Long, long ago, there was an honest old man who worked in the mountains.
When noon came, the old man sat down under a tree to eat his rice balls.
But one rice ball slipped from his hand, rolled and rolled away, and tumbled into a hole in the mountainside.
From inside the hole came a merry little song: "Rice ball rolling, sutton-ton!"
The old man was delighted, so he dropped another rice ball into the hole.
Again the sweet little song came drifting up.
When the old man leaned in to peek into the hole, his foot slipped and down he tumbled too.
Inside the hole lived a great many mice.
The mice said, "Thank you for the rice balls," and treated the old man to mochi and all sorts of good food.
As he was leaving, the mice brought out a small basket and a large basket and said, "Please take whichever you like."
The old man took the small basket and went home.
When he opened it, it was full of gold coins and treasures.
The greedy old man next door tried to do the same, but he frightened the mice with a cat's meow, and so he got nothing at all.
And the honest old man went on living happily with his wife ever after.
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