Week 7 Storytelling: The Kettle in the Woods

In the forests of Japan there live many animals of all kinds. One of the animals that is native only to this area is called a Tanuki. Tanukis look rather cute upon first glance, almost like a little fox mixed with a bear cub. But, Tanukis are sneaky and mischievous little tricksters who have no respect for humans. They often steal shiny items from the people who pitch
tents for the night in their woods.

One of the items most frequently stolen by Tanukis is tea kettles. The campers in the forest will make a fire for the night and will set a tea kettle over it to have hot water ready in the morning to make their coffee. Little do they know, the whistling of the kettle and then its metal glimmering in the moonlight make it most desirable to the Tanukis.

One night three young Tanuki brothers entered into a campsite, there was a tea kettle over the fire that the three wanted to steal. They played a round of rock paper scissors and the youngest of the three lost so he had to be the one to retrieve the kettle.

He crept between the tents and when he was at the fire's edge he saw how difficult the task would be for a little guy like him. He took a step back to get a running start, then he ran and leapt over the fire to knock the kettle off its holder. The kettle fell down, hot water splashing out and the metal clanging as it hit the ground. The little Tanuki had used his head to hit it off so he was a little delirious.

The other two Tanuki brothers knew they had caused too much noise and that the people would soon wake up and come out after them... so they took off into the woods. The little one shook off his deliriousness and then dumped the rest of the water out of the kettle.

He wanted to carry it back home for his family's stockpile of shiny things they had stolen, so he got inside the kettle and turned it over. His body fit inside and only his feet stuck out the bottom. Because of this he couldn't see anything. However he could hear the people rustling around in their tents, then he heard one of them unzip; a person was probably onto him now.

The Tanuki started running towards the woods, with the kettle on his back and his feet going wherever they could,  but the person was now chasing him and the kettle. He ducked and weaved and jumped over some branches. He was sure he had lost the person since he no longer heard him.

He sat down behind a tree and slipped the kettle off his body, he was panting to catch his breath.

Then, out of no where, the human reached around the tree and grabbed the Tanuki in one hand and the kettle in the other.

He said "You silly animal. You awaked me from my sleep and put me through quite the chase. If you wanted this kettle so badly, all you had to do was ask... We wizards are quite good at granting wishes, you know?" The wizard said

"Well now I suppose I'll grant you what you wish... forevermore you and that kettle shall never part, that is because you will become one part" the wizard said followed by an evil laugh. Then he pulled out his wand, made a few flicks of his wrist, and cast a spell to literally turn the Tanuki into half Tanuki/half kettle.

Tanuki tea kettle

"And finally, I command you to never return home to your family but to instead go find other humans to share your gift with. You shall dance for the people of the land and you will be their enjoyment like once the tea kettle was yours" ended the wizard. Then the wizard vanished back to his campsite, and the Tanuki took off towards a village in the forest.


Author's Note: The original story comes from Japanese fairy tales and was called "The Magic Kettle." In this story a man comes home to find a mysterious kettle, he puts it on the stove but it turns into half Tanuki. He is scared so he gave it to another man who then built a traveling show around the dancing Tanuki/kettle. He became very rich and then gave the Tanuki back to the first man so he could become rich as well. I enjoyed this story so I decided to retell it; in my retelling I made it an origin story. The original story left a lot to be wondered about how the half Tanuki/ketlle appeared in the mans house in the first place so that is what I made up for this story. In this way my story is the lead in to the original story and I think it answers a lot of questions for the readers. I chose the image from the original story because it accurately depicted what a half Tanuki/half kettle animal would look like.

Bibliography: "The Magic Kettle" from the Japanese Fairy Tales unit. Story source: The Crimson Fairy Book by Andrew Lang and illustrated by H. J. Ford (1903).