“The Yanagita Kunio Guide to the Japanese Folk Tale”
3. Unpromising Marriages
that Became Happy
14. Netarō, the Lazy Man Next Door
Jinshirō lived on nothing but turnips. He got the daughter of Asahi Chōja as his bride with the help of the young men of the village. When the girl came to see, she found that he had only a little hut and no rice. Three times she gave him a bolt of silk to take to town to sell, but he was robbed twice. When he started home with the money the third time, he bought a lame hawk from children who were teasing it. He set it free and it dove into the river and caught a kappa. The kappa gave Jinshirō a magic mallet and magic bag because he set him free. Jinshirō thought the bag would be handy for turnips and took it home, but he left the magic mallet behind. His bride went for the mallet and started by shaking out a house. When Jinshirō tried to shake out a storehouse for rice (kome-kura) and rice, he failed and shook out a lot of blind children (ko-mekura) instead. His bride helped him to do it right. They invited her father to their home. After the feast, they threw the dishes they had used into the stream and burned their house to light his way home. When the chōja returned their invitation, he tried to imitate his son-in-law, but he could not set up another house after he burned it. Jinshirō shook out a new one for him.
Aomori, Hachinohe: MK II 2 31, “Kabuyaki Jinshirō.” Example. There are four stories, but this is from a slightly different line than the Sannohe “Kabuyaki Sasajirō.” Although it is slightly complicated, it can be considered the pure form. Its connection to “Charcoalmaker Chōja” can be seen.
“Kaba-o-chōja.” A man named Kaba married the younger of the chōja’s two daughters. He became rich suddenly because money came from the roots of the turnips in his garden. The word kaba may be related to kabu (turnip), but it is not explained.
“Takoya Kyūbei.” This is told as the origin of Chōjayama in Hachinohe. A man called Takoya Kyūbei lived in a vacant temple and ate nothing but octopus. Word of this spread around and, just as he hoped, the chōja’s daughter came to be his bride. The storehouse of the temple, which was said to be haunted, turned out to be full of money. He promptly became a chōja, too.
“Isaba-no Takozaemon.” Isaba-no-Takozaemon from Osaka married the daughter of a rich Edo family. They received a haunted house to live in. Through his wife’s cleverness, he learned that the ghosts in the twelve storehouses were big gold coins. He dug them out and became a chōja.
Sannohe-gun, Korekawa-mura: TD II 10 17, “Kabuyaki Chōja.”
Iwate, Kamihei-gun: Kikimimi 3, “The pigeon lantern” (Hato chōchin). The plot is shortened.
Esashi-gun: Esashi 50, “How a lazy man became the son-in-law of a chōja by the help of his friends” (Namakemono ga hōbai no okage de chōja no muko dono to natta hanashi).
Akita, Senhoku-gun: Kyōdo den 2 133, “Lazy Tarō” (Nebō Tarō). This is not a story about becoming a son-in-law. A man who liked to draw cats stopped at a vacant temple. He drew many pictures of cats and destroyed ghosts there. He became head of the temple.
Toyama, Toyama City: MK II 6 29, “The lazy man” (Namakura ansa).
Tochigi, Haga-gun: Shimotsuke 22, “The lazy man” (Namakemono).
Yamanashi, Nishiyatsushiro-gun: Zoku Kai 182, “Just eating and sleeping” (Kutcha ne).
Gifu, Yoshiki-gun: Hidabito IV 4 40, “The lame son-in-law” (Chinba no muko). It resembles Ujishūi monogatari, No. 113. Hidabito V 3 24, “The cat’s gratitude” (Neko no hōon). This resembles the tale on Suō Oshima. Hidabito V 6 5, “The lazy son-in-law” (Netarō mukoiri). A bald-headed woman lied to get married. She climbed to the roof to say she was bald because the wedding was held on the night of Kōshin.
Hyōgo, Hikami-gun:: TD X 4 71, “The lazy man next door” (Tonari no Netarō).
Hiroshima, Jinseki-gun: Geibi 3, “The lazy man next door” (Tonari no Netarō).
This is about Sannen-Sangatsu-no-Tarō.
Hiba-gun: Geibi 4, “The lazy man next door.” No. 2, (Tonari no Netarō).
Takata-gun: Aki 58, “Netarō Sansuke”; MK I 6 46, “The Kōnoike tale” No. 2 (Kōnoike no hanashi no ni). This has been changed into a humorous story of a beggar’s dream.
Yamaguchi: Suō Ōshima 92, “Netarō.” This story of the bald bride is close to the Ujishūi monogatari story.
Ehime, Nuwajima: (no source). A poor fisher named Takoya Sōbei met a girl from the Kōnoike family while on his way to visit the Grand Shrine of Ise. He was able to marry her by telling a lie.
Tokushima, Miyoshi-gun: Hokuto 31, App. 8 “Netarō.”
Mima-gun: Awa Iyayama 128, “The lazy man who married” (Netarō mukoiri).
Nagasaki: Shimabara 195, “The pigeon god” (Hato no kami sama). This is not a story about marriage, but about a priest and his novice. The boy objected to his diet of cypress leaf soup.
Kagoshima, Kikaijima: MK I 6 23, “Netarō who was lazy for three years” (Sannen Netarō). Three stories have the same title. The first resembles “Sanpachi, the bath heater.” A youth called Nananabe-no-shiki heated seven pans of water. He set aside a little from each, bathed in it, and became a handsome youth. He offered a wine cup to the daughter of the house and was accepted as son-in-law. In the second story, the man became yard sweeper for a chōja. When he was sent to pick flowers, he always brought such strange ones that he was followed. He was seen climbing a tall tree and talking to a god. The chōja decided he was not an ordinary man and took him as his son-in-law. The third story resembles “Yuriwaka.” His son recognized him.
15. The Cow Bride
A young girl who offered prayers for a good husband was fooled, but a feudal lord took her out of her sedan chair on the way to her wedding. He substituted a calf. It came out in the parlor and rushed around where the young man was waiting.
Aomori, Hachinohe: MK II 2 33, “A cow in the bride’s chair” (Yome no koshi ni ushi).
Yamanashi, Nishiyatsushiro-gun: Kai 51, “A cow from out of the dark” (Kuragi kara ushi de gozaru). The last part turns into a humorous tale.
Kagoshima, Kikaijima: Kikai 52, “The calf in the bride’s sedan chair” (Yome no kago ni koushi). Example. It is hard to account for the agreement in the tales. The steps are obscure.
Further reference:
Mukashibanashi kenkyū I 8 16, “The connection with the whispering bamboo” by Okami Masao.
Zōdan shū V 4 omote. Of the Kaei era [1849]. It is related to the story “Sasayaki take.”
16. Shirataki of Yamada
A certain rich man had twelve beautiful daughters. A young man who worked for him set his heart upon Shiratakihime. The master heard about it. He called the young man to him one day and said he would give him Shirataki if he composed a suitable poem. The young man said:
Rice shoots wither in the drought;
Refresh them with water that falls from Shirataki.
He won her.
Aomori, Hachinohe: MK II 2 33, “Shirataki of Yamada” (Yamada Shirataki). Three young men came to ask for her.
Iwate, Shiwa-gun: Shiwa shū 51, “Itonaga Shōji of Harima-no-kuni” (Harima-no-kuni no Itonaga Shōji).
Hienuki-gun, Hanamaki: Dai-ni 80, “The successful suitor” (Shusse muko). It is about three employees of a sake merchant. After a dialogue with them with poems, one was finally chosen as son-in-law. The common name Mokuzō was probably not known yet in the place.
Hienuki-gun, Yazawa-mura: MK II 5 32, “Gomogu, the son-in-law who was a poet” (Gomogu uta muko). The youth’s name was Gomogu. It is influenced by a folk song.
Waga-gun: MK II 5 31, “The son-in-law who composed a poem” (Utayomi muko). The girl’s name was Sakura. The young man with learning was Gomogu. Three servants are not there. The girl married him after the exchange of poems.
Miyagi, Momoo-gun: Kyōdo den 1 179, “The three letter carriers” (Sannin no kaifu mochi). The girl’s poem shows that this story is the work of a zatō.
