ILLUSTRATED STORY · FOUR READING LEVELS

The Dancing Tea Kettle

A surprising kettle becomes a celebrated performer

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Long ago, a priest at Morinji Temple in Japan prepared to heat an old tea kettle for his tea. He brought it toward the hearth.

Suddenly the kettle sprouted the head and tail of a badger, and fur covered its sides. The priest stared in amazement.

The priest called the young learners at the temple, called novices, to see the strange kettle. They hurried into the room.

The badger-kettle jumped into the air and darted around the room, so they tried to catch it. It slipped away from their hands.

At last they brought the kettle down and held it still together, then put it into a box. The novices helped the priest.

The priest planned to carry it far away and throw it out, so it could not trouble the temple again. He did not understand its strange power.