The Ugly Raccoon Dog

One lovely summer afternoon in the forest, a mother wolf sat on her leafy bed. In the leafy bed, warm and snug, were seven beautiful newborns. The mother wolf sat very still, waiting for the babies to open their eyes into six little wolves.


At last the mother gave a howl of joy and sprang off the leafy bed. The newborns were rocking back and forth. From outside them came howling sounds. The mother wolf bent over to watch.


Then one, two, three, four, five, six newborns open their eyes. And out tumbled six tiny wolves, black and white and grey and soft as down, with bright eyes and cute little bills.
They all stood up and looked around. Then with soft little howlers they climbed out of the leafy bed and ran around in the shade.
What a beautiful family! the mother wolf thought.


But then she looked at the leafy bed and sadly shook her head. For the seventh and smallest newborn had not opened its eyes yet.

So she sat down again and waited some more.
Soon the small newborn showed signs of life.


In a moment, two dark red eyes were wide open. Then a head appeared. But instead of being black and white and gray like the other little wolves, it was tiny black and burgundy and fuzzy.
"Yelp!" said the new little furry animal, eager to be liked.
"Horrors!" said the mother wolf. "he doesn't sound like any child of mine."

"Grrrr!" said the other little wolves. "He's funny-looking, too. We don't want to play with an Ugly Raccoon Dog."
And they walk away with their mother.
The Ugly Raccoon Dog couldn't understand why everyone had left him alone. He followed the others down to the pond.


There he found the mother wolf. He was swimming around the pond with the six little wolves on her back.


The Ugly Raccoon Dog yelped at them, hoping for a ride. But the mother wolf just scowled at him to go away.



Poor Ugly Raccoon Dog! There he sat, all alone at the edge of the pond.
Why won't they play with me? He wondered sadly. Why do they call me ugly? Big tears filled his eyes and tricked down to splash in the pond.


The Ugly Raccoon Dog, glancing down, saw a strange sight. There was his own reflection, all blurred and twisted with the ripples of the water.
"Oh, dear!" cried the Ugly Raccoon Dog. "I am ugly indeed. I will run away and hide where no one will see me."


So he turned away from the sunny pond and went slowly into the dark and gloomy forest.
How sad he felt there, alone in the forest, with the silent shadows looming all around.


But after a while, he heard a friendly barking. Two baby black foxes were calling from their cozy den.


They sound nice, thought the Ugly Raccoon Dog. Maybe they will play with me.
So he hopped and scrambled into the den with them.
The baby foxes liked him. "And our mother will like you, too," they promised.



The Ugly Raccoon Dog could hardly wait for the mother fox to come. Soon she came flying in with a big juicy salmon in her teeth. Snap! Went the Ugly Raccoon Dog's hungry teeth as he snatched up that whole big salmon.


The mother fox was furious. She pulled the salmon away from him
"Get out of here, you tiny ugly thing!" she cried as she chased the frightened Ugly Raccoon Dog out of the den.


The Ugly Raccoon Dog rushed to the pond as fast as he could go.
Everyone hates me because I'm ugly, he thought.
Then he lay down on a log and cried.


"Yelp! Yelp! Yelp! Yelp!" The Ugly Raccoon Dog heard the sound over his crying. He blinked away his tears and shyly looked around.
There, right in front of him, paddling in the water, were five fuzzy black creatures just like him!


"What's the matter, crying on a beautiful day like this?" they asked. "Come on in and play with us."


The Ugly Raccoon Dog dove off the log and they all began to play. But in the midst of a lively game of water tag, his playmates suddenly swam away, yelping happily.



The Ugly Raccoon Dog looked up and saw—the most beautiful furry animal in the world.
"Mother! Mother!!" his new friends cried. "We've found a new big brother to play with."


"Welcome home," said the beautiful black tanuki, cradling the Ugly Raccoon Dog in her arms. "You are a fine, handsome baby tanuki, and you'll someday be King of the Forest."


From the shore, the mother wolf and her downy babies watched the Ugly Raccoon Dog's welcome.


"Come back and play with us!" they called.
But the little Ugly Raccoon Dog swam happily away with the tanukis.

—The End—