Once upon a time,
there was a mischievous monk who enjoyed tricking people.
One day,
the monk saw a fox practicing to transform itself with an old handkerchief in the bush off a path.
‘This is fun to watch!’
The monk thought as he peeked from the bush.
Not knowing the monk was peeking, the fox put the handkerchief on its head.
One, two, three!
The fox transformed into a young woman.
‘I see. That handkerchief is a magic tool.
Hmm, how could I trick the fox and get me that handkerchief?’
The monk pretended not to see anything and started walking.
Then, the young woman whom the fox trransformed into started approaching to the monk.
The monk talked to the young woman.
“What a pretty lady! However, your skill is not perfect yet.
The bottom part is not as good as the top.”
The fox was surprised and turned back to the fox figure.
“Please excuse me for not knowing you. Was my transformation so bad?”
“No, not at all. You are still green. Look at me. Do you think I am a fox?”
“What? Are you a fox? I thought you were a real monk. I mean a human.”
“Of course I am not a human. My magic tool is the best transforming hood.”
Lying to the fox, he removed the hood from his head.
Needless to say, the hood was just an ordinary hood; nothing special.
But the fox was completely tricked by the monk and said enviously.
“Wow! This is the famous best transforming hood. Nice!”
“I can exchange it for your handkerchief if you like.”
“Really? Are you serious? Yes, I'd like to.”
This was how the monk got the transforming handkerchief from the fox.
“Well, my trick went well.”
When the monk went back to his temple,
a priest supervising each temple came with his novice trainee.
Greeting them, the monk said.
“Thank you for your hard work. There are two rooms at the end of the hallway.
Please have a rest in whichever room you like and I'll prepare a tea.”
“That is very nice of you.”
The priest opened a door of one of the rooms at the end of the hallway.
A pretty young woman was sitting and smiling in the middle of the room.
Blushing, the priest said to the young woman.
“I have nothing to do with women.”
Because the novice trainee was there, the priest closed the door and opened the other.
There was a Buddhist statue.
“Oh, this is what I’m supposed to see."
He chanted a prayer.
The priest started to chant sutras with a serious face
but he was thinking about the pretty young woman in the other room.
After a while, the novice trainee started to nod off so the priest sneaked into the other room.
Holding a sake bottle, the pretty young woman smiled at him and said,
“Father, would you like a glass of sake? Here you are.”
The priest had plenty of sake and was satisfied with her hospitality.
The priest loosened up with alcohol and lost control of himself.
When he stretched out his hand to the young woman’s shoulder,
she opened her eyes wide, transformed into Acala and said,
“What a depraved priest!
You are a priest who serves Buddha
but forgets who he is and falls to misconduct and drinking.”
“Ahhhh! Forgive me.”
The priest was so scared and he ran to the outside barefooted.
Yes, the young woman, the Buddhist statue and the Acala were all tricks by the monk
who used the fox’s transforming handkerchief.