fox that he almost\ndecided to compromise the matter.\n\n\u201cAfter all, there are worse things in the world than pretty women,\u201d he\nsaid, scratching his ear, \u201cand wise men have their uses.\u201d\n\nWhat settled the question quite suddenly was a most exciting adventure\nhe had just when he had begun to think he was cunning enough to outwit\nall the dogs on the Island of Japan. Now, he had had a great deal of\nexperience in this line, and it was no wonder he flattered himself his\ndodging tactics were perfect. His ear was so trained he could hear\na dog barking miles away, and he could smell a pack of hounds even\nfurther than he could hear them. Besides, when he looked at their\ntracks he knew exactly how long it had been since they passed that\nway, and as he had many acquaintances among the birds and bees and\nbutterflies, they, too, often gave him timely warning.\n\nHe had also traveled extensively and knew all the safe places for a fox\nto stop. At last, after enduring many hardships and sleeping in swamps\nand on beds of nettles, and sometimes having to run all night and not\nsleep at all, and being forced to move so many times that he never had\nany home feeling, he had discovered the most delightful spot imaginable.\n\nIt was a beautiful wood toward the north of the island, where the\ngnarled old trees were so thick and crooked and the weeds so tall that\nthe sun never touched the ground, and it was so dark and gloomy there\nmen said it was the home of gnomes and goblins and no one could be\ninduced to pass through it. Even the little streams gurgled hoarsely\nand their waters were black, and the great owls couldn\u2019t tell when it\nwas night and so hooted throughout the day, and bats were always flying\nabout with shrill screams.\n\nAs many wild creatures looking for peace found their way here and\nnever again went out of the forest, he had much good company. There\nwere foxes, bears, birds, deer, monkeys, rabbits, squirrels, pigeons,\nducks, and a host of tiny things like worms, beetles, scorpions,\nmice, ants, lizards, centipedes, frogs, grasshoppers, eels, snails,\ncrabs and caterpillars, and also a wild hen and her mate, who had a\nvery hard time ever raising a family, a pouyou brought all the way\nfrom South America with the initials of a sailor who would never see\nit again cut on its brown shell armor, crickets that the Japanese\ncall grass larks and that sing more sweetly there than any place\nin the world, a tortoise so many hundreds of years old he didn\u2019t\nremember when he was born, a rusty old crocodile who called himself\nLuxuriant-Thick-Mud-Master and a parrot that had known the misery of\nliving in a cage until once the door was left open. Then he went away\nwithout saying good-by and flew straight over the hills and rivers and\nrice fields until he lit on a tree in this wood. How he chuckled when\nhe knew he had reached the land he had so often heard about, the land\nthe birds call Napatantutu, which in their language means Stay Here\nAlways. And at first he thought it a great joke to scream \u201cLook out,\u201d\nand a few other human words not so polite, and throw all the animals\nin a panic. But after he had been there a while he either reformed or\nforgot how men talked and so bothered them no more.\n\nThe tortoise having lived longer than any of the others, had had time\nto find out more, and he said there was a huge monster in a far-distant\npart of the wood that was neither man nor beast, but more dangerous\nthan either.\n\n    \u201cIts eyes were bright as any glass,\n    Its scales were hard as any brass,\u201d\n\nhe declared, and when it roared the whole earth grew dark with the\nsmoke from its steaming nostrils, and when it laughed a flame came out\nof its mouth that lit up the sky, and this Terrible Thing was called a\ndragon. It goes without saying they were all very careful to keep away\nfrom the particular place where the dragon was said to live, and as\nnone of them had ever seen it, they were not sure it was there.\n\nThe snail had been heard to stoutly declare he wouldn\u2019t run from it\nanyway, but as the orang-outang reminded him, it was very easy to be\nbrave before you saw it coming, but he had heard of snails that got in\nsuch a hurry they left their houses behind them. The bear asked the\nvery important question: \u201cHow many legs has a dragon?\u201d And when the\ntortoise said it must have at least a million, since a centipede had\na hundred, the bear was comforted, for as he wisely told the fox, one\nneed not be afraid of anything if it has more than four legs.\n\nNow there wasn\u2019t much difference between day and night in Napatantutu,\nfor both were happy times, and they could eat when they wished and\nsleep when they wished, and they didn\u2019t have to do anything unless\nthey liked to do it. Sometimes they would eat and sleep all day, and\nat night, when the green eyes of the owls shone like lanterns and the\nfireflies lit up the wood with their little lamps, they would meet in a\nwonderful dell all lined with moss softer than velvet carpet, and there\nthey would romp and play until morning.\n\nThe frogs would sit in a solemn circle on toadstools, the worms,\nbecause they wanted to see what was going on, would crawl up on the\ngrand stand, which was the pouyou\u2019s back, the ants would hold wee\npink and blue flowers over them for parasols because they tried to be\nfashionable, the monkey was always the clown, the quiet tortoise the\njudge and the fox was the mischief maker, but too sly to ever be caught\nin his tricks.\n\nThe frog liked to show how far he could jump, the deer always wanted\nto run a race, the monkey would put up a target for them to throw at,\nthe bear would dance on his hind legs, while the crickets and the\ngrasshoppers were the band, and when the circus was over the porcupine\nwould invite them to a quill-ting party.\n\nOr if they grew tired of fun and frolic the pouyou would tell them\nstories about a land far beyond the Sun\u2019s Nest, where the birds and\nbutterflies, the parrots and lizards were redder than red and greener\nthan green; and again of a wide world of water with houses that rocked\nall the time floating on it, but where these houses came from or where\nthey went he had been too sick to find out, although he had been in\none for many sad months.\n\nAnd when the thunder rumbled and flashes of lightning shot through the\nleaves, and the owls shut their eyes in terror and the poor little\nfireflies put out their lights, they would whisper to each other that\nthe dragon was around, and scamper away and hide until morning.\n\nAnd then when it was daylight they wouldn\u2019t be a bit frightened, and\neach one would say the other ran first, and he only ran because some\none behind pushed him and he couldn\u2019t help it. And they would pooh!\npooh! and declare in a chorus they didn\u2019t believe there was any such\nthing as a dragon. But the fox, who was usually a big talker, never\nhad anything to say except once, when he told them quite seriously he\nhoped there was a real, true, live dragon. But no one believed him.\n\nThey did not know that when he was a baby fox, only about the size of a\ncat, and lived in the Fertile Plain of Sweet Flags, one cool and dewy\nnight his mother made a bed of leaves behind a log, and as she cuddled\nhim close to her warm bosom she told him how to know if the dogs were\nanywhere around.\n\nShe said when the wind brought him a hot breath out of a cold nose,\na breath that smelt like it had a bark in it, he must listen with\nboth ears, and after that if he heard a sound that was neither hungry\nnor angry, but came full tilt out of a throat just bursting with\njoy, he would know that the dogs were on his trail, for they only\nchased animals for the fun of catching them, and because a fox was so\ncunning, it was great sport to run him down. And if he saw strange\ntracks, in which had lodged a caterpillar\u2019s hair or an ant\u2019s egg, the\ndogs had passed the day before, but if the tracks were bare, the feet\nthat made them were not far away.