■ あらすじ　
　上野国<こうずけのくに>、茂林寺<もりんじ>の和尚が古道具屋で古い茶釜を買ったが、茶釜は頭や尻尾を出し狸のような姿で動き回って寺の小僧や和尚を驚かせた。このような奇怪な茶釜を買ったことを悔や
んだ和尚は、茶釜を鋳掛<いかけ>屋に売った。夜、寝ている鋳掛屋を頭、尻尾、足、狸の毛皮をつけた茶釜が起こし、自分を丁重に扱うなら幸運をもたらしてあげようと約束した。茶釜の提案で茶釜を見せ物に
して国中を回ることになり、大評判になった曲芸は大いに喜ばれ、鋳掛屋は金持ちになった。そこで鋳掛屋は見せ物をやめ、茶釜を休ませるため大金をつけて元の寺に奉納し、茶釜は寺で宝として飾られた。

■ Outline of this story
　The old priest of Morinji Temple in the province of Kotsuke bought an old tea-kettle at a second-hand shop. The kettle sprouted a head and tail like a badger, and began to scamper around, to the amazement of the novices and the old priest. Regretting his purchase of the mischievous kettle, the priest finally sold it to a tinker. Growing a badger's head, tail, legs, and fur, the kettle roused the tinker from his sleep that night and promised to bring him good fortune if he was treated well. At the kettle's suggestion, the two toured the country with a show of acrobatic performances that proved immensely popular and made the tinker rich. Then the tinker stopped touring and, to allow the kettle to retire, donated it along with a handsome sum of money to Morinji Temple, which treasured it ever after.

Note
　At Morinji Temple in the Tatebayashi district of what was formerly the province of Kotsuke, there is a legend about a tea-kettle that never becomes empty once filled with water. This story is linked to this legend. In the Japanese title, the term "bunbuku" is an onomatopoeia for the sound of boiling water and also has the connotation of sharing ("bun") wealth ("fuku"). The story was published as the 16th one in the Japanese Fairy Tale Series, in place of The Wooden Bowl, the original 16th. As a result, the series has two No. 16 stories. The signature on the cover indicates that the illustrator is Yoshimune Arai. The version published by Yachizo Matsumuro has essentially the same plot, but the text is longer and there are few illustrations.