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Japanese fairy tales    Oni     Tengu     Kitsune     Tanuki     Kami Envy Brings Suffering It was a long time ago that there once was an old man who lived happily in a small town. He loved all the people, even tough he was very poor. Just across from his home was another old man who was very rich, though he was very greedy and covetous. The good old man wished he had someone in his home, for he had no children or relatives and he lived all alone. So he acquired a darling little puppy, cherished and cultivated it and took great joy in its affection and faithfulness. So the dog never strayed far from the side of his master and accompanied him everywhere. One day while the old man was walking his dog they came to a barren field where the dog barked suddenly and rushed to a spot in the middle of the field and began to paw violently at the ground. “You want me to dig something up for you?” The old man asked his dog which continued to paw at the spot. Knowing he had a clever dog the old man went home and got a spade then dug for a while until he found a pile of gold Koban (coins). Delighted at finding so much money the old man carried it home and donated a large portion of it to the poor. Even though he was rich the old man remained humble and as friendly as before. His bad neighbor envied his happiness and so he sought to lure the dog to his house in hopes that it could show him where gold koban was hidden. But the dog never left his masters side. Unable to achieve his ends through guile the greedy man turned to violence. He seized the dog as it sat in front of its home and dragged it to his own home where he tied it with a rope and brought it to a field in hopes that it would show him buried treasures. The dog scratched in a number of different places which the greedy man dug up but he never found anything but stinking garbage so he got angry and killed the dog and dumped it’s body in the good old mans garden. The old man was very sad and buried the dog under his favorite tree in the garden. And although he knew who the culprit was he did not retaliate. Shortly after the dog appeared to him in a dream. “Morn no longer,” the dog told him. “For my death will bring you even more luck if you follow my advice. Take the tree under which I’m buried and make yourself a wood rice mortar and pestle.” The old man did as he was told and received a miracle for an endless supply of mochi (a type of rice gluten dumpling) began to come from the mortar. He was overjoyed because now he could deliver an endless supply of food to the poor. His evil neighbor grew ever more envious when he heard about the old mans good fortune. He could not rest, for he had to have the mortar so he asked the good old man if he could borrow the mortar for just one day. The good old man was kind enough to believe his greedy neighbor and lent him the mortar who was highly pleased as he began to pound away at the rice. But instead of beautiful mochi nauseating excrement filled his whole house. Spiteful the greedy old man burnt the mortar. But the good old man followed the advice of his dog’s spirit once more and collected the ashes and kept them carefully in a vessel. Then one day in late autumn, when all the trees and bushes were bare, the daimyo was traveling past with his entourage. The old man took a few handfuls of ash and climbed a cherry tree beside the road and scattered the ashes as the daimyo passed by. The daimyo and his retinue were paralyzed with fright and wanted to punish the old man at first. But then everywhere the ashes flew the trees grew green leaves and flowers, and instead of ashes a fine rain of cherry blossoms trickled down onto the daimyo. Delighted the daimyo praised the old man for this miracle. The daimyo then gave the old man many rich gifts and because he’d heard the story of the man’s dog he sent him another loveable puppy. The bad neighbor nearly burst with envy and anger. He went back to the good natured man and asked him if he could have some ashes. So the kind man gave him some. When the daimyo came back through the town the greedy man climbed up a tree and when the daimyo rode under it the man sprinkled ashes over him. The ashes however did not make the trees blossom and only ashes flew from the greedy mans hand. The ashes flew into the daimyo and his men’s eyes, ears, nose and mouth. So that they fell on the greedy man and thrashed him for the insult. Then they threw him in prison where he died a long horrible death. This is what those who are greedy and envious, who seek to usurp the happiness of others have to look forward to.