Week 9 Story: The Mastermind Kettle

Author's Note: This story is an extension of the Japanese Fairy Tale "The Magic Kettle". It is one of many Japanese fairy tales that contains a tanuki or raccoon dog as a character. In the other fairy tales containing a tanuki, the tanuki is a devious trickster who acts selfishly for his own gain. In the original "Magic Kettle", the tanuki is quite passive and in no way benefits from the shows put on by the tradesman Jimmu and the old man who have acquired the transforming kettle/tanuki. I attempted to make the tanuki more like other tanukis in Japanese fairy tales while using the premise of the "Magic Kettle"

 The Mastermind Kettle

"Who would have thought a teapot could bring us so much wealth?" Jimmu said to the old man.

It was quite amazing. Just months ago the old man had discovered a teapot he had never seen before in the corner of his home. He had been quite excited to find such a useful item until he put it on the stove and the kettle miraculously transformed into a tanuki. Baffled, the old man almost immediately sought out Jimmu to sell the magic tanuki. As much as he had liked the thought of having a new kettle he wanted nothing to do with such a tricky animal. 

After acquiring the tea kettle, Jimmu quickly realized how profitable such an item could be. People would pay an astounding amount to see a tea kettle transform into a tanuki. Jimmu set up a booth and made a small fortune putting on a show with his magic kettle. Being an honorable man, he knew the old man who sold him the kettle was to thank for his success so he split his fortune with him and continued to give portions of the profit to the old man.

"I can not believe it." the old man exclaimed. "Who would have known that a kettle could turn into a tanuki?"

Though he was thankful that Jimmu had found a way to make such a profit off the kettle, the old man still had his reservations about exploiting the tanuki. The animal clearly had magical abilities and was known to be a trickster. Maybe a kettle wasn't all this tanuki could turn into. Despite his doubts, he continued to share in the profits of the show Jimmu put on each week with the tanuki.

As it turns out, the old man was right to be suspicious of the tanuki for indeed he was a cunning trickster. The tanuki had realized that no one is impressed to see a tanuki turn into a teapot. He had tried to put on his own show to display his shape-shifting abilities but no one seemed impressed. The crowd had expected, his tricks and were not shocked. He reasoned that if he were to start as an unsuspecting inanimate object and then return to his original form. All he had needed was a man to initiate the show.

The tanuki carefully considered how to find a willingly partner to initiate his shows. He was reluctant to split the profits with anyone. He was the magician after all. He alone was deserving of fame and fortune but no one would help him out for nothing in return. So the tanuki devised a plan. There was an old man who lived alone with no family or relatives. If he tricked the old man into starting the shows on his own accord, the tanuki could then take all of the man's possessions and wealth when he died. All had gone according to plan until the old man had sold the kettle to the much younger Jimmu. The tanuki was then forced to come up with a new idea. Jimmu and the old man had made a fortune off him and he had yet to see a dime. Surely he would get his revenge in addition to his money.

One day during a performance, the tanuki decided not to transform. When Jimmu commanded him as a teapot to become a tanuki he disobeyed. Jimmu was dumbfounded, the teapot always followed instructions. If he said "Dance," the teapot danced. If he said "Become a tanuki." The teapot became a tanuki. All of a sudden, nothing seemed to work.

On his way home, Jimmu suddenly had an idea. What if this kettle was not the magic kettle? What if someone had put this kettle in its place so they could make a profit from themselves? But no one except the old man and himself had access to the kettle. He couldn't believe the old man would betray him after Jimmu kindly shared the profits of the show with him but he was the only one who could have done such a thing.  

Angrily, Jimmu went to confront the old man. When he arrived at the old man's home he discovered that he was not there. He went inside and searched for the kettle. Unbeknownst to both him and the old man, the tanuki had made a replica of the tea kettle and placed it in the corner of the old man's home where the tanuki had been found the first time. When Jimmu found the replica kettle he became enraged. When the old man returned, Jimmu clobbered him and beat him to death with the magic kettle out of frustration. Jimmu left the magic kettle at the old man's feet and then took the replica kettle to his own home. 

The tanuki had successfully outsmarted Jimmu. He had gotten him to kill the old man and tricked him into taking a normal kettle. At last, the old man's fortune belonged to the tanuki. 

The Transformation of the Tanuki (Wikimedia Commons)

This story is part of the Japanese Fairy Tales unit. Story source: The Crimson Fairy Book by Andrew Lang and illustrated by H. J. Ford (1903).