“The Yanagita Kunio Guide to the Japanese Folk Tale”
55. Gorō’s Broken Bowl
A certain man gave each of his sons, Tarō, Jirō, and Saburō, money and told them to become successful at something and to come home in three years. Saburō became a dealer in cotton and Jirō became a dealer in rice, but lazy Tarō just stuck his money into his bosom and went far back into the mountains. There he met a yamauba, to whom he told everything. He worked for her for three years. When the time was up, she said he had worked well and gave him a dirty bowl. He accepted it and went home where Jirō and Saburō had already returned as independent merchants. The father looked at Tarō arriving in his dirty clothes and asked him what he had learned. The bowl in his bosom told him to say he had learned thieving. At that, the father told Tarō he would have to steal his horse that night to show him. The father hired young men to guard the horse and tied a scallop shell to his dog’s mouth to prevent the theft. Tarō put his bowl into his bosom and went to the stable. The bowl fell out and dug a hole so he could go inside. He shouted, “I’m going to steal the horse now!” While everyone was rushing around in excitement, he led the horse out and took it to his father.
Aomori, Sannohe-gun, Gonohe-machi: Dai-ichi 36, “The thieving bowl” (Nusubito wanko) Example. There is also a version in which he received a little chick instead of a bowl.
Iwate, Kamihei-gun: Kamihei 162, “The robber god” (Dorobō gami). A man heard music below a bridge and looked down. He saw a little doll. He picked it up and took it home. Whenever he looked at it, he felt like stealing. Nobody knew that he stole when he carried it in his pocket. He reformed later and threw the doll away. Rōō 22, “A chōja from a wooden Buddha” (Kibotoke Chōja).
Isawa-gun: Kogane 47, “The son who studied to become a thief” (Nusuto no shugyō shite kita musuko no hanashi).
Esashi-gun: Esashi 56, “How Gorō succeeded with the help of his broken bowl” (Gorō ga kakewan no okage de shusse shita to iu hanashi).
Tochigi, Haga-gun: Shimotsuke 58, “The origin of nostrils” (Hana no ana no yurai). A man picked up a broken bowl. He could make his nose get higher or lower when he hit the bowl.
Hiroshima: Geibi 40, “The three brothers” (Sannin kyōdai).
Kumamoto, Tamana-gun: Dai-ni 28, “Hinasan, the thief” (Nusubito Hinasan). The way he stole was like the way in the story of Goemon.
Nagasaki: Shimabra 104, “The tumbler toy” (Okiagari kobōshi).
Kagoshima: Koshiki 32, “The three brothers” (Sannin kyōdai).
Further reference:
Sangoku denki (In Tōyō kōhi daizen 151).
56. The Power of Treasures
Iwate, Waga-gun, Kurosawajiri: Kikimimi 231, “The bean story” No.3 (Mameko banashi). An old man followed a bean that rolled into a hole and received an ugly looking child from the Little Folk. He was about to throw it away when it said, “Don’t throw me away, Grandpa!” The old man’s family gradually prospered until he became the foremost chōja in his village.
Nagasaki: Shimabara 104, “The tumbler toy” (Okiagari kobōshi). A man bought a tumbler toy and performed all kinds of feats by its instructions. See “Gorō’s broken bowl.”
57. Hachikoku Yama
There once was a rich older brother who was stingy and a poor younger brother who was very good. One year the younger brother wanted to borrow rice seed from his brother, but the older brother put the seed into hot water before he gave it. The younger brother planted it, but none sprouted. Instead, a single calabash appeared. It spread out over his whole field and many gourds formed on it. He decided to eat gourds instead of rice. He picked the first one that ripened and tried to cut it open with a knife, but he couldn’t. He split it open with an ax. A huge mound of rice poured out as high as a mountain. He became a famous chōja.
Aomori, Hachinohe: MK II 6 43, “Hachikoku Yama”; Tsugaru k 27. No title; Tsugaru m 9, “The bean vine that reached the Sky” (Ten sa nobita mame no hanashi). The wife in the story was from the Sky World. She gave a single bean to the child’s nurse. After the nurse planted it, it grew to the Sky. She and the child climbed it to the Sky.
Iwate: Shiwa shū 58, “Calabash Chōja” (Yūgao Chōja). Example; Esashi 96, 33, “The teakettle lid that jumped” (Chagama no futa ga tonda to iu hanashi) and “The son who climbed to the Sky to become the son-in-law of Raijin” (Tenjō ni nobotte Raijin no muko to narō to shita musuko no hanashi).
Niigata, Kariwa-gun, Hōjō-mura: Echigo yashi I 6 147, “Hachikoku Yama”; Densetsu Echigo II 159, “Hachikoku Yama.”
Kashiwazaki: Nihon den 206, “Yone Yama and Hachikoku Yama” (Yone yama to Hachikoku Yama).
Sado: Sadogashima 51, “Hachikoku Yama.”
Ishikawa: Note 60, 101. No titles. One is a legend of a great drum at Matsuokadera and the other a legend of Sengoku Yama in Kashima-gun. Examples of folk tales becoming legends.
Shizuoka, Kamo-gun: Shizuoka 395, “A stepmother and her stepchild” (Mamahaha to mamako no hanashi).
Shimane, Ōchi-gun: Shimane I 4. [The reference is not clear.]
Hiroshima, Kamo-gun: Aki 82, “The tiger’s eyes” (Tora no medama).
Saga, Saga-gun: MK II 7 34, “Roasted millet seed” (Itta awa dane).
Nagasaki: (Old) Iki 157, “Roasted millet seed” (Itta awadane).
Further reference:
Mukashibanashi kenkyū I 9 17. The Chinese versions.
Yearsley 206.
Huet 180.
There are many stories on Okinawa and in Seiban densetsu shū in which one grain of rice fills a kettle. The story has been turned into one of exagerations such as “Hachikoku Yama” and others.
Esashi-gun mukashibanashi 33. It is added to the story of Gengorō.
Shiwa-gun mukashibanashi 58. Rice from the gourd in “Calabash Chōja.”
Kogane no uma 81. The bean story. Finding a single bean. Put into a kettle, it fills it to the brim. A single bean pounded fills the mortar.
58. Hold Fast or Stick Fast
Once upon a time a good old man and a bad old man lived in a certain village. When the good old man went into the mountains to work by himself one day, he heard a voice from somewhere call, “Shall I hold fast or stick fast?” It called so many times that he answered, “If you’re going to hold fast, hold fast. If you’re going to stick fast, stick fast!” Strangely enough, gold and silver came flying from both sides in the forest and stuck to his shoulders and back. He took it home. While he and his wife were looking at it, his bad neighbor came and wanted some, too.
