141. A Dialogue with a Ghost

A doctor came to a certain village in the mountains and decided to stay, but there was no house for him. It was decided that he would stay in a vacant temple a little way off in the mountains. In the night something came to the outside doors by the porch and climbed up. In a voice that sounded like a broken bell, it shouted, “Suteten-koten on the doctor’s head! Suteten-koten on the doctor’s head.” It pounded on the doors until they nearly broke. The frightened doctor crawled deep into his quilts. In the morning he found footprints of a big animal all over the porch. When he told the villagers, they said it was probably a prank of a bad old badger. That night a number of young men from the village decided to stay at the temple. They secured the doors with poles and sat around the hearth to wait. Something came again in the middle of the night and pounded on the doors. It shouted, “Sutetenkoten on the doctor’s head!” They matched it from the inside with, “Suteten-koten on the head of what says that!” The badger and the young men exchanged shouts and made a great uproar. After that continued for some time, the badger seemed to give up and remained silent. The next morning they found the old badger. He had been so humiliated at being outshouted that he had torn his belly open with his teeth and died. Then they all made badger soup and ate him.

Yamanashi, Nishiyatsushiro-gun

Iwate, Kamihei-gun: Rōō 80, “The three-eyed one-legged ghost” (Mitsume ipponashi no bakemono).

Yamanashi, Nishiyatsushiro-gun: Kai 40, “The doctor’s head” (Isha don no atama). Example.

Gifu, Yoshiki-gun: Hidabito IV 6 35, “The zatō and the badger” (Zatō to tanuki). When the badger shouted, “Sutten-ten on your head,” the zatō gave him in return, “Suppera-ponja on your head,” adding notes from his shamisen to his shout.

Aichi, Kitashidara-gun, Furigusa-mura: Aichi 258, “The badger” (Tanuki).

Minamishidara-gun: Inoshishi 158, “The badger who called” (Yobaru tanuki).

Tōtōmi (Shizuoka): Nihon zenkoku 52, “The mountain yam” (Yama no imo). After the big ghost of mountain yams ate a priest and his novice, a zatō destroyed it with words as he accompanied himself on the biwa.

Fukuoka, Kurate-gun: Fukuoka 98, “The fox, the old woman, and Uso” (Kitsune baba to Uso). An old woman, her daughter, and Uso lived together. While Uso was away, a fox came and shouted, “Uso hit Granny, ten-ton-ton.” When Uso heard about it, he said to answer, “Ten-ton-ton on whatever is saying that.” In the morning they got up to look. They found a dead fox with its tongue chewed off. The question is whether Uso can be considered the same sort of person as Kichigo. There is a latter part to this story, but it is not altogether clear. However, the original form can be made out. Or it may just be as a zatō recited it.

Further reference:

At Kenkōin in Hirai, Munakata-gun, Chikuzen one priest after another lost out and died in contests with words with a voice in the ceiling. An itinerant priest came along and outdid it with, “Kenkōin is bokkurisho, a thousand, ten thousand bokkurisho.” A badger as big as a colt was defeated.

142. A Dialogue with a Crab

A famous itinerant priest was overtaken by night in the mountains. He found a wretched looking woodcutter’s hut where he asked to spend the night. He was refused. He was told to go farther to an old temple where ghosts appeared, so he went there to stay. In the middle of the night an ōnyūdō came out from somewhere with a clatter and declared that if the priest did not solve a riddle which he would propose, he would eat him. It shouted, “Little legs, eight legs, big legs, two legs, red in color, eyes facing the sky like the sun and moon.” The priest replied that it was a crab and gave the ōnyūdō a whack, pishari, on its head with his staff. It went off with a clatter. Nothing more came out before morning. At dawn the priest went to look in the direction the ōnyūdō had gone. He found a huge dead crab under the porch. No more ghosts came out at that temple after that.

Saitama, Kawagoe

Ishikawa, Suzu-gun: Noto 53. No title. Getsuan at Kanidera (Echizen) in Iida knew that “Four legs, eight legs, both legs, eight legs, goes right, goes left, eyes above” meant a crab.

Yamanashi, Nishiyatsushiro-gun: Kai 290, “The crab priest” (Gani bōzu); Zoku kai 319, “The crab priest” (Gani bōzu). A story of Chōgenji, Kanioizaka, Manriki-mura, Higashiyamanashi-gun.

Saitama, Kawagoe City: Kawagoe 100, “A dialogue with a ghost” (Bakemono mondō). Example.