\n\nAnd she added if he were smart enough to never, never let the dogs get\nafter him, when he was a thousand years old a dragon would give him\nnine golden tails. It was true no one had ever seen a fox with more\nthan one tail, but in the Kojiri, or Tails of Ancient Things, which was\nwritten on the bark of the oldest trees, it had always been told that\nthere would be one fox who would in this way become the hero of his\nrace, and perhaps he would be that very one if he learned to be clever\nand careful. And as his mother was the wisest fox on earth, he knew\nthat she knew what she was talking about, and he was glad now to hear\nthere was a dragon handy.\n\nIn fact, Napatantutu was exactly the kind of a home the fox was looking\nfor, dragon and all, and he was quite sure he could pass a thousand\nquiet years here without ever hearing the bark of a dog. He no longer\njumped at the sound of every crackling twig or put his ear to the\nground before he sat down to rest, and often he would lie for hours on\nsome cool knoll licking his paws and thinking up some prank to play on\nhis neighbors. And he grew fat and saucy and lazy, and whisked his one\ninsignificant tail proudly as he walked.\n\nBut, alas! there came an end to these delightful days. Late in the\nafternoon of his hundredth birthday, as he stood watching two ants wage\na fierce battle over a grain of rice, close behind him he heard a\nsound that made his very blood run cold. He raised his head and sniffed\nthe air, then stood trembling.\n\n\u201cThe dogs!\u201d he groaned, as a second time, and nearer now, came the\nawful noise, and he darted like an arrow through the forest.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER II\n\n\nNow Nio Kuro, a Prince and the most famous hunter in the kingdom, had\ncome in his boat down the river that ran through the haunted wood. With\nhim he had brought many servants and his pack of trained leopards, with\nwhich he hunted, and which were swifter and had keener scent than any\ndogs. Possibly Nio Kuro had never heard of this forest, or it may have\nbeen that he became so excited when the leopards started on their wild\nchase that he forgot to be afraid of goblins. At any rate, he dashed\nheadlong into the wood, encouraging his leopards with loud shouts, and\nhis servants, after a moment\u2019s hesitation, followed him.\n\nThe fox was crashing through the underbrush just ahead of his\npursuers, now tearing his way through hanging vines and again leaping\nover rocks and streams. The leopards came closer and closer behind him.\nOn they flew through swamps and thickets, into thorn bushes and bramble\npatches and across deep ravines, and not even the wind could keep up\nwith them. At last the poor fox was tired out. His legs were torn and\nbleeding, he had left bunches of his fur on many a bush and thorn, his\nfeet were bruised and lame and his breath almost gone.\n\nToo late he found that he had slept too much and eaten too much during\nthe long, comfortable days he had spent in his new home, and that\nhe could not run as once he did when he was thin and lithe and his\nlegs were hard and his feet like rubber. Panting, gasping, his tongue\nhanging out, foam dripping from his mouth, he went blindly on in\nirregular leaps. The leopards were gaining on him every moment.\n\nAlready he could feel the hot breath of the spotted leader burn his\nflanks and he knew his time had come. Never, no, never, would he be a\nfox with nine golden tails! He would merely die a cruel death and his\none poor bushy tail would be carried away as a trophy, his body torn\nto pieces by savage beasts. As this sad picture rose up before him he\nmade one last long leap for liberty, and then his trembling legs could\ncarry him no further. Driven to bay, he snarled angrily, and backing\nup against the trunk of a great hollow tree, turned to fight his last\nbattle.\n\nThen a strange thing happened.\n\nAt that very moment a huge and horrible creature he knew at once must\nbe the dragon rose between him and the maddened leopards. Its body was\ncovered with shining silver scales that crackled like burning logs as\nit moved, its ears were big black wings that flapped like sails, its\ngreat claws had nails as long and sharp as knives, its double tongue\nwas two red-hot flames, its glaring eyes seemed balls of fire and its\nlong tail curled and writhed like a mighty snake.\n\n\u201cThere has been a mistake,\u201d the dragon breathed, and its words came\nout in smoke. \u201cYou were one hundred years old this morning, and as you\nhave never in all your life had to run from a dog, you should have been\ngiven the chance to become a beautiful woman if you wished.\u201d\n\n\u201cGive me the chance now,\u201d panted the fox. \u201cThere is nothing I want so\nmuch as to be a woman, even an ugly one will do.\u201d\n\nWhen the Prince, who could not keep up with the chase, appeared on the\nscene, he found the leopards with their tails tucked between their legs\nand their heads hanging down. There was no fox anywhere, but the most\nbeautiful girl he had ever seen stood before him. For a time Nio Kuro\ncould only look at her, for he was dumb with astonishment. She blushed\nand drew her long black hair over her face until he could barely see\nthe tip of her nose and her little red mouth. Then she knelt before him.\n\nHis attendants now came running up, for he had outstripped them all,\nand they too stopped speechless with their mouths open. The Prince did\nnot heed them. He bent down over the mysterious maiden and so far\nforgot his manners that he took both her small hands in his and raised\nher to her feet, for he wanted to see her face again, and the more he\nlooked at her the lovelier she seemed to him.\n\n\u201cWho are you, O fairest one?\u201d he asked rapturously. \u201cWho is your\nillustrious father and what is your honored name?\u201d But she gazed about\nher in a puzzled way and shook her head.\n\n\u201cI do not know,\u201d she answered.\n\nThe Prince frowned at her strange reply, for he could scarcely believe\nhis ears, and he even pinched himself under his silken tunic to be sure\nhe was not dreaming. But she was so pretty he could not be angry with\nher, and as he looked into her soft brown eyes his frown changed into a\nsmile, and he said in a very gentle voice:\n\n\u201cAre you lost? Are there other hunters here who have brought you with\nthem and now you wait for them to return?\u201d\n\n\u201cI am all alone,\u201d she told him.\n\nHe was so surprised he did not know what to say. At last he stammered:\n\n\u201cPerhaps you are only teasing me--or it may be that you are afraid\nof me because I am a stranger. But no harm shall come to you through\nme--that I promise you. I am Nio Kuro, a Prince of Hi-no-moto, the Land\nWhere the Day Begins. Forgive my rudeness in speaking to you, but will\nyou not let me guard you and take you back to your friends?\u201d\n\n\u201cI have no friends and nowhere to go,\u201d she sighed.\n\n\u201cBut whence do you come, O sweetest creature in all the kingdom?\u201d cried\nthe bewildered Prince. Again she shook her head.\n\n\u201cI belong to the forest,\u201d she said simply.\n\n\u201cHenceforth you shall belong to me,\u201d the Prince declared, and so he\ntook her back to his Bamboo Castle as his bride. There every one\nwondered at this fair maid of the forest, but no one could find out who\nwere her parents or where her home had been or anything about her, and\nthe Prince was so charmed with her grace and beauty he never bothered\nhis head about these questions that so worried other people. She loved\nhim and he loved her and that was all he cared to know about her, for\nthe Prince was a very clever man.\n\nHe bought her the loveliest gowns of purple and yellow satin, all\nembroidered in roses and green leaves and jeweled butterflies, and\nshe had servants to wait upon her and fan her and a red and gold\njinricksha to ride in. He called her a queer Japanese word which means\nWild Flower, for he said she grew and blossomed in the forest and he\ntransplanted her and made her a Princess. But that was just his own pet\nname for her, and he ordered that throughout the Land Where the Day\nBegins she should be known as the Princess Hoshi, or the Star Princess.