very image of their old grandfather,” said he, as proud as possible. “As for medicine, blelss them, they’re so healthy that they’ll never need a copper coin’s worth!”
As soon as they were old enough they were carried off to the temple of Inari Sama, the patron saint of foxes, and the old grandparents prayed that they might be delivered from dogs and all the other ills to which fox flesh is heir.
In this way the white fox by degrees waxed old and prosperous, and his children, year by year, became more and more numerous around him; so that, happy in his family and his business, every recurring spring brought him fresh cause for joy.