Niigata, Sado: MK II 4 31, “Shirataki of Yamada and Gorō, the charcoal-maker” (Yamada Shirataki, sumiyaki Gorō). A charcoal-maker called Sumiya-no-Gorō was taught a poem by a rokubu. He recited it and won the girl. What follows is like “Charcoal-maker Chōja.” Minamikanbara-gun: Kamuhara 152, 160, “Shiratakihime.” Example. “Beneath Mokuzu” (Mokuzu no shita). A fragment. MK I 3 32, “Sarujirō.” The first part of the story is about an abused stepchild. He was rescued and got work sweeping the yard of a chōja. He composed a poem and became the son-in-law there.
These two episodes did not combine naturally, but should be considered the work of a goze.
Nagano, Shimoina-gun: Mukashibanashi 114, “Kinoha and Sakuhana” (Kinoha to Sakuhana no hanashi).
Hyōgo, Kasai-gun, Shimozato-mura: TD III 7 70, “Gensaemon of Yamada” (Yamada no Gensaemon).
Hiroshima: Geibi 163, “Shirataki of Yamada” No. 1 (Yamada Shirataki).
Tokushima: Awa Iyayama 31, “The son-in-law who composed poems” (Utayomi muko); MK I 5 361, “Sakuhana and Gomoku” (Sakuhana to Gomoku). Usually there is an exchange of poems, but here they are in the form of a renga.
Nagasaki, Shimabara hantō: Shimabara 187, “The tasks of the son-in-law” (Nandai muko). There are six tales.
Ikinoshima: (Old) Iki 66, “Getting a bride by exchanging poems” (Utamondō de yome o morau hanashi).
Kagoshima: Koshiki 102, “Shirataki of Yamada” (Yamada Shirataki).
17. The Tasks of the Son-in-Law
Long ago the daughter of a chōja and a young man met at Arima hot springs in Settsu and immediately became very fond of each other. Finally, the girl had to go home, but both of them refused to tell their names or where they lived. The girl wrote a poem as she parted from the young man:
If you long for me, ask the insect that sings in the summer for botamochi [rice-cake].
At the bridge that never decays in the Land of Seventeen.
While the young man walked around town thinking about the lines, he met a blind masseur and asked him their meaning. The masseur said the “Land of Seventeen” meant young land or Wakasa, the bridge that never decays would be a stone bridge, and by it there was a family called Semiya [cicada] whose daughter was named Ohagi [ricecake]. The young man took off immediately to see and found that Semiya was a great chōja. He got work there as bath heater, but the girl was already promised to another man. The young man had to help carry the bride’s sedan chair on her wedding day. She caught sight of him along the way and suddenly became ill. She had to be taken home and put to bed. A fortune teller was called. He said that all the men at the house should write something to show her. The young man wrote the love riddle. When the girl saw it, she lifted her head and smiled. Everybody understood then, and the young couple was given a splendid wedding.
Aomori: Tsugaru m 4, “One bundle of straw turned into twenty” (Ippa no wara o nijuppa shita hanashi). The young man was chosen because he could solve the riddle. It turns into a story of cleverness.
Iwate, Shiwa-gun: Shiwa shū 32, 51, “A drum that sounded without being struck” (Utan taiko ni naru taiko), and “Itonaga Shōji of Harima-no-kuni” (Harima-no-kuni Itonaga Shōji).
Kamihei-gun: Rōō 146, “The bride who ate men” (Hitokui hanayome).
Hienuki-gun, Yazawa-mura: MK II 5 32, “The girl who ate a baby” (Bokkokui aneko). There were three young men. One was no better than the others at work. The third was not frightened when he saw the girl pull a doll made of mochi from a coffin made of white wood and eat it. He was chosen as son-in-law. The story is well told and may be in its old form.
Isawa-gun, Mizusawa-mura: Kikimimi 64, “The help of a bee” (Hachi no okage). A tall sign was set up announcing a husband was to be chosen for one of three daughters. The person selected would have to destroy a demon, earn 1000 ryō from a single straw, and count the bamboo in a Chinese bamboo grove. In the end, a bee showed the man which of the three girls was to be his bride.
Akita, Senhoku-gun: Kikimimi 62, “The son-in-law helped by a bee” (Hachi muko). The story of a bee’s gratitude.
Yamagata, Kitamurayama-gun: MK II 6 40, “The tasks of the son-in-law” (Nandai muko). About the only daughter of a chōja and three suitors. They had to guess what was in a rice bag and to stop a log that was rolling downhill. Instructions for both trials were given through a nursery song.
Niigata, Minamikanbara-gun: Kamuhara 49, 186, 161, “One bundle of straw” (Ichiwa no wara); “The mountain where old women were abandoned” (Ubasute yama). An old woman solved the feudal lord’s riddle and saved the beautiful bride for her son. Note No. 53.
Ishikawa, Enuma-gun: Kaga 137, 105, 100, 92, “The bride and Dōmo” (Yome to Dōmo); “A variant of the Momotarō story” (Momotarō no itan). This story is in the usual form. Momotarō was given many riddles by the chief of the land: the drum that sounds by itself, the sandals of ash, the demon’s fang, etc. Along with these, he went to Onigashima. It turns into a story of cleverness. “Dōmo Kōmo” is a story about a priest and his novice. “Eight to, five shō” is a clumsy version, but the plot can be recognized. A child shows how to do tasks.
Nagano, Chiisagata-gun: Chiisagata 190, “Come when you’re through” (Mattara koyō). This turns into “The three charms.” He received help from a bee.
Yamanashi, Nishiyatsushiro-gun: Kai 78, “Hide your face and blow an ohiyaraka” (Ohiyaraka o fuite kao kakushi). It belongs to “The tasks of the son-in-law,” but it is a derived tale. It is about a mean old woman and a man. Zoku Kai 197, 342, “The riddle poem” (Nazo no uta). Example. “The bee’s drum” No. 2 (Hachi taiko). A story about a novice.
Kanagawa, Tsukui-gun: Dai-ichi 44, “The tasks of the son-in-law” (Nandai muko). Three stories. The first two have tasks and the third is like “Itonaga Shōji.”
Aichi, Minamishidara-gun: Dai-ichi 61, “Itonaga of Harima” (Harima no Itonaga) and “If you want to see me” (Koishiku ba).
Gifu, Yoshiki-gun: Hidabito V 6 9, “The tasks of the son-in-law” No. 4 (Nandai muko). Seven stories; Hidabito IV 3 38, “The bee’s gratitude” (Hachi no ongaeshi).
Hyōgo, Hikami-gun: TD X 4 72 “The trials of the son-in-law” (Nandai muko). About Egawa Magozaemon. It is like “Shirataki of Yamada.” Three servants wanted to marry the girl.
Shimane, Ōchi-gun: MK II 8 46, “The tasks of the son-in-law” (Nandai muko). He won by his ability to write ten characters. A new style.
Okayama, Yakake: Dai-ni 81, “One mountain in nine” (Kokonotsu yama no hitotsu yama). From the poem “If you want to see me” to an explanation by a zatō and then to the story about the bath heater and then the story about selecting a son-in-law.
Yamaguchi, Suō Ōshima: Dai-ni 81, “Looking for a son-in-law” (Muko sagashi).
Tokushima: Awa Iyayama 92, “The tasks of the son-in-law” (Nandai muko). There is the poem “If you want to see me,” but it is more of the bath heater story.
Miyoshi-gun: MK II 10 39, “The turtle’s and bee’s gratitude” (Kame to hachi no hōon dan). A complicated story about animal gratitude. The principal character is a drifter, but he saved the lives of a turtle and a bee. The turtle told him what medicine to take to the sick wife at a rich family, and the bee told him which of the maids was to be his wife. The latter part of the tale is the old form.
Ōita, Kitaamabe-gun: MK I 4 39, “The drum that sounds without being struck” (Utan taiko no naru taiko). It is changed into a humorous story about a priest and his novice.
Hayami-gun: MK II 1 44, “The priest and his novice” (Oshō to kozō). This is in the form of a humorous tale like the one above. MK I 12 43, “The tasks of the feudal lord” (Tonosama no nandai). This is like the latter part of “The wife from the Sky World” and can be considered a fragment.
Hayami-gun, Kizuki-machi: MK I 12 40, “A bee, a monkey, and a turtle” (Hachi to saru to kame). He became the son-in-law with the help of the three animals.
Kumamoto, Amakusa: Kyōdo ken V 4 46, “Three loads of stories” (Sanka no hanashi). The father said he would choose as son-in-law the man who could tell three wagon-loads of stories. It belongs to the category of endless stories.
