Fairy Tales From Around the World

Inuyasha's Christmas Carol

One Christmas Eve, long ago, it snowed very hard in Tokyo. A thick blanket of snow covered the roofs and window sill and the carriage wheels left tracks in the streets. Gently falling snowflakes tickled the townsfolk hurrying homeward, laden with Christmas gifts. But one person was not thinking about Christmas trees or gifts. He paid no attention to the gaily decorated houses - for his name is Enmei Sato.

Enmei Sato hurried past a group of carolers.

"Joy to the children far and near,
What a wondrous time of year," they sang.

"God bless you, sir," one of them called out. "Please spare a coin for a poor hungry child!"

"Bah! Humbug!" replied Sato. "Stand aside there - I have no time to waste. Not a coin will you get from me! If the poor want to be rich, then let them work as hard as I do."

With his cane, Sato angrily knocked down the snow from the sign above his office door. He was thinking about his partner, Junichiro Murakami, who had passed away seven years ago on this very night.

"He was a good one! He robbed the widows and swindled the poor. In his will, he left me enough money to pay for his tombstone - but I had him buried at sea! Ha, ha!!" Sato chuckled to himself.

Even though it was Christmas Eve, Sato's clerk, Inuyasha Takahashi, was busily working. He had been copying letters all day, and although he wore a scarf and gloves, his teeth were chattering loudly.

"A-A-CHOO!!" sneezed Inuyasha. "It's freezing today. Surely, Sato won't miss one little piece of coal." Inuyasha carefully lifted the coal bucket but did not see who was coming up the sidewalk.

Suddenly, Sato burst into the room. He tossed his bag of dirty laundry on the floor and waved his cane in the air.

"Caught you!!" he shouted at Inuyasha."Are you trying to ruin me? That coal costs a pretty 1-yen coin, you know."

"Heh, heh," stammered Inuyasha. "I was just trying to thaw my ink."

"Bah! You used a piece last week," the miserly Sato replied. "Now get back to work!"

Old Sato sat down at his desk and lovingly polished his coins and banknotes until they glowed brightly. Rubbing his hands together with glee, he weighed the coins and banknotes on the scales and stacked them carefully on the desktop. With a quill pen, he scratched figures in an enormous book. Suddenly, the door flew open with a bang.

"Merry Christmas!" someone cried. Inuyasha looked from his work and gave a hearty greeting to Sato's nephew Miroku, who stood in the doorway, grinning broadly.

"What's this, Uncle Enmei?" Miroku exclaimed. "Poor Inuyasha still working on Christmas Eve?"

"Bah! Humbug!" snorted Sato. "We never close!"

Inuyasha Takahashi looked sadly at his ledger.

"So what brings you here, nephew?"

"I've come to invite you for Christmas dinner, Uncle," he said, handing him a wreath with a bright red bow.

"Oh, will you be having teriyaki chicken with potato salad?" asked Sato, tossing the wreath aside. "With cream stew and a layer cake with strawberries on top?"

"Yes!" Miroku said, beaming. "Will you come?"

"Are you daft, boy?!" Sato cried. "You know I can't eat that stuff! Now get out, out, OUT!!!"

Inuyasha Takahashi covered his ears as Sato slammed the door behind his nephew. Seconds later, the door opened again. This time, two townsfolk, holding little collection cups, peaked timidly inside.