“The Yanagita Kunio Guide to the Japanese Folk Tale”
87. Demon Stories
Fukushima: Hōgen IV 5 12, “Mamechokotarō.” In “Dialect and Aizu tales” (Aizu mintan hōgen) by Takei Takashi. It is a variety of stories about fighting demons. There are others called “Fox stories” (Kitsune mukashi).
88. Picking Nara Pears
Long ago there were three brothers. Their father had been ill for a long time and somehow never could recover. Somebody said that if he ate Nara pears that grew back in the hills, he could get well. The oldest son set out to pick some. Along the way he met an old woman gathering firewood and asked her the road to take. She told him there was a monster in those mountains and nobody who had gone into them had ever returned. He did not heed her warning and started on. She told him that he would see a black bird and a white bird flying around a little farther on. If the black bird called, he should not go ahead, but if the white bird called, he could go on. A black bird and a white bird were really there. The black bird called for him not to go, but the boy was so intent upon helping his father get well that he went on until he came to a pond. A single Nara pear tree with sweet-looking ripe fruit stood there. He was happy and climbed the tree. While he was picking the fruit, a monster rose up out of the pond and swallowed him. The second son decided to go next, but he, too, was swallowed by the monster. The third son would not heed his father’s plea for him not to go. He made a straw image and set out with it. He met the old woman along the way and asked her what had become of his brothers. She said that they must have been swallowed by the monster. She warned him not to go, but he went for his father and to take revenge for his brothers. This time the white bird told him to go ahead. He tied the image he had brought to the Nara pear tree by the pond. He hid himself as the monster came out. It thought the image was a man and tried to swallow it, but it was tied fast. The boy came out and leaped upon the monster while it was trying to get the image. He gripped its throat. It begged to be forgiven, but the boy would only if he restored his two brothers. The monster disgorged them. The three sons picked lots of Nara pears and took them to their father. Then his illness was cured.
Aomori, Sannohe-gun, Hachinohe: MK II 9 43, “Picking Nara pears” (Nara nashi tori). There are four stories. The first three are like “The gourd that made sounds,” the following tale group. The words in the stories are interesting, but the first and last parts are not well connected. They are fragments.
Iwate: Shiwa 66, “The ghost of mountain pears” (Yamanashi no bakemono).
Kamihei-gun: Rōō 197, “Nara pears” (Nara nashi). The father and two sons went to get pears for the pregnant mother. They were helped by all sorts of warnings along the way. The form is that of a genuine folk tale.
Hienuki-gun: Dai-ni 30, “When the three brothers picked Nara pears” (Sannin kyōdai no Nara nashi mogi). Example.
Yamagata, Higashitagawa-gun: MK I 12 46, “Narita plums” (Narita no sumomo no hanashi). This is rather broken up.
Akita, Senhoku-gun: Ugo 281. No title. About three brothers and a priest. The priest destroyed an old badger that was disguised. It is like “Hōin and the fox.”
Niigata: Sado shu 148, “Picking Nara pears” (Nara nashi tori no hanashi).
Tochigi, Nasu, Toriyama-machi: Nihon zenkoku 122, “The ghost pear tree” (Bakemonon nashi no ki).
Kagoshima, Amami Oshima: MK II 8 40, “The sympathetic third son” (Nasake bukai sannan).
Further reference:
Yearsley 76.
89. The Gourd that Made Sounds
This belongs in the group with “Picking Nara pears.”
Two brothers were frightened by a calabash that sang and they ran home. The third took it and it proved to be a treasure.
Aomori, Hachinohe: MK II 9 44, “The gourd that made sounds” (Sayazuri fukube).
Iwate, Kamihei-gun: Rōō 196, “The gourd that shone” (Hyōtan no hikari mono); Kamihei 26, “Gourd Chōja” (Fukube Chōja). There is some relation to “Singing bones.”
90. The Flower that Reflected a Human Form
This is found in stories called “Crossing to Onigashima,” “Rescuing a beautiful girl,” “The wife from the Sky World,” and others. In Saekigun, Hiroshima, they say it was a male flower and a female flower.
Aomori, Hachinohe: MK II 9 44, “Crossing to Onigashima” (Onigashima watari).
Hiroshima: Geibi 119, 196, “The origin of the song” (Uta no yurai) and “Destroying the baboon” (Hihizaru taiji).
91. Kotsuna, the Demon’s Child
An old man and an old woman had a daughter, but she was carried off by a demon. The old man searched for her for a long time, and at last he met a child far back in the hills. He realized suddenly that he was his daughter’s child. While the father, his daughter, and child were rejoicing together, the demon came home. They hid the father in the closet. The demon declared the place smelled of a human and he looked all around for him. Finally, he knew the man was there. The woman and her child brought the old man out and begged the demon not to eat him. The demon wanted to eat him so badly that he decided to boil him in the bath. He had his child heat the water. The boy showed the old man a secret way to escape and went on firing the bath as though he knew nothing. After he thought the old man had enough time to escape, he put the lid on the bath and set a big stone onto it. The daughter and her child escaped by the secret way and took a dipper with them. When the demon came to see, his child was not there and nobody was in the tub. He concluded they had run away and started after them angrily. The old man, his daughter, and her child were at the seashore in a boat and starting to row away when the demon caught up. He began to drink the sea water, complaining all the while. Little by little the water in the sea went down and drew the boat to the shore, almost within reach of his hands. Then the demon’s child took the dipper and saucily imitated the way the demon was drinking. The demon burst out laughing and spat up the sea water. The boat got away safely out to sea, and they reached home.
Iwate, Kamihei-gun: Rōō 135, “Kotsuna, the demon’s child” (Oni no ko Kotsuna). There is a latter part to this. The demon’s child was burned to death and his ashes became horseflies and mosquitoes.
Iwate-gun: Kikimimi 113, “A good dream” (Yoi yume). A little novice who said he had a good dream was put into a boat and drifted to Onigashima. He got away by making demons laugh and spit up water. He took treasures called Floating Shoes and a Life Needle home. The tale is rather abbreviated and combines episodes.
Niigata: Minamikanbara 143, “A mother, a child, and a demon” (Boshi to oni). The first part of the tale on 147, “The demon’s child,” is about a son-in-law.
Nagano, Minamiazumi-gun: Dai-ichi 52, “Making the demon laugh” (Oni o warawaseru). Example.
Yamanashi, Nishiyatsushiro-gun: Kai 91, “The seven kettles” (Nanatsu no kama). There is no part about making a demon laugh. Where this is connected to a success story is like many examples in Grimm.
92. Rescuing a Beautiful Girl
This is in the same group as “Kotsuna, the demon’s child.” It is in the style of an escape story.
Aomori, Sannohe-gun, Hachinohe: MK II 9 44, “Crossing to Onigashima” (Onigashima watari). There are two stories. In the first, the boy was swallowed by a demon. He made it laugh while in its stomach. The part about a white dog helping him is like “Momotarō.” The beginning of the second story is like “The monkey bridegroom,” but the girl is given to a demon. The one who went to rescue her was a bosama [blind minstrel].
Iwate: Shiwa 138, 186, “The girl who was carried off by a demon” (Oni ni sarawareta onna). Since the husband was a famous flute player, it can be recognized as a fragment of “The wife from the Sky World.” “The girl from the Sky World and the man” (Ten no hime to wakamono).
Iwate-gun: Kikimimi 94, 98, “The sister’s plans” (Ane no hakarai) and “The demon’s beans” (Oni no mame).
Akita, Senhoku-gun: Ugo 87. A notation.
Miyagi, Momoo-gun: Kyōdo den 3 108, “The demon and the girl” (Oni to musume).
Ishikawa: Kaga 126, “The god and the wine drinker” (Kami sama to sakenomi).
Nagano, Chiisagata-gun: Nagakubo 4-0, “The legend of the demon’s eye” (Oni no me no densetsu). The opening of the snake bridegroom story. It is a legend about the demon’s eye on the last day of January.
Shizuoka, Shita-gun, Yaitsu-machi: Shizuoka 463, “Holly drives out demons and brings luck into the house” (Hiiragi oni wa soto fuku wa uchi no hanashi).
Gifu, Yoshiki-gun: Hidabito V 5 20, “Kotsuna, the demon’s child” (Oni no ko Kotsuna). A traveling medicine peddler put a drug into wine to kill a demon and saved a wife. This is like Raiko Oeyama, but there is no name Kotsuna in the story.
Hyōgo, Hikami-gun: TD X 4 74, “The wife’s plan” (Nyōbō no hakarai). The man was Iseshirō. He rescued a woman who had been sold to bandits far back in the hills and held for ransom. There is an episode with a drop of dew on a lotus leaf.
Kagoshima, Kikaijima: Shima I 4 72, “Hana-no-maguzumi.” It is the wife’s name. She went to the after world to save her husband’s soul and returned with him. Kikai 105, 113, “The asunarō flower” (Asunarō no hana) and “The demon’s child” (Oni no ko); Shima I 6 83, “The asunarō flower” (Asunarō no hana); Shima II 436, “The demon’s child” (Oni no ko). The younger brother went in search. His sister hid him in a toragame. She and her child and her brother escaped when they saw their chance. There is an amusing part about standing 1000 needles in turds for an answer. There is no part about drinking sea water to dry things up nor striking the buttocks to make the demon laugh. There is a sad part where the demon’s child is flung into the sea before he reached the island. The changes in mood give it a musical quality. Kikai 110, “The wife from Shiinokiyama” (Shiinokiyama no tsuma). The couple set out to call upon the bride’s parents. While the husband was gathering acorns along the way, the wife was carried off by a great bandit. The man set out as a sardine peddler and saved his wife.
Further reference:
Yearsley 93.
93. The Flight from Onigashima
These are stories about wandering into a demon’s house by mistake, killing him, and escaping.
