Once upon a time, there lived an old man and his wife. The old man grew vegetables in his field, but a bad raccoon dog would come into the field at night. The raccoon dog ate many of their vegetables. This happened almost every day night. The old man was very angry. He decided to set a trap.
One morning, the old man came out to the field. He found the raccoon dog caught in the trap.
The raccoon dog said to the old man, Please let me go. I promise I'll never, ever be bad again.
But the old man didn’t believe him. He tied up the raccoon dog with a long rope and took him home.
He told his wife, Let's have raccoon dog soup with mochi rice cakes tonight.
Then, the old man put a hook in the ceiling and threw the long rope over it. He pulled on the rope, and the raccoon dog was up in the air.
After the old man left to work in his vegetable field, the old woman started making mochi with a hammer and mortar.
The raccoon dog said in a weak voice, Kind lady, I promise never, ever to be bad again. Please let me go.
The old woman said, I’m sorry, but I can't.
She started making the mochi again. But it was difficult work for the old woman.
The raccoon dog had an idea.
He said in a kind voice, Kind lady, you must be getting tired. If you let me go, I'll help you make the mochi.
At first, the old woman said, Thank you, but I don't need any help.
But the raccoon dog kept saying he could help again and again.
He even said, I just want to help you. You can tie me up again when the mochi is finished.
Finally, the old woman let him go.
The raccoon dag said, Thank you. I'll help you make that mochi now.
He picked up the hammer and suddenly hit the old woman with it. The poor old woman fell down. She was dead. The raccoon dog ran back to the forest. When the old man came home and saw his wife, he cried and cried.
A few days later, a kind rabbit came to see the old man. The rabbit was a friend of the old man and his wife. When the rabbit learned the old woman was dead, he became very sad.
He said, Your wife was a good woman. I will stop that raccoon dog from ever hurting anyone again.
The following day, the rabbit went to the raccoon dog’s home and said, Mr. Raccoon Dog, it's such a fine day. Let's go to the mountains together and gather some firewood.
The rabbit smiled at the raccoon dag, and the raccoon dog smiled back. He didn’t know the rabbits plan.