Nagasaki: (Old) Iki 90, “Three tasks” (Mittsu no nandai). The tasks were set by a feudal lord for a mother and her child.
Kagoshima, Koshikijima: MK II 9 25, “The tasks of the son-in-law” (Nandai muko); Koshiki 26, “Comparing strong points” (Meijin kurabe). A sign was set up announcing that a man with talent would be chosen as son-in-law. A farmer was chosen. Besides this tale, there are three about hunting for a girl painted on a fan, two like Itonaga of Harima, and one where a man became a chōja by the help of a mosquito, a turtle, and a monkey that he had saved in their difficulties.
Kikaijima: Shima II 447, “Itonaga of Harima” (Harima no Itonaga); Dai-ni 46, “The child bestowed by a god” (Kami sama no mōshigo). The hero here is a child bestowed by a god. He heard the important story from a beggar while he was on a journey in search of a wife. He became the son-in-law of a feudal lord after various tasks.
Amami Ōshima: MK II 4 24, “The elder sister a demon” (Oni no ane). A mosquito which he had saved told him the number of grains in the storehouse.
Further reference:
Hasedera reigenki, ge 30, Minamoto Masmoto, an officer of Ōmi-no-kuni, met trials from the governor. He wrestled at Hasedera in Shinshū. This should be an oral tale.
Konjaku monogatari, maki 16, No. 15. In “Taketori-no-okina” a drum sounds without being struck.
Chōsen mintan shū 28. The beginning is like “The ungrateful man.” The rescuers were a mosquito and a moth.
18. The Wife from the Sky World
Long ago a man who sold clay parching pans was walking in the mountains on the sixth day of the seventh month. He saw three maidens bathing and stole the robe of one of them. On his way home he found one of them crying. He took her home and married her. A child was born. While she was nursing her three-year-old child one day, she happened to notice a package wrapped in black paper and tucked into the rafters. She looked inside the package and found her lost robe. She realized for the first time that it had been stolen. She put it on hurriedly and held her child under one arm as she got ready to ride away on a cloud from behind the house. Her husband returned just then. She said she was Tanabata. If he wanted to see her, he should make 1000 pairs of straw sandals and climb up them to her. She went to the sky after she gave him these instructions. The husband set out with his whole heart to make the straw sandals, but when he finished the 999th pair, he could wait no longer. He went out his front door and saw a white cloud that had come to meet him. He went so high he could almost touch the Sky with his hands, but he could go no farther. His wife was weaving upstairs and noticed him. She felt sorry for him and reached out with the rod which she used for sending the shuttle back and forth and pulled him up. She presented him to her parents, but they hated him and made him do all sorts of hard tasks. His wife’s cleverness helped him do them all. It was forbidden to eat melons in heaven, but his in-laws urged him so much that he did at last. When he bit into the melon, so much water flowed from it that he was about to be swept away. His wife called to him that she would meet him every month, but he was hard of hearing and thought she said once a year as he floated away. That is why the Tanabata [Vega and Alstair] meet only once a year.
Aomori: Tsugaru m 9, “The bean vine that reached the sky” (Ten sa nobita mame no hanashi).
Hachinohe: MK II 2 34, “The most skillful flutist in three kingdoms” (Sangoku ichi no fue jōzu). The bride was the daughter of the Moon. The latter half is an adventure tale.
Iwate: Shima 186, 106, “The girl from the Sky and the youth” (Ten no ohime sama to wakamono) and “The feudal lord who sold peaches” (Momouri tonosama)., The garment was hidden, but the story changes into “The wife’s picture.”
Kamihei-gun: Rōō 327, “Tohei, the flute player” (Fuefuki Tōhei). The wife wove a mandala. The tasks of the feudal lord were 1000 bundles of ash rope, getting a drum, and the Thunder God. Kikimimi 39, “The wife from the Sky World” (Tennin go). The form is close to a legend. It was originally a folk tale which has been made into a story about the foundation of Kōmyōji. It has been handed down in the family of the head of Hayachinezan Shrine.
Akita, Hiraga-gun: MK II 10 23, “The story about a man” (Ani no hanashi). It is close to the humorous tale about the cucumber in the Sky.
Fukushima: Iwaki 6, 102, “How the woman from the Sky was made the wife of an honest man” (Tennin ga shōjiki otoko no nyōbō to natte ita hanashi).
Niigata, Minamikanbara-gun: MK II 1 34, “The flute player” (Fuefuki otoko). A bride came from the Sky World to a skillful flute player. The feudal lord gave him tasks. The wife was carried away by the feudal lord and brought back, etc.
Sado: Sado shū 52, 65, “The beginning of Tanabata” (Tanabata no hajime) and “Waiting up for the 22nd Night” (Nijuniya machi no hanashi). The first story has many embellishments. It is the work of a professional story teller. The second story is an abbreviation, but the man was taken as son-in-law in the Sky World. He received a hen which laid golden eggs as a gift from his father-in-law. The deity waited for on the 22nd Night is called Ama Otome.
Nagano, Chiisagata-gun: Chiisagata 210, “Dōmo, Kōmo.”
Kamiina-gun: Ono 210, “Tanabata” (Tanabata ni tsuite no mukashibanashi). The version with the robe, the prohibited melon, and the origin of the stars.
Gifu, Yoshiki-gun: Hidabito V 2 33, “The wife from the Sky World” (Tennin nyōbō). The version with the robe. An old man showed her the robe and she returned to the sky, carrying her child.
Aichi, Hoi-gun: Aichi 224, “The pine tree of the feather robe” (Hagoromo matsu).
Tottori, Tōhaku-gun: Inpaku mukashi 47, “Uchifuki-yama.” Her robe was not stolen, but when she took it off, she forgot about the Sky World and became a farmer’s wife. When she happened to put it on later, she recalled the Sky World. She returned to the sky with the help of a calabash flower and a child.
Shimane, Ōchi-gun: Minkan. II 6 7, “The myth about Sanbai” (Sanbai no shinwa).
Hiroshima, Futami-gun: Geibi 5, “The wife from the Sky World” No. 1 (Tenninnyōbō). The Sky was reached by climbing the Tree of Happiness. Tasks were set by the girl’s mother.
Hiba-gun: Geibi 11, “The wife from the Sky World” No. 2 (Tennin nyōbō). The sky was reached by climbing a pine tree. A dog went along. In this tale, as in the former two, the Milky Way came from the melon and was the beginning of Tanabata.
Saeki-gun: Aki 53, “The golden bucket” (Kin no tago). He saved a deer and it helped him go to the sky.
Yamaguchi, Suō Ōshima: Suō Ōshima 25, 26, “The wife from the Sky World” (Tennin nyōbō). Both tales have the same title. The first begins with the rescue of a badger. After the wife returned to the sky, the badger went to the husband and gave him a horse bean. The vine grew to the sky. The story of animal gratitude is added. The wife left the bean in the second story. The man recognized his wife in the Sky World through the help of a bee, a fox, and a bird.
Tokushima: Awa Iyayama 43, 100, “The man carried off in the Milky Way” (Ama-no-gawa e nagasareta otoko no hanashi), and “The Tanabata wife” (Tanabata nyōbō).
Kagawa, Mitoyo-gun, Shishijima: MK II 12 18, “Tanabata.” Example.
Kumamoto, Hōtoku-gun: MK II 6 23, “Inukai [the man with a dog] and Tanabata” (Inukai to Tanabata san).
Amakusa: MK I 10 41, “The wife from the Sky World” (Tennin nyōbō). The origin of the Inukai and the Tanabata stars. The story about 100 pairs of sandals with one missing, the snake gourd, etc.
Nagasaki, Minamitakaku-gun: Shimabara 127, “The wife from the Sky World” (Tennin nyōbō). The robe was stolen. The mother got the robe back after her child was born. The man had to bury 1000 yellow cows and sow squash over them. He climbed the vine to the sky, but there was one cow less than required. While he was helping make rain, he fell into Lake Biwa and became a fish.
Kagoshima: Kikai 18, 21, 22, “The wife from the Sky World” (Tennin nyōbō). All three tales have the same title. In the third, a cowherd hid the robe and married the girl. They went to visit her parents in the sky several years later. He cut the melon the wrong way. It is the story of the origin of the Milky Way. She learned where her robe was hidden by a nursery song her older boy sang in the second tale, close to the Okinawa version. The first is slightly different, one about a brother and sister who came down from the sky.