Tokushima, Myōsai-gun: MK I 3 36, “The white bird” (Shiroi tori). Sisters lost their way and stayed at an old woman’s house. (This is like the story of gathering acorns.) After the old man came home, they heard him talk with the old woman about eating them. They heated water in a kettle and pushed the old woman into it and ran away. The old man turned into a demon and chased them. A white bird came to their rescue and took them onto its back. The bird was their Ujigami [tutelary deity]. Up to where the old woman is pushed into the kettle is like “Hansel and Gretel.”
Kagoshima: Kikai 70, “The two brothers” (Futari kyōdai). The two boys were hated by their mother and driven from home. They parted from each other after agreeing that if one’s bow string broke, the other would know he was dead. The younger one became an apprentice and received something that could be used as a Death Whip. He wandered into a demon’s house by mistake. He killed the demon with the sword a beautiful girl showed him. He traded it for a Life Whip and left. The string on his bow broke, so he knew his brother was dead. He was in time for the funeral and brought his brother back to life with his Life Whip.
94. The Seven Cauldrons
This is a variation of “Onigashima.”
Yamanashi, Nishiyatsushiro-gun: Kai 91. A father went to his son-in- law’s house and was asked to see his seven cauldrons. He had been told that everyone who looked at them had been killed. He looked at them one at a time, praising them and retiring one step after each. The demon admired his father-in-law’s cleverness and sent him home safely. The last part is broken.
Kagoshima: Kikai 105, “The asunarō flower” (Asunarō no hana). He was asked to see wine jars.
95. The Thousand-ri Boots
Yamanashi, Nishiyatsushiro-gun: Zoku Kai 155, “The abandoned children and the demon” (Sutego to oni). Once upon a time a poor mother abandoned her three children in the mountains because she could not care for them. The two older brothers began to cry when night came on, but the youngest comforted them. They went toward a light and found a demon’s house. The old woman there hid the children, but when the demon came home, he said he smelled humans. She fooled him. He put on his 1000-ri boots and set out to look for them. After he left, the children escaped by another path. Along their way they came across the demon asleep and snoring loudly by the road. They wrenched his boots off his feet through the cleverness of the youngest and returned safely to their mother.
Are the thousand-ri boots something from a foreign country? There is the exactly the same story in Pentamerone, where a poor mother abandons her children in the mountains.
96. The Water Spirit’s Letter Carrier
One evening a man was hurrying along a path on the bank of a river when a man fishing there called him to stop. He said there should be somebody fishing at the pool below. He handed the man a letter and asked him to deliver it to the fisher. The man took it unsuspectingly and delivered it to the man at the pool. The fisher looked at it and then said he had dropped something into the water. He asked the man to wait while he went into the water to get it. He came back presently. He said he really was the kappa who lived there in the pool. He said the letter was from the kappa above, and he had written that the man had a purple buttocks and told him to eat him. He couldn’t because the man was too honest. The kappa gave him a golden package as a reward for his good heart. He said not to tell anyone and jumped back into the pool. The man became rich from the time.
Aomori, Sannohe-gun, Hachinohe: MK I 7 43, “The errand for the Water Spirit” (Mizu no kami no otsukai).
Iwate, Kamihei-gun: Rōō 16, “Koganemaru Inu”; Kamihei 19, “The string of cash that never gave out” (Tsukinu zenisashi).
Isawa-gun: (Old) Kogane 3, “The golden horse” (Kogane no uma).
Iwate-gun: Kikimimi 44, “The two kappa” (Jōge no kappa). Example.
Shimohei-gun: Kikimimi 42, “Brother pools” (Kyōdai buchi). A legend of two pools. There is a part where a pilgrim reads the letter and changes it.
Shiwa-gun: Shiwa-shū 105, “The Spirit of the great marsh” (Onuma no nushi).
Miyagi: Tome II 811, “Anetori Marsh” (Anetori numa).
Ibaraki Namekata-gun: Minzoku sōwa 62, “The lone princess at Nabutsu Pond” (Nabutsu-ga-ike no hitori hime).
Ishikawa, Nomi-gun: MK II 8 36, “The chōja at Yokoyama” (Yokoyama Chōja). The principal character is an eight year old child. An ascetic changed the message.
Kyoto, Kuwata-gun: Kuchitanba 37, “The River Spirit” (Kawa no nushi).
Wakayama: Chihō.*
Ōita, Hita-gun: Shumi 229, “The female dragon at Shimokotsu Pond” (Shimokotsu ike no meryū).
97. Destroying the Monkey Gods
Long ago there was a temple called Shōhōji at Kuroishi. No matter how many priests served there, they were all eaten by ghosts, and everybody was troubled about it. A priest came begging once and asked to spend the night at the empty temple. He recalled that his instructor had told him that when staying at an empty house, he should sleep where there was only one opening. He crawled under the iron pot in the kitchen to sleep. In the night he heard some things come out of the main hall with a clatter and say they would celebrate before the evening’s feast. As they danced, they sang, “Don’t let Denjōbō in Tanba-no-kuni hear about it, chiu-u-u.” Then they said they smelled a human around and looked all over. They found nothing and went off. The villagers came in the morning, thinking there would be nothing but bones left of the priest, but they found him alive. They admired him as a great priest and asked him to take over the temple. He said that in such a case he would ask them to wait until his return. He set out for Tanba-no-kuni to look for Denjōbō. It proved to be a cat. He borrowed it and started back. When he arrived, the villagers were gossiping and saying he would never return, but they were glad to have him start living there. The cat was beside the priest wherever he walked and never left him. When he asked why, it explained that the ghosts were old rats. If it left the priest, they would eat him immediately. It said it needed the help of its brother cat to destroy the ghosts. The priest pasted up a picture of the cat to take its place, and it left for ten days. It returned with its brother. That night the two of them fought the rats for some time, but finally the cats and the rats killed each other. The priest made a stand for sacred scrolls from the rat legs. It is still treasured at the temple. He buried the cats carefully and stayed on and worked at the temple.
Iwate, Hienuki-gun: MK I 11 29, “The old rats at Shōhōji” (Shōhōji no furunezumi). Example. Maybe the reason there are so many folk tales at this temple is that it sheltered hōshi [minstrels].
Kamihei-gun: Kikimimi 74, “The woodcutter feudal lord” (Kikori no tonosama).
Akita, Hiraga-gun: MK II 8 28, “Soheitarō of Tanba” (Tanba-no-kuni no Soheitarō).
Yamagata: TD VII 6 21, “The dog shrine” (Inu no miya). About a three colored and a four colored dog.
Nishitagawa-gun, Ōyama: TD I 8 62, “The dog festival at Ōyama” (Ōyama no inu matsuri) by Itō Hijirō. The festival is held on the 15th Day of the Fifth Month.
Miyagi, Momoo-gun: Kyōdo den 3 113, “Shikuheitarō.” That was the dog’s name.
Fukushima, Iwaki-gun: Iwaki 59, 151, “A ghost story” (Bakemono no hanashi).
Ishikawa: Ishikawa 951, “Destroying the monkey god” (Sarugami taiji).
The human sacrifice at Nanao Sannosha. Fugeshi 1056, “Iwayado.”
Niigata, Minamikanbara-gun: Kamuhara 34, 200, “About Oyama Taishō” (Oyama no Taishō) and Note 78. There is a cat story on 206 and a note on 207.
Yamanashi, Nishiyatsushiro-gun: Kai 48, “Osakujo of Tanba” (Tanba no Osakujo). It is connected to the priest’s story at Kenchōji.
Nagano, Kamiina-gun: Kyōdo ken I 3 42. No title. There is a monument of Hayatarō at Kōzenji in Akaho-mura, Kamiina. Some call it Heibōtarō. It was a dog. According to a legend in Fushimizato in Mino, it bit a ghost.
Shimoina-gun: Den Shimoina 122, “The maid who was sacrificed at a shrine” (Hime miya no hitomi goku sonae).
Kitasaku-gun: Kitasaku 227, “The ghost at Onshōji” (Onshōji no bakemono). The ghost was an old cat. They knew ghosts came out and sang when there was a priest occupying the temple called Onshōji in Mochizuki. A dog called Tanpororin of Takasaki was taken there and it destroyed the ghost.
Hyōgo, Kinosaki-gun: MK II 9 34, “The human sacrifice” (Hitomi goku). The dog has no name. The story is a fragment.
Shimane, Ochi-gun: Dai-ichi 72, “Destroying the monkey” (Saru taiji).
Tokushima: Awa Iyayama 5, “Suppeitarō of Tanba” (Tanba-no-kuni no Suppeitarō). On the 7th Day of New Year it came out and lived in a conch shell that could be heard for 1000 ri in four directions. There is a song about “Don’t tell Suppeitarō,” but there is no story about destroying something.
Fukuoka, Kurate-gun: Fukuoka 106, “Hyūgajirō of Hyūga” (Hyūga no Hyūgajirō).
Itojima-gun: Fukuoka 107, “Destroying the ghost” (Bakemono taiji).
Nagasaki, Minamitakaku-gun: Shimabara 93, 95, “Jizō and the traveler” (Jizō to tabibito) and “The village deity” (Mura no kami sama). Both are short anecdotes.
Kumamoto, Ashikata-gun: MK I 7 46, “The monkey disguised as an old woman” (Baba ni baketa saru). The old woman at a house where a man stopped was really a monkey, and she ate his dog. Another dog was brought. She said, “Come to the beach and let me fight a dog that has lived 40 years.” They were matched and killed each other. The story is broken up, but it is undoubtedly connected with destroying monkey gods. In “Mokukendō” of Sankoku denki there is a famous dog of Kamakura.
Kagoshima: Koshiki 148, “The dog called Santarō” (Santarō inu).
98. Travelers Turned into Horses
In the form of Hankyō sanjōshi.
