CHAPTER 5 
THE FOX IN THE KONJAKU 
MONOGATARI (Continued) 
The Story of a Fox Fond of Riding 
On a Horse's Buttocks 
A YOUNG pretty girl would stand on the bank of the 
Kaya river to the east of the Ninnaji temple, Kyoto, of 
an evening. When she saw a man passing there on 
horseback in the direction of the capital, she would ask 
him to give her a ride. 
The girl would invariably say: 
"I want to go to the capital riding on your horse's 
buttocks." 
The rider would answer: 
"All right. You may ride on my horse's buttocks." 
However when he went on for about 500 yards with 
the girl riding on the horse's back, she would slip down 
from on the horse and run away in the shape of a fox, 
barking with delight. 
The mischief mentioned above was repeated several 
times, and the victims were always men passing on 
horseback along the bank of the Kaya river to the east of 
the Ninnaji temple. 
Now at the Station of the Takiguchi (the Headquarters 
of the Guards belonging to the Imperial palace), 
somebody spoke about the girl riding on the horse's 
buttocks, on the bank of the Kaya river. On hearing this, 
a young takiguchi officer (we will call him the takiguchi 
in this narrative) said: 
"Well, I will catch her and teach her a lesson." 
Other takiguchi officers present said with one voice: 
"Certainly we will catch her!" 
Said the takiguchi who spoke first: 
"I will capture her tomorrow evening." 
Said somebody: 
"Can you?" 
"Certainly I can!" was the answer. 
The takiguchi, on the following evening, went by 
himself to the bank of the Kaya river, riding a very 
intelligent horse. The girl in question, however, was not 
to be seen there. Disappointed, the takiguchi was riding 
back in the direction of the capital when he saw a girl 
standing by the roadside. On seeing the takiguchi coming 
riding, she said cheerfully: 
"Hey, give me a ride on your horse's buttocks, won't 
you?" 
"Surely. Climb on quickly. Where are you going?" said 
the takiguchi. 
Answered the girl: 
"To the capital. It is getting dark, so I want to go there, 
riding on your horse's buttocks." 
As soon as the girl got on the horse's buttocks, the 
officer tied her by the wrist to the saddle with a rope 
used for hitching a horse. 
Said the girl: 
"Why do you do such a brutal thing to me?"
Replied the takiguchi: 
"To prevent you from getting away from me, of 
course. I am now taking you to my quarters to sleep 
with you tonight, my girl." 
They continued riding. It was now quite dark. After 
passing Ichijyo, they proceeded along the road toward 
the east. When passing Nishi-no-Omiya, the takiguchi 
saw a procession approaching toward him from the east 
preceded by a forerunner on horseback, holding a pinetorch 
to light the road. By torch-light, the takiguchi 
could see some carriages drawn by oxen moving in 
stately fashion to the musical creak of their heavy 
wheels with two men walking before each carriage, 
holding pine-torches in their hands. Their figures were 
seen in relief against the darkness of night. 
The takiguchi thought it was the procession of some 
personages of high rank. Therefore he turned back out 
of respect, and went on, riding along the road of Nishino-
Omiya toward the east from Higashi-no-Omiya to 
Tsuchimikado. 
At the gate of the Tsuchimikado palace, the Takiguchi 
called out to his followers whom he had previously 
ordered to wait for him there. 
Said about 10 men under the takiguchi, coming out: 
"At your service, sir." 
Then the takiguchi pulled the girl down from the 
horse after unfastening the rope; and he ordered his men 
to make a fire on the ground. And then he went to the 
Takiguchi Station. 
Aroused by the clamor, all his fellow takiguchi officers 
emerged from the station.
Said the captor of the girl: 
"I have caught her." 
The girl began to cry and entreated to be released. 
The fire was now burning brightly on the ground. 
Said all takiguchi officers with one consent: 
"Release her! into the fire with her!" 
The takiguchi who had caught the girl said that she 
might escape if this were done. However they said that 
it would be fun to throw into the fire and shoot her 
with bows and arrows in a volley. 
About 10 takiguchi officers notched their arrows upon 
their bows. The takiguchi who had been holding the 
girl coming from the bank of the Kaya river threw her 
right into the fire! 
The girl, however, turned herself, in a twinkling, 
into the shape of a fox and, before they could send a 
volley of arrows, effected her escape, putting out the 
fire.... 
In the dark, the takiguchi called to his men. 
No response. Not a single man was there. And, to his 
surprise, he found himself on a lonely plain! 