\n\nAnd he gave a great supper and invited all the people of his kingdom to\nit, and in the center of the table was a cake so big it looked like a\nsnow-covered mountain, and around it were blooming all the joyous and\nlucky flowers, while out in the court was a maple tree covered with\nwhat every one thought at first was autumn leaves, but these leaves\nturned out to be little cakes of every color under the sun, and each\nguest was given a red paper bag filled with them to carry home. No\nwonder they were all glad the Prince had found a Princess Hoshi, and\nwished him and his Star Princess long life and much joy. It is true\nthere were some who, as soon as they got away, nodded their heads\nknowingly as they munched their cakes, and said the Princess was an odd\nperson and perhaps the Prince would one day wish he had left her in the\nforest.\n\nNow, a Bamboo Castle is a charming place to live. There were wind\nbells hung all along the eaves and they tinkled with the whisper of\nevery passing breeze, and the windows were of paper, so that when the\nPrincess wanted to look out of doors all she had to do was to poke a\nhole in one of them with her finger and by putting one eye there she\ncould see everything that was passing and no one could catch a glimpse\nof her, and there were hundreds of mats on the floor of every room,\nand these were soft and cool to walk upon even in Doyo, or the Period\nof Greatest Heat, and the Prince went all the way to the town of\nHirosaki to get her a bronze mirror that she might see how pretty she\nwas, and she often looked in it. He also brought her a long-haired,\nfluffy little dog, but she screamed and would have nothing to do with\nit, so in its place he gave her a red cat without any tail that purred\npleasantly whenever she touched it.\n\nAt night she slept on a pillow of shining black wood, and on it were\nsprawling, straggling letters of gold that spelled the name of the\nBaku, for the Baku in Japan has the body of a horse, the face of a\nlion, the trunk and tusks of an elephant, the tail of a cow and the\nfeet of a tiger, and it eats up evil dreams. In fact, it never eats\nanything else, and yet it is always fat. So not only did the Princess\nhave everything comfortable and agreeable while she was awake, but even\nin her sleep only sweet dreams could come to her.\n\nAnd on summer evenings when there wasn\u2019t any moon the Prince would\nhave many bright-colored paper lanterns lit and hung in the garden,\nand lamps that looked like flowers would be swung in the trees, and\nthen he would have his servants, who had been busy all day catching\nthem in nets, turn out thousands of fireflies with their little golden\nlights all glowing, and the garden would be changed into fairyland.\nThe Princess would sit in an arbor fringed with wistaria blossoms and\nsip her tea, while some of her maidens would sing for her and others\nwith much bowing and waving of fans would dance in a slow and solemn\nfashion.\n\nAnd again when the moon was a big, soft, bright ball and the clouds\nwere very blue, she and the Prince and her maidens would go to the\npavilion in the center of the garden and climb the many steps to the\ntop, where there was a room called the moon-viewing Place of Peace. And\nthe Prince would tell his flower-wife in the lovely language of the\nland that the sun was a golden crow and the moon a jeweled hare, and of\nhow Princess Splendor, the dear daughter of the moon, once ran away,\nand when her mother called her she climbed home on a moonbeam crying\nsilver tears, and all her tears took wings and flew down to earth and\nturned into fireflies.\n\nBut the Princess would have thoughts they could not understand and ask\nquestions that would make even Nio Kuro smile. Once she said to him\nquite seriously:\n\n\u201cDid you ever see a dragon?\u201d\n\n\u201cCertainly,\u201d he answered. \u201cThere were many of these wriggling creatures\nmade of red and yellow and pink and green paper, with lanterns for\neyes, carried in the festival procession last year. They were very\namusing.\u201d\n\n\u201cPaper dragons,\u201d she cried scornfully. \u201cI mean live ones.\u201d\n\n\u201cI have read of them and seen many pictures of them,\u201d he told her.\n\u201cThere was one called Riu Gu, the Dragon King of the World Under the\nSea, and when he sneezed the waters would jump up and tumble over each\nother in mighty waves, and every time the dragon caught cold many a\nfishing boat went down. But that was years and years ago, and now all\nthe dragons are dead.\u201d\n\nAnd she only laughed and said no more, but she knew better. Perhaps the\ntrouble was she knew too much to be a Princess, and that was why she at\nlast got dreadfully bored.\n\nBut for many months everything went on beautifully at Bamboo Castle\nand the Prince and Wild Flower were deliciously happy. It was very\nnice to have a magnificent home, and a lake full of gold fish, and\na shady garden where fountains trickled drops of music, and little\ncrystal streams rushed over the rocks and sang to the lilies on their\nbanks. And it was pleasant to wear lovely clothes, and eat sharks\u2019\nfins and birds\u2019 nest soup and bamboo shoots and lotus bulbs and other\ndelicacies that only very rich people can have in Japan. And she was\nglad to think she wasn\u2019t a fox, hiding out in brier patches, always\nlistening for dogs and sometimes hungry. Surely it was much better to\nbe a Princess than a fox.\n\nThen gradually a change came over her, and although she had everything\nshe wanted, she was no longer happy. Sometimes in the day when she\nlingered by the lake and watched the little gold fish dart about like\nflames in the clear water and jump up on the bank to get the lard cakes\nand rice balls she had brought them, she sighed, and for no reason at\nall scolded the mincing, bias-eyed lady who carried a gorgeous parasol\nover her.\n\nAnd again in the starlit night, when she walked in the perfumed garden\nand listened to the musical drip, drip of the fountain, and heard the\nfrogs calling to each other from the lotus pools, there came to her the\nmemory of an enchanted land, where bats circled and shrieked, and great\nowls squatted solemnly on the knotty branches of the trees, winking and\nblinking and never sleeping, and a mighty dragon with glaring eyes and\nshining scales lived in a hollow tree. And strange to say, when she\nremembered this dark and lonely forest her own garden seemed to her but\na stupid place.\n\nAfter a while she grew tired of living in a house, even if it was a\nBamboo Castle, and whenever she went out having men carry her about in\na stuffy chair, and she longed for the shade of the far-away wood, the\nsound of the hoarsely gurgling streams, for a run in the early morning\nthrough the dew-laden grass, for the hum of the bees, the smell of the\ndead leaves and a nap on a mossy bank.\n\nSo she fretted and grew so discontented that ugly lines crept in\nbetween her brows, the rose all went out of her cheeks, and she was\nso cross the Prince was once heard to say he had married a nettle\nin place of a wild flower. She slapped her servants, quarreled with\nher mother-in-law (which in Japan is an awful thing to do), and was\naltogether as disagreeable as a woman could be. The Prince was patient.\nHe stood it for a long time without saying a word and tried in every\nway to please his royal lady. One day he asked:\n\n\u201cIs there nothing, Fair One, would make you kind and sweet again? If\nanything will make you happy, only say what it is and I will go even to\nthe ends of the earth for it.\u201d\n\nAfter thinking a moment the Princess answered:\n\n\u201cTake me back to the forest where you found me. If I could only see\nthat dear place again I would be content ever after. But leave the\ncruel leopards behind,\u201d she added quickly.\n\n\u201cThere is much game there,\u201d he said regretfully. But she frowned and\nstamped her little foot angrily.\n\n\u201cYou shall not kill anything,\u201d she declared. \u201cIf you do you will break\nmy heart.\u201d\n\n\u201cPerhaps it were best not to hunt there,\u201d he acknowledged, thinking of\nthe evil spirits that were said to roam this forest. \u201cIt is the Land\nof Roots and the Home of Darkness. Why do you want to go there? Now\nthat you are out of it I should think you would want to stay away.