Koshikijima: Koshiki 108, “The Milky Way” (Ama-no-gawa), Only the latter half of the tale.
Amami Oshima: Mukashibanashi bun 17. No title. In Yakiuchimura-yama-mura of Yamada. The old man and his black dog. The wife from the Sky World wanted to get tobacco.
Further reference:
Mukashibanashi Kenkyū II 5 22, The wife from the Sky World lived at Nishigōmura, Kitamurayama-gun, Yamagata.
Nihon mukashibanashi shū, ge 165. An Okinawa example.
Chōsen mintan shū 74,
Yukei no densetsu.
Otogizōshi: Bontenkoku.
Nihon dōwa hyōgoku shū, ge 218.
Yearsley 170, 172, 180.
19. The Wife’s Picture
Long ago there was a farmer who was a little simple. Nobody wanted to marry him, so he lived alone in a little hut. One evening a beautiful woman came and asked him to take her as his wife and they married. She was so beautiful that Gonbei was completely charmed and lost interest in work. She had him draw a picture of her and take it with him to his garden patch. He hung it on the branch of a tree while he worked. One day a big wind blew the picture high, then dropped it into the yard of a feudal lord. When the feudal lord saw the picture, he wanted the woman as his bride. He sent his men out to look for her. They learned that she was Gonbei’s wife, and they forced her to go with them to the castle. As his wife left, she told Gonbei to come to the castle gate to sell pine boughs on New Year’s Eve. He took the pine boughs and stood before the gate, shouting, “Pine boughs, pine boughs!” The wife, who had not smiled since she had been taken away, broke into a laugh. The feudal lord was so pleased that he had the pine bough pedlar brought in. He traded clothes with him and imitated him to make the woman laugh. He then went out to the street to imitate him. In the meantime, the woman had the gates closed, and the feudal lord could not come back in. He was left on the outside while Gonbei and his wife occupied the castle and lived there together.
Iwate, Kamihei-gun, Tōno: Kikimimi 20, “Kabuyaki Sesajirō.”
Niigata, Nakakanbara-gun: MK II 2 46, “The wife’s picture” (Esugata nyōbō). Example.
Minamikanbara-gun: Kamuhara 4, “A dream that came true” (Masa-yume). The first dream of the New Year came true. The man became a noble. How he got his wife is the same.
Hiroshima, Takata-gun: Aki 112, 117, “The wife’s picture” (Esugata nyōbō). Both tales have the same title. Geibi 109, “The wife’s plan” (Nyōbō shian).
Yamagata-gun: Aki 118, “The wife’s picture” No. 3 (Esugata nyōbō). These three stories are perhaps variants of “The tasks of the son-in-law.”
Nagasaki, Minamitakaku-gun: MK I 11 22, “The wife’s picture” No. 1 (Esugata nyōbō); Shimabara 121, “The wife’s picture” (Esugata nyōbō). The beginning is like “The wife from the Dragon Palace” in Tōhoku. Trials are set by the feudal lord.
Kagoshima, Amami Ōshima: MK II 3 46, “The wife’s picture” (Esugata nyōbō). It is about Bokka. The wife came from a different region. Her picture was blown away. Tasks set by the feudal lord, wagering on wrestling matches by two old men, and the hand of the image resemble the Hasedera tale in Shinshū.
Further reference:
Mukashibanashi kenkyū II 6 7. Foreign examples can be found in the article by Asada Isamu, but these do not have the part about the wife’s picture being blown away.
20. The Stork Wife
Once upon a time an honest man who was cutting grass in the hills rescued a stork that had an arrow in its throat. In the autumn a young woman he did not know came to his house and asked to stay and they married. They had nothing with which to celebrate New Year as it approached. The wife said she would do her best to weave something for her husband to take to the feudal lord to sell. He received a lot of money for this and was asked to bring another length of cloth. When he told his wife, she said she was not sure she could weave that much, but she would try. She told her husband not to look into the room until she was finished. He thought that strange and spied anyway. He saw a naked stork plucking the remaining few feathers from her body with her beak and weaving them into the cloth. She reminded him that she had told him not to watch her weave and asked why he had done it. She said that since she had been seen, she could no longer stay with him. She was the stork he had saved and had come to repay her debt of gratitude, but now she had to leave. She flew away completely naked as she spoke. The weaving she had done was known as shokukō brocade.
Aomori, Hachinohe: MK II 2 35, “The bird wife” (Tori nyōbō). This is a legend of the Kōnoike family. It has the story of the weaving and the forbidden room. Tekkiri 74 “The stork wife” (Tsuru nyōbō). There are three stories about the feather robe. It is in the form of Itonaga of Harima with the tasks set by the feudal lord and other episodes.
Iwate, Kamihei-gun: Rōō 288, “The wife from the wild goose nest” (Kō no su nyōbō).
Fukushima, Shinobu-gun: Shintatsu 119, “The stork’s payment for kindness” (Tsuru on ni mukuyu). It is a legend about Tsurunuma in Niwatsuka-mura.
Iwaki-gun: Iwaki 10, “The stork’s gratitude” (Tsuru no ongaeshi); Dai-ni 53, “The stork wife” (Tsuru nyōbō).
Niigata, Minamikanbara-gun: Kamuhara 181, “The naked stork” (Tsuru tsuru hadaka.”
Sado: Sado shu 67, 171, “The stork wife” (Tsuru nyōbō). Both stories with the same title. No part about gratitude. An agreement to stop hunting.
Nagano: Kitaazumi 2 155, “The stork’s gratitude” (Tsuru no hōon). Example.
Chiisagata-gun: Chiisagata 262, 263, “The white rat” (Shiro nezumi), and “The stork” (Tsuru). In one story, the rat pulled hair from its body.
Minamiazumi-gun: Nihon den 153, “Hachimen Daiō.” A copper pheasant was rescued and lived as the daughter of an old couple.
Kamiina-gun: Mukashibanashi 125, “A length of weaving for 1000 ryō” (Hata ittan sen ryō). The wife was a pheasant. It is a combined tale.
Ishikawa: Nomi 1150, “The origin of the hair ornament” (Kōgai no yurai).
Yamanashi, Nishiyatsushiro-gun: Kai 7, “The rescued stork” (Tasuketa tsuru).
Hiroshima: Geibi 12, “The stork wife” No. 1 (Tsuru nyōbō).
Okayama, Mitsu-gun: MK I 7 33, “The gratitude of the stork” (Tsuru no ongaeshi). She came to live with an old couple as their daughter. No part about forbidding them to look into her room. Going to inquire at Saraike in Harima.
Tottori, Iwami-gun: MK I 2 28, “The stork’s weaving” (Tsuru no hataori). It is simply a story of gratitude told in great detail. A daughter instead of a wife.
Tokushima: Awa Iyayama 53, “The stork wife” (Tsuru nyōbō).
Kagawa, Takamatsu: Dai-ni 54, “Shōan and the stork” (Shōan san to tsuru). The first part is about gratitude. The bird flew around the grave of its benefactor for three years. When he came back to life, the stork lost all its feathers and died.
Fukuoka, Kiku-gun: Fukuoka 167, “Kōnoike.”
Kurate-gun: Fukuoka 94, “Helping a stork” (Tsuru o tasuku).
Nagasaki: (Old) Iki 164, “The stork” (Tsuru no hanashi). Simply a story of gratitude which could be called “Tsuru Jōdo” [Stork Jōdo]. It is close to the Dragon Palace story in Konjaku monogatari, maki 16, No. 15.
Kagoshima: Koshiki 63, “The stork wife” No. 1 (Tsuru nyōbō).
Further reference:
Beifu koshi ruisan 60. A legend of a temple called Kakushizan Chinzōji at Yonezawa Higashi-tera-machi, Tsuruichiyama.
21. The Wild Duck Wife
The principal character is a rag buyer named Zen’emon. It is a story about the origin of the Kōnoike family. The wild duck that was rescued became his wife. There is the episode about weaving and the admonition not to look at her while she was weaving. She made a riddle by putting her tail feathers in the measuring box and she left.
Fukui, Sakai-gun: MK I 1 31, “The wild duck wife” (Kamo nyōbō). Example.