He could see that he was now in the midst of the 
cremation ground at Toribé-no, located in the suburbs 
of the capital. (The only crematory in the Heian Era, 
Toribé-no was a word used as synonym of death in 
those days.) He thought that he had dismounted from 
his horse at the gate of the Tsuchimikado palace. He 
was mistaken. He recalled that he had turned back to 
go to Tsuchimikado. He was mistaken. He had come to 
this desolate and death-like crematory, instead. He 
imagined that he had seen many pine-torches burning 
in the dark after passing Ichijyo. He remembered
seeing all these things clearly, including the two torchcarriers 
walking on each side of a carriage drawn by an 
ox. He was deplorably mistaken. Now he knew that the 
torches were nothing but the fire produced by foxes by 
stroking their tails. 
Brave as he was, the takiguchi had no alternative but to 
go on foot. He had no horse to ride on. He returned home 
dog-tired and chagrined about midnight. 
His fellow takiguchi officers at the station at Tsuchimikado, 
on the other hand, wondering what had become 
of the takiguchi since he left on his adventure, sent a 
messenger to the takiguchi's quarters to look for him two 
days later. 
The takiguchi, in the evening of the third day, 
presented himself at the station, feeling like a sick man. 
Asked his friends: 
"Did you go to catch the fox-girl the other evening?" 
Replied the takiguchi with some asperity: 
"No, I did not. I was ill, very ill." 
Asked his fellow officers again: 
"What are you going to do now?" 
"I will go and catch her this evening," was the rejoinder. 
Said another takiguchi, laughing: 
"Catch two of them this evening, I hope." 
The takiguchi left the station without saying a word. 
This time he said to himself: 
"The fox may not come this evening as it was outwitted 
by me the other night. If it appears this evening, I 
will never loosen my hold on it. Never! I will hold it all 
through the night. If it does not appear this 
evening, I will not present myself at the station, but keep 
to my quarters for some time." 
He set out on horseback followed by several strong 
men for the Kaya river. He soliloquised once more: 
"Going to make myself a fool again, eh? I cannot help 
it, though, since I said I would catch her." 
The fox-girl was not in sight when the takiguchi 
crossed the Kaya river by a bridge. However when he 
was coming back disheartened, he saw a girl standing at 
the edge of the river. He found that she had a different 
face. 
The girl accosted him, and said: 
"Hey, give me a ride on your horse's buttocks, won't 
you?" I want to go to the capital." 
The takiguchi obliged her. However, the moment she 
was on horseback he lost no time in tying her up with a 
rope as before. 
It was getting darker and darker as the takiguchi was 
riding along the Ichijyo road in the direction of the 
capital, accompanied by his men. He ordered his 
followers to kindle pine-torches and carry them ahead of 
him and beside his horse. They went on, but they saw 
nobody until they reached the Tsuchimikado palace. 
The takiguchi got off his horse. He seized the fox-girl 
firmly by her hair. She cried. But he would not have 
mercy on her. He brought her to the Takiguchi Station. 
He was deaf to her entreaties; and she seemed quite to 
realize the situation this time. 
The fellow officers came to see the captive. 
"So you have caught her at last, eh?" they said. 
The fox-girl was tortured and tortured until she
could stand it no longer and she turned herself into the 
form of a fox. 
They scorched the animal with pine-torches. 
"O spare me!" the fox yelped plaintively. 
The takiguchi said: 
"We have given it a lesson. Set it free!" 
They released the fox. It scampered off, limping. 
About 10 days later, the takiguchi went to the Kaya 
river. He wanted to see the fox-girl again out of curiosity. 
She was there. She looked ill and beaten. 
Said the takiguchi to the fox-girl: 
"Don't you want to ride on my horse's buttocks?" 
Responded the fox in the guise of a pretty girl weakly: 
"I should like to ride on your horse's buttocks; but I 
don't like to have my precious fur scorched. No thank 
you." 
With that, she vanished. 
This is a very strange thing. Nevertheless it did 
happen and not long ago, so this writer (Takakuni, the 
author of The Konjaku Monogatari) was told by the 
narrator of this tale. 
The Story of the Man Infatuated with a Fox 
Saved by the Goddess of Mercy 
HE was feeling very lonesome, a man of fifty, with his 
wife gone to the capital, Kyoto, on business. It was an 
evening in the autumn of 895. Yoshifuji, of Kayo County 
in Bittchu Province, was seen rambling alone 
along the country road. A rich man engaging in exchange 
business; he was wanton by nature and in the 
habit of taking to amours. 
Presently he met an attractive woman. She was an 
utter stranger in the community. Yoshifuji, however, 
found it impossible to control himself. She smiled a 
charming smile as she approached him. She had a set of 
pearly teeth. 