\u201d\n\nBut she began to cry and got in such a temper that he was willing she\nshould have her way, so he had his boat brought out and made ready. The\nnext morning he and the Princess, with only the rowers to keep them\ncompany, started on their long journey. The Princess was silent, and\nwhenever he spoke to her she answered him so angrily that he ceased to\ntry to talk to her. So they sat on the deck, never saying a word, until\nthe fifth morning, when they stopped at the very spot he had moored his\nboat the day he had found her and brought her away with him.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER III\n\n\nWhen the Princess looked into the mysterious land, where not a sound\nwas heard, she gathered up her rich silken skirt in both hands, and\njumping ashore, ran as fast as her feet would carry her over the same\nground where once the leopards had chased her when she was a fox. She\nlost one of her sandals, her hair, that was fastened high on her head\nwith fans and golden pins, slipped down on her shoulders, and the\njeweled clasp at her waist dropped off, but she never stopped or looked\nbehind. The Prince followed as fast as he could, but so fleet of foot\nwas she that she left him far behind, and when she reached the big tree\nwith the hollow trunk she fell down before it, crying:\n\n\u201cOh, most powerful dragon, make me a fox again, for now I know it is\nbetter to be a fox than a woman.\u201d\n\nThen out of the hollow tree came the same hideous creature she had seen\nbefore, and when it opened its yawning mouth its teeth shone like ivory\nspears, and she thought it was about to swallow her. But the dragon\nonly looked at her and sniffed scornfully until the smoke from its\nnostrils darkened the air.\n\nAnd when the Prince came in search of Wild Flower only a gray fox\ndarted through the tangled weeds and bushes and was lost in the deep,\ndark wood. The Prince looked after it longingly.\n\n\u201cOi! Oi!\u201d he cried (which is the Japanese way of saying \u201cHello!\u201d)\n\u201cWould that I had my leopards with me. Then would I give chase and\ncatch you, my fine fellow.\u201d\n\nBut he had no time to bother with a fox when his loved one was lost\nin this queer and dangerous place, and he rushed frantically about\nthe forest calling, \u201cWild Flower! Wild Flower! Dear Wild Flower!\u201d But\nthough he sought her for many days, and all the rowers joined in the\nhunt, he never saw her again. So he went back to the Bamboo Castle very\nsad and lonely, but every one there, tired of her airs and her temper,\nsaid she was a witch and he was well rid of her. When he thought over\nhow peevish she had become he was inclined to agree with them, and\nfinally he married a pretty and amiable little Princess and Wild Flower\nwas forgotten.\n\nAnd out in the shadowy depths of a certain wood a cunning gray fox\nsmiled until he showed his shining teeth when a saucy bird, mocking the\nPrince\u2019s call, repeated, \u201cWild Flower! Wild Flower! Dear Wild Flower!\u201d\nin its merry song. Then he lay down and rolled over in the wet leaves\nand licked his fur contentedly.\n\n\u201cI\u2019m glad I\u2019m out of that,\u201d he said. \u201cNow I\u2019ll wait until the thousand\nyears are up. Nothing will satisfy me except to be a fox with nine\ngolden tails.\u201d\n\nWith never a regret he went back to the old life, and hunted mice and\ncreeping things when he got hungry, and when there was neither moon nor\nstars, ran through the black night to the farm house far beyond the\nedge of the forest, and came back in the gray of the morning with his\nlips all bloody and his paws as well--the signs of his midnight feast\nin the chicken yard.\n\nThe wonderful wood, so dark, so still, so cool, put on patches of\ncolor with the passing month, and in the few spots where the sunshine\nsometimes crept, the trees grew vivid with the burning glory of autumn\nor pale and cold with the first blue blossoms of spring, then softly\npink with azalea blooms or bright as a glowing sunset with the flowers\nof peach and cherry.\n\nAnd in the Period of Greatest Light the leaves would cover the ground\nand make soft beds where all the wild things could sleep snug and warm\nduring the Period of Greatest Cold. As for the fox, though he was a\nbit quarrelsome, the years passed pleasantly and peacefully. No one\never again came there to hunt, and such queer things had been whispered\nabroad about what happened in this pathless country, where lived such\nstrange creatures as never man had seen, that travelers went far out of\ntheir way rather than pass through it.\n\nAnd on stormy nights, when the wind howled and windows rattled and\nthe tempest-torn trees swayed and groaned, people all over the island\nbarred their doors tight and fast, for they said: \u201cThe spirits of the\nwood are out to-night.\u201d And they lit incense sticks to keep them from\ncoming in, and as they sipped their tea, told stories about the weird\nwood. A favorite one was that a beautiful Princess was kept there a\nprisoner by a cruel dragon, and of how a mighty Prince once found her\nand carried her away to his castle, but she heard the dragon calling,\ncalling, calling her all the day and all the night, and at last either\nshe slipped out of the castle and went to him or else he came and stole\nher away, no one knew just which way it was.\n\nAnd while other brave men would willingly go to rescue her, yet they\nall agreed what was the use, for the dragon would get her again and\nthey would have their trouble for nothing. So she had been there now\nfor hundreds and hundreds of years, but was still young and lovely--so\nthe story ran. But like all legends, it got a little twisted in the\ntelling.\n\nSo many summers and winters came and went that every one except the fox\nforgot to count them. At last a famine spread over all the land. It\nwas the Period of Greatest Heat. No rain had fallen for many a week.\nThe earth was dry as a dead leaf, the grass turned brown, the streams\ndried up, the birds all died or went away, one by one the animals\nperished, and the once beautiful Napatantutu was grim and desolate.\n\nThe fox was now five hundred years old. His coat of fur was whiter\nthan when he was young, his legs were not so nimble and some of his\nteeth were gone. He searched the wood for food and water and could find\nneither. He grew so thin that his ribs stuck through the skin, so weak\nhe trembled like the aspen when he walked. The pains of hunger gnawed\nhim day and night and he felt as if he must surely die.\n\nThen he mustered up all the strength he had left and crawled to the\nbig tree with the hollow trunk. There he fell down, a heap of skin and\nbones, and called feebly for the dragon. When this terrible creature\ncame out it blew fire and smoke at him in awful wrath.\n\n\u201cI thought you wanted to be a fox with nine golden tails. Why have you\ndisturbed me?\u201d it thundered.\n\n\u201cA fox with nine golden tails is a nice thing to talk about,\u201d the poor\nfox whimpered, \u201cbut a wise man is better than a dead fox, even if it\nhad twenty golden tails, so make me a wizard, Great One, and then will\nI trouble you no more.\u201d\n\n\u201cBah!\u201d cried the dragon with such fury that the flames from its mouth\nflew up to the top of the hollow tree. When they died away the fox was\nnowhere to be seen. In his place stood a very solemn-looking old man\nwith green spectacles and a bald head.\n\n\u201cDear me, this is most peculiar,\u201d he mumbled, as he pulled his long\ngray whiskers thoughtfully. \u201cI will go to the nearest village and get\nsomething to eat, then I\u2019ll come back and talk to that dragon a while.\nIf I can find out some of his secrets I will make myself the wisest man\nthat ever lived and then will I become the richest.\u201d\n\nFrom one end of the land to the other, and even to the islands far off\nthe coast, spread the fame of the great magician who lived in a cave\non the sea shore. Princes talked about him in their castles, and the\nvery poorest people in their little bamboo-covered huts as they counted\ntheir grains of rice told of the wonderful wisdom of the Cave Man, as\nhe was called. \u201cHe can do many strange things, but there is no use\ngoing to him if you have not money,\u201d they said sadly. \u201cHe is hungry\nfor gold.