Gon, the Fox
Nankichi Niimi
Section 1
Content of section 1
This is a story I heard from an old man named Mohei in my village when I was little. It is said that once upon a time, there was a small castle near our village called Nakayama, and there was an old lord named Nakayama-sama.
There was a fox called "Gongitsune" in a mountain a little far from Nakayama. Gon was a lonely little fox who lived in a hole in a forest full of ferns. At night and during the day, he would go out to the surrounding villages and play pranks. They went into the fields to dig up potatoes, set fire to burnt rapeseeds, plucked the chili peppers hanging from the backs of farmers' houses, and many other things.
It was one autumn. It continued to rain for a few days, and Gon crawled out of the hole, feeling relieved. The sky was clear and clear, and Mozu's voice was ringing. Gon even came out to the edge of the village's stream. Raindrops were still glistening on the ears of Japanese pampas grass.
The river usually has little water, but after three days of rain, the water was puddled. Pampas grass and turnips on the riverbank, which normally never get submerged in water, are lying on their sides in the murky yellow water.
Gon walked downstream along the muddy path. When I looked, I saw people in the river, doing something. Gon quietly walked to a deep part of the grass and peered out from there, trying not to be seen. "Hyoju," thought Gon.
Hyoju had pulled up his tattered black kimono and was immersed in water up to his waist, shaking the net used to catch fish. A bunch of round leaves stuck to the sides of his head, like a large mole.
After a while, Hyoju lifted the bag-like part at the very back of Harikiriami out of the water. Inside was a jumble of roots, blades of grass, and broken pieces of wood, but here and there, white things were glistening. It was the belly of a random eel and the belly of a large kisu.
Hyoju threw the eel and yakisu into the tank along with the garbage. Then he tied the owl's mouth and put it into the water. Hyoju then got out of the river with his boat, left it on the bank, and headed upstream to look for something.
When Hyoju was gone, Gon jumped out of the grass and rushed to Bik's side. I felt like playing a prank. Gon grabbed the fish out of the boat and threw it into the river, aiming for a lower area than where the net was hanging. All the fish crawled into the murky water, making a popping sound.
Most importantly, I tried to grab a thick eel, but it was slippery and slippery, so I couldn't grab it with my hands. Gon became impatient and put his head inside the eel and put the eel in his mouth. The eel snarled and wrapped itself around Gon's neck.
At that moment, Hyoju yelled from the other side, "Wow, you're a bitch!" Gon jumped in surprise. He tried to throw the eel away, but the eel remained wrapped around Gon's neck. Gon jumped out sideways and ran away with all his might. I looked back under the chimney tree near the cave, but Hyoju wasn't chasing me. Relieved, Gon bit the eel's head and finally took it off and placed it on a blade of grass outside the hole.
Section 2
Content of section 2
About ten days later, Gon was passing by the house of a farmer named Yasuke, and there, in the shade of a fig tree, he saw Yasuke's wife wearing a wig. I did. When I passed behind the house of Shinbei, a blacksmith, I saw Shinbei's wife was having fun. Gon thought to himself, "Hmm. I guess there's something going on in the village."
"I wonder what it is, an autumn festival. If it's a festival, you'll probably hear the sounds of kites and frogs. And first of all, there should be a climb up to the shrine."
As I was thinking about this, before I knew it, I was in front of Hyoju's house, which had a red well in front of it. A large crowd of people had gathered inside the small, dilapidated house. Women wearing casual kimonos and towels tied to their waists are lighting a fire in the stove outside. Something is simmering in a large pot.
"Ah, that's the ceremony," Gon thought.
"I wonder who in Hyoju's family died?"
After noon, Gon went to the village cemetery and hid behind Rokujizo. The weather is nice, and the straw roof of the castle shines in the distance. In the cemetery, red flowers were blooming like red flowers. Then, a bell rang out from the village. That's the signal for the ceremony.
Before long, I began to see glimpses of people wearing white kimonos coming in a line. The voices were getting closer. So the procession entered the cemetery. After people passed by, the higanbana were folded down.
Gon stretched out and looked. Hyoju is wearing a white kamishimo and bowing to the throne. Her normally cheerful face looked like a red sweet potato, but today she looked a little wilted.
"Hahan. The one who died was Hyouju's dad."
Gon thought as he pulled his head back.
That night, Gon thought in his hole.
"Hyoju's mother must have been on the floor and said he wanted to eat eel, so Hejyu brought out the harikiriami. That's why Hyoju couldn't make Mommy eat eel. Mommy must have died just like that. Oh, I want to eat eel, I want to eat eel. , I guess he's dead. Hey, I shouldn't have played such a prank on you."
https://medibang.com/u/tkmnecozuki/
Section 3
Content of section 3
Hyoju was milling wheat at the red well. Up until now, Hyoju had been living in poverty with only his mother and his mother, and when his mother died, he was left alone.
"Hyoju, a loner like me."
That's what Gon thought as he watched from behind the storeroom.
Gon left the storeroom and started heading over there. Somewhere, I hear a voice selling sardines.
"Sardines are cheap. Sardines are good for life."
Gon ran towards the loud voice. Yasuke's wife said from behind the door, "Give me the sardines." The sardine seller left his car with a basket of sardines on the side of the road, grabbed the shiny sardines with both hands, and brought them into Yasuke's house. Gon used the gap to grab five or six sardines from the basket and set them out in the direction from which they had come. Then he threw the sardines into Heiju's house and ran back to the hole. When I looked back at the top of Tochu no Slope, I could see Hyoju still grinding wheat at the well.
Gon thought he had done one good thing by passing on the eel.
The next day, Gon picked up a bunch of chestnuts from the mountain and went to Hyoju's house carrying them. When I peeked through the back of my mouth, I saw that Hyoju had finished his lunch and was deep in thought while holding his bowl. What's strange is that Hyoju has a scratch on his cheek. While Gon was wondering what was going on, Hyoju said to himself.
"Who the hell threw sardines into my house? Thanks to that, the sardine shop guy thought I was a stealer and treated me badly," he grumbled. Masu.
Gon thought he had put this away. Poor Hyoju was beaten around by the sardines and had such injuries?
Thinking this, Gon quietly went around to the storeroom, placed the chestnut at the entrance, and headed home.
The next day, and the day after that, Gon picked up chestnuts and brought them to Hyoju's house. The next day, he not only brought chestnuts but also two or three pine mushrooms.