"A nice evening," he accosted her. With women his 
talk was usually gentle and soothing. "Where are you 
going? And who are you? I have never seen you before." 
''I am nobody," the woman said laughingly. 
Yoshifuji was now completely swayed by passion. 
"Come with me," he said. 
"No. I am going home," replied the woman, "you 
come with me." 
"Where you live?" asked the money man. 
"I live over there. Not far from here. Come with me," 
she invited him again. 
They walked together. Yoshifuji soon saw a splendid 
house standing at a short distance. 
"That is our house," told the woman. 
He had never seen such a fine house before, in this 
neighborhood, a fact that puzzled him considerably. 
However he was now so fascinated with the woman that 
he did not pay much attention to that. 
When he arrived at the house, he was welcomed by 
everybody as if each member of the household had 
known him well. 
"You are welcome here!" they said heartily. 
Yoshifuji spent the night there, with the woman. 
The following morning, another woman who seemed 
to be the mistress of the household came and said: 
"I am so glad you came. There is a Providence in it. I 
sincerely hope that you will stay here as long as you 
wish." 
On seeing the woman, Yoshifuji instantly became 
infatuated with her. He decided to stay in the house as 
long as possible. Capricious by nature, Yoshifuji was 
inconsistent in love. 
Thus he stayed in the house for a long period of time. 
In the household of Yoshifuji, on the other hand, they 
were wondering what was the matter with him. He did 
not come back in the evening. He was away from home 
at night. Was he philandering somewhere, 
as usual? Midnight still found him not at home. Gone for 
a long trip? No. It could not be so. He had left his house 
in his white robe (abbreviated clothes worn in those 
days, a wadded garment with skirt). 
The day broke in alarm. 
They combed the village for Yoshifuji. The whereabouts 
of the man were still unknown. Had he joined the 
priesthood, having grown weary of the world? or 
drowned himself, realizing the uncertainty of life? 
Strange, this thing, they thought. 
Now to return to the luxurious house where Yoshifuji, 
the wanton man, was leading a licentious life with the 
fascinating mistress. The woman with whom he was 
intimately related had given birth to a child, and they, the 
man and the woman, were bound up with each other, and 
their love was growing with the years. 
Yoshifuji had two brothers: Toyonaka, his elder 
brother; and Toyotsune, his younger brother. The former 
was the chief of a sub-prefecture; and the latter, the priest 
of a big temple. Both of these people were also rich. 
They wanted to find the body of Yoshifuji at all costs 
through the favor of Kanzéon, the Goddess of Mercy. So 
they made her image out of a huge oak tree and prayed 
night and day kneeling down before it. 
They implored the goddess for the repose of the soul of 
the departed man. However their efforts seemed not to 
bear fruit. Still they continued to pray awake or asleep 
with untiring zeal. 
Now it so happened, one day, that a person carry-
ing the long staff of a priest came to the house where 
Yoshifuji was staying. 
"Here he comes!" 
The members of the family cried in consternation on 
seeing this person. Then they flew in all directions. 
The caller made Yoshifuji come out of a narrow place 
by prodding him on the back with the staff. 
On the evening of the thirteenth day since Yoshifuji 
dropped out of sight, his people were talking together 
about him, sitting in a room when they saw a strange 
black creature looking like a monkey come creeping, on 
all fours, with his hips raised high, from under the floor 
of a warehouse standing facing the house. 
Said the strange creature: 
"I am here, folks." 
He was no less a person than Yoshifuji! 
Tadasada, his son, felt it strange. However it was the 
voice of his father that he heard. Therefore he got down 
on the ground and pulled him up. 
Said Yoshifuji: 
"I was staying alone at home feeling lonesome. I went 
out, and strolling along the road met a woman, who led 
me to her house, where I was obliged to become the 
father of a child. He was a boy and he was so cute and 
lovely that I used to hold him every day in my arms 
fondling him. I named him Taro (meaning first son). 
Therefore I will call you hereafter Jiro (second son), 
as I respect his mother." 
Asked Tadasada: 
"Where is the child, father?" 
"Down there!" replied Yoshifuji, pointing to the 
warehouse. 
Tadasada and others, on hearing the words of Yoshifuji, 
were greatly surprised. They looked at Yoshifuji 
again. He looked haggard and sick. He was wearing the 
white robe he worn when leaving the house, a dirty robe 
now, and it smelt bad. 
A servant was sent to look under the floor of the 
warehouse. At the approach of the servant, several foxes 
were seen running away helter-skelter. The servant 
found where his master used to sleep under the 
cobwebby floor. 
Now they learned for the first time that Yoshifuji had 
been bewitched by foxes and that he had forgotten to 
return to his own house, after becoming the husband of a 
female fox-beauty. 