\u201d\n\nMeanwhile the Cave Man waxed rich. The floor of his cavern home was\nstrewn with shining gold, ornaments of silver and ivory were on the\nwalls, and he had great bags of glittering jewels and treasures of\nuntold value, all given him by those who had come to him for help.\n\nHe could tell when it would rain and when a man must plant his crop to\nreap a full harvest, where money was hidden if it had been stolen and\nwho had taken it, who was the right girl for a man to marry and who was\nhis secret enemy, he knew what would cure the sick, what would drive\naway evil spirits and everything that any one could ask him. But he was\nalso very cruel. When the poor sought him in their sorrow he took away\ntheir last cent, and he gave neither to the sick nor to the hungry.\n\n\u201cA wise man is greater than Princes or Kings,\u201d he boasted. \u201cSome day I\nwill rule the land and all men shall pay tribute to me.\u201d And he grew\nricher and richer every day. But still he was not happy. No matter\nhow many costly and beautiful gifts were brought him, he was never\nsatisfied. He became so mean and miserly that at last the good King\nsaid:\n\n\u201cWe must rid ourselves of this man. Too long have I borne patiently\nwith him and allowed him to oppress my people. He is very dangerous. If\nleft alone he may do great harm and become the curse of the Kingdom.\nHe has wisdom and wealth and they have not contented him. What will he\nwant next? Our heads, perhaps.\u201d\n\nSo one night while the Cave Man slept the officers of the King crept\nin, and after beating him with their spears, bound him hand and foot\nand carried him off to prison. All the gold and precious stones and\nsplendid gifts the people had brought him were sold and the money given\nto the poor, and there was feasting and rejoicing everywhere, for every\none had grown to hate and fear him.\n\n\u201cYou might have done much good,\u201d the King told him, \u201cbut you worked\nonly evil. I shall keep you in prison for many years and see if you\nwill learn to be good and happy as well as wise.\u201d\n\nThe wizard went back to his dark little cell and pulled his long beard\nall the night long. When the sun peeped over the big blue mountains\nthe next morning he had not closed his eyes. Like many men, wise and\notherwise, he knew better how to manage other people\u2019s affairs than his\nown. He had not been able to bring any charms away from the cave, he\nhad neither money nor friends, and in vain he racked his brain for a\nway of escape from his gloomy prison.\n\n\u201cI hate men,\u201d he cried fiercely. \u201cWhy did I ever become one? They are\nnothing but stupid, two-legged animals. I see plainly now that it is\nmore honor to be even a common gray fox than the wisest man in the\nworld. Oh, that I had never seen that miserable dragon!\u201d\n\nBut it did no good to talk this way. He was chained fast to the wall in\na horrible dungeon, with nothing but bread and water to live on, and\nthe thing to worry about now was how to get out. Just as he was trying\nto think up some plan there came the sound of the key turning in the\nrusty lock.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER IV\n\n\nThe next moment he was surprised to see an ugly old woman coming toward\nhim. She was dressed in a purple satin gown with gold birds embroidered\nupon it, her bony fingers sparkled with rings, a long chain of pearls\nwas around her neck, and he knew by the crown on her head that it was\nthe Queen-Mother herself.\n\n\u201cI have heard that you were very wise,\u201d she said, peering at him. \u201cIf\nthat is true, why don\u2019t you get out of this dark hole?\u201d\n\n\u201cAh, I could,\u201d he moaned, shaking his head sadly, \u201cbut my charms are\nall in the cave. I have there a key that will unlock any door, a mantle\nthat will make the wearer invisible to mortal eyes, a root that will\ncure any disease, a piece of money that the one who carries it will\nnever have an empty pocket, and there, too, is the famous pearl that\nwill make the woman who wears it seem the most beautiful woman in the\nworld.\u201d The old woman crept closer to him.\n\n\u201cWhat did you say about a pearl?\u201d she whispered breathlessly.\n\n\u201cAh, it is a pearl fit for a Queen,\u201d he said, pursing up his lips. \u201cIt\nis big as the egg of a swan, shaped like a perfect pear and white as\na dragon\u2019s tooth. The woman who wears it hung around her neck all men\nwill adore. She will always be young, always the loveliest lady that\nwas ever seen.\u201d The eyes of the Queen glittered greedily.\n\n\u201cWhere is that pearl, wizard?\u201d she asked, grasping his arm so tightly\nthat her claw-like fingers dug into his flesh. But the wizard only\nsmiled.\n\n\u201cThe wise man tells not all he knows,\u201d he answered. She caught him by\nthe shoulders and shook him fiercely.\n\n\u201cSpeak! Speak!\u201d she commanded. \u201cTell me where you keep this priceless\npearl or I will have your tongue torn out by the roots.\u201d\n\n\u201cThat would be a pity,\u201d he said calmly. \u201cThen the pearl would never be\nfound, and no woman would have the glory of being the most beautiful\nwoman in the world.\u201d The old woman screwed up her wrinkled face and\ntapped her foot impatiently on the stone floor. Then she said with a\ncunning leer:\n\n\u201cIf that pearl were mine--so great is the power of beauty--I would rule\nthe land in place of my step-son the King. Then would you be my chief\ncounsellor and next to me in authority, which surely would be better\nthan spending all your years in a dark dungeon where no one will ever\nhear of your wisdom. You could live in my palace and have many servants\nto wait upon you, and if I were the most beautiful woman, you could\nbecome the richest man in the kingdom. It would be a sad thing for the\npearl to crumble away and never be worn by a woman, and also for the\ngreat Cave Man to die a wretched death--perhaps of hunger--in this\ndirty hole.\u201d\n\n\u201cIf I were only free I could bring you the pearl,\u201d the wizard\nanswered. \u201cNo one save me can ever get it, for it is watched by a\ndragon with eyes that are always open and teeth that are sharp and\ncruel.\u201d The Queen looked at the door she had just unlocked.\n\n\u201cI have the key,\u201d she said thoughtfully, \u201cbut there is not only the\njailer without, but many guards that you must pass.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou have much gold,\u201d he suggested, \u201cand yet that pearl is worth more\nto a woman than all the gold and jewels of the earth. It will bring her\neverything her heart desires.\u201d She shook her head.\n\n\u201cI cannot buy all the guards,\u201d she told him. \u201cSome of them are old and\nfaithful servants of the King. You must find some other way.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou speak of ways as if they were easy to find,\u201d he grumbled, and his\nheart again felt heavy in his breast.\n\n\u201cThey should be--for a wise man,\u201d she tauntingly replied. \u201cSurely\nyou must have left your wits in the cave too. But I must be off. The\nKing gives a banquet to-night in honor of his bride, who is called the\nFairest Creature of the Flowery Kingdom. And she likes that better than\nthe name of Queen.\u201d\n\n\u201cStay,\u201d cried the wizard quickly. \u201cThe way is found. Know you the weed\nwith the purple flower that has crimson dots on its petals--a weed\nwith glossy, pointed leaves that grows by every wayside and sends out\na strange perfume after the sun goes down?\u201d The Queen nodded. \u201cWell,\nsqueeze the juice from the stem of this weed. A few drops of that in\nthe wine to-night and all the castle will fall into sleep so deep that\nthough I rode away on a prancing steed no one would hear me. See that\nmy keepers drink of that wine. Then open my door, unloose my chains\nand leave the rest to me.\u201d The old woman cackled in her thin, shrill\nvoice. Suddenly she stopped and looked at him suspiciously.\n\n\u201cBut you will return?