Ono , an inhabitant of Mino ( say an ancient Japanese legend of A.D. 545 ) , spent the seasons longing for his ideal of female beauty . He met her one evening on a vast moor and married her . Simultaneously with the birth of their son , Ono 's dog was delivered of a pup which as it grew up became more and more hostile to the lady of the moors . She begged her husband to kill it , but he refused . At last one day the dog attacked her so furiously that she lost courage , resumed vulpine shape , leapt over a fence and fled .