He lost no time imitating his neighbor. He went into the mountains the next day. Just as he expected, voices came from his right and left, calling, “Shall I stick fast or hold fast?” He answered, “If you’re going to stick fast, stick fast. If you’re going to hold fast, hold fast!” He turned his back and waited while pine pitch fell from the pines until his back was loaded. He called to his old woman to hurry with the pine torch so he could show her. She brought the torch too close. The pine pitch caught fire and burned the old man badly.
Aomori, Hachinohe: MKII 6 43, “Carry me on your back” (Obareyō). An old man who was having a hard time at the end of the year set out to the home of a relative to borrow something. As he passed through a meadow at dawn, something called, “You can’t borrow any money. Go home, instead, and boil red beans in your oil kettle.” He went home and did as he was told. While he was doing it, a voice above the hook said, “Are you ready?” Then something jumped into it. Because of this, he became a chōja. Tsugaru m 67, “A ghost that said, “Carry me on your back!” (Obasaru obosaru to iu bakemono.
Fukushima: Iwaki 30, “Shall I hold fast or stick fast” (Tottsuku ka hittskua ka).
Wakayama: Kii 11, “The honest old man” (Shōjiki na ojii san). Example.
Hyōgo, Kanazaki-gun: Dai-ichi 67, “Shall I hold fast or stick fast” (Tottsukō ka kuttsukō ka).
Tottori, Yazu-gun, Saigō-mura: Inpaku min III 2 22. No title. When a good old man went into the mountains to cut grass, a bird called and drew gold to him. Dust landed on the bad old man who imitated him. another story says he was told to put it on his old woman’s seat. Also, there is one in which pine pitch sticks to the man.
Shimane, Ōchi-gun: Dai-ichi 73, “If you’re going out, go out” (Deba dei). A voice asked, “Shall I go out?” He answered, “If you’re going out, go out!” Then his teeth stuck out.
This has been made into a humorous tale.
Matsue: Kyōdo ken II 6 59, “Long ago in Izumo” (Izumo no mukashi, mukashi) by Shimizu Hyōzō.
Hiroshima, Hiba-gun: Hokuto 31 [The reference is not clear.]
Takata-gun, Yamagata-gun, Toyota-gun: Aki 175, “Shall I stick fast or hold fast” (Hittsukō ka mottsukō ka). Three stories with the same title.
Ehime, Kitauwa-gun: MK II 3 35, “Shall I stick fast, shall I stick fast” (Hittsukō ka hittsukō ka).
Ōita, Kitaamabe-gun: MK I 3 40, “I’ll stick fast” (Suitsukō).
Hayami-gun: MK I 12 42, “I’ll stick fast, I’ll stick fast” (Hittsukō hittsukō). This is related to “Yarōka flood.” In Akinokuni mukashibanashi shū 270 it is told in the form of a hayamonogatari.
59. Carry Me on Your Back
This group belongs to “Hold fast, stick fast.”
Aomori: Tsugaru m 67, “A ghost that said ‘Carry me on your back’” (Obosaru obosaru to iu bakemono). It said, “I’ll climb onto your back! I’ll climb onto your back!” The man said, “Climb onto my back!” Something came crashing down. He saw the next morning that it was gold coins.
Hachinohe: MK II 6 43, “Carry me on your back” (Owareyō). Three brothers went out to the radish patch. It follows the pattern of “Picking Nara pears.”
Iwate, Kamihei-gun: Tōno 234 No. 136. No title. A voice from a tuft of grass said, “Carry me on your back.” The old man looked at it when he went home and found it was an image of Buddha. Rōō 196, “The shining gourd” (Hyōtan no hikarimono). A beautiful girl on a mountain peak said, “I want to be carried on the back of a man who is like wild boar.”
Miyagi: Kyōdo den 1 168, “Daimi.” An old man, the ancestor of a certain family, heard a voice from an old tree in the meadow say, “Carry me on your back! Carry me on your back!” This is handed down as a legend.
Niigata, Minamikanbara-gun: Kamuhara 127, “Barō Fox” (Barō gitsune).
Kitakanbara-gun: MK I 12 19 “Baron, the ghost” (Baron bakemono). There are two stories. An old man came home bringing a ghost called Baron on his back in one and it turned to gold. There are traces of the old woman’s participation in the other. It is in the form of an anecdote.
Koshi-gun, Jōjō-mura: (no source) Something kept saying, “Baron, baron,” at the foot of a great nettle tree. It was a badger.
Aichi, Kitashidara-gun: Inoshishi 175 “The newly cut off head on the grave marker” (Tōba ni namakubi). The badger at Nokkoshi Pass. This also was only a ghost.
Hiroshima, Hiroshima City: Aki 163, “Osan Fox at Enami” (Enami no Osan Gitsune). This is a story of disguises.
Nagasaki: (Old) Iki 98, “The child who carried gold on his back” (Kin o ōta kodomo).
Further reference:
There was a stone outside the city of Awa in Tokushima that called “Oppasho.” It gradually grew heavier when Hoshiai Mozaemon carried it on his back. He threw it with a great shout and it split into two. It no longer said “Oppasho” after that. Originally the strong man’s tombstone, it has become a story of the test of a hero.
There is some connection with the story of the woman with a newborn babe. It may be an old ghost story.
60. Heaven’s Blessings and Earth’s Blessings
Once a good old woman and a bad old woman lived as neighbors. The good old woman was going to celebrate and go to worship Buddha on the 8th day of the Fourth Month, but when she went to invite her neighbor to go with her, the bad old woman said there was no use praying to Buddha. The good old woman set out alone. Along the way she picked up a purse filled with gold that had been dropped and left it tied to the railing of a bridge. When the bad old woman heard about it, she set out for the temple because she was greedy. When she reached the bridge, there was no purse, but a dead snake was wrapped around the railing. Angry, she split a piece of bamboo to pick up the snake and flung it into the good old woman’s house. The good old woman heard a noise outside her window and saw something thrown in with a clatter. She looked to see what it was and found the little money bag she had left tied to the rail of the bridge. Money came spilling all over the house. She told her old man about what happened when he came home. He said that if something she had left tied to the bridge came flying into the house, it was bestowed by a god, and they both were very happy.
Iwate, Kamihei-gun: Rōō 311, 310, “The frog’s jar” (Kaeru tsubo) and “The fortune from birth” (Umaretsuki un).
Yamagata, Higashitagwa-gun: MK I 12 47, “Heaven’s blessings and earth’s blessings” (Tenfuku chifuku).
Niigata, Kitakanbara-gun: MK I 12 30, “Heaven’s blessings and earth’s blessings” (Tenfuku chifuku). There are three stories. The third is about fishing money up in a box. No snake but probably a variant of the same story.