\u201d she questioned. \u201cYou will bring that precious\npearl to me? If you stayed away you would be searched for in every\ncorner of the land. You could not escape my vengeance. No matter how\nclever you were, the officers of the King would one day find you--even\nas they found you this time--and when you were caught your head would\nbe brought back to court. Remember my words, Cave Man, if you play me\nfalse.\u201d\n\n\u201cOnly let me get out, and if I do not return you are welcome to the\nhead of the wisest man in the kingdom,\u201d he told her. \u201cBut you must give\nme seven days--three to go, three to come back, and one day to persuade\nthe dragon to give me the pearl, for he is a jealous monster and ugly\nwhen he is roused. It will not be an easy matter to get him to give me\nhis treasure, and no one can steal it from him.\n\n\u201cAfter the sun has set on the seventh day I will stand before you.\nWearing my magic mantle, I will slip by the soldiers and the guards\nlike a puff of wind, and no one will see me pass, no one hear my\nfootsteps. And because this time I will have all my charms with me, no\nman can harm me. And I will bring you the greatest gift that was ever\ngiven to a woman.\u201d\n\nStill chuckling to herself, the old woman unlocked the door of the\nlittle cell and slipped away. When she had gone the wizard laughed\nuntil his chains rattled. Then he lay down on the hard floor and fell\ninto a peaceful sleep.\n\nThat night the banquet in the King\u2019s palace was a merry affair, and\nwhen the rejoicing was at its height the Queen-Mother came in and said:\n\n\u201cLet us send wine to all the servants and to the jailers and even to\nthe guards without, that they may all drink to the health of the lovely\nQueen.\u201d\n\n\u201cGood! Good!\u201d cried the King, as he raised his cup on high. \u201cEvery one\nin the whole city shall have food and drink to-night. Let it be given\nfreely to all.\u201d\n\nBut the eyes of many were already so heavy that they forgot to cheer\nhis words, and soon one by one they fell over as they sat eating and\nrolled upon the floor. At last even the King was overcome, and went\nfast asleep in his great carved chair with his crown awry. And all of\nthe servants, having had much wine, lay at their posts like dead men.\n\nWhen all was still the Queen-Mother ran to the prison, and taking the\nkeys from the waist of the sleeping jailer, unlocked the wizard\u2019s cell.\nHe was expecting her, and he cried impatiently:\n\n\u201cYou were long in coming. The people everywhere will soon be astir, and\nthey will capture me and bring me again to the King if they meet me on\nmy way to the cave.\u201d (For he did not want her to know that he was going\nstraight to the haunted forest.) While he talked she had unfastened his\nchains with trembling hands.\n\n\u201cGo! Go!\u201d she entreated. \u201cThere is not a moment to be lost. Even now\nthe fireflies are putting out their lights and waiting for the dawn.\nSee, here is gold to pay for your journey and food to last you for a\nweek. Hurry back to me with the wonderful pearl, and when I am the most\nbeautiful woman in the land you shall be the greatest man.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhen I return you shall be in truth the fairest woman men ever looked\nupon,\u201d he promised solemnly. Then he wrapped his cloak about him and\nbowed himself from her presence.\n\nWhen he was out of sight of the old lady he laughed to himself, and\nran like a shadow through the sleeping town. On and on he went, over\nthe Fertile Plain of Sweet Flags and through the long fields of waving\nrice, never once stopping to get his breath until he stood on the bank\nof the river. There he found a boat fastened to the shore, and soon he\nwas rowing up the stream with all his might.\n\nBut not yet was he safe. Because so many people throughout the country\nknew the Cave Man and hated him, he was in constant fear of being seen.\nIn the daytime he hid in the tall rushes on the river bank and slept,\nand all the night he plied his oars with feverish zeal, until his hands\nwere blistered and his back about to break. Once a party of fishermen\ncame so close to the reedy shore where he lay trembling that he could\nhear every word they said. And what he heard did not make him any more\ncomfortable.\n\n\u201cThe King has offered a great price for the head of the Cave Man,\u201d said\none, \u201cand men are hunting all over the island for him. Even if he were\na needle they would find him. On the night of the great banquet he\ncast a spell on the court and caused every one to fall asleep. Then he\nopened his prison door and ran away. Now the King will know no peace\nuntil he is dead. And whoever brings his head to the city will be a\nrich man for life.\u201d\n\n\u201cI wish I could be the lucky one,\u201d said another. \u201cI\u2019ve been looking in\nevery boat to-day for him.\u201d It seemed to the frightened Cave Man they\nmust hear his heart beating, so near he was, and perhaps they would had\nthey not been so busy talking. When at last they went away he did not\ndare to move for a long time, and that night he rowed harder and faster\nthan ever.\n\nWhen the morning of the sixth day dawned he cried aloud for joy, for\nin the dim light he saw the familiar shadows of Napatantutu. When he\nhad come nearer, even within the shade of the great trees and the\noverhanging vines, he leaped out of the boat, and as soon as his feet\nhad touched the ground, started toward the home of the dragon. He had\nthrown away his cloak, his food, his gold, for he no longer had need of\nthem. Once more he was to be free.\n\nIn the wood all was silent and lone. Not even a bird was stirring as he\nsped over the cool, wet grass. The daylight had not yet crept through\nthe thick leaves, and once he stumbled over a dead log and rolled\nheadlong into a muddy hole. The only light he saw came from a frog who\nhad filled himself with fireflies, and they now shone through his round\nstomach like a shaded lamp as he slept under a sheltering bush.\n\nThe darkness was just stealing away when he came to the big hollow tree\nand knocked twice.\n\n\u201cAlas, Most Powerful One, I am here again,\u201d he cried, as the dragon\nwrithed slowly out. \u201cIt is quite as bad to be a wise man as a pretty\nwoman--one is stupid, the other useless. A fox is a far finer creature\nthan either of them, so make me a fox again, O mightiest of living\nthings, and this time will I be content for the thousand years to pass.\u201d\n\n\u201cWill you never be satisfied?\u201d snorted the dragon. \u201cYou are not\nwilling to be what nature made you and you don\u2019t like anything I do\nfor you. Still, as you have not yet been chased by a dog, I must grant\nyour wish. But the next time you get into trouble you needn\u2019t come\nto me--remember that!\u201d And a moment later a gray fox ran past the\nhollow tree and with mighty leaps and bounds went crashing through the\nthicket.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER V\n\n\nAgain the fox went back to his old sly ways, and for a time was quite\npleased to be only a fox and live in beautiful Napantatutu. Of men and\nmen\u2019s ways he had quite enough, he was often heard to say, and he would\ncock his head to one side and wink and grin every time he thought of\nthe poor old lady who was still waiting for her pearl.\n\nThe animals came and went, and their children and their grandchildren\nand their great-grandchildren, and still he lived on. Most foxes would\nhave been happy to have such a quiet, comfortable time in an enchanted\nland and wouldn\u2019t have found anything to worry about. But after a few\nhundred years he again got restless and tired and nothing was good\nenough for him. He spent all his time planning what he would do when\nhe was a fox with nine golden tails. He talked of nothing else, and\nbecame the greatest bore in the forest. And he made so much fun of\nthe peacock, saying it wore painted feathers, that the poor bird got\nashamed to spread its tail.