It fell towards him , and as he felt the touch of a kiss , he exclaimed , ` Ah , Maria , Maria , so sweet in death , so hard to me in life ! The man who could kill you deserves to die ! ' And he was about to turn his sword on himself , when the true Maria sprung out from under the bed , and flung herself into his arms . And the next day they were married and lived happily for many years . -LSB- From the Portuguese . -RSB- The Magic Kettle Right in the middle of Japan , high up among the mountains , an old man lived in his little house . He was very proud of it , and never tired of admiring the whiteness of his straw mats , and the pretty papered walls , which in warm weather always slid back , so that the smell of the trees and flowers might come in . One day he was standing looking at the mountain opposite , when he heard a kind of rumbling noise in the room behind him . He turned round , and in the corner he beheld a rusty old iron kettle , which could not have seen the light of day for many years . How the kettle got there the old man did not know , but he took it up and looked it over carefully , and when he found that it was quite whole he cleaned the dust off it and carried it into his kitchen . ` That was a piece of luck , ' he said , smiling to himself ; ' a good kettle costs money , and it is as well to have a second one at hand in case of need ; mine is getting worn out , and the water is already beginning to come through its bottom . ' Then he took the other kettle off the fire , filled the new one with water , and put it in its place . No sooner was the water in the kettle getting warm than a strange thing happened , and the man , who was standing by , thought he must be dreaming . First the handle of the kettle gradually changed its shape and became a head , and the spout grew into a tail , while out of the body sprang four paws , and in a few minutes the man found himself watching , not a kettle , but a tanuki ! The creature jumped off the fire , and bounded about the room like a kitten , running up the walls and over the ceiling , till the old man was in an agony lest his pretty room should be spoilt . He cried to a neighbour for help , and between them they managed to catch the tanuki , and shut him up safely in a wooden chest . 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 XXXXX keep the kettle any more , so after a little bargaining about the price , Jimmu went away carrying the kettle with him .
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