Tanuki Japanese mythology. Mythology. Tanuki can take on different forms, for example, turning into a beautiful girl. However, if a kitsune fox girl is a creature who builds malicious intrigues, often with a gloomy ending, then stories about the tricks of a tanuki
Tanuki - werewolves of Japanese mythology
Tanuki are traditional Japanese werebeasts. It is believed that by placing leaves on their heads, tanuki can transform into anyone they want. Capable of turning into both people and things.
Big sake lovers. They are revered as kami, ensuring success in trade. Tanuki is a raccoon dog, a common Far Eastern animal similar to a raccoon, but actually a member of the canine family (Nyctereutes Procyonoides), but according to established literary tradition the word is translated as "badger".
For the Japanese, tanuki are popular heroes of children's songs, fairy tales and legends, not particularly smart, restless creatures who unsuccessfully try to play tricks on people. “They like to play pranks on people (say, by turning into a human and buying sake with fake money made from leaves), but usually these tricks are quite harmless, and people brutally retaliate against tanuki for them. In general, tanuki are portrayed as unlucky but lovable creatures. By nature, tanuki are kind, sympathetic and too trusting.
The Japanese build temples and worship some of the outstanding legendary tanuki as gods. If you are in Japan, you will see at the entrance to shops many tanuki statues with huge genitals and a bottle of sake in their paw. Tanuki genitals are not a sexual symbol, and in general the Japanese are very tolerant of this kind of humor.” Among the instructions of the old tanuki from the anime “Tanuki War in the Age of Hensei and Pom-Poko” was his story about the genitals, which included a demonstration of his own “skills”.
Starting from the 13th century, the term “kori” appears in Japanese literature, which combines both tanuki and kitsune into one group of creatures. Usually "kori" means "either kitsune or tanuki." What kind of creature appears in such stories is not so important. These are usually stories of pranks, cruel or not, which is typical of both of these creatures.
I will continue with an amazing story about Tanuki.
For me personally, Tanuki began with a fairy tale by Yudelevich in his book “The Tale of Semolina Porridge” (in general, I need to write about his fairy tales somehow, this is a completely separate topic and story).
The most written about the book is probably here: http://yoru-no-kage-9.livejournal.com/3549.html
But in fact, Tanuki’s story is very long and filled with deep mythological meaning, which is impossible to tell young children exactly about.
Catch a very high-quality and detailed story from the Eared Hare (and then a photo journey to it - see the next post):
http://zajcev-ushastyj.livejournal.com/50786.html
No one has written about Japanese tanuki. But as the village news post showed, not everyone is familiar with this beast. The animal, however, is just as popular in Japanese folklore as in Russian, for example, the bear. Therefore, I decided to collect in a pile a certain amount of information, in my opinion, interesting about this beast. Both real and fabulous. Firstly, I myself am interested in this. And secondly, maybe someone else will like it.
Therefore, tanuki 狸 (sometimes also called “mujina”): 
Tanuki belongs to the canine family. Like a wolf and a fox, for example. Often when translated it is confused with a raccoon or a badger (especially in English texts). But the fact is that a tanuki is a raccoon dog. Purely externally, it differs from a raccoon in its shorter tail, which lacks stripes. And from the badger - also by the absence of stripes on the back and a shorter muzzle of the face. Outside Japan, it is found in Manchuria and adjacent areas of Siberia.
In Japan it is found almost everywhere, with the possible exception of the southernmost islands. It eats everything it can find that is edible: vegetables, fruits and other plants, seeds and roots, insects, river fish and small animals such as frogs and lizards, and destroys the nests of birds that have the temerity to nest on the ground. Tanuki living near the ocean coast collect fish, crabs and other sea life thrown out by the ocean.
I've never heard of tanukas living as pets (zoos don't count). I do not know why. Perhaps wild tanuki are difficult to tame and are not very clean.
In modern life, tanuki willingly feed in garbage dumps and love to destroy vegetable gardens, especially those located on mountain slopes or away from houses. Since in Japanese fairy tales the tanuki is sometimes portrayed as a kind, albeit crafty, god of luck, they are willingly fed by the owners and staff of hotels and roadside restaurants in the mountainous and sparsely populated areas of Japan.
They say that in the mid-50s of the last century, tanukis were brought to the USSR as a possible source of natural fur. A number escaped or were released. Therefore, nowadays tanuki are found in small numbers in the north-west of the European continent.