22. The Copper Pheasant Wife
A man named Yasuke of Yamura was going to the year’s end market at Hodaka on the 28th day of the twelfth month. He rescued a copper pheasant that was caught in a snare by the road, and left the 500 mon he was carrying in payment. The last part resembles a katarimono.
Nagano: Minamiazumi-gun shi 927, “Yasuke of Yamura” (Yamura no Yasuke).
Ishikawa: Nomi 1150, “The origin of the hair ornament” (Kōgai no yurai). The latter part of the legend about Nakayama the Second of Nishijo-mura, Ogaya. A beautiful girl came and stayed. The man accompanied her as far as Hotoke Pass, and she turned into a white pheasant and disappeared. It is said that she was the incarnation of Hakusan Gongen. She left a comb and a hair ornament as tokens of gratitude and the ornament is still preserved. Pheasants are now never eaten by this family.
23. The Bird Wife
The story is told like the stork tale, but it is a wild goose. She came to the poor man who saved her. She wove cloth and bore him a child. The latter part is in the form of the Itonaga of Harima tale.
Akita, Senhoku-gun: Ugo 44, “The wild goose” (Kōnotori). Example.
Fukushima: Iwaki 11, “The gratitude of the wild goose” (Kōnotori no ongaeshi).
Tokushima: Awa Iyayama 24, “The bird wife” (Tori nyōbō). This includes an episode like the Itonaga of Harima story.
24. The Fox Wife
Once upon a time a man was having difficulties because his wife was ill and had gone home to her parents. He rescued a white fox from the stream where he was fishing one day and took it home with him. She said she would repay his kindness and left. Then a woman appeared and asked to work as his maid. He let her stay and presently she bore him a child. One day the child told his father that his mother was sweeping the yard with her tail. That puzzled the man. He climbed into the rafters for a look. He was surprised to see she really had a tail. He ran her off the place. Before she left, she wrote a poem telling him that if he wanted to see her, to hunt at the springs in the Shinoda forest for Urami Kazunoha.
Aomori, Hachinohe: MK II 2 36, “The fox wife” (Kitsune nyōbō). The man’s name was Abi-no-Yasuna and the child was Abi-no-Semetono. The place was Shiroda forest. It is clearly a katarimono.
Kamikita-gun: Kamikita 63.* He plagued the fox and it hid his horse on the day he was busy transplanting rice shoots.
Fukushima, Iwaki-gun: Iwaki 7, 103, “The fox who was a man’s wife” (Kitsune ga hito no nyōbō ni natte ita hanashi).
Ishikawa: Ishikawa 978. No title.
Tochigi, Haga-gun: Shimotsuke 35, “The fox mother” (Hana wa kitsune). Only a trace exists, and it is not in the original form.
Nagano: Kitaazumi 2 26, “Kyūbeibun.”
Minamiazumi-gun: Minamiazumi shi 937, “The fox at Shigenagi” (Shigenagi no kitsune). This is the tale at Shigenagi-mura. The fox came to help at rice transplanting and nursed her child. She left when her husband saw her tail.
Aichi, Hoi-gun: Aichi 263, “The fox disguised as a human” (Hito ni baketa kitsune).
Hyōgo: Nihon den Harima 117, “Kajigadō.” The story of Shikama Fox. It is close to the story about Shinoda forest.
Further reference:
Honchō zokugen shi. The child of the fox was called Monogusatarō. It is told about Shinoda Shrine.
Hina no hitofushi. A story about Nabeko of Shida.
Zoku Azukagawa (In Shin enseki jisshū I 18). A fox mask is put on when a song is sung to celebrate the preparation of the rice field.
Kenchū mikkan. The Goddess of Miwa becomes the wife of a man.
Dōchō to tosetsu III 37.
Hyakka kikōdan. A story about Kuriyama Kakuzaemon from Hitachi-no-kuni. The tale is also in Tonegawa zushi.
Toyama (Enzan) chōmon shū kōhen.
Nihon ryōiki. An ancestor of Kitsune Atae of Mino-no-kuni.
Shinano kidan (In Dōbutsu yōkai dan 312). Also in Keimei manroku.
Angya zuihitsu, chū kan 48.
25. The Clam Wife
Once upon a time a woman came to a man who was living alone and became his wife. His bean soup had not been very good until then, but after she came, it was very good. The man thought it strange. He pretended to set out for work, but he returned and hid behind the house to spy on his wife. She got out the mixing bowl and started to stir the bean paste, and then she climbed onto the edge of the bowl and did something dirty in it. When the man saw that, he was very angry and drove her away. Although she begged to be forgiven, he refused. She turned into a huge clam and dragged herself away slowly. The clam juice had made the soup delicious.
Nagano, Kamiina-gun: Minzokugaku I 2 50, “The clam’s family” (Hamaguri no uchi). Example.
Nagasaki: Shimabara 130, “The clam wife” (Hamaguri nyōbō).
Further reference:
Otogizōshi: “The clam wife (Hamaguri nyōbō).
Nihon dōwa hyōgoku shū 260. “The clam princess” (Hamagurihime).
26. The Fish Wife
This is the same story as “The clam wife,” but the wife is a fish.
Iwate, Iwate-gun: Kikimimi 361, “The fish wife” (Uo nyōbō). Example.
Akita, Senhoku-gun: MK I 6 39, 40, “The carp’s gratitude” (Funa no ongaeshi) and “The carp woman” (Koijo).
Yamagata, Higashitagawa-gun: MK II 2 45, “The salmon wife” (Shake nyōbō).
Fukushima: Iwaki 12, “The mermaid’s gratitude” (Ningyo no ongaeshi).
Niigata, Minamiuonuma-gun: MK I 7 24, “The carp’s gratitude” (Koi no ongaeshi).
The carp’s gratitude and tasks set by the feudal lord.
Nagaoka: Minzokugaku II 2 50 “The clam’s family” (Hamaguri no uchi).
Toyama: Nihon zenkoku 188, “The festival of the cow’s head” (Ushiga-kubi no matsuri).
The origin of wrestling at the festival of Ushi-ga-kubi.
Ishikawa: Kaga 121, “The girl and the salmon trout” (Musume to kawamasu).
Gifu, Hida: Minzokugaku II 4 160, “Chinma-ga-ike.” A legend about a lake.
Kagoshima: Koshiki 68, “The clam wife” (Hamaguri nyōbō).
Further reference:
Chōsen mintan shū 235, “Winning a wife from the Dragon Palace by setting a carp free” (Koi o hanashite ryūjo o uru). It is close to “Urashimatarō.” When the box was opened, a thin column of smoke came out.
Chōsen mintan shū 122, “The carp and the poor man” (Koi to mazushii otoko.
27. The Wife from the Dragon Palace
A mother who had lost seven sons had only one left. He sold flowers, but one day he could not sell any. He said he would offer them to the Dragon Palace and threw them all into the sea. A turtle appeared and offered to take him to the Dragon Palace as thanks. He told the son to ask for a girl if he was offered a gift. What he thought had been three days had been three years in the human world. On the day he started home, the deity there gave him a girl. When he arrived home, he found that his mother had starved to death, but his bride stroked her head with a Life Whip and brought her back to life. She shook out a house and rice storehouse, and in a short time they became rich. The feudal lord heard about the beauty of the bride and demanded the man give him 1000 koku of rice or his wife. When the man told his wife, she obtained the rice from the sea, and he was able to deliver it without difficulty. Next, there was a demand for 1000 fathoms of rope, but she got it from the sea, too. Then the feudal lord announced that he would come on New Year’s Day with 699 followers to see the bride, so 77 jars of foaming wine should be prepared for them. The wife had the wine set out and waited. The feudal lord demanded that she prepare lively entertainment. She brought out hundreds of identical little men from a box and they sang and danced. Then he demanded that she put on a quieter entertainment. She protested that it would be dangerous, but he insisted. She drew out hundreds of men with swords from another box, and they cut off the heads of the feudal lord and all his followers.
Iwate: Kunohe 474, “Tarō and the Dragon Palace” (Tarō to Ryūgū).
Niigata: TD II 7 37, “Rankei kikō.” A legend of the Sakai family and the Dragon Princess of Useinoike.
Gifu, Yoshiki-gun: Hida fūbutsu 87, “Yomegafuchi” (Yomegafuchi no hanashi). It is also in Nihon densetsu shū.
