They did not know what to do, or where to turn for food. At last the badger said:
“I have thought of a plan. I will pretend to be dead. You must change yourself into a man, and take me into the town and sell me. With the money you get for me, you must buy food and bring it into the forest. When I get a chance I will run away, and come back to you, and we will eat our dinner together. Mind you wait for me, and don’t eat any of it until I come. Next week it will be your turn to be dead, and my turn to sell—do you see?”
The fox thought this plan would do very well; so, as soon as the badger had lain down and pretended to be dead, she said to her little Cub:
“Be sure not to come out of the hole until I come back. Be very good and quiet, and I will soon bring you some nice dinner.”
She then changed herself into a wood-cutter, took the badger by the heels and swung him over her shoulders, and trudged off into the town. There she sold the badger for a fair price, and with the money bought some fish, some tofu,[[8]] and some vegetables. She then ran back to the forest as fast as she could, changed herself into a fox again, and crept into her hole to see if little Cub was all right. Little Cub was there, safe enough, but very hungry, and wanted to begin upon the tofu at once.
[8]. Curd made from white beans.
“No, no,” said the mother fox. “Fair play’s a jewel. We must wait for the badger.”
Soon the badger arrived, quite out of breath with running so fast.
“I hope you haven’t been eating any of the dinner,” he panted. “I could not get away sooner. The man you sold me to, brought his wife to look at me, and boasted how cheap he had bought me. You should have asked twice as much. At last they left me alone, and then I jumped up and ran away as fast as I could.”
The badger, the fox, and the Cub now sat down to dinner, and had a fine feast, the badger taking care to get the best bits for himself.