Once upon a time, there was a travelling performer named Tanokyu.
He was hurrying back home
because he had received a letter saying that his mother was seriously ill.
When he reached the mountain, it grew dark.
There, an old woman at a tea shop said to Tanokyu,
"You should not go any further.
A giant snake is living in this mountain, so it is very dangerous to go in at night."
Tanokyu, however, was so worried about his sick mother
that he went into the mountain ignoring the old woman's advice.
When he took a break at the mountain pass,
an old man with grey hair appeared before his eyes and said to him,
"Who are you?"
So he answered, "I'm Tanokyu."
The old man, misheard "Tanokyu" for "Tanuki", which means a raccoon dog.
"So you are a Tanuki. Tanuki is said to be good at transforming.
Now, transform into something! My true form is a giant snake.
You know, I transformed into an old man."
After knowing that the old man was actually a giant snake,
Tanokyu was very scared.
""Now, change yourself into something! Or are you poor at transforming?""
At first Tanokyu was trembling with fear,
but the old man’s insulting comment fueled his performing spirit.
""Poor at transforming? Did you say I am poor at transforming?
All right, now I will show you how well I can transform into a woman.
Just wait.""
Tanokyu took out a woman's wig and a kimono out of his luggage, put them on, and danced seductively.
""Very well. You are a better performer than I thought."" admired the old man.
Then, the old man asked Tanokyu,
"By the way, what is it that you really hate?"
"It is money that I really hate. What is it that you really hate?"
"Me? Well, it is tobacco tar and persimmon tannin that I hate.
Once these are applied to my body, I would become numb.
Now, I will help you since you are a Tanuki, but never tell humans what happened tonight.
Let's call it a night, shall we?"
As soon as the old man said that, he vanished.
"Thank goodness! I am saved!"
Relieved, Tanokyu descended the mountain, and he reached the bottom at daybreak.
Tanokyu told the villagers about the story he had heard from the giant snake.
"......so, we should collect as much tobacco tar and persimmon tannin as possible,
and throw them in the cave where the giant snake lives.
Then, we can get rid of it and be able to live in peace."
Hearing this, the villagers were very delighted.
Without delay, they collected as much tobacco tar and persimmon tannin as possible,
and threw them into the giant snake's cave.
""Oh, my goodness! I cannot stand it!""
With desperation,
the giant snake took refuge in the nearby mountain and just managed to escape death.
"That Tanuki must have given my secret away to the villagers.
You, wicked Tanuki! Just you wait!
You’ll pay for this!"
The giant snake got furious.
Then he had remembered that Tanokyu had told him that he really hated money.
The giant snake prepared a lot of money and set off to look for Tanokyu’s house.
Finally, the giant snake found the house,
but he could not get inside because the door was tightly shut.
"How can I get in...
Oh, I got it!"
The giant snake found a chimney on the roof.
""Now take that, Tanuki! How do you like that?""
The giant snake threw the money down the chimney.
Thanks to what the giant snake did, Tanokyu gained a large amount of money,
and he could buy good medicine for his mother.
She completely recovered from her illness, and they lived happily ever after.