Japan Bunbuku Chagama

tale:japan_bunbuku_chagama

A poor man frees a trapped tanuki, which in gratitude turns itself into a fine tea-kettle for him to sell to a temple. Half-transformed and unable to bear the priest's scrubbing and fire, it flees back to the man, who exhibits it as a tightrope-walking, dancing kettle and prospers, sharing his fortune with his strange friend. Moral: a kindness freely given comes back transformed. — Japanese folktale