There was once a little old man and a little old woman, who lived in a little old house in the edge of a shrine. They would have been a very happy old couple but for one thing --they had no little child, and they wished for one very much. One day, when the little old woman was baking gingerbread. she cut a cake in the shape of a little kitsune and put it in to the oven.
Presently she went to the oven to see if it was baked. As soon as the oven door was opened, the the little gingerbread kitsune jumped out and began to run away as fast as he could go.
The little old woman called her husband, and they both ran after him. But they could not catch him. And soon the gingerbread kitsune came across a monk. He called out to him as he went by, saying:
I've run away from a little old woman,
a little old man,
And I can run away from you, I can!
Then the monk set out to run after him. But, though he ran fast, he could not catch the kitsune. And he ran on till he came to a field where a girl was riding a bicycle. He called out to her:
I've run away from a little old woman,
A little old man,
A monk,
And I can run away from you, I can!
Then the girl began to pedal after him, but she couldn't catch him. And he ran on till he came to a woman siting on the back of a youkai. He called out to her:
I've run away from a little old woman,
A little old man,
A monk,
A girl on a bike,
And I can run away from you, I can!
But, though the woman and youkai gave chase at once, she couldn't catch him. And soon he came to a dog demon. He called out to the dog demon:
I've run away from a little old woman,
A little old man,
A monk,
A girl on a bike,
A woman riding a youkai,
And I can run away from you, I can!
But the dog demon ran, and couldn't catch him. And he ran till he came across a wolf demon and to him he called out:
I've run away from a little old woman,
A little old man,
A monk,
A girl on a bike,
A woman riding a youkai,
A dog demon,
And I can run away from you, I can!
Then the wolf demon set out to run. Now this wolf demon had a shard of the shikon jewel in each leg so he ran very fast indeed. So the wolf demon soon caught the gingerbread kitsune and ate him up.