Nagano, Kitaazumi-gun: Otari 59, “Morning sun, evening sun” (Asahi yuhi). A certain Mr. Okamoto in Nōsei, Nishikubiki-gun, Echigo [Niigata] had the same first dream at New Year for three years. He dreamed that there was gold at Yamazaki on the shore of Lake Aoki. When one of his employees ran ahead to dig it out, it just flew away. When he returned to his master’s house, he found that it was filled with gold.
This is told in the form of a legend.
Kitasaku-gun: Kitasaku 207, “The transformation of the great snake” (Keshin no daija). It is said that the gold flew to Jōshū. A different version is in Kitaazumi-gun kōhi shū. A story about a dead snake. The motif of fate assigned at birth must account for this change. A variant is in Shiwa-gun mukashibanashi shū 106 and others.
Yamanashi, Nishiyatsushiro-gun: Zoku Kai 354, “The money bag and the snake” (Kane bukuro to hebi). Example.
Further reference:
Minakata zuihitsu. 268.
61. The Snake and the Treasure of Gold
This belongs to the “Heaven’s blessings, earth’s blessings” group. See entry above.
Iwate, Kamihei-gun, Tōno: Kamihei 33, “The jar of gold” (Kogane no tsubo). The form is well preserved.
Yamanashi, Nishiyatsushiro-gun: Kai 25, “The snake and the treasure of gold” (Hebi to kin no tama). Stories like this and “Shall I hold fast or stick fast” or “The golden jar that came flying” are treated humorously in “If anyone sees you, turn into a frog.”
This is about an old priest who could not be satisfied. A golden jar went flying away. It is found in Kitasaku-gun kōhi shū and others.
62. Finding a Treasure
This belongs to the “Heaven’s blessings, earth’s blessings” group. See entry for that story.
Iwate, Kamihei-gun: Rōō 307, 311, “The old man and the jar of gold” (Jiji to kogane no tsubo). A jar of gold said, “Danger, danger” to warn that a cliff was crumbling. “The fortune from birth” (Umaretsuki no un). Gold appeared as a snake to a neighbor, but when he threw it out the window it turned to gold.
Shiwa-gun: Shiwa shū 106, “Born with gold” (Umitsuki kane). There is nothing about a snake, but gold went flying off to a neighbor.
63. The Jar of Gold Coins
Aomori: Tekkiri 255, “Money that turned into snakes” (Kane ga hebi no naru hanashi). A mother and her child dug up gold coins. When the old woman next door saw them, she thought they were blue snakes. When she threw them through the roof they became gold.
Iwate: Kamihei 33 “The jar of gold” (Kogane no tsubo); Rōō 310, “The frog jar” (Kaeru tsubo).
Fukushima: Iwaki 154. No title. A voice called, “I’m afraid,” in the night. When they went to see they found a jar of gold about to fall into the stream.
This can be a variant of the ghost of treasure at the roadside.
64. The Snake in the Jar
In Kyushu it is not called “Heaven’s blessings, earth’s blessings.”
Kumamoto, Amakusajima: MK II 4 28, “The old man next door” (Tonari no jiji). When the neighbor saw it, it was a bee.
Tottori, Iwami-gun: Inpaku min I 2 74, “A record about a treasure” (Takara no okibun) by Tanoguchi Tetsumi. A true story about an old villager named Matsukawa. It is an exact example of a folk tale that has become an anecdote. An old jar was found in that area in the hills back of Shoshiji. When it was opened, a beautiful little snake was there. After the neighbor received it, he became a chōja in a short time.
65. “If Anyone Sees You, Turn into a Frog”
There was a somewhat foolish novice at a certain temple. Once when he received a coin with a hole in it for going on an errand, he strung it onto a piece of straw and buried it in a corner of the yard. While he buried it, he said over and over, “If I dig you up, be a coin. If somebody else digs you up, turn into a frog.” Whenever he received a coin after that for an errand, he always buried it with the same admonition. The old priest noticed this. He dug up all the coins one day and put a frog into the hole instead. When the boy came as usual to bury a coin, he discovered the coins were gone and a frog came jumping out. He cried, “Wait wait, I’m not somebody else! I’m me, I’m me! If you jump like that, the string will break.” He ran after the frog as the old priest held his sides laughing.
Iwate, Kamihei-gun: Rōō 310, “The frog jar” (Kaeru tsubo).
Ishikawa: Ishikawa 940, “The legend about a chōja” (Chōja densetsu). Shichiemon of Ōnogi in Kitaōnomi-mura had a dream about a coin bag. Following the instructions in the dream, he put a frog into the bag and left it in a long chest. He looked after a number of days, and, sure enough, the chest was filled with coins.
A fragment?
Yamanashi, Nishiyatsushiro-gun: Kai 173, “The coins and the frog” (Zeni to kaeru). Example.
Tochigi, Haga-gun: Shimotsuke 82, “The mochi that turned into a snake” (Hebi ni natta mochi). When the villagers saw it, it was good wine, but when the priest saw it, it was a snake. These stories are close to those in Nihon ryoiki and Konjaku monogatari.
Okayama: Mitsu 165, “The ohagi and the frog” (Ohagi to kaeru).
Fukuoka, Asakura-gun: Fukuoka 112, “Heaven helps a true heart” (Magokoro wa ten tasuku). A mother-in-law hid mochi and told it to turn into a frog if the bride found it. Then she found it.
There is no part about substituting a frog.
Kurate-gun: Fukuoka 79, “The greedy old woman” (Gajitsubo baba ga). In this the bride substituted a frog for the mochi. The old woman cried, “Don’t jump! The bean powder will fall off.”
Kumamoto, Amakusa-gun: Kyōdo ken V 4 47, “The ohagi and the frog” (Ohagi to kaeru). About a mother-in-law and bride.
Nagasaki: Shimabara 240, “The frog botamochi” (Kaeru no botamochi).
Further reference:
Tabi to densetsu I 4 72. A Kishigo story. In this it is a snake. He said, “It’s me! Have you forgotten what I look like!”
Honchō koji innen shū (In Kōhi daizen 634). At Iwami Ichiki a man had a dream in which he saw coins at the foot of a tree. When he dug them up they were iron, but when his neighbor dug them up they were gold.
Seisuishō II 68. The line “Here, snake, have you forgotten how I look” is repeated a number of times to be entertaining.
66. Misokai Bridge
Once upon a time there was an honest charcoal-maker named Chōkichi at Sawaage in Niugawa, Hida. He dreamed that if he went to Misokai Bridge at Takayama, something good would happen, so he set out immediately. A tōfu maker came up to him and asked what he was doing. He laughed when he heard Chōkichi’s answer. He said that anyone who took dreams seriously was foolish. He said he had been dreaming for some time that there was gold buried beneath a cryptomeria tree by the house of Chōkichi at Sawaage at the foot of Norikura, but it was only a dream and he took no notice of it. When Chōkichi heard that, he went home and dug around the tree. He promptly became very wealthy.
Fukushima, Iwaki-gun: Iwaki 37, “Luck’s treasure” (Un no tama).
Gifu, Hida [Yoshiki-gun]: Zoku Hida 134, “One dream and another” (Yume to yume). Example. This is exactly like a story about London Bridge.
Kagawa, Nakatado-gun: Nishisanuki 35, “The Gojō bridge of Kyoto” (Kyō-no-Gojō no hashi). There are two stories.
Further reference:
Mukashibanashi oboegaki 213, “Misokaibashi.”
67. The Boy Who Had a Dream
A tutor asked his twelve students to tell the dreams they had on the 2nd Day of New Year, but one of them refused. This made the tutor angry and he had the boy put into a dugout boat and set adrift. The boat arrived at Onigashima on the 16th Day of New Year. The child deceived the leader of the demons cleverly and took his Thousand ri Stick, his Life Stick and his Listening Stick. He jumped to Osaka with the Thousand ri Stick. He saw two crows perched and with the help of his Listening Stick, he heard one say, “It looks as though the only daughter of West Chōja will die.” The lad hurried to West Chōja’s house and brought the girl back to life with his Life Stick. Since he had saved her life, and thus become the master of her soul, he was taken as her husband. The daughter of East Chōja died suddenly. Somebody came to ask the son-in-law of West Chōja to come. He took his Life Stick and restored her life, too. Then East Chōja insisted that he become his son-in-law but he refused. Finally, the feudal lord was asked to settle the matter. The feudal lord’s decision was that the lad should be son-in-law of East Chōja for the first 15 days of the month and the son-in-law of West Chōja for the last 15 days of the month. In this way he received two households. Every 15 days one girl would accompany him to a bridge and the other would come to meet him. In that way his New Year dream of holding hands with two girls as he crossed a bridge came true.
Aomori, Sannohe-gun, Hachinohe: MK II 6 43, “The chōja who had a dream” (Yumemi chōja). A chōja’s son who would not sell his good dream was disinherited, but he became happy later.
Iwate, Kamihei-gun: Kikimimi 85, “The boy who had a dream” (Yumemi musuko). At the conclusion it is said that it was a dream, but it seems like something different. It may be turned around with the last part first.
Akita: Akita 119, “The whale” (Kujira). The village head, Daikoku, and an old she-demon wanted to hear the dream, but he would not tell it. He got treasures by tricks and had good fortune.
Fukushima, Iwaki-gun: Iwaki 35, “Gaining by refusing to tell a First Dream” (Hatsuyume o oshienai de toku shita hanashi).
Nagasaki, Tsushima Nita-mura Kuhara: TD XII 8 12, “The boy who had a dream” (Yumemi kozō).
Kagoshima: Koshiki 12, “The chōja who had a dream” (Yumemi chōja). Example.
68. The Bee and the Dream
Two merchants living in a certain place set out together to sell things. While they rested along the way, the older fell asleep. The younger man looked absently at the other’s face and saw a horsefly come out of his nose and fly off toward Sado. The man woke up and said he had had a wonderful dream. It was about a wealthy man on Sado who had a yard full of white blooming camellias. A horsefly flew up from the root of a camellia and told him to dig there and he found a jar full of gold. The younger man asked him to sell him his dream. The older man thought it strange, but he sold it for 300 coins.
After their journey was over and they had returned to their village, the younger man secretly crossed over to Sado. He hunted out the wealthy man and lived as yard sweeper for him until spring. When the flowers bloomed, they were all red, not a single white one. He waited another year, and this time there was one tree covered with white flowers. He was delighted. He probed with fire tongs at its roots secretly in the night and heard a click. A jar of coins came out when he dug. He hid it where nobody could find it, and after half a year had passed, he asked to go home. He took the jar back to Echigo and he became a chōja. He lived the rest of his life in ease.
Niigata: Minamikanbara 94, “The white camellia on Sado” (Sado no shiroi tsubaki). Example. Densetsu Echigo II 58, “The golden bottle” (Kin no bin). About Jinsuke of Maze-mura in Nishikanbara-gun. The treasure was on Sado.
Nagano, Kitaazumi-gun: Kitaazumi 2 100, “The jar of gold” (Kin no tsubo). There is nothing about selling a dream in this.
One of two men had a dream when he took a nap while resting. When the one who heard about the dream dug, a blue light came flying out and went into the house of the one who had the dream, where it became a snake in front of the alcove. It crumbled into gold when stabbed.
Ishikawa: Ishikawa 975. No title. A man went to the seashore according to the instruction of a dream. A golden magpie came flying and left two brocaded bags.
Yamanashi, Nishiyatsushiro-gun: Zoku Kai 160, “The jar merchant from the east and the jar merchant from the west” (Higashi no tsuboya, nishi no tsuboya); TD IV 2 39, “The merchant from the east and the merchant from the west” (Higashi no tsuboya nishi no tsuboya). The two men rested at the foot of a great lotus tree. One saw a bee go in and out of the nose of the other. He dug out two jars, just like the dream, but this was a set of seven jars. When the other man hunted, he found the other five.
Could this be a katarimono?
Aichi, Kitashidara-gun: (no source), “The horse leader’s dream” (Mago no yume).
Tokushima: Awa Iyayama 123, “The dream and the bee” (Yume to hachi).
Ōita: Bungo den 12, “Sanya Chōja.” A peddler named Sanya Sansuke of Hagiwara bought a dream with ginger and a sifter.
Kagoshima, Kikaijima: Shima II 457, “The boat’s captain who bought a dream” (Yume o katta sendō). The captain of a ship from Yamato bought a dream about a treasure at the foot of a gajimaru tree. He dug and found the body of his father for which he had been searching for years. Kikai 155, “The child who had a dream” (Yumemi dōshi). A child who had a good dream would not tell it and it came true.
Koshikijima: Koshiki 119, “Sanya, the rich man” (Sanya daijin) and 117, “The dream at Hachiman Shrine” (Hachimandō no yume). Both men became wealthy in the story on p. 117.
Further reference:
Stories about buying dreams.
Ujishūi monogatari No. 165, “Kibi to makibi.”
Tōgoku yochi shūran 12.
Shasekishū VIII 23.
Sanya daijin (In Eitaigura, maki 3).
Shokoku monogatari 69.
Tabi to densetsu III 5 21. About Sanya Chōja by Ichiba Naojirō.
Shosai hikki 2. In the form of an anecdote.
69. Chōja from a Straw
Long ago a certain man prayed to Kannon that he would prosper. He received a revelation instructing him to accept the first thing that touched his hand if he fell as he left the temple. As he went through the gate, he stumbled on a stone and fell. A single piece of straw touched his hand. He carried it along and caught a horsefly. He tied it to the straw. As he continued his way, he met a nobleman’s procession. A child in that procession, being held in someone’s arms, began to cry suddenly and so the nobleman said he wanted the man’s horsefly tied to the straw. The man gave it to him and received three oranges in return. He went on with his three oranges and met a cloth merchant who was suffering from thirst. He gave the man the oranges and received three bolts of cloth as thanks. He went on carrying the cloth and came across a group of men standing by a dead horse at the roadside, trying to think what to do with it. The man offered his cloth for it. When he gave the horse a drink, it was restored to life and proved to be a splendid mount. He continued on his journey with it. He asked to stay at a wealthy man’s home one evening. The master there sent for him and asked to borrow his horse. He said the man could look after his place while he was away in payment. If something happened to prevent his return, he would give the man his estate. The master set out and did not return, so the poor man became the owner of the estate and lived for the rest of his life in comfort.
Iwate: Shiwa 169, “Dragonfly Chōja” (Tonbo Chōja). It is a fragment of “Chōja from a straw.” Most of it is close to the story in Ujishūi monogatari.
Kamihei-gun: Rōō 235, 299, “Laughing bones” (Warai gaikotsu). In the first part of “Singing bones” a man received a piece of straw as a symbol of disinheritance. He exchanged it for a plain leaf and then for bean paste, which he ate. This is followed by the story of the laughing bones. “Ichimonjiya Tōshichi.” A child received a single coin and ended up a tobacco merchant.
Hienuki-gun, Yazawa: Dōbutsu 21.*
Iwate-gun, Mizusawa-machi: Kikimimi 64, “The help of a bee” (Hachi no okage). It goes into “The son-in-law’s tasks.”
Fukushima, Iwaki-gun: Iwaki 31, 121, “Chōja from a straw” (Warashibe chōja).
Gifu, Hida: MK II 11 35, “Chōja from a straw” (Warashibe chōja).
Hiroshima, Kure: Aki 110, “Chōja from a straw” (Warashibe chōja). It is exactly like Ujishūi monogatari. It is apparent that significance is given to the horsefly.
Shimane, Ōchi-gun: MK II 10 33, “Chōja from a straw” (Warashibe chōja).
Yamaguchi, Suō Ōshima: Suō Ōshima 30, “Chōja from a straw” (Warashibe chōja). The last half is forgotten.
Tokushima: Awa Iyayama 16 76, “A single strand of rope” (Hitosuji no nawa) and “Chōja from a straw” (Warashibe chōja).
Nagasaki: Goto 244, “One thousand three hundred yen from three straws” (Wara san bon ga sen sanbyaku en).
Ikinoshima: (New) Iki 34, “Chōja from a straw” (Warashibe chōja).
Kagoshima, Koshikijima: MK II 12 23, “Chōja from a straw” (Warashibe chōja); Koshiki 8, “Chōja from a straw” (Warashibe chōja); Kikai 72, “The two brothers” (Futari kyōdai). The start is not like the usual story. The brothers were Sun and Sō. It is close to the Ikinoshima story.
Okinawa: Nantō 93, “Repaid for a kindness by a golden corpse” (Kabane kogane o motte on ni mukuita hanashi).
Further reference:
Ujishūi monogatari No 96. A man spending the night at Hasedera. Konjaku monogatari, maki 16. No. 28.
70. Success through a Bee
There are many varieties of tales about being helped to success by a bee.
One tells of becoming the son-in-law of a chōja by selecting the girl that the bee signaled by a buzz.
Another is the son-in-law task type. From this type has developed the story about the drum that sounds by itself and the story called “Covering the drum with a sleeve.”
Akita, Senhoku-gun: Ugo 142. No title. This becomes a humorous tale ending in a word play. A lazy fellow wrapped a beehive in gold paper to make it look like a gold ball and left it at a pawn shop. The owner was suspicious and opened it. He was stung and scolded his clerk, saying, “Even if we take pledges (shichi), we don’t take bees (hachi).” [Shichi also means “seven” and hachi means “eight,” a double word play.]
Tokushima, Mima-gun: Awa Iyayama 10, “The drifter” (Gokudō mono no hanashi). After a man saved a monkey and a bee, they helped him cure the chōja’s daughter, and he became the chōja’s son-in-law.
Kagoshima: Koshiki 27, “Help from animals” (Dōbutsu no enjo). A beggar rescued a mosquito, a tortoise, and a monkey. He performed tasks set by a chōja with their help, then married the chōja’s daughter.
71. Dragonfly Chōja
Aomori: Tsugaru k 30. No title. A girl went out to cut grass and found spring of wine. When her parents went, they found only water. It is a fragment.
Iwate, Iwate-gun, Nagahara-mura: TD III 11 33, “Dragonfly Chōja” (Tonbo Chōja). It is handed down as a legend.
Something that was shining at a ferry proved to be gold. There is no part about learning something from a dragonfly.
Another story is about Mano Chōja. It is the same as the legend in Nagahama at the main family of Iwai Hana. Refer to Mukashibanashi kenkyū II 5 8, “About a soul turning into an animal” (Reikon ga dōbutsu to naru hanashi) by Asada Isamu.
Akita, Kazuno-gun: Nihon shū, jō 93, “Dragonfly Chōja (Danburi Chōja).
Ishikawa: Ishikawa 979. No title. A legend of Moromi Hill in Notobemura.
Okinawa: Iro 78, No. 99. No title. A fisherman washed his feet in Sakugawa at Nakagusuku Anri. He received a bottle of wine from a beautiful woman. His wife saw only regular water. Even now at the Ina Festival water from this river is offered by a priestess.
72. Charcoal-Maker Chōja
In a certain place there were two fathers who were friendly neighbors. They went into the hills to cut wood together and stayed overnight at a little shrine for the Mountain Deity and they had similar dreams. They dreamed that many deities were waiting for the Mountain Deity to return from the village. When she came back, she said that two children had been born to neighbors. The girl had been born with the fortune of one shō of salt and a bottle of wine, but the boy’s luck was only one shō of rice. The deities wanted to know about their marriages. She said since they were neighbors she had thought of having them marry, but would wait and give it more thought. The two men awoke and compared dreams. They thought it very strange. When they went home, they found that a girl had been born at one’s house and a boy at the other’s.
When the children grew up, they married. They prospered with the good fortune the wife had received, but the husband was unhappy over the way his wife used one shō of salt a day and never let the wine bottle out of her hand. He finally drove her away.
The woman walked along with nowhere to go. She felt hungry and pulled a radish growing by the road. Wine came springing up from where she pulled it. She drank some and was refreshed. She walked toward a light shining in the hills beyond and found a blacksmith’s house, and asked him to let her stay. He refused because he was too poor. All the seats and paving stones at his place, however, were made of gold. The woman persuaded him to take them to town to sell. There was gold all around the smithy’s house, and wherever they dug, wine would spring up. In less that no time the old man became a chōja, and a town built up around his home. The woman’s former husband became poorer and poorer. At last he and his son came to sell firewood at that town.
Characteristics of this story are the blessings through the wife.
The two patterns here are the good wife and finding treasures.
These are related to the idea of destiny foretold.
In the second part of the story we have the element of the wife who makes good wine.
These episodes are followed by storehouses of rice.
The story takes a humorous turn sometimes, such as throwing gold at birds or rice at a shadow.
The versions are distributed widely as legends, perhaps because they were katarimono.
Aomori, Hachinohe: MK II 6 44, “Charcoal-maker Chōja” (Sumiyaki chōja). There are four stories. Also, see Okunan Shinpō, August 7, 1930.
Iwate, Kamihei-gun: Rōō 9, “Charcoal-maker Chōja” (Sumiyaki Chōja). The former husband was a blacksmith and he later came to work at her house. All around the smithy’s house was gold. He did not throw coins at birds, but he threw rice at his shadow. On page 322 of this book there is a story called “The chōja with a charcoal storehouse.” (Sumi-no-kura chōja).
Shiwa-gun: Shiwa shū 28, “Uemon Tarō and Saemon Tarō” (Uemon Tarō to Saemon Tarō). A well-preserved story. It must be related to “Kowashimizu.”
Waga-gun, Kurosawajiri: Kikimimi 27, “Charcoal-maker Chōja” (Sumiyaki Chōja) Example.
Akita, Senhoku-gun: Ugo 35, Mentioned; MK I 6 40, “How a poor man got a bride” (Binbōnin no yometori).
Fukushima, Futaba-gun: MK II 4 37, “Charcoal-maker Chōja” (Sumiyaki Chōja). This may have been carried around by itinerant singers.
Miyagi, Karita-gun, Tōkarita: Minzoku sō 90.*
Niigata: Densetsu Echigo II 33, “Gongasawa.” It is in the form of a legend.
Sado: MK II 4 31, “Charcoal-maker Gorō of Yamada Shiratake” (Yamada Shirataki Sumiyaki Gorō); Aikawa 173. No title.
Minamikanbara-gun: Kamuhara 158, 196, “Chrysanthemum wine” (Kiku no sake) and “Charcoal-maker Chōja” (Sumiyaki Chōja). Wine is found in both stories.
Ishikawa, Nomi-gun: Dai-ichi 51, no title.
Nagano, Ina-gun: Ina 5, 213, “The willow tree at Lake Sugatami” (Sugatami ike no yanagi) and “Kitōji, the charcoal maker” (Sumiyaki Kitōji).
Chiisagata-gun: Chiisagata 136, “Charcoal-maker Chōja” (Sumiyaki Chōja).
Nishichikuma-gun, Kisō: Kyōdo ken V 4 42, “The legend of Charcoal-maker Chōja at Mino” (Mino no Sumiyaki Chōja no densetsu). About the chōja’s estate at Mikasa Pass.
Yamanashi, Nishiyatsushiro-gun: Kai 3, 176, 182, “The long-lived chōja” (Enmei chōja), “Hōkiemon of Hōki-no-kuni” (Hōki-no-kuni no Hōkiemon sama), and “Fortune from birth” (Umaretsuki no un); Zoku Kai 184, “Tōjirō, the charcoal maker” (Sumiyaki Tōjirō).
Shizuoka, Fuji-gun: Nihon den 77, “Chōja-ga-ike.” A story about waving back the sun. This may be a katarimono.
Gifu, Yoshiki-gun: MK II 11 37, “Charcoal-maker Chōja” (Sumiyaki Chōja).
Gujō-gun: MK II 6 26, “God of Gold and God of Fortune” (Kaneno-kami to Fuku-no-kami).
Hyōgo, Kinosaki-gun: MK II 8 34, “The origin of the gold mine on Sado” (Sado no kinzan no okori).
Hikami-gun: TD X 6 40, “Charcoal-maker Chōja” (Sumiyaki Chōja). This is the first part of “Wearing a bowl” (Hachi katsugi). In Bungo this story is the first part. Emphasis is put on the latter part when it is recited.
Hiroshima, Mitsuki-gun: Geibi 172, “Charcoal-maker Chōja” (Sumiyaki Chōja).
Shimane, Ōchi-gun: MK II 8 48, “Charcoal-maker Chōja” (Sumiyaki Chōja). The chōja’s daughter was married 49 times, but was not settled happily until the 50th time.
Tokushima, Mima-gun: Awa Iyayama 51, “The beginning of Sumitomo” (Sumitomo no okori).
Miyoshi-gun: MK II 9 39, “Charcoal-maker Chōja” (Suimiyaki Chōja).
Kagawa, Mitoyo-gun, Shishijima: Sanuki I 2, “Gorōbei, the charcoalmaker” (Sumiyaki Gorōbei).
Kōchi, Hata-gun, Abiike: Report by Mr. Sakurada. “Gorō, the charcoal-maker” (Sumiyaki Gorō). Later he became Sumi-no-kura of Kyoto.
Fukuoka: Chikuzen 25.* A legend about Katsuyama Chōja. There is a part about throwing rice at a shadow. An example of an idiot who prospers.
Kumamoto, Kikuchi-gun, Shirokita-mura: Higo VI 190-O, “The chōja’s estate” (Chōja yashiki). It is about Kosaburō, the mat weaver, but like charcoal-maker Kogorō.
Nagasaki: Shimabara 173, “The cat’s benefactor” (Neko no onjin). This is a fragment of “Charcoal-maker Chōja.” It is strange because there is a fight between the cat and an octopus. Ikinoshima: (Old) Iki 34, “The millet that was kicked” (Ashige ni sareta awameshi). Stories of how a former husband was ruined and became a basket seller are found in many places. There is a definite connection between this and the tale of the reed cutter in Konjaku monogatari, maki 30, No. 5.
Kagoshima, Kikaijima: MK I 4 23, “Charcoal-maker Chōja” (Sumiyaki Chōja); Kikai 38, “Bankoi from the west” (Nishi no Bankoi). There is a part about throwing coins at a swan, an attack on Onigashima, a magic mallet that shakes out things, and the chōja who set fire to his house. See “Gorō, the charcoal-maker” (Sumiyaki Gorō) on p. 33 and “The gratitude of the kappa” (Kappa no ongaeshi) in the same book.
Koshikijima: Koshiki 1, “Charcoal-maker Chōja” (Sumiyaki Chōja).
Okinawa: Nanto 98, “Becoming the wife of the Charcoal-maker Chōja by the help of a sparrow go-between” (Suzume no nakōdo de Sumiyaki Chōja no tsuma ni natta hanashi). The wife who had been driven away by a sparrow catcher married a charcoal-maker. She met her former husband again after he became a basket seller. She shamed him and he died.
Further reference:
Kanei shoka keifuden. (In Shi ryō XI 3 78).
73. Potato-Digger Chōja
A man-servant at a certain house was told to dig potatoes. He went to the hills to dig and found gold nuggets here and there in the dirt, thus becoming a chōja.
Iwate: Kamihei 23, “The golden cow” (Kogane no ushi). A man who dug potatoes found a vein of gold and became a chōja. The story is concluded by the story of a liar. This may be one kind of derived tale.
Gifu, Ōno-gun, Niugawa-mura: Utsushibana 119, “Potato-digger Tōhei” (Imohori Tōhei).
Wakayama, Arita-gun: Nanki 4, “Potato-digger Chōja” (Imohori Chōja). The story of Chōja-ga-mine at Tsugi-mura. A homely girl from a neighboring village came to be the bride of Chōgorō, the potatodigger. He threw gold coins at ducks at the mouth of the river and said, “We have as many of these at home as the potatoes we dig.” The name came from this.
Shimane, Ōchi-gun: MK II 9 33, “Potato-digger Chōja” (Imohori Chōja). There are two tales. The first is a fragment of “The wife from the Dragon Palace.” The other is about how the daughter of Gakkai Chōja of Shimonoseki took her maid with her and went as a bride. When her maid Chiyo washed rice, the water turned to wine. That is said to be the beginning of the Kōnoike family. The name Chiyo appears in rice-planting songs sung when carrying lunches to planters. In Rikuchu the tale of Charcoal-maker Chōja says that a maid was taken along by the bride.
Tsuchi iro XIII 1 (No. 76) 11, “Kamoe Kannon.” The origin of Kamoe Kannon. A woman from Chūgoku was always unfortunate. Her father gave her a jewel and told her to select a place where the soil was the color of the jewel to die. She met an old man selling yams at Shichiken-machi in Hamamatsu and asked him. He said he knew of a place and took her into the mountains where coins came out when they dug. They married and built a shrine according to a revelation from Kannon. When they finished building it, they still had ten ryō left.
74. The Hearth Fire on New Year’s Eve
Once upon a time there was a maid called Ofuji. Her master told her on New Year’s Eve she should be careful not to let the fire go out, but somehow it went out before she realized what had happened. She went to borrow coals from another house. Everywhere she went the people were already asleep. As she went farther and farther, she saw a fire burning in the mountains. When she asked for live coals, she was told she could have them, but she was asked to look after a coffin for a while as a favor. That troubled her, but there was no help for it. She got the coals and went home with the coffin on her back. She hid it in the corner of her room where nobody could see it. The 4th and 5th Day of New Year came, but nobody arrived to claim the coffin. Ofuji was worried and opened the coffin to look. It was filled with gold. When she told her master, he said he would give her the money. She decided to build a temple with it. After it was finished, she and her master were invited to come to it together. On the way, Ofuji stepped onto a purple cloud and went into the temple. There she She was called Toshikoshijin [Deity turned into the image of Kannon. of the New Year].
Aomori, Hachinohe: MK II 6 45, “The hearth fire on New Year’s Eve” (Ōtoshi no hi).
Fukushima, Iwaki-gun: Iwaki 34, “Receiving a treasure on New Year’s Eve” (Ōmisoka ni takara o sazukerareta hanashi).
Gifu, Ōno-gun, Niugawa: Utsushibana 64, “The New Year pine and the maid” (Kadomatsu to gejo).
Hyōgo, Mikata-gun: MK II 9 37, “The origin of Shōgatsu San” (Shōgatsu San no okori). Example.
Hiroshima, Takata-gun: MK I 6 45, “Kōnoike” No. 1 (Kōnoike no hanashi).
Okayama: Mitsu 109, “New Year’s Eve” (Ōmisoka no yoru).
75. The Guest on New Year’s Eve
Once upon a time a horse leader had no customers on the day before New Year. He thought as he started home that he would have nothing with which to celebrate. Trees stood in a row along his way. He noticed a leper lying under them alone and groaning. He had felt sorry for himself, but he saw that here was somebody worse off. He lifted him kindly onto his horse and took him home. The man’s body smelled so vile that he laid him on straw matting in a corner of the room with a dirt floor to spend New year’s Eve. His guest did not get up in the morning of New Year’s Day. Although he shook him, he did not answer, so he thought the man must have died. When he looked closely, he saw that the man had changed into a huge lump of gold.
Aomori, Hachinohe: MK II 6 47, “Turning into money” (Zeni ni natta hanashi).
Iwate: Esashi 30, 63 “How a zatō was connected with improved fortune” (Zatō ga shinjō ni kakawatta to iu hanashi) and “Five pilgrims all turned into money boxes” (Rokubu gonin ga mina kanebako ni natta to iu hanashi).
Niigata, Minamikanbara-gun: Kamuhara 22 31, “The guest on New Year’s Eve” (Ōmisoka no kyaku), Nos. 1 and 2.
Fukui, Sakai-gun: MK I 1 31, “The New Year’s Eve Man” (Toshitori otoko). How the New Year firewood came to be called “toshitori otoko” [New Year’s Man].
Aichi, Minamishidara-gun: Dai-ichi 60, “The guest on New Year’s Eve” (Ōmisoka no kyaku). Example.
Hiroshima: Geibi 43, “The guest on New Year’s Eve” (Toshi no kyaku). Four stories. The beggar was given a place to stay in one and in the other three there is a fire that goes out. In the Takata-gun story the beggar came and said he would give them live coals if they let him stay. This combines the live coals with putting up the beggar, showing that originally the two parts belonged to one story.
Tokushima: Awa Iyayama 9 126, “The three chōja” (Sangen chōja) and “The guest on New Year’s Eve” (Ōtoshi no kyaku). The son of a poor man who lived between two chōja climbed onto their roofs and began to recite ill omens. The astonished chōja divided rice and money with the poor man, so he became the third chōja. In the other story the seven guests which the maid allowed to spend the night at a chōja’s house proved to be Shichifukujin [the Seven Gods of Happiness]. The dead man they carried on their backs was a sack of gold coins, but there is no part about getting fire.