A priest was going along a mountain road with six young men when they got lost. They stopped at a lonely house. The old man there said he would prepare supper. After he set the kettle of rice gruel on the fire, he went into the next room. The priest looked through a crack and watched him put dirt into a tub, scatter some kind of grass seed on it, and then cover it with straw matting. The grass sprouted after a short time. The priest pretended that he knew nothing about it as the old man brought out the grass and put it into the kettle to boil. He served them all some, but the priest did not eat any. He poured it into his bosom instead. Then the man offered them a bath. When the young men got into it, they turned into horses. In the meantime, the priest ran away. When the old man noticed that, he turned into his true form of a demon and chased him. The priest called, “Namu Amida Butsu,” as he ran. Dawn came at last and the demon had to give up and turn back. The priest escaped danger and made his way to where people lived.
According to another version, the priest helped the youths turn back into men with the assistance of friends.
Iwate, Kamihei-gun: Rōō 274, “The men turned into horses” (Uma ni natta otoko). It is said that they turned back into men when they ate striped shear grass. Since the ending is happy, maybe this should be considered the original story.
Akita, Senhoku-gun: MK I 10 30, “The pilgrim who grew horse hair” (Umage no haeta rokubu). A pilgrim stopped at a haunted temple. What he thought was the priest was really a horse. It threw a horse shoe at the pilgrim and hit his heel. Horse hair grew there.
Fukushima, Iwaki-gun: Iwaki 51, 139, “Putting a traveler up and turning him into a cow” (Tabibito o tomete ushi ni shita hanashi).
Yamanashi, Nishiyatsushiro-gun: Zoku Kai 130, “The men turned into horses” (Hito ga uma ni naru). Example.
Kagoshima: Kikai 97, “Travelers turned into horses” (Tabibito uma). There are many points that seem to have been adapted from abroad, but it does not seem to be a direct translation.
Koshikijima: Koshiki 124, “Travelers turned into horses” (Tabibito uma). There is magic in it.
Okierabu: Okinoerabu 170, “Travelers turned into horses” (Tabibito uma). The story builds up like a thriller.
Further reference:
Minakata zuihitsu 228.
Kii sōdan shū.
Clouston I 97.
Rōō yatan 274. And others with accompanying revenge. These are not as close to Konjaku monogatari as to Gen’ishi.
Konjaku monogatari, maki 31, No. 14. There is no revenge here. He runs away and hides in a demon’s house and is saved. Where the demon comes back in the middle of the night is like an old folk tale.
Gen’ishi. There is the story of Hankyō sanjōshi.
Hōmotsu shū. An Indian tale says the mother who turned into a horse saved her child.
99. Kōketsu Palace or Extracting Oil
This belongs in the same group as “Travelers turned into horses.” Men are carried off and fattened and their fat or blood is pressed out. Refer to tales of exaggeration.
Iwate: Shiwa shu 141, “The lazy man” (Namake mono). It is a story about pressing fat out of men like the Kōketsu story, and the conclusion is that it is a dream. Considering the ending, the story is likely of recent date. Perhaps it is a bosama’s tale. There is a Blue Beard episode, but no forbidden room. The woman alone in the house resembles the Hankyō sanjōshi story. When the man is saved by the old woman, she said she was working for the house, etc. This is like Konjaku monogatari.
Tokushima: Awa Iyayama 95, “The house where blood was wrung out” (Chi o shiboru ie).
Kagoshima, Kikaijima: MK I 7 43, “Izumikawa, the wrestler” (Rikishi Izumikawa). When Izumikawa went to the bandit’s house, he found men were being fattened and heard that they were being sold to demons. He rescued them and sent them home. Kikai 108, “Extracting oil” (Abura tori).
100. The Three Charms
When the novice at a certain temple asked the priest to send him into the mountains to gather flowers, the priest told him that demons might come out and that it was dangerous. The novice insisted upon going. The priest gave him three charms for his protection and told him to throw one if he were in danger. While the boy was breaking off branches, an old woman came out. She said she would give him something good and took him to her house. He decided to spend the night there. It began to rain in the night. As he lay there listening, it seemed to say, “Tan-tan splashes the water from the rafters. Rise and look at granny’s face.” He looked cautiously toward the old woman and saw she had turned into a demon. That was terrible. How could he run away! He decided to say he had to go to the privy. She agreed to let him go, but first she tied a rope around his waist and fastened it to the grindstone. When she would call, “Are you through, boy?” he would answer, “Not yet!” In the meantime, he untied the rope and tied it to the upright post. He fastened one of his charms to it and asked it to answer for him. Then he ran away. Since the boy kept on saying he was not through, the old woman tried pulling the rope and discovered he was not there. She started after him in a rage. When she nearly caught up with him, he threw one of his charms and shouted, “Big river, come out!” A big river came between them. She nearly caught up with him again, but he threw the other charm and called a big mountain out. The novice reached the temple while she was trying to cross the mountain. The priest hid him in a cupboard. The old woman came leaping into the temple and started to argue with the priest, even threatening to eat him. The priest proposed that they compare tricks. He told her to turn into a bean. She promptly turned into one. The priest stuck it into a piece of mochi and ate it.
Refer to “The privy at the demon’s house,” “The priest and the ghost,” “Dan’ichi whose ears were cut off,” and others. A priest takes a role in these.
Aomori, Minamitsugaru-gun, Kuroishi: Tsugaru k 29. No title. This says he hid in a patch of iris and it is tied to the festival on the 5th Day of the Fifth Month. Tsugaru m 96, “Are you through, boy” (Konbo baba iiga).
Iwate: Esashi 41, “The bad demon who turned into a poppy seed and was stuck onto mochi and eaten by a priest” (Akki ga keshi tsubu to natte oshō ni mochi ni tsukerarete kuwareta hanashi); Isawa*; Shiwa 78, “The yamaonna” (Yamaonna). In this there was one charm, and the priest was eaten by the yamaonna. The novice who was hiding in a Chinese chest came out as a little white dog.
Akita, Senhoku-gun, Kakunodate: Kikimimi 91, “The she-demon and the novice” (Onibaba to kozō). Example.
Kazuno-gun, Miyakawa-mura: MK I 2 44, “The novice and the yamauba” (Kozō to yamauba).
Hiraga-gun, Asamai-machi: MK II 3 28, “The novice and the shedemon” (Kozō to onibaba). The demon turned into a bean and the priest ate it. A lot of flies came from his turds. That flies all over Japan came from a she-demon originally resembles the story about the beginning of fleas and mosquitoes.
Miyagi, Momoo-gun: Kyōdo den 3 112, “The novice and the she-demon” (Kozō to onibaba).
Kurihara-gun, Uguisugawa-mura: Kyōdo den 1 174, “The priest and his novice” (Oshō sama to kozō no hanashi).
Fukushima, Iwaki-gun: Iwaki 52, 141, “The three charms” (Sanmai no ongofu).
Niigata: Minamikanbara 136, “The yamauba and the novice” (Yamauba to kozō).
Minamiuonuma-gun: MK I 10 36, “The yamauba and the novice” (Yamauba to kozō).
Nagano: Chiisagata 250, 190, “The Privy Deity” (Benjo no kami) and “Come when you’re through” (Mattara koyō).
Yamanashi, Nishiyatsushiro-gun: Kai 100, “The novice and the yamababa (Kozō to yamababa).
Tochigi, Haga-gun: Shimotsuke 36, “The three letters” (Sanbon no tegami). The beginning is like “The snake son-in-law.” A man promised to give his daughter to a demon for fixing a broken place in his yard. The frog gave her three letters in the privy. She hid among iris and mugwort by their instructions to escape difficulties. It tells the beginning of the festival of the 5th Day of the Fifth Month.
Gifu, Yoshiki-gun, Kamitakara-mura: Hidabito V 5 21, “The three charms” (Sanmai no ofuda). There are two stories. The first is about brothers. The second goes like the latter part about the stepchild gathering chestnuts. Nihon zenkoku 108, “The two charms” (Nimai no gofu).
Kumamoto: Amakusajima den “Yamauba stories” Part I (Yamauba no hanashi). See Shokoku m; Techō 63, “The three charms” (Sanmai no ofuda).
Nagasaki, Minamitakaku-gun: Shimabara 77, “The griffin that carried off a child” (Kosari kirin). He escaped with the help of a horse, three jewels, and a magic mallet. Is the griffin a demon god?
Kagoshima, Kikaijima: MK I 7 39, “The demon mother” (Oni no haha). The mother was a she-demon. The child escaped by the help of a charm he received from a priest. MK I 7 41, “The priest and his novice” (Oshō to kozō). A great snake 33 fathoms long came to have its head cut off. The priest destroyed the snake with three charms. It was a musk snake, a treasure bestowed by the Sun.
Further reference:
There is an example in northern Africa of spittle answering in place of a man.
Yearsley 122.
101. The Privy at the Demon’s House
This is the story about the three charms with the charms omitted. It is close to “O Sun, the chain.”
Gifu, Yoshiki-gun, Kamitakara-mura: Hidabito V 5 21, “The three charms” (Sanmai no ofuda). Two tales. In the first, the brothers stopped at the hut of an old woman and escape through the window of the privy. They tied the rope to the post and prayed fervently as they left. It answered for them. There seems to be interest in this point, but there are many regions which have stories of the Privy Deity’s acting as substitute. The second tale is like the last part of the stepchild gathering chestnuts. The stepchild tied the rope to a broom and went home. The child herself answered, “Not yet.”
102. Eating a Demon in One Bite
This is the latter part of “The three charms.” A demon who is deceived by a priest is always destroyed by agreeing to compare tricks.
Iwate, Isawa-gun: Kogane 55, “The she-demon who turned into a bean and was eaten” (Marne ni natte kuwareta onibaba no hanashi).