Shimane, Ōchi-gun: MK II 9 33, “Potato-digger Chōja” (Imohori Chōja), No. 1. A simple form. The Dragon Princess came as a bride to a bamboo hut in the mountains and wove at a loom.
Nagasaki: Shimabara 121, “The wife’s picture” (Esugata nyōbō). The first half of the tale.
Kagoshima, Kikaijima: MK I 5 40, “Ryūjin and the flower peddler” (Ryūjin to hanauri). Example; Dai-ni 23, “The Ryūjin’s girl” (Ryūjin no onna).
Koshikijima:: Koshiki 61, “The wife from the Dragon Palace” (Ryūgū nyōbō).
Further reference:
The well-known Toyotamahime tale. It is told clearly in Hachiman gudōkun.
28. The Snake Wife
The word snake is used, but it is a great Water Spirit, nearer to a Dragon Woman than a big snake.
A beautiful woman appeared at the home of a man who was grieving over the death of his wife. They married and presently a child was born. When it came time, the wife asked her husband not to look under any circumstance. After making doubly sure, she went into the room to deliver her baby. The man could not endure his worry and looked in secretly. There he saw a great snake coiled around a baby. He was dumbfounded, but he withdrew and said nothing about it. The woman came out on the seventh day carrying a lovely little boy, but she was weeping bitterly. She said she could stay no longer because her true form had been seen. She scooped out her left eye and gave it to her husband. She told him to let the baby suck it if it cried. He cared for the baby by letting it suck the eye, but the eye began to grow smaller after a while until it was completely gone. The father put his child onto his back and went to the pond in the hills to look for his wife. The great snake appeared and took out her remaining eye and gave it to him. She asked that a bell be hung near the lake and rung at the sixth hour of the morning and evening. She hid in the lake again. The father furnished the temple by the pond with a bell and arranged to have time marked. When the child grew up, he learned about his birth and went to the pond to meet his mother. She appeared in human form as a blind woman. He put her on his back and carried her home and lived with her as a dutiful son.
Aomori: Tekkiri 78, “The snake wife” (Hebi nyōbō).
Iwate, Esashi-gun: Kikimimi 182, “The mother’s eyeballs” (Haha no medama). Example.
Hienuki-gun: MK I 10 23, “The precious snake scales” (Kogera dama). The snake’s gratitude. It turns into the story about a dog, a cat, and a rat.
Akita, Kazuno-gun: MK I 3 26 “Caring for a child” (Kodomo sodate). A fragment of the snake wife story.
Miyagi, Natori-gun: Kyōdō den 3 172, “Ryūwaka.”
Fukushima: Iwaki 8, 103, “The snake that was a man’s wife” (Hebi ga hito no nyōbō ni natte ita hanashi).
Niigata, Sado: MK II 6 39, “The snake wife” (Hebi zuma). The tale resembles “The snake bridegroom.” She climbed the tree to get the eagle’s eggs. It is different from the love of a child.
Fukui, Mikata-gun: MK I 8 11, “The blind Water Spirit” (Mekura no mizu no kami). A woodcutter was charmed by a beautiful Water Spirit and went into the pond. He left his eyes for his wife and child.
Ishikawa: Kaga 51, 64, “The thanks of the frog” (Kaeru no orei) and “Saving the old woman” (Tasuke baba).
Nagano: Chiisagata 200, “The snake’s child” (Hebi no ko). It is a fragment.
Gifu, Yoshiki-gun: Hidabito V 2 33, “The snake wife” (Hebi nyōbō). One gives the origin of the bell at Miidera and the other is close to the Shimabara story. These tales may have been carried by zatō. Hidabito IV 10 40 “The snake wife” (Hebi nyōbō). It is a Niugawa tale. It is like the story about a wife without a mouth. There is no part about giving an eye for the child to suck.
Shizuoka, Hamana-gun: Shizuoka 432, “The origin of the divided skirt” (Hakama no yurai). No part about the gift of gratitude. The skirt was put on to cover the part she had not finished licking clean.
Tōtōmi (Shizuoka, Iwata-gun), Gansuiji: Nihon den 165, “Koyasu Son of Gansuiji” (Gansuiji no Koyasu Son). Is it about the origin of the temple? An old story about Tamura Shōgun.
Shiga: Nihon den 169, “The bell at Miidera” (Miidera no kane). This is a folk tale. Or it was formerly a katarimoto.
Kyoto, Minamikuwate-gun: MK I 9 46, A notation. Only a fragment.
Wakayama, Higashimuro-gun: MK I 9 45, “The blind Water Spirit” (Mekura no mizu no kami). She gave an eyeball each of the first two times and her navel the third time to nurse her child.
Hiroshima, Mitsuki-gun: Geibi 17, “The snake wife” No. 1 (Hebi nyōbō). The opening episode is not there. It starts with seeing his wife give birth to the baby.
Takata-gun: Aki 35, “The mother’s eyeballs” (Haha no medama).
Tokushima: Awa Iyayama 60, “The snake wife” (Hebi nyōbō). Firewood was thrown into the river in the first part and the woman came from the Dragon Palace. The combination should be noted. The child was reared by letting it suck the eyeballs. When he was five years old, he became the main image worshipped at Sanjūsangendō in Kyoto.
Fukuoka, Kiku-gun: Fukuoka 161, “The snake mother” (Hebi no haha). It follows the usual version, but it does not say the jewel that was sucked was the mother’s eye.
Nagasaki: Shimabara 131, “The blind Water Spirit” (Mekura no mizu no kami). Uzen’s eruptions are explained; a snake’s gratitude without marriage; rescuing a sea snake; and one in the form of a legend. Shimabara 34, “Taking a snake bride” No. 1 (Hebi yomeiri). Using a thread and needle appears.
Kagoshima: Kikai 28, “The snake wife” (Hebi nyōbō).
29. The Frog Wife
The principal character is a candle seller. A woman came on a rainy night and asked to stay. He married her, but day after day she ate no rice. One day she said it was the 100th Day anniversary of a death in her family, so he gave her candles and let her go. He followed her and saw her jump into a pond. Then he heard voices of many frogs and he realized his wife was a frog. He tossed a rock into the pond and went home. His wife returned toward evening and said that during the sutras there had been a big earthquake and many were killed or injured. The man took a close look at his wife and saw she was a frog.
Aomori, Hachinohe: MK II 2 36, “The frog wife” (Kaeru nyōbō). A frog came disguised as a man’s dead wife. She went to see sacred dances often. It is a fragment.
Yamagata, Higashitagawa-gun: MK II 7 29, “The frog wife” (Kaeru nyōbō) Example. It has a hint of the story “The wife who didn’t eat.”
Fukushima, Iwaki-gun: Iwaki 13, “The frog’s gratitude” (Kaeru no ongaeshi).
Niigata, Sado: MK II 11 31, “The frog wife” (Kaeru nyōbō). It resembles “The snake wife.” The wife came home lame because of the rock thrown into the pond. There is the sadness of her leaving her eyeball for him and going away.
Tokushima: Awa Iyayama 28, “The singing frog wife” (Kajiki nyōbō).
30. The Snake Son-In-Law
A certain farmer tried to save a frog from a snake that was trying to swallow it by promising one of his daughters to the snake. The three daughters saw that their father was worried and urged him to tell why. His two older girls refused to marry the snake. The youngest, her eyes full of tears agreed to marry it. She asked for 1000 gourds and 1000 needles for her preparation. The farmer went to town and bought them. The snake came that evening, appearing like a handsome young man, with many followers. He led the girl across meadows and hills, far back into the mountains. A thousand fellow snakes were swarming around, waiting to devour her. She asked that the thousand needles be floated and the thousand gourds be sunk in the lake. When the snakes leaped into the water and tried, they became worn out. The girl took that opportunity to run away and go home. She lost her way and asked an old woman who was spinning alone in a hut to stay over night. The old woman was happy to let her stay and prepared a good meal for her. It happened that the feudal lord had proclaimed at that time that he was looking for a bride. The old woman took the girl to the castle town where many girls had gathered. She was chosen from among them and became his bride. She sent for her parents and they lived with her in comfort. That kind old woman was really the frog that the farmer had saved.
Aomori, Shimokita-gun: TD IX 2 71, “A trip to seaside villages” by Nakaichi Kenzō. The wine cup of a kappa. Tsugaru m 57, “The filial little daughter” (Kōkō na unbako); Tekkiri 68, 71, “The snake son-in-law” (Hebi mukoiri).
