In ancient times, there lived in Japan demons with long noses. They were called tengu. The Tengu had magic fans: if you slap one side of the nose, the nose begins to grow; if you slap it with the other, the nose becomes short again.
Once upon a time, three little tengu were playing in the forest with such a magical fan. They slapped each other on the nose with one side or the other.
The badger saw the magic fan and thought: “I wish I had one like that!” I wouldn’t waste time on nonsense! I wish I could find something to do with this fan!” Here in Japan, even small children know that badgers are masters of performing all sorts of tricks and can transform into anyone. So the badger decided to deceive the tengu. He turned into a little girl, put four buns with bean filling on a plate and went to the tengu.
“Hello, cute little tengu,” said the badger in the voice of a girl, “I brought you buns with bean filling.” Try them, they are very, very tasty.
Little tengu loved buns with bean filling. They ate one at a time and saw that there was one more bun left on the plate! Who will get it? They argued and argued, but nothing was decided. Then the girl says:
- I know what to do. Close your eyes. Whoever stays with his eyes closed the longest will eat the last bun.
The little tengu agreed, closed their eyes, froze in place - waiting. And the badger grabbed the fan and was gone. The little tengu remained standing with their eyes closed.
- Ha-ha-ha! – the badger laughed. “I cleverly deceived these stupid tengu!”
The badger thought and thought about where to go with the amazing fan, where to try its magical power, and decided to go to the city.
He came and saw a beautiful girl at the temple, servants crowding around her. “No other way, the rich man’s daughter,” thought the badger. He crept up to the girl and quietly slapped her on the nose with his fan. Here the beauty grew a long, very long nose. The girl got scared, screamed, the servants rushed in all directions! There was noise and commotion! And the badger sits on a pebble, grinning.
The rich man called doctors, but they did not know how to cure such an illness. We tried all means, nothing helps. Then the news spread throughout the city: the rich man would give his daughter as a wife to the one who healed his daughter! And the rich man will not regret half of his wealth!
Many hunters were found to get a beauty as a wife and even half the treasures in addition. But none of them could cure the poor girl.
Then the badger came to the rich man and said:
- Take me to your daughter. I will cure her of her illness in an instant!
The rich man was delighted and took the badger to his daughter. The badger lightly slapped the girl on the nose with a magic fan, and the nose shrank before our eyes.
The father began to cry with joy and ordered the servants to prepare for the wedding. Everyone is busy and busy, only the badger is idle all day long - drinking and eating, eating and drinking, and basking in the sun. “What should I do?” - he thinks everything.
He took out a magic fan, slapped himself on the nose - his nose began to grow upward. The badger looked and looked and fell asleep. And the nose keeps growing! He pierced one cloud, another, a third. The badger's nose grew to the very sky.
Meanwhile, in the sky, the heavenly builders were building a bridge. They see some kind of pole stretching from the ground.
“Here’s the pole for the railing,” they were delighted and pulled the badger’s nose with all their might.
The badger woke up and couldn’t understand anything. He looked around - he was scared. The earth remains far below, fluffy clouds float overhead. The badger screamed and shouted, calling for help, but no one responded.
What happened to that badger is unknown. But no one has seen him since then.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru