184. Singing Bones

Two merchants set out for work. One earned a lot, but the other had to go home empty handed. The one who had not earned anything killed his companion on the way home. He stole his money and loafed around without working for three years. Then he set out along the road again, and when he passed the spot where he had rested with his companion he heard a fine voice singing from the thicket. That seemed strange because there was nobody around. He investigated and found that it was a skull singing. That was remarkable. He asked it if it would sing any time or anywhere it went. It replied that it would. He decided that was a good way to make money and he took the skull home.

He carried it to a rich man’s house and announced that he had a skull that would sing. The master there said that skulls do not sing. Finally they agreed that if the skull did not sing, the man would lose his head, and if it did sing the master would turn over all his property to him. Then the man ordered the skull to sing, but it did not. Even though he struck it and rolled it around, it did not sing. The master became impatient and cut the man’s head off. At that moment the skull sang in a fine voice, “It’s happened, it’s happened. What I thought has happened. At last a stork, a tortoise, and five-needled pine!” With that the skull took revenge for what had happened three years earlier.

Kagoshima, Koshikijima

Iwate, Kamihei-gun: Rōō 335, “Tōhei, the flute player” (Fuefuki Tōhei). It comes in the last part of “Chōja from a straw.”

Fukushima, Futaba-gun: MK II 4 36, “The revenge of the skeleton” (Gaikotsu no adauchi).

Iwaki-gun: Iwaki 14, “The skull’s gratitude” (Sarakobe no ongaeshi). A woman came to help as a wife for three years in thanks for the funeral the man held for her.

Niigata, Minamikanbara-gun: MK I 3 29, “From a meadow lane in spring” (Haru no nomichi kara); Kamuhara 70, “The turtle that sang” (Uta o utau kame).

Kagoshima: Koshiki 120, “Singing bones” (Utai gaikotsu). Example. Three tales.

Kikaijima: Kikai 95, 96, “Singing bones” (Utai gaikotsu), and “The singing bowl” (Utai donburi). The bowl sings and dances in the second tale. There is nothing about taking revenge however. Shima II 484, 491, “The revenge of the skull” (Dokuro no adauchi) and “The skull’s gratitude” (Dokuro no ongaeshi). A story of repaying kindness.

Okierabujima: Okinoerabu 215, “The brothers” (Kyōdai).

185. Stories about Forecasting Fortune

There are three types of stories.

One is about forecasting fortunes to a boy and a girl who are born on the same night. The girl is forecast a good fortune but not the boy. This is connected with “Charcoal-maker Chōja.”

In the second, a child whose soul is destined to be taken by the Water Spirit is saved by mochi or some other natural means.

The third, called “The horsefly and the hand ax,” or some such name, is about a child whose fortune is to be killed by a hand ax. When a horsefly is bothering the child, his father waves it off with his hand ax, but he accidentally kills his child.

An example of the first is about a chōja who set out on a journey, leaving his pregnant wife behind. He finished his business and started home. He was overtaken by night in the mountains and put up at an Ujigami shrine. He heard the jingle of bells on horses in the night, and two gods came riding up. They said that in a certain village at a certain chōja’s house a child was to be born that night. They invited Ujigami to go with them to the house. A voice from the interior of the shrine said that he had a guest at his place that night and could not go and told them to go on. The bells jingled as the gods left.

The chōja who overheard the conversation was sure that the name of the village and the chōja were his, and he could not sleep for worry about the strange things going on. Presently the gods came back and told Ujigami a boy had been born at the chōja’s house, but he had an unfortunate future of only three bamboo trees. Then they rode off. While the chōja was feeling downhearted at the poor fortune of his child, the gods came back once again. They invited Ujigami to go with them to the outcast’s hut on the enbankment by the rice fields, but once more the deity excused himself because of his guest. The chōja waited to hear the results. The gods came back and reported a little girl had been born with many treasures, then rode away.

The chōja hurried home at dawn and found that his wife had given birth to a son the night before. The time was exactly as the gods had said, so he was sure it was his family and he was troubled over his son’s fortune of only three bamboo. He decided that the best thing to do was to arrange a marriage for him with the outcast’s daughter who had such great treasures. When he went to see, he found that a little girl had indeed been born, so he arranged with the outcast to have the children marry in the future.

The two children grew up and married, but for some reason the girl could not stay with the family. She went to another chōja’s home as a bride. After that, her second family became many times richer than before. On the contrary, the former family became so poor that they had difficulty having enough to eat. Finally, they began to make bamboo baskets and went around selling them. One day the son came to the house where his former bride had gone. She came out and recognized him. She paid him with rice and hid gold coins in it. All his poor neighbors heard he had brought rice home and came to borrow some. He handed it out ungrundgingly. Once more, he was in want and went to the chōja’s house to sell baskets. He was asked what he had done with the rice he had received and whether there wasn’t something in it. He said he had loaned it to neighbors, but had not heard of there being anything in it. The woman decided he certainly was a man without fortune and no longer had anything to do with him.

Yamanashi, Nishiyatsushiro-gun

An example of the second type is the story of a man whose wife became pregnant. He went to make petitions to Jizō. One night when the man was praying at the shrine, another Jizō came and invited the man’s Jizō to go along, but he refused because of his guest. The other came back to report that a boy with a span of 18 years had been born and he would be carried off by the Spirit of Katsura River in Kyoto. When the man went home, he found that a baby boy had indeed been born.

Shortly after, the man was given a post to watch the rapids of Katsura River. He suffered silently as his child grew older. There was a great flood in the year the boy was 18. He asked to go to help at the river instead of his father, but the father did not want to let him go. The son slipped away without eating breakfast while his father slept. His parents thought he would surely be taken by the Water Spirit and prepared a funeral for him.

The young man stopped at a mochi shop on his way and offered some to a girl he met there. She ate and ate until she had eaten 100 kan of mochi. Since the boy did not have such money with him he left his umbrella as security and left with the girl. When they reached the bank of the river, she said, “I am the spirit of this place and since you have given me so much mochi, I will extend your life from 18 to 61 years.” When his parents, who were preparing for the funeral, saw their son return safely, they were delighted.

Hyōgo, Mitaka-gun

An example of the third type is about a pilgrim who came to a certain village and put up at a little shrine for Yama-no-kami. He woke up in the night. He thought he heard some men talking. It was two Yama-no-kami. One said, “Didn’t you go tonight?” The other answered, “No, I couldn’t because I have a guest. What was the outcome?” “The mother and child are all right.” “How old will he be when he dies?” “Seven. He will be killed by a hand ax.” The pilgrim wondered what the talk was about as he listened.

Seven years later the pilgrim came to that village and found that a father, a carpenter, had been working near his child where he slept and tried to drive off a horsefly that was circling its face. He used his hand ax, which slipped and cut the child’s head. The village was in great confusion. The pilgrim recalled what he had heard at the Yama-no-kami shrine seven years before and realized what it meant.

Iwate, Iwate-gun

Aomori, Hachinohe: MK II 10 16, “Forecasting fortunes” (Unsadame banashi). All three types are here.

Iwate: Shiwa shu 28, “Uemontarō and Saemontarō” (Uemontarō to Saemontarō). This belongs to the first type. There is a part about receiving a hair from a wolf’s eyebrow and using it to perceive the nature of persons, then the story continues as part of the charcoal-maker group.

It starts out naturally, but the tale is drawn out, perhaps because it has been made into a katarimono.

Kamihei-gun: Rōō 59, 1, “The old eel woman” (Unagi baba). This is the second type, a story of the fortune of being caught by something in the water.

“The village of the pheasant’s voice!” (Kiji no hito koe no sato). A man who overheard a conversation among Sai-no-kami, Hōkigami, and Yama-no-kami discovered a spring of wine. There is an episode about hitting wild ducks with little gold coins that is like “Charcoal-maker Chōja,” but there is no bride. There is a similar story on p. 59 of the same book.

Iwate-gun: Kikimimi 30, “The talk among the Yama-no-kami” (Yama-no-kami no sōdan). Example. The horsefly flying around the child’s face seems significant.

Akita, Kazuno-gun: MK I 3 26, “Determining the fortune of a newborn babe” (Umarego no unsadame). The third type, but there is no horsefly.

Miyagi: Tome, ge 877, “The horsefly and the hand ax” (Abu to chōna). This is a legend about the first village Kannon; Kyōdo den 1 49, “Kōshin Kannon.” The third type. Told as a legend of Kannon at Akausawa, Toyosato-mura.

Fukushima, Iwaki-gun: Iwaki 77, “The fortune forecast by the gods” (Kami sama ni un o sadamareta hanashi). The second type.

Niigata, Minamiuonuma-gun: MK I 10 38, “The fortune of a newborn babe” (Umarego no un). The first type. The story is a little broken up, especially at the first. The emphasis put in the latter half is like the Shinto stories in the Ryūkyū.

Minamikanbara-gun: Kamuhara 158, 212. Note No. 52 as well as the one about the charcoal-maker on p. 106 belong to the first type. Note No. 85 belongs to the second type. A kappa came for the hero, but because he gave it a big feast, it spared him.

Ishikawa, Nomi-gun: Minzokugaku II 8 42, “The danger is a horsefly and a chisel” (Mujō wa abu to nomi), and “The danger is water” (Mujō wa mizu); Techō 73, “Forecasting fortunes” (Unsadame banashi). The third type, with the horsefly and hand ax.

Yamanashi, Nishiyatsushiro-gun: Kai 182, 176, “The fortune given from birth” (Umaretsuki no un). Example. “Hōkiemon from Hōki-no-kuni” (Hōki-no-kuni no Hōkiemon sama). This also is the first type. The bride herself overheard Ebisu and Daikoku talking; Zoku Kai 144, “The pilgrim and the fortune of the newborn babe” (Rokubu to ubugo no unmei). This is a mixture of forms.

Chiba, Chōsei-gun: Nansō 101, “Kōjin Sama.” The first type.

Unakami-gun: Tōtsubito V 8 31. No title. Here it is bee and a razor.

Nagano, Kamiina-gun: Kyōdo I 3 8, “The tree at the head of the procession” (Otō no ki) by Yanagita Kunio. The third type.

Gifu, Hida: MK II 11 38, “Forecasting fortunes” (Unsadame banashi). Five stories. The first, second, and fifth are the first type and the third and fourth are the third type.

Osaka, Senhoku-gun: Izumi 36, “The horsefly and the hand ax” (Abu to chiyono).

Hyōgo, Mikata-gun: MK II 7 39, “An umbrella as security for 100 kan” (Hyaku kan no kata ni amakasa ichimai). Example. Type two. The connection of this proverb to the tale is hard to understand.

Hikami-gun: TD X 7 51, “Forecasting fortunes,” (Unsadame banashi) and “Katarō” (Katarō no hanashi). The first is type one and the second is type two.

Shimane, Ochi-gun: MK II 12 32, “The determined fortune” (Kimatta un). First type.

Yamaguchi, Suō Oshima: Dai-ni 53, “Kannon and Jizō come when a child is born” (Ko no umareru toki ni wa Kannon Sama to Jizō Sama ga kuru). A man overheard about a child being born. He went home and found it was true. A fragment.

Tokushima, Miyoshi-gun: MK II 10 38, “Forecasting fortunes” (Unsadame banashi). The second type.

Mima-gun: Awa Iyayama 38, 82, 132, “Forecasting fortunes” (Unsadame banashi), “Tawara Tōda,” and “The original mochi wrapped in reeds of the Fifth Month” (Gogatsu no yoshi no maki no yurai). The second tale is type three and the others type two.

Kagawa, Mitoyo-gun, Shishijima: MK II 3 37, “Miidera.” The first type. The tale explains the origin of the temple Miidera. It is significant that it is not separated from Lake Omi. (Refer to the next story group.)

Kagoshima: Kikai 89, 92, “Forecasting fortunes” (Unsadame banashi). Both with the same title. The first is type one. In the second, which is of the second type, precaution was taken to avoid danger that was overheard. Shima II 424, “Forecasting the fortunes of two” (Futari no unsadame banashi). One would die from a nail that would drop from the ceiling and the other would die from kicking his heel with his toe nail. Friends of the former gathered to pray for his repose when he was about to die, and his life was saved. The other kept going in and out of his house in worry, and finally died.

Amami Ōshima: TD I 8 49, “The God of Fortune” (Unmei no kami).

Koshikijima: Koshiki 120, 163, “Determiing fortune” (Unsadame banashi). One is the first type and the other the second type.

Okinawa: Iro 36, No. 59. No title.

Further reference:

Konjaku monogatari, maki 28. No. 19. A man went to Azuma and stopped at a house where a baby was born.

186. Miidera

A hunter who was caught in an evening shower took refuge in a mountain temple. He overheard the conversation of the gods and learned his son just born had only the worth of three bamboo trees as his fortune. He decided to have him marry the daughter of a neighbor who had been born with a fortune of 1000 sacks of rice. The boy became poor and could only make things of bamboo to sell. He had illness and other troubles until the couple finally separated. His wife went to Otsu to find work and became the second wife of a very rich man. Not realizing this, her former husband went to her house to sell winnowing baskets. She bought a basket from him each time he came. The Kannon temple at Otsu caught on fire later. There was a lack of water for putting out the fire. The woman brought out her winnowing baskets and helped extinguish the flames. The temple was called Miidera of Otsu from that time.

Kagawa, Mitoyo-gun, Shishijima

Chiba, Awa-gun, Tomizaki-mura. No source. Long ago a girl from Miidera was married to a snake. She drank iris wine to rid herself of the snake’s child.

In the charcoal-maker group there is a version about building a temple from selling baskets.

The story about the snake mother gives the origin of the temple bell at Miidera. There may have been a group of story tellers there.

Kagawa, Mitoyo-gun, Shishijima: Sanuki SS 102, “Miidera.”