CHAPTER 6 
THE FOX IN THE KONJAKU 
MONOGATARI (Continued) 
The Story of General Toshihito Who 
Employed a Fox for His Guest, 
Exercising An Influence Upon It 
IN the 10th century, there lived a general whose name was 
Toshihito. He was in the service of Moto-tsune, the 
Prime Minister, in his younger days. Brave and 
intelligent, he was promoted to the rank of general and 
he married the daughter of an influential man of 
Tsuruga in Echizen Province, a province very far from 
the capital, Kyoto. Therefore the general lived there in 
his mansion. 
One year, during the New Year's celebrations, a great 
banquet was given in the mansion of the Prime 
Minister. Previously it was customary to give the 
leavings of the table to the beggars coming for them 
when the banquet was over. On that particular occasion, 
however, the remnants of the dinner were eaten by the 
officials and others in the service. Among those shared 
them was an official with the 5th grade Court rank (a 
low rank). 
During the repast, this official with the 5th grade 
Court rank was heard saying: 
"O how I wish I could eat imogayu1 to my heart's 
content!" 
General Toshihito, who had been listening attentively 
to the remark made by this official, stroking his left 
side-whisker with his strong hand, said: 
"Well, Tayu,2 have you not eaten imogayu to your 
heart's content yet?" 
Answered the tayu: 
"No, sir. To tell you the truth, I have never eaten 
imogayu to my heart's content in my life." 
Said the general: 
"In that case, I shall have the pleasure of seeing you 
eat imogayu to your heart's content some day." 
Said the tayu: 
"That is good, very good, indeed." 
Asked the general: 
"Would you accept my offer?" 
"With great pleasure, General," was the reply. 
Four or five days later, towards evening, General 
Toshihito came to the quarters of the tayu. 
"Come with me, Tayu. I am going to take you to a 
place near Higashiyama where, I hear, there is a good 
hot-spring. 
Said the tayu in glee: 
"That is good, very good, indeed. I will go with you 
1 Rice gruel boiled with the juice of sweet arrow-root after putting in 
sliced yams, a tidbit enjoyed by the nobles in those days. 
2 The person with the 5th grade Court rank was commonly called tayu.
with great pleasure, General. Incidentally I am at present 
feeling itchy, especially this evening. I am afraid I shall 
not be able to sleep well tonight. By the way, is there 
any means of conveyance to take me there?" 
The general assured him: 
"Two horses are ready at the gate." 
The joy of the official with the 5th grade Court rank 
knew no bounds. 
"That is good, very good, indeed," he said, "Please 
wait [or a moment, 1 will put something on." 
Now the tayu put on, for the occasion, two thinly 
padded garments, one over the other, a worn-out greencolored 
skirt of silk, a hunting suit of the same color, 
the shoulders of which were somewhat out of shape. He 
did not take the trouble of wearing an underskirt, as was 
the custom at that time. 
The tayu was a man with a prominent nose, the tip of 
which was reddish. The nostrils were always wet in 
winter, a fact proving that he was not in the habit of 
wiping his nose, apparently. The back of the aforesaid 
hunting suit was rumpled as he tied the sash tightly. 
The tayu presented a comical sight. 
The general and the tayu proceeded toward Higashiyama 
where, the general had told the tayu, the good 
hot-spring was. The tayu rode ahead of the general. 
They came to the Kamogawa river beach. The tayu was 
not accompanied even by a boy footman. General 
Toshihito had as attendants a man carrying arms, and a 
servant. After passing the Kamogawa river beach, they 
were approaching Awadaguchi. 
Asked the tayu: 
"Where are we now?'' 
He was told. 
Then they passed Yamashina. Then they passed 
Sekiyama. They went on and on. . . . The hoofs rang on 
the deserted road. Then, to the surprise of the tayn, they 
arrived at Miidera temple. 
"Do we stop here?" inquired the tayu, "is this the place 
where there is a hot-spring?" 
"No, Tayu," answered General Toshihito, "not here. 
To tell you the truth, I am taking you to my place nt 
Tsiiruga, in ftcliixen Province." 
The tayu said that Elchizen Province was a distant 
province, and that he should have brought his servants 
with him from Kyoto to accompany him. 
General Toshihito stroked his left-side whisker as 
usual and said: 
"Do not worry, Tayu. When I go with you, you may 
consider yourself accompanied by an army of one thousand 
men." 
On hearing this, the tayu seemed to have felt much 
relieved. 
After taking a meal, they left the temple for their 
destination, Tsuruga in fichizen Province. 
Now the general was riding ahead of the tayu, taking a 
quiver from his man and carrying it on his back. They 
were passing along a lonely road again. The north wind 
was blowing over the withered grass and the paddyfields 
with only stacks of rice-straw and stubble of rice 
plants. 
They heard the muffled sound of a distant bell 
coming evidently from the Miidera temple, from which 
they had departed.
When they were riding along Mitsu-no-Hama beach, a 
fox was seen running hurriedly. 
On seeing the fox, the general started in pursuit of it, 
saying: 
"O splendid! A good messenger for you, Tayu!" 
The fox ran as fast as its legs could carry it. 
The general rode after it at a gallop. 
Finally when the horse was running abreast of the fox, 
General Toshihito lowered himself on the flank of his 
horse, seizing the animal by one of its hind legs. 
Said the general to the fox: 
"Fox, yon go to my mansion at Tsuruga tonight, you 
understand? Tell my family tha t I am taking a guest 
home. Tell them to come to see me with two saddled 
horses near Takashima at 10 o'clock tomorrow morning, 
you understand? If you should jail to fulfil your mission, 
Toshihito will handle you roughly. You understand? Now, 
run along!" 
So saying, the general set the fox free. 
The tayu saw the fox run away at full speed and 
disappear behind a wood in the distance. 
Said General Toshihito to the tayu: 
"An exceptionally good messenger, isn't he? Wait and 
see, lie ivill do as he was told without fail." 
They stayed at an inn that night. 
On the following morning, they got up very early, and 
proceeded toward Tsuruga, the end of their journey. 
At about 10 o'clock in the morning, the general said 
to the tayu: 
"It is about the time." 
"About what time?" asked the tayu.
"Wait and see," answered the general. 
Presently the tayu saw a party of horsemen coming, 
galloping toward the general's party. 
"My men have come for us," said the general. 
"Are they your men?" said the tayu, "Really?" 
"Yes," replied the general. "The fox reached my 
mansion all right. A clever animal." 
"A strange thing. Very strange, indeed. Unbelievable!" 
The tayu could not bring himself to believe it. 
Before long, the party came nearer. 
The general called out: 
"Have you brought two saddled horses?" 
One of this men responded: 
"Yes, my lord. We have brought the two saddled 
horses." 
General Toshihito heard the following: "About 8 o'clock 
in the evening," recounted one of the men, "her ladyship 
at the mansion felt a sharp pain in her breast. We did not 
know what the matter with her ladyship. Presently, 
however, her ladyship said: 'I am a fox, nobody else. I 
happened to see his lordship today at Mitsu-no-Hama 
beach. He was unexpectedly coming home from the 
capital with his guest. I wanted to run away. However. I 
was caught by him. He came galloping after me, faster 
than me. 
" 'He told me to reach the mansion within a day and 
tell the people to bring two saddled horses at 10 o'clock 
in the morning on the following day, to Taka-shima. The 
general said I must do as I was told, if I did not want to 
be handled roughly by him.'"This