Now the house next to Netaro's belonged to a wealthy family. They had endless fields and rice paddies, and a huge storehouse filled to the brim with two or three years' worth of rice.

One night, as everyone else lay sleeping, Netaro woke up, got out of bed, and sneaked into the yard of the house next door. With him he had his eagle and the unlit lantern. Carrying them carefully, Netaro climbed the big pine tree growing in the yard. When he reached the top, he called out to the rich man: "Hey! Come out at once!"

The rich man was awakened by Netaro's shouts.

"I'm a tengu!" Netaro called out from the treetop. "I live deep in the mountains!"

A tengu is a long-nosed Japanese goblin. Nobody wants to get on a tengu's bad side. To avoid offending the tengu, the startled rich man quickly went outside. "A tengu?!" he said to himself. "Oh my!"

"Good evening, Mr. Tengu," the rich man said, crouching and bowing before the darkened tree. "What can I do for you?"

"I want you to give your only daughter's hand in marriage to Netaro, the young man next door."

"What?!" the rich man said in surprise. "Why would you want me to do that?"

"Don't ask why. Just hand her over by tomorrow."

"I know you're a powerful tengu," the rich man cried, "but I can't give my only daughter away just like that."

"Oh, I see," Netaro said. "You can't give your daughter to a lazy fellow like Netaro. All right. If that's the case, someday your family is going to become just as poor as his."

"Oh no!" said the rich man. "What'll I do? Let me think . . . Well . . . All right! Have it your way. I'll give up my daughter."