In general, in real life, tanuki are not particularly interesting. But in Japanese folklore, tanuki are one of the most popular heroes.
Here are pictures depicting tanuki as a fairy-tale character: 
Pay attention to the constantly occurring details of appearance: a straw hat, a large belly, a bottle of sake in one paw and a list of debts in the other, and, most notably, what usually greatly shocks foreigners - the disproportionately large size... uh... .testicles, let's say.
If you ask a Japanese how big a tanuki’s testicles can be, you will usually hear the answer: hachi jo (an area equal to 8 tatami), that is, about 13 square meters.
The origin of this amazing ability of tanuki testicles to expand incredibly can be found in the history of ancient goldsmiths from Kanazawa Prefecture. In order to obtain a thin sheet of gold (as we say, “leaf” gold), a small ball of this metal was wrapped in tanuki skin (where the skin came from is not specified) and flattened with a hammer to the required thinness. It is clear that along with the gold, the skin of the tanuki also changed its size. So, Kanazawa jewelers had an expression that “gold is so malleable, and tanuki skin is so strong that even a small piece of gold can cover 8 tatami mats.” And in Japanese the phrase “ball of gold” (金の玉 kin no tama) is close in sound to the slang "kintama" (male balls). Well, here's the result.
In Japanese mythology, tanuki and kitsune (fox) are werewolves who can change their appearance arbitrarily, at will. But if a kitsune usually prefers to transform into a person (especially often into a beautiful girl) and uses complex techniques for transformation, then a tanuki easily and without problems turns into anything and anyone.
The tanuki uses his ability to transfigure to make stupid, and sometimes dangerous, jokes on people. Most often, hunters, woodcutters and travelers suffer from tanuki jokes.
In general, according to Japanese fairy tales, stories, myths and other tales, tanuki are a merry fellow and a sybarite, which, perhaps, cannot be found more among werewolves.
He loves to drink (that's why he is always depicted with a bottle of sake), eat well (check out the size of his belly!), and does not shy away from the company of beautiful girls. Very often depicted with a scroll of paper in one of its paws. According to the legends, this is a list of debts to restaurateurs, which the tanuki, as befits an inveterate reveler, is not going to pay. The tanuki causes the most serious harm to those overly gullible who were careless to take money from the tanuki. Because tanuki usually uses fallen leaves, temporarily turned into coins, as the latter.
As for the size of the testicles, this is not at all what you might think. This organ has nothing to do with any special sexual activity of the tanuki. Purely utilitarian purpose:
Tanuki can turn his testicles (separate from the rest of his body) into a blanket (yup, 13 square meters in area!). And sleep covered with such a “blanket”. Can turn them into a raincoat to hide from the rain. Can inflate them to the size of a balloon and move with the help of this “flying machine”. Can be used in a fight with fellow tribesmen or people as a club. It can even turn them into small harmful demons to intimidate disobedient relatives.
Here are some Japanese prints from the late 19th century depicting tanuki uses of their testicles. 
Fishing nets 
Boat 
Cudgel
(stolen from here: http://www.printsofjapan.com/Yoshiiku_ta nuki_print.htm )
Particularly advanced tanuki can turn their testicles into a room or even a small house and lure travelers there. But an accidentally dropped hot coal can destroy the illusion and the “room” will immediately turn into a tanuki howling in pain.
In general, a useful device, but nothing more.
One of the most popular stories in Japanese folklore tells about a tanuki who turned into a teapot (Bunbuku chagama.ぶんぶく茶釜) There are several versions of this tale (in one, a tanuki turns into a teapot to thank the poor man who fed him; in another, to punish the greedy monk), but in all versions there is a tanuki teapot and the destruction of the illusion when trying to boil water in this “teapot”. 
Tanuki teapot
There are references that all these miracles of transformation can only be performed by especially smart and advanced tanuki, called “mamedanuki” 豆狸. According to traditional beliefs, any object or creature old enough (over 100 years old) can become a monster, o-bake お化け in Japanese. So the thoroughly aged tanuki moves to a qualitatively new level and becomes mamedanuki. It’s difficult to say how long a werewolf tanuki can live, I couldn’t find any information. But, apparently, several hundred years - no problem.