Kumamoto, Amakusa-gun: Kyōdo ken V 3 26, “The crab shell” (Kani no kō). A hermit priest encountered a strange light on the road at night. A voice demanded, “Four legs, eight legs . . .” to which he replied, “You are a crab.” He whacked it with his bamboo flute. The crab has had cracks on its shell since that time. “Crab yamabushi” (Kani yamabushi) is also a kyōgen, so it is probably an old story.

143. The Poem about Ashes

“Raked ashes are the color of the seashore” was the first line of a poem. The ghost of a priest suffered and could not attain Buddhahood because he could not match it with a second line. His novice laid the ghost by the line “At the hearth I watch the open sea [live coals].”

Ōita, Naori-gun

Akita, Senhoku-gun: MK I 11 26, “Raked ashes are . . .” (Hai narashi hai wa).

Hiraga-gun: TD XIII 3 39, “The poem and the priest” (Haiku oshō). There is a story about a poem by a priest about ashes in Ugo Asamai-machi kinbo kikigaki.

Niigata: Sadogashima 160, “The closing line” (Shimo no ku). This is not about a priest. He is the host at an inn. A guest furnished the closing line of the poem.

Ōita: Naori 74, “The poem and the ghost” (Uta to yūrei). Example.

144. The Carpenter and Oniroku

At a certain place the current in the stream was so strong that no matter how many bridges were built across it, they were all washed away. It was decided to hire a most famous carpenter who lived in a neighboring district. While the carpenter was frantic with worry after he accepted the order, he stood on the bank of the river and stared at its current. A demon appeared in the foam that floated on its surface. He asked the carpenter what he was thinking about, and he laughed when he heard the reason. He said, “No matter how skillful you are, you are not likely to succeed in building a bridge here. If you are willing to give me your eyeballs, I will build it for you.” The carpenter went home intending to hand over his eyeballs. The next day the bridge was half built and on the next it was finished. As the man stood there surprised, the demon demanded his eyes. The carpenter begged him to wait and he fled to the mountains. While he was wandering around he heard children singing. They sang, “If only Oniroku would hurry with the eyeballs, wouldn’t that be fine!” The carpenter went home when he heard that. The next day he went to the river. The demon came out and demanded his eyes. If he did not want to give them, he should try to guess his name. The man declared it was Oniroku. The demon vanished instantly and never returned.

Iwate, Isawa-gun

Iwate, Isawa-gun: Kikimimi 106, “The carpenter and Oniroku” (Daiku to Oniroku). Example. This story and those like it are probably the old form with knowing the name Oniroku by hearing it in the children’s song. The same story is recorded in Mukashibanashi saishū techō 70. It is from Iwate nippō material.

Iwami (Shimane): TD IV 7 50, “Teitei Kobushi.” Carp from the south pond came and asked, “Is Teitei Kobushi stopping here?” Teitei Kobushi was the name of a camellia tree. What at present has become only “The one-eyed rooster at Shichikurin” and the like was made up after the introduction of Chinese characters with commentaries. Formerly they were just known as ghosts.

145. The Warning in the Lullaby

Someone can escape through learning of danger from words in a nursery song.

Fukuoka, Chikujō-gun: Fukuoka 232, “Helped by knowing writing” (Gakumon no okage). The tale is said to be from Gōshū. A man stopped at a teahouse in the mountains. A woman tending a child sang repeatedly, “If you try writing it in word.” Perhaps this was a way to teach one kind of word. However, learning through a nursery song can be traced to plots in “The carpenter and Oniroku,” “Hirabayashi,” and other such tales. They are like the “Tom Tit Tom” group.

Nagasaki, Minamitakaku-gun: Shimabara 244, “The nursery song in the mountains” (Yama no naka no komori uta). The song is a poor attempt by somebody, but the tale can be considered old. There is a song about the stone pillow in the story of the lonely house in Owari. The central interest in the song from Asakusa, also, may be the song. Information is learned from a nursery song in the story about a bargain with a demon and the tale of the wife from the Sky World.

146. Zuitonbō

This is a story about a badger calling somebody by name.

Nagano: Chiisagata 269, “Zuitonbō” When the man looked through a knothole, he saw a badger hit the door with its tail. He pulled the tail till it broke off. He followed the badger far back into the mountain and caught it.

Shimoina-gun: Mukashibanashi 30, “The priest named Zuitonbō at the mountain temple” (Yamadera no bōsama Zuiton no hanashi). This is how the badger was outtalked and died. It does not say how it said the words, but the rhythm of the words lends flavor to the melody. It is a composition of a bosama.