The Mice Who Wrestled Sumo

 One upon a time there lived an elderly couple somewhere in rural Niigata. (Needless to say, the old man and his wife were poor.) One day the old man headed for the hills to cut grass. Arriving at the spot where he intended to work, the man was surprised to hear grunting and heaving coming from the base of a tree nearby. Looking closely, he saw two mice wearing loincloths, engaged in a spirited sumo contest. One of the mice was much larger than the other and had no trouble vanquishing his foe, bout after bout.  The smaller of the two he recognized as one that he had befriended in the past, the larger, the favorite of the wealthiest man in the district. "Poor little mouse", he thought, as yet another contest ended in defeat. When he returned home he told his wife about the wrestling mice. "Of course, we must take our mouse friend some rice cakes to get his strength up." The man thought this was a wonderful idea, so that evening he and his wife left mochi where the mouse would be sure to find them. The next morning the man set out for another day of grass cutting, and when he arrived he heard the self-same grunting and heaving, only this time it was his mouse that was triumphant. "Hey, you, how'd you get so strong all of a sudden?", said the larger mouse to his opponent.  "It's because of the mochi the old couple gave me." "I wonder if they'd give me a few rice cakes?" the other mused.  "Don't count on it. Rice cakes are a rare treat when you're poor." "That rich old guy. All that money, and not once has he given me so much as a single mochi. I wonder..." After discussing this overheard conversation with his wife that evening, the two decided to divide their store of rice, half for themselves, the other for the two mice. Later, they placed mochi for two and new red loincloths, one much smaller than the other, beside the sumo ring. Shortly afterwards the larger mouse appeared, staggering under the weight of the gold coins in his paws. He set them down and proceeded to nibble away at one of the rice cakes. The next day the old man returned to the hills. This time he noticed the two wrestlers were evenly matched and in high spirits. "We have the man and his wife to thank for this," they squeaked happily. The supply of gold coins continued, and the old couple lived happily and prospered. As did the two mice, who were never in want of rice cakes. Or loincloths, either.     

Translation: B. Southwick, 2020