Tanuki is traditionally considered the patron saint of all revelers and drunkards. And also - one of the incarnations of the god of luck Hotei. Therefore, a ceramic figurine of a werewolf joker can be found near restaurants, hotels and even at the doors of residential buildings.
In Shiga Prefecture, located around Japan's largest Lake Biwa, there is the town of Shigaraki, famous for its ceramics. The history of Shigaraki ceramics can be traced back centuries all the way back to the 12th century, or even earlier. In 1876, a boy, Tetsuzo Fujiwara, was born into a family of hereditary potters. After a long period of training in all the tricks of his craft, he returned home to Shigaraki in 1935 and introduced a new design for ceramic tanuki sculpture, which quickly gained popularity throughout Japan. Currently, the master's son, Kazuaki Fujiwara, continues the work begun by his father. Tanuki figurines from Shagaraki of various sizes can be found in every corner of Japan. 
Kazuaki Fujiwara
In the city of Shigaraki itself, there are tanuki on every street and near every house, not to mention the ceramics shops near the pottery workshops. Different sizes, different purposes, for any size of wallet... We were in this town 3.5 years ago, in January 2005. Apart from the ceramics, there is not much to admire there. But looking at all sorts of variations on the tanuki theme can last a long time. 
My family is between tanuki. Check out the sizes!
Souvenirs purchased in Shigaraki: piggy bank, teapot, pencil holder, children's book about Tanuki teapot
In 1994, the animation studio "Studio Ghibli"The full-length animated film "Heisei Tanuki Gassen Pom Poko" 平成狸合戦ぽんぽこ was shot (it was released in English as "Pom Poko"). I highly recommend that those interested watch it. Firstly, this is a wonderful film in itself, like all the products of the brainchild Hayao Miyazaki. Secondly, the film is simply filled to the brim with all sorts of references to Japanese folklore and the realities of Japanese life. On the website of Miyazaki fans there is a section for questions and answers regarding Japanese history and mythology mentioned in the film. Informative. Here I put a trailer for film.
(The trailer has been changed because the original one was removed from YouTube - world-japan)
Tanuki - raccoon dog
The word "tanuki" is often translated as "badger" or "raccoon". This is not true. Raccoon dogs belong to the Canidae family. Tanuki are the largest common wild animals in Japan. Now they are on the verge of extinction. The homeland of the raccoon dog (Nyctereutes procyonoides) is the temperate regions of East Asia: Eastern China, Korea, Japan, and in Russia - the Amur region and Primorye. This is where another name for this animal came from - the Ussuri raccoon. The raccoon dog does have some external resemblance to the striped raccoon, only there are no transverse stripes on its fluffy tail.
The raccoon dog - tanuki - is a famous hero of Japanese folklore. Along with the fox - kitsune - this animal was considered a werewolf, capable of appearing in different guises. Kitsune is a demonic figure, a deceitful and treacherous creature. But, just as in “The Tales of Uncle Remus” the fox’s cunning was met with justice in the person of the nimble brother rabbit, so in Japanese legends there is a hero who is “too tough” for the insidious kitsune. This is a tanuki. Why did the Japanese choose this animal? A shaggy hulk with short legs, timid and slow, not very suitable for the role of a hero...
The raccoon dog is the only representative of its family that hibernates for the winter. Bears and badgers, representatives of the bear and mustelidae families, respectively, hibernate. But this is completely uncharacteristic of canines - except for tanuki. For wintering, animals use badger holes, often residential ones. There they occupy one of the free holes and do not go far from the hole. Only if this rule is strictly observed does the badger tolerate such proximity.
The Japanese build temples and worship some of the outstanding legendary tanuki as gods. It is believed that Tanuki could fool people, especially monks, but not out of malice, but for the sake of a cheerful joke. These transformations symbolized the Buddhist idea that what is beautiful can very well turn into something terrible, and vice versa, that they are one thing - illusions.
In one of the ancient Japanese stories, a tanuki, in order to prank a local sage, takes on the image of the famous Buddhist deity Fugen. The sage is delighted, he saw the deity, and even on a white elephant, on which Fugen always travels. The sage shares his joy with the common people, and the tanuki, in his prank, went wild and once again appeared before the crowd in the guise of a deity. However, there was an incredulous hunter. If this is a deity, the hunter thought, then the arrow will not harm him, but if it is a deceiver, then the deception will immediately be revealed. The hunter shot an arrow at the vision. It disappeared with a terrible howl. In the morning, residents discovered a dead tanuki pierced by an arrow. It's a pity, but there is a limit to everything, even jokes. Of course, the meaning of this legend is much deeper. This is a comparison of the approaches to life of a sage lost in theoretical reasoning and a practical hunter.