Kamihei-gun: Tōno 276 No. 165. No title. A man called Nue at Hataya went into the mountains. He matched wits as the priest did with a blue ghost. He made it small and put it into a tinder box. When he got home and opened the box, a blue spider came out.
Tochigi, Haga-gun: Dai-ni 38, “The yamajii who turned into a flea” (Nomi ni natta yamajii no hanashi). Shimotsuke 51, “The yamajii who turned into a flea” (Nomi ni natta yamajii no hanashi). The demon turned into a flea and the priest crushed him.
Niigata, Minamikanbara-gun: (no source). A lazy man who deceived a demon by persuading it to turn into a small piece of mochi ate it.
Tokushima: Awa Iyayama 26, “The fox and the boy” (Kitsune to musuko). The fox was told to turn into a manju and was eaten.
Ōita: Naori 84, “The fox story” (Kitsune no hanashi).
Further reference:
Seisuishō 15.
103. Dan’ichi whose Ears were Cut off
The first part of this is like “The three charms.” At the end, the priest wrote sutras all over the novice except his ears, so the demon took his ears off.
Fukushima, Iwaki-gun: Iwaki 54, 147, “How ears were bitten off by a she-demon” (Onibaba ni mimi kara kuwareta hanashi).
Niigata, Minamikanbara-gun: MK I 10 37, “The yamauba and the novice” (Yamauba to kozō).
104. The Staring Match with a Demon
Ōita: Bungo den 10, “The grave of Prince Yuriwaka at Moto-machi, Ōita” (Ōita-shi Moto-machi no Yuriwaka Daijin no tsuka). He put gongs in his eyes and defeated the demon. This is also found on Iki. Perhaps it is from a katarimono version.
Further reference:
Azuma kagami has a phrase about winning with the eye. Also in Kanbun gyoki.
105. “O Sun The Chain”
Once upon a time there were three brothers. Their mother called them to her before she set out and told them to be good till she returned. A man-eater might come, so they should be very careful. In the evening somebody came and knocked at the door. The oldest boy went to the door to see and his mother was there, but when he looked closely, he saw hair all over her hands. At that, he shut the door tight. Then the man-eater scraped the hair off her hands with a potato grater and knocked again. This time the boy thought she was his mother and let her in. The boy woke up in the night and heard his mother eating something. When he asked what she was eating, she answered that she was eating something because she was hungry, and she tossed him a finger she was gnawing. The boy woke his next younger brother immediately and the two of them ran out and climbed a peach tree. After the man-eater had finished eating the youngest boy, she went to look for the other two. She saw them in the peach tree and started to climb up after them. The frightened boys cried, “O Sun, O Sun, save us!” A chain came down from the sky. They climbed it. The man-eater imitated them and cried, “O Sun, O Sun, save me!” A chain came down and the man-eater started up, but the chain broke and she fell. She hit her head on a stone and died. The man-eater’s blood went onto the roots of corn that was growing there and they turned red. The roots of corn became red from the next year.
This story in Japan is like “Little Red Riding Hood” or “The seven lambs.”
Fukushima, Futaba-gun, Kawata-mura: MK II 4 36, “Hanako and Jirō” (Hanako to Jirō). This is about a girl and her little brother, but the brother ran away. No part about a chain.
Iwaki-gun: Iwaki 55, 147, “O Sun, the chain” (Tentō San kane no tsuna).
Tochigi, Haga-gun: Shimotsuke 48, “The yamauba and the three children” (Yamauba to sannin no kodomo).
Saitama, Kawagoe: Kawagoe 93, “O Sun, the chain” (Tentō Sama kane no kusari). This is about brother stars.
Nara, Kitakatsuragi-gun: Fushi 2 74, “The old she-demon” (Onibaba no hanashi); Techō 64, “O Sun, the chain” (Tentō San kane no tsuna).
Hiroshima: Geibi 182, “O Sun, the chain” (Tentō San kane no tsuna). Three stories.
Asa-gun: Aki 97, “Why the roots of corn are red” (Tōmorokoshi no ne wa naze akai). Example.
Kure: Aki 99, “O Moon, thirteen and seven” (Otsuki San Jusan nanatsu).
Kagawa, Takamatsu: Dai-ni 38, “The yamauba” (Yamauba no hanashi).
Tokushima: Awa Iyayama 70, “O Sun, the chain” (Tentō San kane no kusari).
Fukuoka, Chikujō-gun: Fukuoka 223, “The yamauba” (Yamauba no hanashi).
Munakata-gun: Fukuoka 225, “The brother stars” (Kyōdai boshi). One story each from Kiku-gun and Kurate-gun are also recorded. The latter is about the wolf and the sheep. This could be considered a translation. There is also a tale in the appendix about a yamauba and three sisters. The girls climbed to the sky and became stars. Buzen,* “The yamauba and the brothers” (Yamauba to kyōdai).
Ōita, Nishikunisaki-gun: Dai-ni 37, “The children and the wolf” (Kodomo to ōkami).
Kumamoto, Amakusa-gun: MK I 10 42, “O Sun, the chain” (Tentō San kane no tsuna). Two stories; Nihon den 267, “Buckwheat” (Soba). Very much like the Buzen version.
Nagasaki, Kitatakaku-gun: MK II 11 41, “The yamauba” (Yamauba); Shimabara 65, “O Sun, the chain” (Tentō San kane kusari). Four stories. The third is “Becoming a star” (Hoshi ni natta). The fourth is “One-eyed Gorō will come and eat you” (Me hitotsu Gorō ga kite kuu).
Kitatakaku-gun, Isahaya: Kōshō 8 4, “The fox and the children” (Kitsune to kodomo). The beginning is like “The ox-leader and the yamauba.” Nothing about a chain.
Minamitsuura-gun: Gotō 258, “The yamauba”; (Old) Iki 51, “The yamauba” (Yamauba no hanashi).
Kagoshima: Kikai 115, “The sisters and the demon” (Shimai to oni). The beginning is like “The ox-leader and the yamauba.” Where they cut open the yamauba and bring out their mother is like “The seven lambs.”
Amami Ōshima: MK II 8 38, “The brothers and the demon” (Kyōdai to oni).
Okierabujima: Okinoerabu 164, “O Sun, a strong chain” (Tentō San tsuyoi tsuna).
Further reference:
Nihon mukashibanashi shū, ge 71. An example from Korea.
Chōsen mintan shū 5, “The sun, the moon, the stars” (Hi to tsuki to hoshi). In the Supplement 1.
106. The Ox-Leader and the Yamauba
Long ago an ox-leader packed a load of salt mackerel and started into the mountains to sell them at settlements. He met a yamauba at the pass on his way. She kept begging for mackerel until he had thrown all of them to her, but she still followed him and demanded his ox to eat. When she had finished off the ox, she declared she would eat the ox-leader. He ran away frantically and climbed a big tree to hide. Unfortunately, there were no leaves below him, and his form was reflected in the marsh below. The yamauba thought the man was in the marsh and she went in to look for him. He took that chance to run off and rush into a lonely house at the foot of the mountain. That proved to be the yamauba’s house. He climbed into the rafters overhead and hid. Presently the yamauba came home. She built up the fire and started to toast mochi. When she fell into a doze, the ox-leader took a piece of thatch from under the roof and picked up a piece of mochi to eat. The yamauba woke up and roared, “Who took my mochi!” The man answered softly, “Fire God, Fire God!” The yamauba declared that if it was the Fire God, there was no help for it and she ate a piece of mochi that was burned on its side. She then got out a kettle and set it over the fire to heat some sweet wine, but she fell asleep again. The ox-leader took another piece of thatch and sucked it all up. The yamauba woke up and yelled again, asking who drank the wine. The oxleader answered again that it was the Fire God. She declared that on such a night it was better to sleep. She said to herself, “Will it be the stone chest or the wooden chest? The stone chest is cold, so it will be the wooden chest.” She climbed into it and closed the lid. She went to sleep and snored. When the ox-leader saw that, he came down carefully and built up the fire. He boiled lots of water. Then he took a drill and bored holes in the lid of the wooden chest. The yamauba inside heard it and said, “Tomorrow will be good weather. I hear the drill bugs sing.” In the meantime, the ox-leader brought the scalding water over and poured it through the holes to revenge himself at last on the yamauba.
There is this ending where he takes revenge himself and one in which he climbs a tree as in “O Sun, the chain.”
Aomori, Sannohe-gun: Minzokugaku V 12 55, “The ox-leader and the yamauba” (Ushikata to yamauba).
Hachinohe: MK II 9 45, “The she-demon and Tarasuke Sābu” (Onibaba to Tarasuke Sābu). The part about eating the cow is omitted. “The yamauba” (Yamauba). This seems to be a more complete form than the first. “The ox-leader and the mountain spider” (Ushikata to yamagumo). The unusual part in this is that a child was crying in the little mountain shrine by the side of the road. When the ox-leader put the child onto his ox, it turned into a big she-demon (or mountain spider).
Iwate, Kamihei-gun: Tōno 99, No. 16. No title. It begins like “Urikohime.” A girl who was chased by a yamauba was sheltered by a girl in a lonely house. The two of them killed the yamauba and ran away. Rōō 215, “Kohei Chōja.” In the form of a legend.
Shiwa-gun: Shiwa 87, “The ox-leader and the yamauba” (Ushikata to yamauba). An ox-leader who was sleeping at night in an open field was chased by a yamauba. He fled to a farmhouse where the housewife hid him. That she in turn killed him is an unusual form. She poured hot water onto him, but this is the way the yamauba is usually killed. It is either a mistake or the story has been changed.
Kunohe-gun: Kunohe 481, “The yamauba and the ox-leader” (Yamauba to ushikata). This is a slightly different form. An oxleader who gambled with a yamauba and lost was chased, and he ran to a lonely house where a girl was living. The girl fooled the yamauba and killed her. The grains of rice turned into as many coins as there were hairs on the seven cows she had eaten. The girl and the man became a wealthy couple.
