A long time ago, in a certain place, there was a farmer called M. M was a greedy man, always thinking things like 'How can I easily profit from this?' but no matter how many tricks he had in his head, it was the same as a rice cake drawn on paper; if he didn't bring it to action he wouldn't make even a hundredth of a yen. Since he was only sleeping when he wasn't working his fields, he was in a condition of lacking, day after day.

One night, when M had rolled out his straw mat and was sleeping as usual, there was a voice at his ear which he had not heard before. "I'll grant you your wish... I will place three bills here. If you write your wishes on these bills and burn them, there and then your hopes shall come true..."

Surprised, M woke up and tried touching around where the voice had been, and there were surely three old bills placed there. Half in doubt and half convinced, M took one of those bills in his hand and wrote down his first wish.
'No, wait..! Maybe this could be some kind of trap... Maybe this is the kind of mischief Kitsune and Tanuki would do to trick me... Ahh, I'll try it anyway...'


M, whose skepticism was deeper than his greed, timidly wrote "One koban" on that bill, and burned it in the fire of his hearth. But since nothing happened no matter how long he waited, he became sulky and flopped down to sleep once more. In a little while afterward, he heard that voice again.

"Your wish, it has been granted..."

Just as he heard the voice, there was a sound of something falling down beside the hearth, and when he got a good look he saw that it was a single oval coin giving off radiance.

"It was true..."

When M grasped that koban he forgot his suspicion from a while ago, and was already reaching his hand for the second bill. This time he wrote "A water jug full of koban" across it, and waited for that voice. After a little while he heard the voice just as he did before, and now the sound of a water jug toppling over, and when he looked, there were so many large and small gold coins spilling out of the jug that he couldn't count them. However, this time, M who was greedier than most people had a regret.

'I didn't rush just now, I should've written it so that I'd get more money than that... With only this much money, when I enjoy myself it'll be gone in no time... So, I have one more bill don't I?'

Whether or not his thoughts were fast, M quickly wrote a wish on the third bill and laid down to rest. After he had waited on and on for the usual voice, this time too he heard the same.

"Your wish, it has been granted..."

However, immediately following that, a thunderous roar resounded along with the voice. Crushed beneath a great number of koban that sprinkled down from the ceiling, M was completely transformed into a tragic-looking figure...

The wish M had wrote on the third bill was "Koban filling the house"...