Tanuki genitals are a traditional symbol of good luck. You can often find sculptures of tanuki with huge genitals and a bottle of sake in their paw.
There are a dozen words in Japanese everyday life that are allegorically related to this animal. Tanuki-o suru means that someone pretends to be asleep when the situation becomes difficult and immediate action is required. Tanuki-oyaji (father of tanuki) or furu-dan danuki (old tanuki) is the name given to a cunning, insidious old man. Tanuki baba (tanuki grandmother) is a grumpy old woman. However, it should be remembered that since the tanuki is characterized as an intelligent, resourceful animal, a cute animal, these negative expressions always have a humorous overtone, they are used not only behind the scenes, but also to the face, with admiration or irony
In the East, however, tanuki meat was also valued. In Japan, you can find restaurants that serve tanukijira, a soup made from tanuki meat with miso, radish and other vegetables. Nowadays, however, under this name you can find a purely vegetarian dish - soup, the basis of which is a jelly-like product made from the flour of a special type of sweet potato, which causes appetite, but is practically not absorbed by the body. Perhaps the connection between the name of this dish and tanuki is also based on “deception” - tasty food turns out to be incapable of maintaining strength.
"Bumbuku-tyagama" is a story about a magic tea pot. During the Oei years (1394–1428), a monk named Shukaku lived at the Morinji Zen Temple in the southern part of the city of Tatebayashi. He had a tea pot that had an inexplicable feature: it was impossible to empty all the boiling water from it. Once Shukaku showed the bowler hat to the abbot of the monastery, and he determined that it was a tanuki turned into a bowler hat. The exposed tanuki took on his true form and ran away from the monastery.
Some of the early tanuki legends may not seem so funny now... “A hunter caught a tanuki and, bringing it home, told his wife to cook it for dinner. After which he left for other matters. However, the tanuki himself dealt with the woman and, taking her appearance, prepared dinner for the hunter from her meat. After dinner was eaten, the tanuki took his form, thus explaining to the hunter what had happened, and ran away. Wanting revenge, the hunter turned to his dog for help... She made a boat out of clay and invited the tanuki to go fishing. In the middle of the lake the boat disappeared..."
The bellies of raccoon dogs, plump and round, have long been the subject of jokes and proverbs. According to one legend, at rural festivals, tanuki hit their stomachs with their paws, helping peasants who would like to participate in the festival, but are embarrassed by their inability to beat the rhythm on the drums. There is even a word "tanukibayashi" which means "tanuki drumming".
Tanuki can take on different forms, for example, turning into a beautiful girl. However, if a kitsune fox girl is a creature who builds malicious intrigues, often with a gloomy ending, then stories about tanuki tricks are usually intended to make the listener laugh. Perhaps this is precisely what the Japanese noted in the raccoon dog - the ability to humbly accept fate, pretend and survive under any circumstances?
In addition, this beast has another feature for which real tanuki - and not mythological characters - are valued in Japan. This is their voice, somewhat reminiscent of the voice of a bird - a high, drawn-out call, which is often exchanged between the separated male and female of the same pair.
Bibliography
To prepare this work, materials from the site http://www.yaponist.com/ were used
Our hero can be found in a variety of forms: either he is a warrior with swords, or a wandering monk, or a merchant. He turned into one of these people for some of his needs, because for him it’s as easy to turn into anyone as it is for you and me to snap our fingers. He never does anything bad to anyone.
And in general, our hero is not a person, but a cute furry animal. Not a badger, not a raccoon or a dog, but on its own: therefore, we will call him by his own Japanese name - tanuki. In science it is called a raccoon dog, but in structure it is closest to foxes. Outwardly, the animal looks more like a badger, but its habits resemble a possum: frightened by a sudden noise, especially a shot, it falls backward and pretends to be dead, then suddenly jumps up and runs away.
Probably because of his pretense, because of this ability to suddenly rise from the dead as a tanuki, the fame of a great cunning and deceiver was established in Japan, and he became the hero of many fairy tales and legends. However, the animal is actually quite smart, it is gentle and easily tamed.