They called in a high priest to pray for his speedy 
recovery from the fox's witchcraft and a man exorcising 
evil spirits to purify him. They washed him several 
times, too. Still he did not look as he used to be. 
Gradually, however, he came to his senses. He believed 
that he had lived with the fascinating fox-woman 
in the luxurious house for a period of thirteen years; but, 
in reality, he had spent only thirteen days with her under 
the floor of the warehouse. Now it was revealed that he 
had been saved by the favors of Kanzéon, the Goddess 
of Mercy, appearing in the form of a priest carrying a 
long staff. 
This story, by the way, was told by Miyoshi-no- 
Kiyotsura, the feudal lord of Bittchu Province in those 
days. 
The Story of an Imperial Household Guard 
Officer Disillusioned by an Act of a Fox 
A TONÉRI (whose duty was to guard the Imperial 
palace in the Heian Era) by the name of Yasutaka was 
a man of romantic disposition. 
Now you see him going home from the Imperial 
palace to bring one of his retainers who had failed to 
arrive at the palace. He was waking alone in the 
grounds of the palace. A refreshing night, with a bright 
moon, about the middle of September. 
Presently, the tonéri officer caught sight of a young 
woman when he was approaching the pine-grove there. 
She was attired in an aster-colored dress of figured 
cloth. She had a superb figure, a fact he perceived at a 
glance. 
She must be a beautiful thing, Yasutaka imagined. 
The moonlight seemed to enhance her charm. Yasutaka 
followed her. He was wearing a pair of high wooden 
clogs. 
Click-clack, click-clack he walked after her bathed in 
the moonlight. One or two suzumushi (a kind of cricket 
with a sweet and sonorous chirping) were singing in the 
pine-grove. 
Soon Yasutaka overtook the attractive figure. He 
walked drawing near her. She seemed shy. She walked 
covering her face with a pictured fan. She looked pretty, 
with her stray tresses of the side-locks playing on her 
forehead and cheeks. Yasutaka drew close to her and 
touched her. She was faintly redolent of ranjatai (a 
precious incense first imported from
Korea in the reign of the Emperor Shomu in the early 
part of the 8th century). 
Said Yasutaka: 
"At this hour of the night, where in the world are 
you going?" 
A sweet voice responded from behind the picturedfan: 
"I am going to the house of a person living at Nishino-
Kyo." 
Said Yasutaka: 
"You had better come with me, to my house. I live at 
Nishi-no-Kyo, too." 
Said the girl with a sweet smile in her eyes, a pair of 
clear eyes: 
"You know me, do you?" 
Yasutaka simply smiled back. 
She was, to the delight of the tonéri officer, a woman 
endowed with personal charms. They walked together 
in the moonlight. . . . 
Presently the girl entered the Konoyé gate of the 
palace. 
Now Yasutaka said to himself: 
"They say that there lives a fox in the habit of bewitching 
people here in this premises. Is this charming 
girl a fox? And she is still covering her face with the 
fan. Very strange, this. Well, I will put the matter to 
the proof." 
Yasutaka seized the girl abruptly by one of her 
sleeves and said: 
"Wait, girl. Stay right here for a moment. I want to 
say something to you."
On hearing this, the girl looked more bashful, covering 
her face with the pictured-fan. Said Yasutaka still 
seizing her by the sleeve: "Now I am going to disrobe 
you. Do you hear me?" So declaring, the tonéri officer 
unsheathed his short sword, about 8 inches long, a 
glittering blade; it looked cold and shiny like an icicle. 
Continued Yasutaka: 
"I am going to cut your throat. Take off your clothes!" 
The tonéri officer now seized the girl by the hair. He 
pinned her against a pillar of the gate. He was on the 
point of plunging the sword into her throat when, 
unexpectedly, his nostrils were assailed with a pungent 
and offensive smell, so pungent and offensive, in fact, 
that, tough and daring as he was, Yasutaka loosed his 
grip on the girl, sneezing. 
In an instant, the fascinating girl changed herself into a 
fox and took to flight. The fox was soon heard, barking 
somewhere in the distance outside the gate. The Imperial 
guard officer was left with the smell still hanging in the 
night air. 
Yasutaka felt chagrined at his unsuccessful attempt. 
Later, it is said, he went out nightly to see the fox 
assuming the shape of the charming girl. He wanted to 
see her again in spite of the smell. No further 
opportunities occurred, however. 
One should not try to become friendly with a charming 
girl walking alone of a night. In the case of Yasutaka, 
however, he was clever and cautious enough not to be 
cheated by a fox, they said.