Iwate-gun, Takizawa-mura: Kikimimi 100, “The yamajii and the ox-leader” (Yamajii to ushikata). Three oxen were eaten. The man was saved by a towing boat. The yamajii climbed a tree. He fell and was killed. This resembles “O Sun, the chain.”
Iwate-gun, Nagaoka-mura: Iwate 2, “The ox-leader and the yamajii” (Ushikata to yamajiji). This is practically the same as the Kikimimi sōshi story.
Akita, Senhoku-gun: Ugo 246. A notation. The ox-leader hid in the yamauba’s house.
Yamagata, Higashitagawa-gun: MK II 7 30, “The mackerel peddler” (Sabauri no hanashi). A man went to sell mackerel at a yamauba’s house, but he was not an ox-leader.
Fukushima, Iwaki-gun: Iwaki 56, 148, “The horse-leader and the shedemon” (Umakata to onibaba).
Niigata Minamikanbara-gun: Echigo Sanjo 119, “The she-demon and the fish peddler” (Onibaba to sakanauri). Example. Minamikanbara 139, “The mackerel peddler and the she-demon” (Sabauri to onibaba).
Toyama, Kaminiigawa-gun: MK II 6 30, “The fish peddler and the shedemon” (Sakanauri to onibaba). There is no ox. The man sold salted yellow tail.
Ishikawa: Kaga 44, “The fox and the horse-leader” (Kitsune to umakata). It is a fox instead of a yamauba, and it demands the horse’s legs. The man ran home. The ending is missing.
Tochigi, Haga-gun: Shimotsuke 46, 50, “The fish peddler and the yamauba” (Sakanaya to yamauba) and “Tome who destroyed the yamauba” (Yamauba o taiji shita Tome san). The first of these is close to “O Sun, the chain.”
Yamanashi, Nishiyatsushiro-gun: Kai 147, “The horse-leader and the demon” (Umakata to oni). The man went to the demon’s house for revenge. When he took the lid off the kettle in which he burned the demon to death, it was filled with pine pitch. He sold it and became a chōja. The ending could be a recent story.
Nagano, Kitaazumi-gun: Otari 19, “Sanjūrō” (Sanjōrō no hanashi). Sanjūrō was the ox-leader. He had a load of dried cod when the yamauba met him at the pass. After he scalded her to death, he found a great mountain spider.
Gifu, Yoshiki-gun: Hidabito V 3 21, “The ox-leader and the yamauba” (Ushikata to yamauba).
Okayama, Oku-gun: Okayama bun III 4, “The horse-leader and the shedemon” (Mago to onibaba). She asked for salt and ate all of it. No part about eating the horse. The horse-leader followed her to her home and killed her in the bath.
Hiroshima, Toyota-gun: Aki 95, “Chōta and the demon” (Chōta to oni).
Asa-gun: Aki 92, “Chōkichi and the she-demon” (Chōkichi to onibaba). A man went to buy salt and met with danger on the way home. After he destroyed the she-demon, he buried her in the corn patch. The roots of the corn turned red.
Yamagata-gun: MK I 9 33, “The horse-leader and the she-demon” (Mago to onibaba). After he burned the she-demon to death, he discovered she was a badger. What follows is like “Kachi-kachi bird.” Geibi 82, “The ox-leader and the yamauba” (Ushikata to yamauba). About Keisaijirō. He invited the yamauba to his house, put her into a kettle, and killed her. He reached from the rafters to take mochi. There is another kind of story on the same page.
Tottori: Inpaku min I 5 258, “The yamauba and the horse-leader” (Yamauba to mago).
Yazu-gun: Inpaku mukashi 75, “The yamauba” (Yamauba).
Yamaguchi, Suō Ōshima: Kōshō 11 18, “Why the stem of buckwheat is red” (Soba no kuki no akai wake).
Kagawa: Shōdojima.*
Tokushima: Awa Iyayama 45, “Yajirō and the old woman” (Yajirō to obaba).
Chikuzen (Fukuoka): Nihon zenkoku 318, “The yamauba and Umakichi” (Yamauba to Umakichi). This is the same story as in Nihon dōwa shū.
Ōita: Bungo min* 24, “The horse-leader and the yamajii” (Mago to yamajii). Dried mackerel were taken from the horse-leader, but he ran away and got home. He planned with his wife and they made millet dango for him to take. He was helped in his revenge by a chestnut, a crab, a needle, a bee, and a handmill.
Kumamoto, Kuma-gun: Enzoku 106, No. 29. No title. A monkey licked up his salt. A crab, a handmill, etc. went along to take revenge.
Tamana-gun: Dai-ni 34, “Itchome” The yamauba had only one eye.
Saga, Kishima-gun: Kōshō 11 12, “The horse-leader and the yamauba” (Umakata to yamauba). The middle and the ending are omitted. The horse-leader went home dragging the head of his horse—all that was left of it.
Nagasaki: Shimabara 62, “The horse-leader and the yamauba” (Umakata yamauba). The story is pretty much broken up. (Old) Iki 36, “The demon” (Oni no hanashi); (New) Iki 77, “Boiling the yamauba to death” (Yamauba o nikorosu).
Kagoshima: Koshiki 140, “The horse-leader and the yamauba” (Umakata to yamauba).
Kikaijima: TD III 6 67, “The demon” (Oni no hanashi). A demon came to a man’s house. He ate his pig, he ate his horse, and said he would eat the man. The man climbed a tree by the edge of a lake and climbed to the Sky on a chain that came down. The demon fell and was killed.
Okinawa, Tokunoshima: TD I 8 51, “The demon” (Oni no hanashi).
Further reference:
Kiyū shoran 9, “Kohada no Koheiji.” A legend about Myōjinzaka at Namase-mura, Kuji-gun, Hitachi (Ibaraki). Since the term she-demon is used, it is close to a folk tale. Sansuke had a load of dried bonito on his horse when he met the yamauba. He ran away to her house, ate mochi, and left stones in its place. He killed the yamauba as she slept in her chest.
107. The Wife Who Didn’t Eat
Once upon a time an unmarried man went into the hills to cut wood. He said to his companion that he wished he had a wife who didn’t eat. Four or five days later a woman came to his house and asked him to marry her because she did not eat. Once they were married, she certainly did not eat, but after she came, the rice and bean paste was disappearing. He thought it strange. One day he pretended to set out for town, but he took the time his wife went to the privy to climb into the rafters of the stable to hide. His wife got out a kettle that held one shō of rice and cooked it. Next, she took out bean paste and made soup. She covered a straw mat with rows of riceballs and put the soup into a bucket to cool. She took her hair down, and there on the top of her head was a mouth. She tossed the riceballs into it and then poured in the bean soup. When she had finished, she combed her hair once more to look as usual. While she was putting things back in order, the man climbed down carefully and pretended to have returned and went into the house. The next morning he said he would send her home. She asked him for something as a gift. He told her to take a tub that was there. She said there were bugs in it and asked him to take them out. She fooled him and pushed him into the tub. She swung it up to her shoulders and ran with it back to the mountains. She called, “I’ve brought something good to eat, so everybody come!” Voices replied from trees here and there, and the man felt more dead than alive. Branches of trees beside the path brushed the tub as she went along. The man caught onto one and pulled himself out. He started to run back down the mountain as fast as he could. The woman went on till she came to where everybody was waiting and set the tub down. Then she saw it was empty and concluded he had run away. She started after him. When she was about to catch up with him, the man hid where mugwort and iris were growing. The yamauba followed, but when she saw him there, she declared her hands would rot if she put them among the plants. There was nothing she could do about it, so she went back up the mountain. The man had been saved from danger. He put iris and mugwort onto his head and stuck some into his belt and went home. He put some of the plants onto his roof and at the entrance, too, so the yamauba would never come again.
Aomori, Kitatsugaru-gun, Kira-mura: Tsugaru m 67, “Becoming the head of 1000 men” (Sennin no kashira ni taterareta hanashi). The wife was a snake in disguise. They had one child. The mother left one of her scales for the child and went away. This belongs to “The snake wife.”
Iwate, Iwate-gun, Shizukuishi: Dai-ichi 33, “The wife who didn’t eat” (Kuwazu nyōbō). The couple made mochi and went to the wife’s home for a festival. The wife was a demon. The man ran away and hid from danger among iris and mugwort.
Kunohe-gun: Kunohe 464. No title.
Shiwa-gun: Shiwa shu 94, “The wife who didn’t eat” (Mono kuwazu ogata) Example.
Isawa-gun: Isawa.* “The she-demon” (Onibaba).
Akita, Senhoku-gun: Ugo 193. Mentioned. It is about a cooper and a yamauba. MK I 11 27, “The wife who didn’t eat” (Meshi kuwanu nyōbō). When he killed her with the fire tongs, he found she was a red demon. Kikimimi 383, “Turds that became brocade” (Fun ga ayanishiki). It starts like “Urikohime.” There is a part where the yamauba made riceballs and threw them into a hole on her head.
Hiraga-gun: MK II 8 28, “The demon of the Fifth Month” (Gogatsu no oni). The story has the two plants, but no tub.
Yamagata, Higashitagawa-gun: MK II 7 30, “The wife who didn’t eat” (Kuwazu nyōbō). The principal character is a rice dealer. He made a coffin and put his wife into it and abandoned her, but she came back. The part about the origin of the use of iris and mugwort follows. MK II 2 44, “The wife who didn’t eat” (Kuwazu nyōbō). The wife was a demon. The reason for the use of iris and mugwort follows the story.
Miyagi: Tome II 803, “Kuchinashi Pond at Yoshida” (Yoshida Kuchinashi numa).
Fukushima, Iwaki-gun: Iwaki 57 149, “The wife who didn’t eat” (Mono o kuwanu nyōbō).
