Story of the Red Palace

The rows of blooming red spider lilies are beautiful, and autumn is finally upon us. It's been a while. This is Tanukimori Doroshu. By the way, the night wind is quite cold today... I wonder if the sharply blooming red spider lilies are feeling the cold too. Oh, by the way, there is a species of red spider lilies called the tanuki no kamisori. Do any of you know it? ...That's why I'm a friendly tanuki who has become familiar with red spider lilies. However, although the tanuki no kamisori has a similar shape, it is a pale pink color and is cute, but it has a different mysterious charm from the red spider lilies. I think that the red of the red spider lilies has the power to make this autumn air sway mysteriously. ...Oops, I've gotten off track. Well, they say the heat and cold will last until the equinox, but just when you think the sweltering heat has subsided, this night breeze is cold... When it gets this cold, you want something to put on. Do you know what "Denchu" is? Its official name is Denchu Haori, a sleeveless cotton haori that was popular in the Edo period. Today, I'd like to talk about a raccoon dog called Akadenchu, who transforms into a child wearing a Denchu and tricks people. This story is from Horie Village, Itano County, Tokushima Prefecture (present-day Naruto City), and it says that when a person is walking alone at night, a child wearing a red Denchu asks him to carry him on his back. The child begs so persistently that the person has no choice but to carry him, and the child innocently rejoices, flapping his arms and legs in a very happy manner, and sometimes even slapping the person's shoulders in joy. However, this child in the red costume is actually a baby raccoon disguised as a human, and is not trying to harm or tease people, but just wants to be carried by someone. ...It's so cute, isn't it? There are many raccoons that trick people, but it's rare to find one that is so innocent and cute. One theory is that the raccoon began asking for help because it was jealous of children who were happy to be carried by people. In fact, there are stories of raccoons asking to be carried in Aichi Prefecture and Wakayama Prefecture, but the baby raccoon in this story may be the only one who asks for help purely because he wants to be carried. He just asks and is happy when he is carried...it may not be a little bit different from being a trick. If you were walking alone at night and a baby raccoon like this asked you to be carried, what would you do? ...At times like these, it might be fun to put down the heavy burden you are carrying and help the little raccoon with his request. Well, that's about it for tonight's story... Everyone, it's getting colder and colder. If there's an epidemic or something... please take care of yourself. I hope to see you again.