The Worlds Most Foolish Traveler

Long ago in Japan, there were three children with a very special fan. But these children were no ordinary children. They were Tengu children, goblins of Japan,and as all Tengus did, they had very long noses. When they waved the fan over their noses, their noses would either shrink or grow longer than they already were. Now although the children didn't know it, the whole time they were fanning away, they were being watched. Watched by a sly badger. Badgers in Japan can turn themselves into anything they want. And when the badger saw what fun the children were having with the magic fan, he decided to take it for himself. So the badger transformed himself into a girl with a plate of bean-jam buns,which all children in Japan are fond of. Thinking nothing of it, they dropped the fan and happily ate a bun. But there were three children and four buns. So the tricky badger suggested that the children close their eyes and hold their breath. Whoever could hold their breath with their eyes closed the longest would get the last bean-jam bun. The children thought this was a fair idea, so they each took a deep breath and closed their eyes. The second the eyes of all three children were closed, the badger hurried over to the fan, picked it up and ran out of the house, set to have his own kind of fun.

The badger came across a temple with a beautiful girl sitting inside. The girl was the daughter of the richest man in Japan. The badger waved his fan over the girl's petite nose until it grew very long. Then he ran away. The father was devastated! His beautiful daughter now looked like a dreadful tengu. The father called upon the doctors of Japan. They thought that if the princess ate thistledown, sea urchins and cabbage, it would cure her nose. So the princess ate thistledown, sea urchins and cabbage. She ate them until she could eat no more. But it didn't affect her nose at all. The father called on a witch. The witch suggested that the girl sprinkle pepper on her nose and then she could sneeze it back to normal size. The girl sprinkled pepper all over her nose and she sneezed. She sneezed and sneezed and sneezed. But nothing happened to her nose.The father yelled and sprinkled pepper on the witch. And she left, sneezing.The father sent for the thinkers of Japan. They thought that if she tied her nose in knots or bows it would look smaller. The father was in the depths of despair. Out of desperation he said,"I will give my daughter and half my fortune to anyone who can shrink my daughter's nose." The badger stalked into the room and introduced himself as a nose shrinker. And with a few quick waves of the fan, the girl's nose was small again. The wedding festivities were held immediately. The badger couldn't believe his luck! A beautiful wife that also happened to be rich. When he was snoring soundly, the tengu children crept in and took their fan. They waved it over the badger's nose until the nose grew through the clouds. Two workers were building a bridge in heaven. When they saw the badger's nose stop growing beside them, they decided it was the perfect pole for their bridge and hoisted it up. And that sneaky badger was never seen again.