Niigata: Minamikanbara 141, “The wife who didn’t eat” (Meshi kuwanu nyōbō).
Ishikawa, Nomi-gun: MK II 8 36, “The bride who didn’t eat” (Mono kuwanu yome). Aside from her putting five go of rice into the kettle, the story is like “The wife from the Sky World.” Enuma-gun: Kaga 86, “The bride who didn’t eat” (Mono o kuwanu yome).
Fukui, Sakai-gun: MK I 1 30, “The wife who didn’t eat” (Kuwazu nyōbō). There are two stories. One is about a spider and the other about a yamauba.
Nagano: Chiisagata 200, 201, “The snake’s child” (Hebi no ko) and “Mugwort and iris” (Yomogi shōbu). Hiding upstairs in the second makes it like “The ox-leader and the yamauba”
Shimoina-gun: Mukashibanashi 90, 135, “The snake bride” (Hebi no yome sama no hanashi). There is no part about the rice and her not eating. It says the house filled with water and the snake swam around in it. “Iris and mugwort” (Shōbu to yomogi).
Minamiazumi-gun: Minamiazumi nen 153. No title. There are a number of stories about the origin of iris and mugwort. They are told as legends, not folk tales.
Yamanashi, Nishiyatsushiro-gun: Kai 66, “How light since I rested” (Yasundara karui naa). No part about the mouth in the head. Only about the origin of using the plants.
Tochigi, Haga-gun: Shimotsuke 47, “The bride who didn’t use her mouth” (Kuchi o kikanai yome). Besides telling the beginning of using the two plants for the festival of the Fifth Month, it tells of the start of decorating with maple leaves and wisteria on the 8th Day of the Fourth Month.
Shizuoka, Suntō-gun: Shizuoka 456, “The spider bride” (Kumo yome). Fuji-gun: Shizuoka 457, “The night spider” (Yoru no kumo).
Aichi, Kitashidara-gun: Dai-ichi 55, “The night spider” (Yoru no kumo).
Gifu, Yoshiki-gun, Kamitakara-mura: Hidabito V 5 23, “The wife who did not eat” (Kuwazu nyōbō). There are four stories. In the fourth, the wife was a frog. A rock thrown at it struck a priest’s head.
Wakayama, Ito-gun: Kōshō 10 20, “The wife who didn’t eat” (Kuwazu nyōbō). For the most part, it is the usual story, but the old man next door disclosed the secret.
Arita-gun: Kii 24 u, “Putting iris and mugwort on the roof on the 5th Day of the Fifth Month” (Gogatsu itsuka ni shōbu to yomogi o fuku koto).
Nara: Nara 18, 21. No title.
Hyōgo, Kinosaki-gun, Sanshōmura, Mihara: MK II 9 34, “The bride who didn’t eat” (Kuwanu yome). Instead of telling about iris and mugwort, it says that he caught onto branches of a kaya tree and pulled himself out. He freed himself from the wrapping around him and hid in the tree. This tale is connected with ceremonies on the 6th Day of New Year. It may be that folk tales were tied to such ceremonies to explain them.
Kawabe-gun: Hokuto 31 [The reference is not clear]. Techō 66, “The wife who didn’t eat” (Kuwazu nyōbō).
Shimane: Okinoshima 12, “The yamauba” No. 1 (Yamauba). Contrary to not having a mouth, she was a great eater and was told she would have to go home. She turned into a spider after she was abandoned and came back. When she was burned to death, she turned into a yamauba.
Okayama, Jōdō-gun: Okayama bun III 1 49, “A folk tale” (Mukashibanashi). It says nothing about a mouth on her head. Many spiders gathered and cooked oats to eat while the man was away.
Shizuki-gun: MK I 8 26, “Burning night spiders to death” (Yogumo wa yaki korosu hanashi).
Mitsu-gun: Mitsu 107, “The spider is scary” (Kumo wa kyōtee). Nothing about her eating rice alone. She led the man into the mountains and turned into a spider. She wrapped her web around him.
Hiroshima: Aki 125, “The wife who didn’t eat” No. 1 (Kuwazu nyōbō). He learned her secret through the hint of a friend. She killed his friend and carried her husband off, but he ran away.
Asa-gun: Aki 128, “The wife who didn’t eat” No. 2 (Kuwazu nyōbō). She was a snake that later turned into a spider.
Takata-gun: Aki 130, “The wife who didn’t eat” No. 3 (Kuwazu nyōbō). She was a snake wife. The man went to a temple to ask for a divorce. It is a fragment.
Yamaguchi, Suō Oshima: Kōshō 11 15, “The wife who didn’t eat” (Kuwazu nyōbō). It gives the origin of the saying, “It’s no use because it is a citron tree.” It ends with the night spider, but there is nothing about iris.
Tokushima: Kyōdo ken II 6 58, “The yamachichi and yamaonna” (Yamachichi to yamaonna); Awa Iyayama 67, “The wife who didn’t eat” (Meshi kuwanu nyōbō).
Kagawa: Shōdojima.* There was a hole on her head as big as a kettle. When he saw it he was so shocked that he died. Mitoyo-gun, Shishijima: MK II 12 38, “The wife who didn’t eat” (Meshi kuwanu nyōbō).
Fukuoka, Sōra-gun: Chikuzen* 33. It gives the reason for using citron leaves at New Year ceremonies.
Kumamoto, Kuma-gun: MK I 8 38, “The wife who didn’t eat” (Kuwazu nyōbō).
Tamana-gun: Dai-ni 35, “The reason roots of corn are red” (Tōmorokoshi no ne no akai wake). It ends like “O Sun, the chain.”
Amakusajima: Amakusa min 57, “Festivals of Yama-no-kami [Mountain Deity]” (Yama no kami matsuri). One folk tale is mentioned.
Nagasaki, Ikinoshima: Dai-ichi 82, “Thatching rush and mugwort at the Fifth Month festival” (Gogatsu no sekku no kaya to yomogi). It states clearly that the wife was a snake.
Kitatakaku-gun, Isahaya: Kōshō 8 2, “The wife who didn’t eat” (Kuwazu nyōbō); Shimabara 84, “The wife who didn’t eat” (Kuwazu nyōbō). The last two stories are vague.
Kagoshima: Koshiki 142, “The spider wife” (Kumo nyōbō).
Kikaijima: Shima II 479, 424, “The cat wife” (Neko no tsuma). She would go out in the night and kill rats to eat. He poured the juice of tsuki grass and miha grass into her ears to kill her. “The demon and iris” (Oni to shōbu). A demon came to eat everyone in the house, but they ran away to where iris grew in the mountains. It happened on the 5th Day of the Fifth Month.
Amami Ōshima: MK II 7 26, “The three sisters” (Sannin shimai).
Okinawa: Nantō 88, “Chased by a demon and hiding in an iris patch” (Oni ni owarete shōbu e kakureta hanashi).
108. The Wife without a Mouth
or “The wife who didn’t eat”
The principal character is a stingy priest. He wanted a wife who didn’t eat. At last he found a woman without a mouth. It was strange however, that she cooked lots of rice every day. He spied on her from a tub in the yard where he hid. She took her side-locks down and ate with a big mouth that was in the part in her hair. When the priest cried out in astonishment, she grabbed him, tub and all. She started to run with the tub on her shoulders. When she set it down by the side of the road, it rolled over and dropped the priest into a place where lots of iris were growing. She could not follow him because of the plants. Iris was put under the eaves of houses and floated in bath water after that on the 5th Day of the Fifth Month.
Aomori, Hachinohe: MK II 9 46, “The wife without a mouth” (Kuchinashi nyōbō). Two stories. The man was saved by iris in both. For some reason, the principal character in the second story is an egg peddler.
Miyagi, Tome-gun: Kyōdo den 3 116, “The bride without a mouth” (Kuchi no nai yomego). Example.
Igu-gun: Igu 26, “The origin of Shimokuzaka” (Shimokuzaka no yurai). It is turned into a legend. (In Nishine-mura kyōdo shi 26).
109. The Younger Sister a Demon
Once there was a family with a son and a daughter. The girl would leave the house every night after she made sure her brother was asleep. The brother thought it strange and followed her to see. She turned into a demon at the edge of the village and carried off a horse to eat. This went on every night, so he told his father and mother. They would not believe him and drove him away from home. He wandered around as a beggar until a chance came for him to be adopted into a family as a son-in-law. After five years passed, he wanted to go home to see how things were. He gave his wife a mirror and told her that if it became clouded, she would know that his life was in danger and for her to set the male and female falcons in the yard free. When he neared his home, he looked down from a hill at his village, but there was no sign of a house. His sister was sleeping face up and looked like a dreadful monster. When he cleared his throat, she changed back to her usual form and saw her brother. She said that in the many years he had been away their parents had died in an epidemic. She asked him to beat on a drum she gave him for their comfort while she went to boil rice. When he beat the drum, the ghosts of his parents came out like rats and beat the drum for him. His sister noticed the difference in the sound of the drum and came to see. She found the rats beating it. While she was chasing the rats off angrily, the brother managed to run away. She started after him. In the meantime, the wife at home noticed the mirror was clouded, so she set the two falcons free. The brother had climbed a tree and his sister was digging at its roots to topple it when the birds arrived. They pecked out her eyes, but both of them had been touched by the demon’s breath and died. The young man destroyed the demon and made a grave for the birds. Then he went home safely to his wife and parents.
Gifu: Zoku Hida 141, “The great snake and the tiger” (Daija to tora).
Fukuoka: Fukuoka 165, “The bear that saved a bride” (Yome o tasukeshi kuma no hanashi).
Nagasaki, Kitatakaku-gun: Hōgen shi 22 35, “The big snake” No. 1 (Daija); (Old) Iki 69, 72, “The younger sister who turned into a snake” (Hebi ni natta imōto) and “The snake bride” (Hebi yome no hanashi).