Tanuki are common throughout Japan. During the day he sleeps and at night he goes fishing. Catches frogs, mice and other small animals, is not averse to getting into the garden, nibbling on sweet potatoes, and even knows how to climb trees, eating fruits. However, there is little harm from him, especially since he himself risks paying for his nightly pranks with a fluffy warm skin, or even ending up in a soup bowl: bean stew with tanuki meat - a delicious dish for the peasants of northern Japan. In some places it is even bred for its fur, and at the same time meat.
The Japanese have a lot of tales about werewolves. Quite often they feature foxes, but this character is borrowed from China. Foxes always turn into beautiful women, they can fall in love with people, they even have sincere good intentions, but any story with a fox cannot end in anything good: something tragic and hopeless is always associated with them.
Unlike the fatal foreign fox, the tanuki is a purely Japanese character, and there is nothing tragic in his character. He is also a werewolf, but the werewolf is harmless and good-natured, somehow one of his own.
Maybe because he is very unlucky.
And in most fairy tales, if anyone ends up suffering from the tanuki werewolf's antics, it's himself. No matter what he does, everything backfires on him.
The tanuki somehow decided to save himself and his brothers from the misfortunes that the hunt threatens them with. He turned into a wandering monk and, meeting a hunter in the forest, began to admonish him that it was a sin to kill innocent animals. The hunter, however, noticed something wrong in the monk’s manners: he moved his nose very much like a badger - and jokingly threatened him with his gun. The cowardly “monk” immediately turned into a tanuki and took off running.
Another tanuki really wanted to see the capital. He turned into a samurai and went on a journey. The respectful guards let the “samurai” through unhindered, but the street dogs smelled the familiar, delicious smell of tanuki, and the unlucky traveler was in trouble. He had to run away, losing his samurai sword and wooden sandals.
Tanuki is known for his music addiction, but nothing good comes of it either. One evening the children gathered in the temple grove to sing in chorus. The tanuki who lived in the grove were so delighted with the songs that they climbed out into the clearing and joined the choir. At the same time, they beat the beat on their tight tummies with such zeal, like a drum, that they beat themselves to death. The kind rector of the temple buried the music lovers and erected a monument to them. It can still be seen at Shojoji Temple.
A cute animal, pot-bellied and bug-eyed, is depicted in a straw peasant hat, in his paws he has a knapsack and a wine bottle. The fact is that the priest, who was friends with the animals, loved to drink, and sympathetic tanuki ran to the store for him. And the priest fed the tanuki with what the parishioners brought. And when he was given quite a lot of money, the abbot decided that this was a reward for his kind attitude towards animals. Since then, the tanuki has probably become a good luck charm. And his images - stone and clay - can be found everywhere in Japan. They are placed in gardens for decoration, kept in houses for good luck, and among children, tanuki are a favorite toy. And, as they say, he really brings happiness, although he himself is a total loser. But at the same time, the loser is cheerful and cheerful, always ready for new tricks...
It's Friday and the anticipation of the last summer weekend - this is a great time to talk about Tanuki(Japanese 狸) or (Japanese タヌキ) - a cheerful, cheerful and crafty werebadger, the second most popular in Japanese mythology after the kitsune fox.
As a rule, in Japanese culture, tanuki, foxes and cats can become werewolf animals.
In the Land of the Rising Sun, this funny animal is a symbol of happiness and prosperity. Tanuki drives away evil spirits from the hearth. By placing leaves on his head, he is able to transform into anything (people and various animals, a teapot or the moon).
Although tanuki often likes to transform and play all sorts of stupid jokes (sometimes unkind) with people, his mythological image is devoid of sinister overtones.
Tanuki in Japanese folklore are restless and not very smart; he is a couch potato and a big fan of having fun, drinking warm sake and eating delicious food on credit.
Stylized figurines of a tanuki, wearing a straw hat, with a big belly, a bottle of sake in one paw and a long list of restaurant debts in the other, can be found everywhere in Japan near houses, drinking establishments, restaurants, shops and places of recreation. It is believed that the animal's huge genitals bring good luck.
The Japanese build temples and worship some of the outstanding legendary tanuki as gods.
Tanuki in nature
Although “Tanuki” is translated into Russian as “were-badger”, in nature its prototype is a raccoon dog, which refers to the canine family, just like a fox or a wolf.
