Nippon no mukashibanashi (Japanese Folk tales)

Why the monkey's tail is short (saru no o wa naze mijikai )

Ages and ages ago the monkey's tail used to be thirty-three fathoms long. Because of a trick the bear played upon him, it turned into that short kind of tail.

One time the monkey called at the Bear's house and asked, "what is a good way to catch a lots of river fish?"

after talking it over, the bear advised , "On a cold night like this, sit on a rock above some deep place in the river and try putting that tail of yours down into the water and leaving it there. Many kinds of little fish will be sure to come and fasten onto it."

The monkey gladly did as he was told. As night deepened, his tail grew heavier and heavier. that was because the ice was spreading, but the monkey thought that the little fish were fastening onto his tail.

"This is enough to catch ," he decided at last. " i want to go home because it is too cold."

he tried to pull up his tail, but no matter what he did, he could not get it loose.

"This is awful", he cried, trashing around. At last,when he gave a desperate tug, his tail was snapped off at its base.

There are some people who say that the reason the monkey's face is so red is because he strained too hard as he pulled so frantically.

from: Nippon no mukashibanashi, Yanagita Kunio