\n\nSoon he was shunned by all of the animals. The frog hopped away when it\nsaw him coming, the grasshopper whirred up to the top of the tallest\ntree, the owls rolled their eyes at him, flapped their wings and away\nthey went, and even the lazy old tortoise, that every day came out to\ntake its nap in a little spot of sunshine, tried to crawl away in a\nhurry when it heard him coming, and sometimes in its haste rolled all\nthe way down the river bank.\n\nYear by year he went from bad to worse. He found fault with everybody\nand everything, and was so cross that after a while he didn\u2019t have a\nsingle friend. He not only quarreled with all of his neighbors and\nsnapped and snarled at every one who spoke to him, but he greedily\nswallowed any little helpless creatures that crossed his path, so that\nat last all of the animals hated him even more than they feared him.\n\nThen, too, he refused to have anything to do with any other foxes that\nfound their way into the peaceful wood, and made their lives miserable\nwith his airs.\n\n\u201cYou are nothing but common beasts,\u201d he told them haughtily. \u201cYou will\nnever have even one golden tail, while I will one day be the wonder of\nthe world.\u201d\n\n\u201cHadn\u2019t you better wait until you get your fine tails before you brag\nso much?\u201d asked one saucy young fellow. \u201cIt may not be any better than\nbeing a woman or a wizard or even an old gray fox.\u201d\n\n\u201cA fox with nine golden tails is the most magnificent thing that was\never seen or heard about,\u201d he snarled. \u201cI will be the King of Beasts\nand even men will worship me,\u201d and he walked away switching his one\nbushy tail angrily. And he could only console himself by thinking what\na sad thing it was not to be appreciated.\n\n\u201cThey are all jealous of me,\u201d he told himself, as he didn\u2019t often get a\nchance to talk to any one else. And he fretted and fumed from morning\nuntil night, counting the years that must pass, and he grew old and\nthin worrying because the days were so long.\n\nBut everything comes if you only wait long enough, and at last the\nday came when he was a thousand years old. He had stayed all night by\nthe hollow tree so that he would be on hand early in the morning, and\nlong before it was day he began to knock and bark and call for the\ndragon. Even before the sun had touched the treetops the dragon came\nout rubbing its eyes sleepily.\n\n\u201cHow dare you wake me up?\u201d cried the angry creature, blowing out fire\nand sparks and smoke until it looked like a volcano.\n\n\u201cThis is my thousandth birthday, and I want my nine tails of gold,\u201d\nwhined the fox.\n\n\u201cYou are a blithering old bother,\u201d roared the dragon. \u201cYou don\u2019t know\nwhat you want and you don\u2019t want anything after you get it. Well,\nthis is your last visit to me. Don\u2019t let me ever see you again.\u201d With\nanother snort it raised its forked tail all covered with silver scales\nhigh above its head, opened its huge mouth and yawned furiously.\n\nThen it slowly wriggled back into its dark bed, and standing without\nwas a fox with nine big, bright, glittering, golden tails. Never, never\nhad such a thing been seen by man or beast!\n\nEven the fox was stunned for a moment when he found what had happened\nto him. Then he puffed out with pride until he almost burst, and held\nhis head so high that he nearly fell over backward. He stood alone--the\nwonder of the whole world!\n\nHis first thought was to run and show himself to all the animals of the\nforest. And he started to skip joyfully away, but alas! he was as one\nrooted to the spot. Now he found to his horror that his golden tails\nwere so heavy he could not walk, much less run. He had never thought\nabout this, and he stood trembling in his tracks, wondering just what\nhe would do about it. Besides, although he knew they must be very\nbeautiful, he could only twist his head far enough around to see the\ntip end of one of them, and he wanted so to see them all and know how\nvery grand he really did look.\n\nHe kept lifting up first one foot and then another, and straining and\ntugging in his struggle to trot off and let himself be seen. But never\nagain would he be able to run through the cool weeds and leap over the\nstreams and roll in the soft moss and kick up his heels in rustling\nbeds of leaves, for nine tails of gold were an awful load to carry. As\nhe grew more used to them he found he could manage to totter along with\nslow and painful steps, but it was very hard work. But when he thought\nof what the other poor animals would think and say when they beheld him\nin all his glory he again puffed out with pride.\n\nAfter all, if he couldn\u2019t get about very well now, he would have all of\nthem to wait upon him, so it didn\u2019t much matter. All he need do was to\nstand up and be admired. It is true he wasn\u2019t a bit comfortable, for\nthe tails were like lead, and already his poor back was aching, but\nstill one would be willing to have back-ache to be the most splendid\ncreature on earth. There never had been, there never again would be\nanything like him. He was the one superb ornament of the world. He kept\nrepeating this to himself with much satisfaction. And if he couldn\u2019t\nwalk, he could ride in the future on the backs of his adoring slaves\nand perhaps that was better.\n\nAs the fox strutted feebly and slowly through the leaves and over the\ndewy grass where he had once scampered and frolicked, suddenly he saw\na procession of all the creatures of the wood, with the monkey ahead,\ncoming to meet him, for they were very curious to know if he would get\nhis golden tails. He stopped and stood silent and haughty, waiting for\nthem. They gathered around him, but said never a word. And so he cried\nout shrilly:\n\n\u201cBehold your King! I am the most wonderful animal in all the world.\nNever again on land or on sea will there be bird or beast or fish or\nfowl that can compare with me. Stupid things that you are, fall down\nand worship me.\u201d\n\nNow, what the animals saw was not anything beautiful or wonderful, but\njust the same old gray fox, with his back bald in patches, his legs\ntrembling and his body twisted crooked by the weight of nine stiff\nyellow tails that stuck out behind him. And the more they looked at him\nthe funnier figure he cut. As he ended his proud speech he tried to\nspread his magnificent tails and strut as he had seen the peacock do,\nbut he toppled over backward and kicked and squirmed in his efforts to\nget on his feet again.\n\nAt this the animals set up a shout that echoed through the forest. The\nmonkey laughed until he had to hold on to the limb of a tree by his\ntail to keep from falling off, the bear grinned at first and then let\nout loud ha! ha\u2019s! the hen cackled, the owls whoo-ed, the crickets\nchirped, the pigeons coo-ed with such glee they gurgled and choked,\nthe rooster crowed, the parrot shrieked, the peafowl screamed, the\nducks squawked, the frogs croaked and young Luxuriant-Thick-Mud-Master\nbellowed until the earth shook.\n\nThe fox was at first dazed. Then he thought that he was so marvelous an\nobject they had all gone crazy at the sight of him, and he waited for\nthem to come to their senses. When they had quieted down a bit he said\nscornfully:\n\n\u201cFoolish things of the wood, I am not going to hurt you. If you obey me\nI shall treat you kindly. But you must find me the daintiest food and\ncarry me everywhere I wish to go. Now hurry and get me my breakfast.\u201d\n\nBut the animals saw that a fox with nine golden tails was but a\nhelpless thing, not as much to be feared as the spry and snappy old\nfellow they had known for so many years. So some of them laughed and\nsome of them sat down to watch him.\n\n\u201cObey me!\u201d he screamed, his tongue hanging out with rage. \u201cThere never\nbefore was anything made like me.\u201d\n\n\u201cNo, because you are useless,\u201d said the tortoise.\n\n\u201cA fox with nine golden tails is the greatest thing in the world,\u201d he\nwent on, not noticing the tortoise.\n\n\u201cHow do we know they are not brass tails?\u201d asked the owl, and winked\nwisely.\n\n\u201cAnd who is going to keep them polished?\u201d asked the practical ant, who\nwas known as a good housekeeper.\n\n\u201cWho? Who-oo?\u201d hooted the owl.\n\n\u201cNot I,\u201d said the grasshopper promptly, for he was afraid of work.