Fox's Dream

Winter in the mountain forests of Hokkaido is cold and calm. Bears and squirrels are napping in their dwellings: the bear in the den, the squirrel in the hollow. The moon can be seen through the clouds like a piece of ice. It lights up the distant mountains with a bluish light.

The shadows of the trees lie on the icy snow carpet... the shadows of the trees... Moonlight penetrates the heart of the forest.

The forest seems illuminated. The footsteps of an animal crunch softly on the snow... It's a fox!

He is hungry. On this frosty night, the thickness of his winter pelt is no hindrance to the cold.

The fox has discovered the tracks of a hare, which must be somewhere nearby. The tracks lead to a hill. The fox follows them quieter and quieter, feeling hungrier and hungrier.

Аh! There he is!

The fox rushes after the hare.

The hare runs, galloping, chased by his shadow gliding in the snow.

But when he gets to the top of the hill, the hare jumps high, and his trail is gone.

On reaching the top of the hill, the fox takes a breath and opens his eyes wide.

What a magnificent view! Here begins a bizarre world, a forest he has never seen before.

The frosted trees gleam in the moonlight... ...but the more they shine, the colder it gets. Even the air turns to ice. The fox trembles with cold.

And so...

...the silhouette of his mother appears out of the trees.

Fox remembers her caresses, and the first time he left the den on his own. It was a warm spring morning, the ground decorated with young dandelions. He was then just a little fox, greedily drinking his mother's milk.

Throughout the summer he had grown up playing with his sisters in the fields full of flowers.

Now, in front of this bizarre forest, the fox recalls the happy days of his childhood.

Suddenly he recovers from this dream. The day dawns and the bizarre forest dissipates little by little.

Then the fox realises that he has reached the last trees of the forest.

Behind the forest, a huge carpet of snow stretches. Daylight is almost here.

Soon it's light out. The clear mountain air allows one to see infinitely far away.

There in the distance a figure can be seen moving in the snow. The fox looks closely... it's a fox.

The fox runs swiftly down the hill, his fur gleaming in the light of dawn.

On the endless expanse of snow lie two shadows... two shadows... Soon the snow will melt, spring will come. And the little fox will no doubt come into the world.

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Original story: Keizaburo Tejima., 1985. "Kitakitsune no yume" Translated from French to Russian: Sergey Sibilev

Translated from Russian to English: Cut it short.