It will be easy to find a buyer , tanukis ' skins are always wanted ; then buy some food with the money and come home again . I will manage to escape somehow , so do not worry about me . ' The fox laughed with delight , and rubbed her paws together with satisfaction . ` Well , next time I will go , ' she said , ` and you can sell me . ' And then she changed herself into a man , and picking up the stiff body of the tanuki , set off towards the village . She found him rather heavy , but it would never have done to let him walk through the wood and risk his being seen by somebody . As the tanaki had foretold , buyers were many , and the fox handed him over to the person who offered the largest price , and hurried to get some food with the money . The buyer took the tanuki back to his house , and throwing him into a corner went out . Directly the tanaki found he was alone , he crept cautiously through a chink of the window , thinking , as he did so , how lucky it was that he was not a fox , and was able to climb . Once outside , he hid himself in a ditch till it grew dusk , and then galloped away into the forest . While the food lasted they were all three as happy as kings ; but there soon arrived a day when the larder was as empty as ever . ` It is my turn now to pretend to be dead , ' cried the fox . So the tanuki changed himself into a peasant , and started for the village , with his wife 's body hanging over his shoulder . A buyer was not long in coming forward , and while they were making the bargain a wicked thought darted into the tanuki 's head , that if he got rid of the fox there would be more food for him and his son . So as he put the money in his pocket he whispered softly to the buyer that the fox was not really dead , and that if he did not take care she might run away from him . The man did not need twice telling . He gave the poor fox a blow on the head , which put an end to her , and the wicked tanuki went smiling to the nearest shop . In former times he had been very fond of his little son ; but since he had betrayed his wife he seemed to have changed all in a moment , for he would not give him as much as a bite , and the poor little fellow would have starved had he not found some nuts and berries to eat , and he waited on , always hoping that his mother would come back . At length some notion of the truth began to dawn on him ; but he was careful to let the old tanuki see nothing , though in his own mind he turned over plans from morning till night , wondering how best he might avenge his mother . One morning , as the little tanuki was sitting with his father , he remembered , with a start , that his mother had taught him all she knew of magic , and that he could work spells as well as his father , or perhaps better . '
I am as good a wizard as you , ' he said suddenly , and a cold chill ran XXXXX the tanuki as he heard him , though he laughed , and pretended to think it a joke .
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