The grateful gold-gathering badger

Overview

In Mitford’s “The Badger’s Money,” an old badger asks a priest at Namékata in Hitachi for permission to warm itself by his fire. The priest welcomes it without fear. It returns on winter nights, bringing branches and leaves as fuel, and the two become companions. After ten years it asks how it can repay the hospitality. The priest at first refuses any reward, then admits that three riyos in gold would allow him to provide for prayers after his death. He immediately regrets troubling his visitor and tries to withdraw the wish.

The badger disappears for three years. Fearing that it has been killed while trying to steal money, the priest prays for it. When it finally returns, it explains that stolen wealth would be inappropriate for a sacred purpose because its loss would grieve another person. Instead it travelled to Sado and recovered gold from material discarded by miners, working and refining it over a long period. The treasure is therefore not conjured from leaves or stolen: the narrative makes honest labour central to the repayment.

The badger initially asks the priest to keep its contribution secret. He explains that possessing so much money would arouse suspicion unless he tells its origin, and promises to conceal the creature’s continuing visits instead. They agree, and it continues spending winter nights with him for the remainder of his life. Neither is said to die during a failed final undertaking. The source’s moral commentary compares animal gratitude with human ingratitude; a footnote identifies its first-person commentator as the tale’s author, not necessarily Mitford himself. The English badger terminology is retained without asserting a modern species identification or an alternate name for another Japanese animal spirit.

Origins & earliest records

Japanese tale in Mitford’s English collection; individually named narrator not given.

Records & interpretation

Complete named account, ending, relevant footnotes and collection preface read.

Selected bibliography

Documented works and useful reading. This is not a list of every appearance.

1. 01

   Tales of Old Japan

   A. B. Mitford (Lord Redesdale) · 1871; hosted1910 edition

   The Badger’s Money, pp.220–223 andnotes80–82; entire narrative and attached notes read.

Family & connections

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Primary records and illustrations

References

Sources supporting this profile. Linked pages have their own scope and editorial standards.

1. Historical English translation and retellingMitford, Tales of Old Japan, complete named witnessResearch access: 2026-10-05

Image credits

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