“Oh dear! oh dear! here is our daughter come:  I hope there is nothing the matter.”

And so they went on, for some time, asking a string of questions.

In the meanwhile, Tokutaro went round to the kitchen door, at the back of the house, and, beckoning out the master of the house, said—­

“The girl who has come with me is not really your daughter.  As I was going to the Maki Moor, when I arrived at the bamboo grove, a fox jumped up in front of me, and when it had dashed into the grove it immediately took the shape of your daughter, and offered to accompany me to the village; so I pretended to be taken in by the brute, and came with it so far.”

On hearing this, the master of the house put his head on one side, and mused a while; then, calling his wife, he repeated the story to her, in a whisper.

But she flew into a great rage with Tokutaro, and said—­

“This is a pretty way of insulting people’s daughters.  The girl is our daughter, and there’s no mistake about it.  How dare you invent such lies?”

“Well,” said Tokutaro, “you are quite right to say so; but still there is no doubt that this is a case of witchcraft.”

Seeing how obstinately he held to his opinion, the old folks were sorely perplexed, and said—­

“What do you think of doing?”

“Pray leave the matter to me:  I’ll soon strip the false skin off, and show the beast to you in its true colours.  Do you two go into the store-closet, and wait there.”

With this he went into the kitchen, and, seizing the girl by the back of the neck, forced her down by the hearth.

“Oh!  Master Tokutaro, what means this brutal violence?  Mother! father! help!”

So the girl cried and screamed; but Tokutaro only laughed, and said—­

“So you thought to bewitch me, did you?  From the moment you jumped into the wood, I was on the look-out for you to play me some trick.  I’ll soon make you show what you really are;” and as he said this, he twisted her two hands behind her back, and trod upon her, and tortured her; but she only wept, and cried—­

“Oh! it hurts, it hurts!”

“If this is not enough to make you show your true form, I’ll roast you to death;” and he piled firewood on the hearth, and, tucking up her dress, scorched her severely.

“Oh! oh! this is more than I can bear;” and with this she expired.

The two old people then came running in from the rear of the house, and, pushing aside Tokutaro, folded their daughter in their arms, and put their hands to her mouth to feel whether she still breathed; but life was extinct, and not the sign of a fox’s tail was to be seen about her.  Then they seized Tokutaro by the collar, and cried—­

“On pretence that our true daughter was a fox, you have roasted her to death.  Murderer!  Here, you there, bring ropes and cords, and secure this Tokutaro!”

So the servants obeyed, and several of them seized Tokutaro and bound him to a pillar.  Then the master of the house, turning to Tokutaro, said—­