Kagoshima, Amami Ōshima: MK il 4 24, “The elder sister a demon” (Oni no ane). The gratitude of a tiger is added.
Kikaijima: MK I 7 39, “The demon mother” (Oni no haha).
Koshikijima: Koshiki 126, “The younger sister a demon” (Oni no imōto). Example.
Okinoerabujima: Okinoerabu 219, “The elder sister a demon” (Oni no ane).
Further reference:
Chōsen mintan shū 110, “The fox younger sister and her three brothers” (Kitsune imōto to san kyōdai).
110. A Thousand Wolves
A certain merchant of Kōshū had gone on a trip to Suruga and was on his way back. The sun set when he reached the broad plain at the foot of the mountain at the border between Suruga and Kai. There was no house around. It was at the end of autumn, so there were stacks of straw here and there. He decided to climb into one to spend the night. A pack of mountain dogs scented the man in the night and gathered around, sniffing and growling. The man started to run away in excitement and climbed a tree nearby. The mountain dogs came running after him, but they could not climb the tree. While they were milling around they began to talk over what to do. They decided to call Old Lady Magotarō. Two or three went off somewhere while the rest guarded the man. He was wondering what Old Lady Magotarō could be when they returned with an old tiger cat. The dogs seemed impatient as they asked her what to do. Presently, she said she thought they could make a dog ladder. One dog crouched low while another mounted him and did the same. Then another and another climbed on until they were nearly high enough to reach the merchant’s feet. The frightened man tried to climb higher, but it was no longer possible. The dogs reached higher and higher. The frantic man drew his sword at his side and for some reason thrust it with all his might into a nest that was above his head. It proved to be a bear’s nest. The sleeping bear was startled and went tumbling down to the ground and rushed off. When the dogs saw that, they were sure it was the man. They pulled their ladder down and rushed after it. They were dumbfounded to find it was a bear. They said the man must still be in the tree and hurried back. In the meantime, dawn was coming on. Old Lady Magotarō and the dogs said they would have to give up because of the dawn and they went off. The merchant came down from the tree fearfully at last and ran home.
Niigata, Minamikanbara-gun: Minamikanbara 135, “Old Lady Yasaburō” (Yasaburō baa san).
Fukui, Sakai-gun: MK I 1 29, “Old Lady Baben” (Baben baba). Two stories but no ladder.
Yamanashi, Nishiyatsushiro-gun: Kai 296, “Old Lady Magotarō” (Magotarō baba). Example. Zoku Kai 71, “Old Lady Tarō” (Tarō baba). They were badgers, not wolves. They made a ladder by climbing onto each other’s shoulders.
Nagano, Shimoina-gun: Mukashibanashi 14, “The mountain cat disguised as an old woman” (Baa san ni baketa yamaneko no hanashi). The beginning is like “The ox-leader and the yamauba.”
Hyōgo, Kinosaki-gun: MK II 9 35, “The wolf’s gratitude” (Okami no ongaeshi).
Tottori, Hino-gun: Inpaku dōwa 95, “The yamabushi” (Yamabushi). They said to go for Old Lady Gorōta. The conclusion is different. The villagers decided they should be on their guard.
Yazu-gun, Wakasa-machi: Inpaku min I 187, “Old Lady Gorōta” (Gorōta baba).
Kedata-gun: Inpaku min I 188, “Old lady Gaadai with a metal tail” (Kane no o no Gaadai baba). It was a wolf’s name.
Shimane, Matsue: Nihon den 149, “Old Lady Koike” (Koike baba).
Oki: Okinoshima 20, “The mountain cat and the merchant” (Yamaneko to shōnin). What was called Old Lady at Shōya was a big white cat. They say it wore a sleeveless coat and tied a towel around its head. Perhaps there were no wolves on that island.
Yamaguchi, Suō Oshima: Kōshō 11 25, “Eaten by a wolf” (Okami ni kuwareru hanashi). In this there is something about throwing a mirror and turning everything upside down.
Tokushima: Awa Iyayama 22, “A thousand wolves” (Senbiki ōkami).
Kagawa, Mitoyo-gun, Shishijima: MK II 12 44, “The old woman smithy at None” (None no kaji no baba).
Further reference:
There is a famous tree called Dog-Ladder (Inuhashigo) at Nishihara, Kaminohara-mura, Kitatsuru-gun, Yamanashi.
In Echigo it is called a dog chain (ōintsunagi). It is dreaded by villagers, but nobody has seen one.
Chōsen mintan shū 96, “Mikotora.” The first part is this story.
111. The Cat and the Lid of the Teakettle
A hunter in a certain place counted out his bullets before going into the mountains one morning. His pet three-colored cat pretended to sleep, but it watched him. The hunter set out without any worries. He met a ghost there which was nothing like he had ever seen or heard of. It was a one-eyed ghost. No matter how many times the hunter shot it, the ghost seemed unconcerned. When he had shot all the bullets he had brought, the ghost turned into a huge cat and came leaping at him. The hunter brought it down with a secret bullet he had with him. When he examined the cat, he found a teakettle lid beside it. He realized that the cat had held it in its mouth to protect itself from the bullets. Somehow the cat looked very much like the one at his house. He took the teakettle lid home. He found that the teakettle lid was missing and the cat was not there.
Iwate, Kamihei-gun: Kikimimi 344, “The monster cat” (Kaibyō no hanashi). Example.
Fukushima, Iwaki-gun: Iwaki 173, “The cat that counted the bullets” (Neko ga teppō dama o kazoeta hanashi).
Ishikawa: Ishikawa 949. No title. At Dōnokawa there is a ghost story about “Chikkin Kaburi.” It is not a detailed story.
Nomi-gun: MK II 6 34, “Nekomata of Tanitōge” (Tanitōge no Nekomata).
Fukui, Fukui City: MK II 3 44, “Destroying the ghost cat” (Bake neko taiji). A cat in the tree-tops ate people at night. A samurai destroyed it with more arrows than the cat could see. It does not say how the cat protected itself. This is a fragment.
Nagano, Shimoina-gun: Mukashibanashi 49, “The mountain cat and the hunter” (Yamaneko to ryōshi). The mountain cat was disguised as an old woman. It is close to the story on Kikaijima.
Yamanashi, Nishiyatsushiro-gun: Kai 299, “The cat and the hunter” (Neko to karyūdo).
Aichi, Minamishidara-gun: Inoshishi 42, “The hunter long ago” (Mukashi no karyūdo). In one story the cat curled up on the teakettle lid, counting the bullets. It carried the lid when it went into the mountains.
Fukuoka, Chikujō-gun: Buzen,* “The badger with a bell on his head” (Kane o kabutta tanuki).
Bungo (Ōita): Sangaku XIX 3 79, “A legend about Kurogatake” (Kurogatake no densetsu). It says an old monkey on Kokonoe Yama Kurogatake wore a temple bell on its head.
Kitaamabe-gun: MK I 4 35, “Old Lady Shōbe” (Shōbe baba). A hunter saw cats wrestling when he set out to hunt in the morning. He shot Old Lady Shōbe. He followed the trail of her blood to the village and called at her house because of her injuries. He shot her through the quilts and destroyed her.
Kagoshima, Kikaijima: Shima I 2 27, “The iron bullets” (Kurogane no tama). Some parts are close to the Ina story. It is about shooting wild boar and a pet cat. The hunter’s wife came to meet him in the mountains. He thought it was strange and shot her, but she ran away. He traced the blood and found she was the pet cat. It was dead at the altar of Hi-no-kami [Fire God] in the kitchen. It does not say it counted the bullets.
112. Cat Mountain
or Nekomata
A certain man planned to cross the mountain on his way home from Osarisawa to Kemanai, but when he got as far as Shinden, he became confused and went back into the mountains. Farther on, he saw a big, brightly lighted house and went to ask to stay there for the night. The kitchen was crowded with women and children. When he asked to stay, they agreed willingly. Presently a sliding door was drawn back and an aged woman came in. She greeted him and said, “I am the three colored cat which your grandfather kept for many years. This place is called Nekomata where the unwanted cats of the village gather. They have gone for your bedding for tonight, but if you stay, they will kill you. Please hurry away. There is a small hole in the corner of the alcove. Go through it onto the porch. There is a river outside the gate. If you can manage to cross it, the cats can not follow you, and you will be safe. Please hurry!” The man recalled that there had been an old three-colored cat at his grandfather’s that had got lost, and he thought this cat must be the one. He went out of the estate as he had been directed and was starting across the river when a big crowd of cats came howling after him. He managed frantically to cross to the other side. When dawn came, he looked around and found himself in a mountain he had never seen before. Finally, he found his way and reached home.
Akita, Kazuno-gun: Dai-ni 21, “Cat Mountain” (Nekomata). Example.
Niigata, Minamikanbara-gun: Kamuhara 170, Note No. 58. About the gratitude of a cat.
Ishikawa, Nomi-gun, Shiromine-mura: MK II 6 33, “Sentarō.” A man named Sentarō hid a gourd given him by a pet cat he had had a long time before, and he escaped danger at Nekomata.
Yamaguchi, Suō Oshima: Dai-ni 19, “Cat Mountain” (Nekoyama no hanashi). The story is about the gratitude of a cat that had gone away to Cat Mountain. She showed gratitude to a former maid, but she ate the mistress who had tormented her. The story is close to “The tongue-cut sparrow,” and there is a part about the old man next door. This might have been the original story.
Kumamoto: (no source). This Nekomata story is about adventure. There is no part about receiving treasure and going back the second time.