Tanuki is a strongly built animal, reaching 60 cm in length, with short legs and a bushy tail. It differs from the raccoon in having a shorter tail without stripes. It also doesn’t look much like a badger - it has a short muzzle and no stripes on its back.
In Japan, tanuki are found almost everywhere, with the exception of the southernmost islands.
Outside of Japan, these animals are found in Manchuria and adjacent regions of Siberia.
These cautious animals prefer to settle in dense forests, often near bodies of water.
Tanuki are most active in the evening hours (after sunset) and early morning. In search of food, these animals can travel up to 10-20 kilometers per day.
Tanuki are practically omnivores: they feed on vegetables and fruits, seeds and rhizomes of plants. Among living creatures, tanuki with equal appetite gobble up insects and frogs, small rodents and lizards, and on occasion they like to feast on river fish. They often eat the eggs of ground-nesting birds.
Tanuki living near the ocean coast collect fish, crabs and other sea life thrown out by the ocean.
Near populated areas, tanuki willingly feed in garbage dumps and raid vegetable gardens, especially those located on mountain slopes or away from houses.
Since in Japanese fairy tales, legends and myths the tanuki is sometimes portrayed as a kind, albeit crafty, god of luck, they are readily fed by the owners and staff of hotels and roadside restaurants in the mountainous and sparsely populated areas of Japan.
Tanuki actively store weight in the autumn months, and from November to April they mostly hide in burrows, although they do not hibernate. They are extremely rarely seen during the cold months, only in the southern regions.
Back in the 70s of the last century, tanuki were hunted and various dishes were prepared from its meat, including tanuki-jiru soup. Its fluffy, soft fur was used to make brushes, and it was believed that tanuki bones had healing powers.
Tanuki were even brought to the western regions of the former USSR for fur breeding. Some escaped animals made their way as far west as Scandinavia and as far south as France in the 1950s.
Although at present this animal has practically ceased to be hunted, its population in nature is rapidly declining.
Tanuki in Japanese culture
Tanuki, or also called Mujina, is as popular in Japanese folklore (songs, fairy tales, legends and myths) as the bear is in Russian.
In Japanese mythology, tanuki and kitsune (fox) are werewolves who can change their appearance at will. But if a kitsune usually prefers to transform into a person (especially often into a beautiful girl) and uses complex techniques for transformation, then a tanuki easily and without problems turns into anything. 
The tanuki uses its ability to transform into stupid, and sometimes dangerous, jokes on people. Most often, hunters, woodcutters and travelers suffer from tanuki jokes. Werewolves can create powerful illusions - they can leave fake money, a horse or a delicious dinner on the road to lure people into a trap.
The tanuki inflicts the most serious harm on those gullible dupes who had the imprudence to take money from him. The crafty werewolf usually turns fallen leaves into coins.
One of the most popular stories in Japanese folklore tells of a tanuki who turned himself into a teapot to thank the poor man who saved him.
Most often, a tanuki gets into trouble, from which he is freed by a kind but poor person - a beggar, a weak old man or a bankrupt merchant. In gratitude for the rescue, the tanuki turns into a bronze tea pot (or teapot). The man sells it at the market, and at night the tanuki takes on his own form and returns to his owner. Thus, he repeats the deception until the savior becomes rich.
In another legend, a tanuki pretends to be a teapot (pot) to punish a greedy monk.
According to many legends, the tanuki is the most cheerful of all Japanese werebeasts, who loves to enjoy delicious food and drink. Therefore, figurines of a good-natured, pot-bellied tanuki with a bottle of sake (rice alcoholic drink) and a list of debts from restaurants (which the cunning werewolf has no intention of repaying) are sure to be found near all drinking establishments and restaurants, luring good luck, and customers into the bargain.
This mischievous werewolf also loves the company of young girls.
As for the huge size of the testicles, they have nothing to do with the hypersexual abilities of the tanuki. According to legends, tanuki can inflate them to incredible sizes - up to 13 square meters. It is believed that the more pronounced these signs are (the larger the size of the scrotum), the more happiness the tanuki brings.
Moreover, the tanuki uses his gigantic wealth to solve any problems in life, turning it into a blanket, a cloak, a net, and sometimes into a balloon or shelter on a stormy night :)
