Mythology and Folklore Blog

The Ferret Gets His Karma (The Ferret Wikipedia Commons ) There once was a ferret who was married to a fox. The two were happy together and had a son that they named Austin. Despite their happiness, the two did not have enough food to provide for their small family.   Ferrets and foxes are well known for their cleverness and their magical abilities. Deciding to use these gifts, the ferret and fox hatched a plan to provide for their family. The fox would magic herself into a woman and sell the ferret to a merchant for its coat. The ferret would pretend to be dead and then escape once the merchant had handed over the money. The fox turned herself into an old woman and went into town. She sold the ferret and took the money to buy plenty of fruit and food for the family before returning home. The ferret played dead until the merchant set him down and then sprinted away back to his family in the forest. For a while the family was happy and all was well. As time went...

How the Wicked Tanuki Was Punished (A Tanuki from Wikipedia Commons ) Plot: A tanuki was married to a fox and had a son. He thought he was very clever so they decided to do a trick. The tanuki pretended to be dead and the fox transformed herself into a woman and sold the tanuki coat for profit. The tanuki then escaped when left for dead and his wife bought food for the family. The tanuki became greedy though and the next time they ran out of food made his wife pretend to be dead. Seeing an opportunity for extra food, he told the merchant the fox wasn't really dead. The merchant then killed the fox. The tanuki is very pleased with himself and begins neglecting his young son. The son grew up and realized what happened so he planned a trick on the tanuki. He told his father he was a better magician than him. This caused the tanuki to make a bet that his son could transform into any shape and he would recognize him. The son ran and hid under a bridge while the king's p...

The Maiden with the Wooden Helmet (Wooden Bowls from Wikipedia Commons ) Plot: A man and a wife lived in a village with their beautiful daughter. The family was once rich but lost its fortune over time. This makes the man very sad and he dies. The mother and her daughter made their way together. The mother noticed her daughter was getting more and more beautiful. This worried her as she knew the dangers beautiful girls have to worry about. She caught a cold and on her death bed asked her daughter to wear a wooden helmet which obscured her face. The girl agreed and the mother died. The girl gets a job working in the fields for a rich landowner. The other workers taunt her for wearing the helmet. One day the landowner's son comes home and sees the girl washing her face in a stream and falls desperately in love. He asks her to marry him every day. The girl refuses every day even though she likes him because she doesn't want to cause tensions. Her mother comes to her in a dr...