113. Cat Mountain or Cat Island
The maid at a certain house was kind to the cat, but its mistress abused it. The cat disappeared suddenly. This grieved the maid. A pilgrim who came along told her the cat was in the mountains of Inaba on Kyūshū, and she set out to look for it. Night overtook her in the mountains. She asked to stay over night at a splendid house. It proved to be the cat house. When it was night, the cat she loved came out to greet her looking like a woman except for her cat face. She handed the maid a paper parcel and warned her the place was where cats gathered. She asked her to hurry away. The next morning, the place was full of cats, just as she had been told. She waved the parcel she had received at them and was able to go home safely. There was a picture of a dog holding a real 10-ryō coin in its mouth in the package. Her mistress was envious and went to visit the cat. She was bitten to death because she had not loved it.
Akita, Kazuno-gun, Miyakawa-mura: Dai-ni 21, “Nekomata.”
Niigata, Minamikanbara-gun: Kamuhara 168, “The cat’s gratitude” No. 1 (Neko no ongaeshi).
Ishikawa, Nomi-gun, Shiramine: MK II 6 33, “Sentarō.”
Yamaguchi, Suō Oshima: Dai-ni 19, “Cat Mountain” (Nekoyama no hanashi). Example.
Fukuoka: Nihon den 232, “Nekogatake.” It is a legend of Nekogatake in Kurate-gun, Chikuzen.
Kagoshima: Kikai 82, “The cat’s gratitude” (Neko no ongaeshi).
114. The Ghost of the Treasure
On a certain island there was a deserted house with pots and pans and everything prepared for travelers who might want to stay over night, but nobody who came would stay a second night. Then a traveler came to the island and stayed over night to see. In the middle of the night a beautiful woman came out and seemed to say something and then disappeared. The man thought it strange. The next night a big snake came out. The next night a man came out and said something and disappeared. On the fourth night the former woman came out. She asked the man who he was and where he had come from. After he answered, she said, “No matter what region a traveler comes from and stays here, he never stays the second night. I happen to be money that has been buried under this house for many years. I wish to go out into the world soon and to bring pleasure to people, but I cannot go on my own power, and I suffer. Please dig me up quickly.” The next morning the man asked the villagers to help, and they dug out the money hastily. He gave half of it to the villagers and kept the other half and went home. They say that money buried for several hundred years can appear as a ghost and say something.
Aomori: Tsugaru m 6, “Dancing with ghosts” (Bakemono to odoru hanashi). It is like “The old man who got a tumor.”
Iwate: Shiwa shū 45, “The Ise pilgrim” (Ise maeriko). A ghost came out and danced at a house where a pilgrim stayed on his way to Ise. It was gold coins. It shows the secret happiness of a hero who is not afraid.
Fukushima: Iwaki 154. A note.
Niigata: Sadogashima 130, 131, “The ghost of treasure” (Takara bakemono) and “The spirit of gold” (Kin no rei). A girl came to an ascetic named Ōkubo in a town in Izumo to ask him to marry her. The couple rented a haunted estate and met the ghost of gold. What follows is like “Charcoal-maker Chōja.”
Yamanashi, Nishiyatsushiro-gun: Zoku kai 164, “The tea jar under the tea tree” (Cha no ki no shita no chatsubo).
Okayama: Mitsu 84, “The ghost of coins” (Zeni no bakemono no hanashi).
Shimane, Ōchi-gun: MK II 9 31, 12 35, “The ghost of treasure” (Takara bakemono). Both stories with the same title. The first is about stopping over night at a diplapidated house and seeing a ghost. In the other, the ghost of the chōja’s daughter came out and asked for a hōji [a Buddhist memorial service]. The whole way in which the story is told is somehow professional.
Tokushima, Miyoshi-gun: MK II 9 41, “The ghost of treasure” (Takara bakemono). The origin of the Mitsui family. The middle part is omitted.
Ōita, Kitaamabe-gun: MK I 4 39, “Two ghost stories” (Bakemono futatsu). The second.
Kagoshima: Kikai 136, “The ghost of treasure” (Takara bakemono) Example.
115. The Ghost of Mountain Pears
This is a variant of stories about showing the real form of a ghost.
Iwate: Shiwa 66, “The ghost of mountains pears” (Yamanashi no bakemono). A filthy ghost called an ōnyūdō came out and told the novice at the temple to eat its feces. He followed it and found a great mountain pear tree. A huge mound of fruit that had dropped year after year was at its foot.
Akita, Senhoku-gun: MK I 10 32, “The ghost of apples” (Ringo no kai).
116. The Man-Eating Mushroom
A mushroom at a deserted house ate people. The house was falling into ruin. A man stayed there and saw the true form of the ghost and destroyed it.
Iwate, Kamihei-gun: Rōō 27, “The mushroom ghost” (Naba no bakemono). A drifter stopped over night at a great empty house. The mushroom told him how he got ahead in the world. It disliked salt and heat.
Niigata, Minamikanbara-gun: Kamuhara 204, “The mushroom ghost” (Kinoko no bakemono). There is a bit of humor where it says it disguises itself as a man. There is a dialogue about what is disliked the most.
Nagasaki: (Old) Iki 55, “The man-eating mushroom” (Hitokui naba). The youngest of three brothers destroyed it. He put salty bean soup onto it.
117. The Haunted Mountain Temple
This is like a ghost of treasure, but finding gold does not come into it.
Long ago an itinerant priest came to a certain village and asked to stay over night. He was told that no priest traveling alone could be put up at the village, but since they felt sorry for him they would let him stay at a vacant temple. When he went there, five or six villagers were building a fire and making preparations for him. They left, saying there was rice and wine for him. He heard something in the night in the main hall, so he put a kettle that was there onto his head and waited silently. A three-eyed ōnyūdō with two sets of teeth came out from the living quarters and thumped the man’s head, pachin, and remarked it was a strong, hard one. The priest said, “It’s my turn now!” He took an ax and split the ghost’s head, gachari, and tossed it outside and left it there. The same kind of ghost came out three times, and he destroyed each and tossed it outside. The next morning the villagers came, saying the priest had surely been eaten the night before. They found him sitting safely by the fire, warming himself. When they asked him if anything had happened the night before, he told them and that he had thrown the ghosts outside. If they were held up to the morning light, their real form could be seen. They looked and found the three dead ōnyūdō and held them up to the sunlight. They were old wooden geta. The people told the priest that many times a priest had come to take over the temple, but each time he had been eaten by a ghost. They asked him to take charge of the place. The itinerant priest agreed.
Bestowing a fortune along with a ghost story is very old. Ghosts in old tales are always something in disguise.
Iwate, Shiwa-gun: Shiwa shū 14, “The haunted temple” (Bakemono dera). Example.
Akita, Senhoku-gun: MK I 11 24, “The old straw cloak, a furoshiki, and an old drum” (Furumino ni furoshiki ni furudaiko). It resembles the Ōshū story about getting a tumor.
Niigata, Minamikanbara-gun: Kamuhara 201, “The mortar and the mallet” (Usu to kine). The ghosts of a mortar and a mallet showed a man who was not afraid where gold was at a temple.
Nagano: Chiisagata 266, 269, “Gold and silver and copper coins” (Kin gin bita sen) and “The carp, the chicken, and the fox” (Koi, niwatori, kitsune). In the second, the ghosts wore red, gray, or brown hoods. The man took everything the next morning and ate them all.
Kitasaku-gun: Kitasaku 219, “How Baienbō destroyed the ghost” (Baienbō no bakemono taiji). The ghost was in the temple at Uenoyama, Fuse-mura. The priest was called Baienbō.
Shimoina-gun: Mukashibanashi 28, “Sokuheitan.” The ghosts were the head of the horse of Tōgen, Saishō cock of Saichikurin, the big fish at Nanki, and the toad at Hokuchi. The Kitasaku item and this belong to a period when Chinese characters were esteemed.
Yamanashi, Nishiyatsushiro-gun: Kai 97, “The buried bottle” (Iketa bin).
Gifu, Yoshiki-gun, Kamitakara-mura: Hidabito V 6 6, “The ghost of treasure” (Takara bakemono). The ghosts were an old straw cloak, a carved wooden fish, and a drum. The story is about ghosts, but they were not treasures.
118. The Ghost in the Deserted House
A man spends the night at a lonely house and is asked to look after a corpse and sees a ghost. In many such stories it is said to be nothing. The following might be one form of the story.
A traveler was overtaken by night and managed to reach the house of somebody he knew. His host said he had arrived at a good time. There was somebody dead there and he needed somebody to keep watch. He asked him to take over and then he left. The traveler was annoyed, but there was no help for it. He sat by the hearth to have a smoke. The corpse of the dead woman began to stir and rise. The man was startled, but he kept his head and looked around. He saw something like a fox had stuck its head through the opening below the drain and was watching the corpse intently. The man went outside and around to the back stealthily to investigate. A fox was actually there, standing on its hind legs with its head thrust through the opening. The traveler picked up a stick that was handy and beat the fox to death.
Iwate, Shimohei-gun, Toyomane-mura: Tōno 88 No. 101. No title. Example. It is told as a true story. It is like other examples where the true situation is discovered later.
Yamagata, Higashitagawa-gun: MK I 10 34, “The gold coins in the coffin” (Hayaoge no naka no koban). The principal character was Yaro, who gathered mushrooms. He was put in charge of a coffin with a corpse in it. He was asked to carry it on his back later. What follows is like “The hearth fire on New Year’s Eve.” He opened the coffin at dawn and found it full of coins.
Yamanashi, Nishiyatsushiro-gun: Kai 286, “The deserted house” (Ikkenya).
Kagoshima: Kikai 137, “The corpse and the salt buyer” (Mōja to shiokai). An old man and old woman agreed to signal each other when one of them was put into a coffin. The old woman died first. The old man did as he had agreed, but he got tired of it. He fooled a salt buyer who came along and asked him to look after things and to answer for him. The dead woman asked, “Who are you?” She came out and the salt buyer tried to run away. She chased him and went off somewhere.
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