\n\nThe fox, puzzled, helpless and angry, could only grit his teeth and\nglare at them. A spider, remembering how he had killed her whole family\nwith a blow of his paw, crept up and stung his leg, the wee soft\nrabbits that he knew were such toothsome dainties hopped around him\nand laid back their pretty pink ears and sniffed, the fat and fuzzy\nlittle chickens, who had been taught to hide under mother\u2019s wing and\nhold their breath when he came in sight, now flapped their baby wings\nunder his very nose and then ran away and cried \u201cpeep! peep!\u201d at him,\nand the monkey giggled and threw a nut that hit one of his fine tails a\nsounding whack.\n\nFor once the quick wit of the fox deserted him. He could only turn\nup his nose and snarl slowly, for he was trying with all his might to\nplan what to do next. He was the richest fox in the world--the only\nliving creature with nine golden tails--but what good were they to him\nif these silly creatures would not wait on him and worship him? In all\nthe years he had lived among them he had been greedy and selfish and\ncross and ugly, and now he had not a single friend. But he didn\u2019t blame\nhimself, he blamed them. And the rage shut up within him boiled and\nbubbled until he foamed at the mouth. How he hated every one of them!\nOh, if he could only take off his golden tails long enough to whip the\nsaucy monkey! And how very nice one of those downy little chicks would\ntaste!\n\n\u201cI have all the gold in the wood,\u201d he said at last. \u201cI am your King\nand you are too stupid to know it.\u201d\n\n\u201cOnly men are ruled by a man because he has gold,\u201d said the wise old\ntortoise. \u201cWe know better. Had you been brave and kind and good we\nwould now be proud of you. But you have thought only of yourself, now\nhelp yourself. You have all that you wanted--be satisfied.\u201d\n\n\u201cAs it is daylight I don\u2019t see very well,\u201d said the owl, blinking, \u201cbut\nit doesn\u2019t seem to me that you are any handsomer with your nine golden\ntails than you were with your old gray brush.\u201d\n\nThe fox started. Could he believe his ears? Not any handsomer than any\ncommon fox--he who had nine wonderful, glittering tails of purest gold?\n\n\u201cYou are jealous of me--jealous--jealous,\u201d he barked.\n\nBut as the animals did nothing but laugh a great fear came over him.\nPerhaps after all his tails were put on wrong! It had really been quite\ndark when the dragon came out, and as he was not used to giving away\ngolden tails, he might have made a mistake and stuck them on backward.\nSomething surely was the matter with them. He must go to the river at\nonce and see for himself.\n\nBut he who had once been so light of foot that he hardly left a track\nin the softest mud as he skipped along, now found it very, very hard\nto get across the little strip of grass and weeds that lay between\nhim and the forest mirror. He put forth every bit of his strength and\nswayed and tottered along, and all the animals followed him, scampering\nand laughing and pushing and shoving each other. And when he at last\nreached the bank, squirm and twist as he would, he could not get a\nglimpse of himself. He screwed his head around until his throat hurt,\nhe twisted his thin body until his ribs stuck out, he stood on three\nlegs and fell over on his nose trying to stand on two, but always the\ntails seemed to turn around the wrong way, and the very best he could\ndo was to see one of them. The animals kept making fun of him as they\nwatched him.\n\n\u201cWhat are you going to do with them?\u201d politely asked the bear.\n\n\u201cDo you have to wear them all the time?\u201d quacked the goose.\n\n\u201cOh, no, he is going to lend them to the tortoise sometimes,\u201d snickered\nthe monkey. The fox, who had almost tied himself into a knot in his\nefforts to throw a proper shadow, did not take the trouble to notice\nthem.\n\n\u201cOne tail is enough for me,\u201d screamed the peacock, as he spread his\nshimmering fan and danced until he got so pigeon-toed he had to stop.\n\n\u201cMy grandmother--who was nine hundred if she was a day--told me it\nwasn\u2019t any fun to be better than anybody else,\u201d said the parrot,\nsnapping his bill. \u201cOne got so dreadfully lonely.\u201d\n\nBut the fox only turned his head first to one side and then to the\nother in his struggle to find out how he looked. He strained and tugged\nuntil his tongue hung out and water dripped from his jaws, he tried\nso hard to move his stiff tails that his muscles cracked, and all the\ntime he kept backing out, out, until he stood on the very tip edge\nof the high bank. But he was so busy looking for his shadow that he\nnever thought about anything else, and suddenly the dirt crumbled under\nhis feet and without a moment\u2019s warning he tumbled backward into the\nriver with such a mighty splash and splutter that all the animals got a\nshower.\n\nWhen he hit the water he struck out with all four of his feet, for he\nwas a good swimmer, but the tails of gold were like iron weights upon\nhis back, and he only churned the water into foam as he kicked and\nsnorted. Then with one great struggle that sent the ripples flying in\nevery direction, he shot down like a torpedo to the very bottom of the\ndeep river. And he never came up again! The animals shrieked and ran to\nthe river bank.\n\nThe stork, who had been standing on one leg all the morning, took\ndown his other in a hurry and hopped over into the rushes, where he\nstretched his long neck as far as ever he could and peeped into the\nmuddy stream, the monkey wrapped his tail around a bush to keep from\nfalling as he screwed up one eye and tried in vain to see what had\nbecome of the fox, Luxuriant-Thick-Mud-Master toppled off the bank in\nhis fright and made another splash, a fish, not knowing what to make\nof so much noise, jumped out in the grass and turned a somersault, the\nowl snapped both his glassy eyes, but saw nothing, the bullfrog dived\ndown as far as he could and came up coughing and choking, but the fox,\ngolden tails and all, was gone forever.\n\n    \u201cHe made a plunge where the stream was deep\n        And saw too late his blunder,\n    For he had hardly time to peep\n        Before his foolish head went under,\u201d\n\nsadly said the tortoise, who prided himself on knowing a lot of real\npoetry. But the rabbit winked his long ears and whispered to the ant:\n\u201cGood riddance!\u201d\n\nOnce again hundreds and hundreds of years went by, as they always do\nif you wait a while. Every animal that had known the poor fox had been\ndead a long time, and those that came after them told this tale as I\nhave told it to you, only they weren\u2019t quite certain it was true, and\nsome of the young beasts said it was nothing but a fairy story.\n\nBut one day a pearl fisher came up the river in his little boat, and\nwhile he was diving down in the deepest part of the water he found a\nqueer-looking object sticking up in the mud, and when he had brought\nit ashore and washed and scrubbed it, he found it was a tail of pure\ngold. Hardly believing his good fortune, he took it away with him, and\nmany wise men looked at it through spectacles and microscopes, and\nweighed it and thumped it and tasted it and wrote long papers about it\nfilled with so many big words that no one ever read them.\n\nAnd to-day you may see this very same tail, looking rather old and\nrusty, in one of the museums of a foreign city, and beside it is a card\ntelling that this is undoubtedly the golden feather that the great\nKing No-Thing-Fan of Japan once wore in his crown, which shows that\neven very wise people sometimes make mistakes. But it was the fairy\ngodmother to the poor pearl diver, who sold it for so much money that\nhe was able to buy a cozy little bamboo cottage for his family and to\never after give them as much as they wanted to eat, and so one of the\ntails of the fox did some good in the world after all.\n\n\nTHE END.\n\n\n\n\nTRANSCRIBER\u2019S NOTE:\n\n\n  Obvious typographical errors have been corrected.","title":"The Fox That Wanted Nine Golden Tails","tradition":"myth-cosmogony","translated_text":null,"word_count":12460}