When Magic is Really Magic: Story Week 13

Raccoon Dog of Nogeyama Zoo by Toshihiro Gamo. Found on wikimedia.

An old man lived in Tokyo, in a very tall building with very few neighbors who paid attention. One day, on the way home from the market, the old man found a kettle on the side of the road. Now, the kettle was a little dirty, but he could tell that it would be beautiful once it was polished.
So he cleaned it and carried it into his kitchen so he could use it. It was a very good kettle, sturdy, and he had been needing one. It was one less thing he would have to do. He set the kettle on the stove and begun to heat it, planning on making himself some tea.
The kettle apparently did not agree. It turned into a tanuki running around the room, which fair, it had been set on a hot stove. The animal darted around the pristine room, knocking things over out of there perfect places. The old man was upset that his house was going to be ruined by this mischievous animal.
His neighbors didn't come check on him, even though they out hear crashes and shouting. Better not to get involved.
Finally, the old man goes and gets the young man on the floor. He had always been king to him. They wrangled the tanuki into a chest together and began planning what to do with the animal.
Finally, they agreed to sell it to a dealer the young man knew. As he went to fetch him, the old man watched the chest for any movement, but there was none. They sold the kettle for a small profit, splitting it between the two of them.
The dealer took the kettle home, putting it in the corner to take to his shop the next day. That night, he heard a noise from the kettle. But noting came from him looking around it. He fell back asleep. Nad then again, he heard a noise from the kettle but this time it transformed into the tanuki.
He freaked out and left his apartment, wandering the city and wondering if he was going insane. When he got back in the morning to prepare for work, there was a kettle in the corner. Not wanting to deal with it, he left it there for the day, he'd take it to work the next day. But the same thing happened the next night.
He had an idea of what to do with this now, he would become a magician. If he couldn't figure out his own act, surely the people would be mesmerized. And they were. He went on tour around the country, the tanuki dancing an working as his partner. He became rich. He was honest and went back to the man that sold it to him and returned it with 100 gold pieces as a fee for hiring it. They all lived happily ever after.

Author's Note: This story comes from The Crimson Fairy Book by Andrew Lang and illustrated by H. J. Ford (1903). I moved the location of this story to Tokyo from the mountainside and made it more modern. I also cut out some of the places where the dealer asks for advice with what to do with his creature. I focused in on how this would work with modern day connections and how people would frame this incidence today.