Hukumusume fairy tale collection > Japanese classical stories >July

The Raccoon and the Hikoichi

ntroduction to Hikoichi

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English translator　REN HANADA(花田れん)

　Once upon a time, there was a very clever child named Hikoichi.
　A raccoon lived in the mountain behind Hikoichi's house and played tricks on travelers every day.

　 One night, a raccoon turned into a traveler and came to Hikoichi's house.
"Good evening. I'd like to take a break here for a moment."
　When Hikoichi opened the door, he thought that this traveler must be the raccoon from the mountains behind him, but he let him into the house without knowing it.
　After a while, the raccoon asked Hikoichi,
"By the way, is there anything you're afraid of, Hikokichi-don?"
　Hearing this, Hikoichi decided to make fun of the raccoon.
''Hmmm, something scary.
　Well, there was one thing.
　But it's embarrassing, so don't tell anyone.
　Actually, it's the Manjū (a bun with a bean‐jam filling) that scares me."
"Huh? Manju?
　Is that the Manjū you're eating?
　Ahahahahahahaha, you're afraid of Manjū."
"Oh, no!
　Just hearing the word "Manjū" makes me shiver. Scary, scary."
　The raccoon saw Hikoichi trembling, so he was overjoyed and went back to the mountain (I've heard a good thing).

　The next morning, Hikoichi woke up to find a pile of freshly made Manjū in the house.
"Mom, I've got Manjū from that stupid raccoon. Come on, let's eat together."
　Hikoichi and his mother were delighted and ate the pile of Manjū brought by the raccoon.
　When the raccoon saw this, he knew that he had been tricked and became furious.
"Goddamn it! A raccoon is tricked by a human! I'm sure I'll get revenge for this!"

　That night, the raccoon picked up all the stones in the village and threw them all into Hikoichi's field.
(Heh heh heh. This will cause trouble for that Hikoichi guy, who can't do any field work)

　The next morning, Hikoichi and his mother come to work in the field and are surprised to find that the field is full of stones.
"Oh, the field of the house!"
　Her mother screamed in surprise, but Hikoichi saw that it was the raccoon and said in a loud voice to her.
"Hey, Mom.
　It is said that if you scatter stones in the field, you will have a good harvest for three years, called stone manure.
　I don't know who did this, but thank goodness to him.
　If it had been horse poop and not stones, we'd be in big trouble."
　The raccoon, who was listening to it in secret, was very chagrined.
(God damn it! I didn't know about stone manure for 3 years. ...Well, if it's horse poop and not stones, you're in big trouble...)
　That night, the raccoon carried all the stones out of Hikokichi's field, and this time he filled up Hikokichi's field with horse poop.

　Well, the horse poop that the raccoon sprinkled turned out to be a very good fertilizer, and in the fall, Hikoichi's fields produced a lot of very nice crops.
"God damn it. I'm no match for Hikoichi. ...I'm jealous."
　Hikoichi called out to the raccoon that was crying in frustration when he saw a field with crops.
"Hey, Raccoon-don. I'm going to share the sweet potatoes from my field with you. After all, the fertilizer you sprinkled on them has made them grow very well."
"Oh, thank you."
　From then on, the raccoon stopped playing tricks and lived quietly in the mountains behind him.

End

One point advice : Noblesse oblige

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