Then , quite exhausted , they sat down on the mats , and consulted together what they should do with this troublesome beast . At length they decided to sell him , and bade a child who was passing send them a certain tradesman called Jimmu . When Jimmu arrived , the old man told him that he had something which he wished to get rid of , and lifted the lid of the wooden chest , where he had shut up the tanuki . But , to his surprise , no tanuki was there , nothing but the kettle he had found in the corner . It was certainly very odd , but the man remembered what had taken place on the fire , and did not want to keep the kettle any more , so after a little bargaining about the price , Jimmu went away carrying the kettle with him . Now Jimmu had not gone very far before he felt that the kettle was getting heavier and heavier , and by the time he reached home he was so tired that he was thankful to put it down in the corner of his room , and then forgot all about it . In the middle of the night , however , he was awakened by a loud noise in the corner where the kettle stood , and raised himself up in bed to see what it was . But nothing was there except the kettle , which seemed quiet enough . He thought that he must have been dreaming , and fell asleep again , only to be roused a second time by the same disturbance . He jumped up and went to the corner , and by the light of the lamp that he always kept burning he saw that the kettle had become a tanuki , which was running round after his tail . After he grew weary of that , he ran on the balcony , where he turned several somersaults , from pure gladness of heart . The tradesman was much troubled as to what to do with the animal , and it was only towards morning that he managed to get any sleep ; but when he opened his eyes again there was no tanuki , only the old kettle he had left there the night before . As soon as he had tidied his house , Jimmu set off to tell his story to a friend next door . The man listened quietly , and did not appear so surprised as Jimmu expected , for he recollected having heard , in his youth , something about a wonder-working kettle . ` Go and travel with it , and show it off , ' said he , ` and you will become a rich man ; but be careful first to ask the tanuki 's leave , and also to perform some magic ceremonies to prevent him from running away at the sight of the people . ' Jimmu thanked his friend for his counsel , which he followed exactly . The tanuki 's consent was obtained , a booth was built , and a notice was hung up outside it inviting the people to come and witness the most wonderful transformation that ever was seen . They came in crowds , and the kettle was passed from hand to hand , and they were allowed to examine it all over , and even to look inside . Then Jimmu took it back , and setting it on the platform , commanded it to become a tanuki . In an instant the handle began to change into a head , and the spout into a tail , while the four paws appeared at the sides .
` Dance , ' said Jimmu , and the tanuki did his steps , and moved first XXXXX one side and then on the other , till the people could not stand still any longer , and began to dance too .
After before except for from in on outside that to