Iwate, Kamihei-gun: Tōno 137 No. 26. No title; Kikimimi 177, 179, “The snake son-in-law” Nos. 3 and 4 (Hebi no muko). Two tales with the same title; Kikimimi 168, “The bride of the snake” (Hebi no yomego); Rōō 20, 38, “The snake son-in-law” (Hebi muko) and “The gratitude of the crab” (Kani no hōon). The snake came as the bridegroom after the frog was rescued. The frog came as an old woman and asked him to get the eggs of a wild goose.
Shimohei-gun, Iwaizumi: Kikimimi 175, “The snake son-in-law” No.l (Hebi muko).
Shiwa-gun: Shiwashu 83, “The snake who came visiting a maid” (Musume sa kayōta hebi).
Nishiiwai-gun: TD XII 11 36, “The snake son-in-law” (Hebi mukoiri).
Akita, Senhoku-gun Kakunodate: Kikimimi 173, “The snake’s bride” No. 2 (Hebi no yomego).
Miyagi, Sendai: Kyōdo ken I 8 26. No title.
Natori-gun, Tamura: Kyōdo den 3 171 “Ryūwaka.”
Fukushima: Iwaki 15, 105, “The snake son-in-law” (Hebi no muko).
Niigata, Minamiuonuma-gun: MK I 10 37, “The gratitude of the frog” (Kaeru no ongaeshi).
Minamikanbara-gun: Kamuhara 209, “The egg in the fragrant tree” (Kōno ki no tamago).
Sado: Dai-ni 48, “The big sack of the frog” (Kaeru no danbukuro).
Fukui, Sakai-gun: MK I 1 31, “The snake son-in-law” (Hebi mukoiri).
Ishikawa: Fugeshi 925. No title.
Nagano: Chiisagata 166, “The old woman’s skin” (Ubagara).
Kitaazumi-gun: Otari 145, “An old tale” (Mukashi mukashi).
Kitasaku-gun: MK I 12 35, “The chōja’s daughter and the Lake Spirit” (Chōja no musume to ike no nushi).
Kamiina-gun: Dai-ichi 54, “The snake son-in-law” (Hebi mukoiri); Mukashibanashi 7, 136, “The snake son-in-law” (Hebi muko domo) and “The iris and mugwort” (Shōbu to yomogi).
Tochigi, Haga-gun: Dai-ni 17, “A thousand gourds and a thousand needles” (Hyōtan sen to hari sen bon no hanashi). Example. Shimotsuke 31, 63, “The thousand gourds and thousand needles” (Hyōtan sen to hari sen bon) and “The gratitude of the crab” (Kani no ongaeshi). In the first there is the old woman’s skin and no choosing a bride. The other is about a crab repaying a kindness.
Yamanashi, Nishiyatsushiro-gun: Kai 103, 107, “The snake man” (Hebi otoko) and “The snake son-in-law” (Hebi muko); Zoku kai 92, 95, 96, “The snake son-in-law” (Hebi muko) and “The snake man” Nos. 2 and 3 (Hebi otoko).
Gifu, Yoshiki-gun: Hida den 116, “Ubagaike”; Hidabito V 2 37 “The snake son-in-law” Nos. 3 and 4 (Hebi mukoiri).
Shizuoka, Shida-gun, Yaitsu: Shizuoka 429, “The snake’s wedding” (Hebi no konin no hanashi).
Tagata-gun: Shizuoka 421, “The snake’s wedding” (Hebi no konin banashi); MK I 12 19, “The snake son-in-law” (Hebi mukoiri) The same tale.
Ibara-gun, Ryōgawachi-mura: Shizuoka 424, “The snake’s wedding” (Hebi konin banashi).
Suchi-gun: Shizuoka 431, “The snake’s wedding” (Hebi no konin banashi).
Kamo-gun: Shizuoka 419, “The snake’s wedding” (Hebi konin banashi).
Hamamatsu: Shizuoka 433, “The origin of the divided skirt” (Hakama no yurai).
Hyōgo, Hikami-gun: TD X 6 40, “The eagle’s egg” (Washi no tamago). The snake bride went to get the eggs. This example is also found on Izu.
Kinosaki-gun, Sanshō-mura: MK II 8 33, “The snake and the frog” (Hebi to kaeru).
Wakayama, Ito-gun: Kōshō 10 19, “The snake son-in-law” (Hebi no mukoiri).
Okayama, Mitsu-gun: MK I 9 35, “The girl wearing a frog’s hood” (Kaeru no zukin musume).
Hiroshima, Yamagata-gun: Aki 27, 29, “The snake son-in-law” Nos. 1 and 2 (Hebi muko banashi).
Shimane, Oki: Okinoshima 27, “The snake girl” (Daija no musume); Kyōdo bun I 3 27. “How the crabs in the mountain destroyed the great snake” Yamakani no daija taiji). This is a legend.
Yamaguchi, Suō Ōshima: Suō Ōshima 46, “The snake son-in-law” (Hebi mukoiri banashi); Kōshō 11 19 “A snake story” (Hebiko dan).
Bungo (Ōita): Minzokugaku V 10 86 “Asahi Chōja” (Asahi Chōja no hanashi).
Kitaamabe-gun: MK I 4 37, “Gakkai Chōja.”
Nagasaki, Shimabara: TD II 11 25, “The snake’s bride” (Hebi no yomeiri); TD III 5 14, “The snake’s bride” (Hebi no oyome); Shimabara 36, “The snake bride No. 2 (Hebi yomeiri). This can be considered in the old form. The episode about the old woman’s skin turns into a legend about a great snake. Shimabara 28, 30, 31, “The snake son-in-law” Nos. 1 and 2 (Hebi mukoiri) and “The snake and the eagle” (Hebi to washi). The advice of a yamabushi.
Ikinoshima: (New) Iki 15, 16, “The snake son-in-law” (Hebi muko). This is the old form of the spool of thread. Both tales with the same title.
Kagoshima: Koshiki 75, 77, “The snake son-in-law” (Hebi mukoiri). The first is about eavesdropping and the second is like “The ash girl”; Kikai 25, 27, “The snake son-in-law” (Hebi mukoiri). Both with the same title. One is in the form of eavesdropping and the other, “The ash girl.”
Okierabu: MK II 7 26, “The three sisters” (Sannin shimai). There is an episode about the jealousy of the two sisters who would not agree to marry and lost out.
Okinawa: Yambaru 149. No title. Close to a legend; Nantō 6, “Akamata” (Akamata no densetsu).
Further reference:
Chōsen mintan shū 40. Destroying a great snake. The rescue of the girl was done entirely by the bullfrog that had been saved. No story of a bridegroom.
Nihon dōwa shū 585. An otogizōshi, “Amewakahiko monogatari.”
Nihon dōwa hyōgoku shū, ge 254.
31. The Demon Son-In-Law
A demon became the bridegroom. It is made up of three tales. There is no promise about the demon and watering the rice paddy. He married the youngest of eight sisters. She went off with wild violet seeds and said she would return when they bloomed. The girl danced for the demon and he drank water and died.
Aomori, Hachinohe: MK II 3 25, “The wild violet seed” (Keshi no tane). Example.
32. The Kappa Son-In-Law
This belongs to the stories of the monkey bridegroom and the snake bridegroom groups. The principal character is a kappa.
Iwate, Iwate-gun, Shizukuishi: Kikimimi 357, “The eel man” (Unagi otoko). An old eel from the bottom of the pond went visiting a girl.
Isawa-gun: Kogane 94, “The girl who became a mudsnail’s bride” (Musume ga tsubu no yome ni natta hanashi).
Nagasaki: Shimabara 41, “The gourd and the kappa” (Hyōtan to kappa).
Iki: TD IX 4 171, “Notes on folk tales” (Mukashibanashi zakko) by Yamaguchi Asatarō. About monkey, snake, and kappa sons-in-law.
33. The Monkey Son-In-Law
Long ago there was a farmer. He was so worried over the drought that dried up his paddies that he said to himself that he would be willing to give one of his daughters as a bride to anyone who would help water his fields. A monkey suddenly appeared from out of the thicket and then went back into the hills and sent water flowing down to the fields. The old man was too worried over his promise to do anything and went to bed without eating his supper. His oldest girl urged him to eat, but she ran away angry when she heard his story. The second girl got angry, too, but when the youngest heard, she said she would go as a bride and asked her father to get right up and eat his supper. He got up quite happy and ate it. On the next day the monkey came wearing a red sleeveless jacket to claim his bride. They set out for his home back in the hills. They lived together in a friendly way. When spring came next year, they decided they would take mochi flavored with burdock leaves to her family. If they put the mochi in a lacquer box, it would smell of lacquer; if they put it in a kettle, it would smell of the kettle; so they left it in the mortar and the monkey carried it on his back. Along the way, there were lovely cherry blossoms beside the river, and they decided to take some as a gift. If the mochi were left on the ground, it would smell of dirt, so the monkey climbed the tree with the mortar on his back. As he climbed up and up, a branch broke, and he fell into the river with the mortar on his back and he was washed away. He called the following song:
My life washed away in Sarusawa without a regret!
Later the girl will surely weep.
When the girl reached home at last, her father shed tears of joy. The two older sisters were punished for being unfilial by being turned into rats.
Aomori: Tsugaru m 28, “The girl who became a monkey’s bride” (Saru san yomeko ni natta hanashi).
Hachinohe: MK II 4 44, “The monkey son-in-law” (Saru mukoiri).
Sannohe-gun, Gonohe-machi: MK I 7 21, “Putting water on the rice paddy” (Ta no mizukake), “Pulling weeds in the millet patch” (Awa no kusatori), and “The big furoshiki and the wisteria” (Ofuroshiki to fuji no hana).
Iwate, Kamihei-gun, Tōno: Kikimimi 246, “The monkey son-in-law” (Saru no muko); Kikimimi 472, “The priest and the mortar” (Bōsama to suriusu). The man would give one of his daughters as wife to a priest if he could chant a joruri until morning. He succeeded, but he was deceived and was carried off in the current of a river and drowned. There is also a dying song. This is found in Masumi yūran. Perhaps there is influence from that on “The monkey bridegroom.”
Shiwa-gun: Shiwa shū 111, “The bride of the monkey” (Saru no yomego).
Isawa-gun: Kogane 91, “The girl who became a monkey’s bride” (Musume ga saru no oyome ni natta hanashi).
Akita, Senhoku-gun, Kakunodate: Kikimimi 254, “The monkey son-in-law” (Saru no muko). A note.
Hiraga-gun, Asamai-machi: MK II 5 26, “One grain, 1000 grains” (Hitotsubu sentsubu).
Yamagata, Mogami-gun: MK II 4 40, “The monkey son-in-law” (Saru no mukoiri). Example.
Kitamurayama-gun, Nishigō-mura: MK II 5 23, “Watering the field” (Mizuhiki no hanashi).
Miyagi, Momoo-gun: Kyōdo den 2 119, “The’ monkey’s bride” (Saru no yome).
Fukushima: Iwaki 17 109, “The monkey son-in-law” (Saru no muko).
Niigata, Nakakanbara-gun, Shirone: Nihon zenkoku 195, “The bride of the monkey” (Saru dono no yome).
Sado: MK I 4 41, “The monkey son-in-law” (Saru mukoiri).
Minamikanbara-gun: Echigo Sanjo 115, “The old man and the monkey” (Jiji to saru); Kamuhara 15 “The monkey son-in-law” (Saru mukoiri); MK I 5 21, “The monkey son-in-law” (Saru mukoiri).
Nakauonuma-gun: Dai-ichi 47, “The monkey son-in-law” (Saru mukoiri).
Kitakanbara-gun: Koshiji VI 10. No. 90, 4. The story in a grinding song. There are two or three such songs in Shōnai riyōshū.
Ishikawa: Kaga 1, “The three sisters” (Sannin shimai); Kaga 124, “The girl wrapped in tanned paper” (Shibugami ni tsutsumareta musume). It is the first part of “Ash girl,” but it does not say whether it is a monkey or a snake.
Nagano: Chiisagata 172, “Longing for the maid” (Ohime koishii).
Kitaazumi-gun, Minamiotari: Kitaazumi 2 161. No title.
Kamiina-gun: Mukashibanashi 39, 77, “The monkey son-in-law” (Saru no muko dono) and “The girl and the monkey” (Musume to saru). A humorous tale.
Shimominochi-gun: Shimominochi 198, “The monkey’s bride” (Saru no yome).
Tochigi, Haga-gun: Dai-ni 16, “The monkey son-in-law” No. 1 (Saru mukoiri); Shimotsuke 30, “The monkey son-in-law” (Saru no mukoiri).
Gifu, Yoshiki-gun: Hidabito III 6 28, “The monkey and his bride” (Saru to hanayome).
Hidabito V 2 36, “The monkey son-in-law” (Saru mukoiri). Not complete. Only that the tale exists.
Shizuoka, Kamo-gun: Shizuoka 434, “The monkey son-in-law” (Saru no mukoiri).
Shiga, Takashima-gun: MK I 10 47 “The monkey son-in-law” (Saru mukoiri).
Hyōgo, Kanzaki-gun: Dai-ichi 66, “The monkey son-in-law” (Saru no mukoiri).
Kinosaki-gun: MK II 8 32, “The monkey son-in-law” (Saru no mukoiri).
Hikami-gun: TD X 6 39, “The monkey son-in-law” (Saru mukoiri).
Osaka, Sennan-gun, Higashikatsuragi-mura: Kōshō 10 29, “The monkey son-in-law” (Saru no mukoiri).
Wakayama, Ito-gun: Kōshō 9 15, “The monkey son-in-law” (Saru mukoiri). This is a fragment.
Bichū (Okayama): Minzoku I 6 180. No title.
Hiroshima, Yamagata-gun: Aki 19, 25, “The monkey son-in-law” No. 1 (Saru muko banashi) and “The deer son-in-law” (Shika muko banashi).
Takata-gun: Aki 20, “The monkey son-in-law,” No. 2 (Saru muko banashi).
Asa-gun: Aki 22, “The monkey son-in-law,” No. 3. (Saru muko banashi).
Saeki-gun: Geibi 19, “The monkey son-in-law” No. 1 (Saru mukoiri). The beginning is like “Kachi-kachi Yama.”
Hiba-gun: Geibi 27, “The wild boar son-in-law” No. 2 (Muko wa inoshishi). He was burned to death as the badger in “Kachi-kachi Yama.”
Sera-gun: Geibi 25, “The wild boar son-in-law” No. 3 (Inoshishi muko). He drank water and became a handsome man.
Okayama, Oku-gun: Okayama bun III 5 33, “The monkey” (Osaru goke).
Yamaguchi: Bōchō I 2 18, “The monkey son-in-law” (Saru mukoiri).
Tokushima, Miyoshi-gun: MK II 10 37, “The monkey son-in-law” (Saru mukoiri); Ōawa 432, “The origin of Genpeida” (Genpeida no yurai). It is a legend.
Kagawa, Takamatsu: Dai-ni 17, “The monkey son-in-law” No. 2 (Saru mukoiri).
Mitoyo-gun, Shishijima: MK II 2 42, “The wild boar son-in-law” (Inoshishi mukoiri).
Fukuoka, Chikujō-gun: Fukuoka 215, “The monkey’s great wish” (Saru no taibō).
Kumamoto, Aso-gun: MK I 2 42, “The monkey son-in-law” (Saru mukoiri). Two stories, one about digging burdock and the other about watering the rice paddy. MK I 6 30, notes on various versions in villages of Aso-gun.
Amakusa-gun: MK II 1 42, “The monkey son-in-law” (Saru mukoiri).
Nagasaki, Kitatakaku-gun: MK II 10 44, “The monkey son-in-law” (Saru no mukoiri).
Kagoshima: MK I 6 28, “The monkey son-in-law” (Saru no mukoiri); Kikai 31, “The monkey son-in-law” (Saru mukoiri); Koshiki 72, 81, “The mudsnail son-in-law” (Tamina mukoiri). After the mudsnail put water into the rice paddy, he became a handsome youth. The other story is the usual tale.
Further reference:
Nihon dōwa shū 691. This may be taken from “The maid from the wisteria bag” (Fujibukuro otohime), an otogizoshi.
Minzokugaku V 11 25. In China there is a monkey bridegroom story.
Nihon dōwa hyōgoku shū, ge 493.
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