Kagoshima: Koshiki 156, “The guest on New Year’s Eve” (Ōmisoka no kyaku).
Okierabu: Okinoerabu 109, “The guest on New Year’s Eve.” No. 3 (Ōtoshi no kyaku).
Okinawa: Yambaru 182, “The man who turned into a monkey” (Saru ni natta hito); Nantō 16, “Fire at New Year” (Hi shōgatsu no hanashi).
76. Sedge Hats for Jizō
Once upon a time there was a poor old man and old woman. Soon it would be New Year, but they had no money for mochi. The two of them made sedge hats to sell, and the old man set out on a snowy day for town to sell them. He saw twelve Jizō standing with snow on their heads and looking cold by the road along the way. He felt sorry for them and put one of his hats on each, but he lacked one hat. That was too bad for the remaining Jizō, so the old man took off the hat he was wearing and put it onto Jizō’s head. Then he went home. His old woman came to meet him and asked about the mochi, but when he told her about the Jizō, she praised what he had done and rejoiced with him. She said they could build up a good fire and go to bed after they had warmed themselves at it. The next morning they were awakened by voices calling. They drew open their door and found lots of fresh pounded mochi. The surprised couple saw the backs of the twelve Jizō wearing sedge hats as they went away, led by the Jizō wearing the old man’s hat.
Aomori, Hachinohe: MK II 6 45, “Sedge hats for Jizō” (Kasa Jizō).
Iwate: Shiwa 67, “The gratitude of the six Jizō” (Roku Jizō ga on o kaesu); Shiwa shū 119, “Seven Jizō” (Shichinin Jizō Sama).
Esashi-gun: Esashi 4, “Being kind to the stone Jizō” (Ishi Jizō ni on o okurareta to iu hanashi).
Isawa-gun: Isawa.*
Akita, Senhoku-gun, Kakunodate: Kikimimi 233, “Sedge hats for the stone Jizō.” No. 1 (Ishi Jizō no kasa).
Yamagata, Mogami-gun: Toyosato 258, “The six Jizō” (Roku Jizō); MK II 4 40, “The gratitude of the Jizō” (Jizō no henrei).
Fukushima: Iwaki 32, “Sedge hat Chōja” (Kasa Chōja). Example.
Niigata, Nakauonuma-gun: Dai-ichi 45, “Sedge hats for Jizō” (Kasa Jizō).
Minamikanbara-gun: Kamuhara 143, “Sedge hats for Jizō” (Kasa Jizō).
Minamiuonuma-gun: MK I 7 27, “The gratitude of the six Jizō” (Roku Jizō no henrei).
Sado: MK II 4 32, “Sedge hats for Jizō” (Kasa Jizō).
Nagano, Chiisgata-gun: Dai-ni 55, “Sedge hats for Jizō” (Kasa Jizō). A rat dragged the gifts from the Jizō to the old couple. This is not in any other version. It is the result of turning it into a child’s tale.
Yamanashi, Nishiyatsushiro-gun: Kai 9, “The gratitude of Jizō” (Jizō no hōon).
Chiba, Ichihara-gun, Goi-machi: Ichihara 480, “Jizō” (Jizō Sama).
Shimane, Ōchi-gun: MK II 9 33, “Sedge hats for Jizō” (Kasa Jizō). The tale is not clear. MK II 12 34, “Sedge hats for Jizō” (Kasa Jizō).
Tokushima, Mima-gun: Awa Iyayama 62, “Shōgatsu Sama” (Shōgatsu Kami Sama).
Saga, Kishima-gun: Kōshō 10 16, “Sedge hats for Jizō” (Kasa Jizō); Techō 35. The above reference. The appealing sight of the retiring Jizō, the old woman praising what her old man had done, their peaceful joy—it is in the same group as the “Owari sedge hats” in Tōkaidō meisho zue, and it also belongs to the same group as “The hearth fire on New Year’s Eve.”
77. Kōbō’s Loom
An itinerant priest came with his bowl to a certain house where the woman was weaving busily at her loom. She got down and gave him alms. Although he returned a second and third time, she stopped each time and gave him something generously. He was impressed by her good nature and said he would give her a treasure in thanks. He left her a shuttle and went on his way. She had only to wind the warp and use the thread in her shuttle to weave, and it would last her for the rest of her life. Sure enough, even after three years had passed, the thread in the shuttle did not give out. She had been warned not to put her finger into the opening where the thread came out, but it seemed so strange that it had not diminished in the three years she had used it that she put her finger in to see. The shuttle disappeared instantly with a clatter. It is said that the itinerant priest was Kōbō.
Aomori, Hachinohe: MK II 6 47, “Kōbō’s loom.” Example. There are four stories. The woman was good in the first, the example. This is close to the original form. The other three are fragments. Or perhaps they are faulty transmissions.
Tōtōmi [Shizuoka], Igawa: TD XIII 11 10. In “Jibata” by Iwai Saburō.
Nagasaki: (Old) Iki 118, “The little shuttle that never gave out” (Izumi no kokuda).
78. The Magic Towel
Once upon a time a shabby beggar stopped at a house. The housewife was busy weaving and she drove him away because she did not like to hear him. Her maid secretly gave him some riceballs, and in thanks he gave her a towel. When she wiped her face with it, everybody was surprised at how beautiful she looked. They asked her why, and she told them what had happened the day before. Her mistress was bitterly disappointed. The beggar came again some days later. This time the housewife welcomed him politely and gave him all sorts of things. He gave her a red sash and left. When she put the sash on, it turned into a snake.
Aomori, Hachinohe: MK II 7 41, four stories. In the first, “The origin of the monkey” (Saru no hajimari), a good woman received something like a thin piece of silk from an itinerant priest. When she wiped her face with it, she looked younger, but when her pitiless master and mistress used it, they turned into monkeys. The second is “Kōbō Daishi” (Kōbō Daishi Sama no hanashi). Kōbō Daishi tore off one of his sleeves and gave it to a good-natured but homely maid who cooked rice for him. The third is “An old priest” (Oshō sama no hanashi). This is about a bride and her mother-in-law. The mother-in-law’s face turned into a horse face. The old priest told the bride that if she would use the other side of the towel, she would recover. The fourth is “Kōbō Daishi and the maid” (Kōbō Daishi to jochū). The servant became beautiful, but her mistress turned into a horse. It is a humorous story here.
Niigata, Sado: Sado no shū 190, “The woman whose face was cured of pockmarks by Kōbō’s power” (Kōbō Daishi Sama no ontoku abata ni oyobu).
Shizuoka, Shita-gun: Shizuoka 129, “The ghost’s revengeful spirit” (Tatari to onryō yōkai).
Tokushima: Awa Iyayama 104, “The magic towel” (Takara tenugui).
Nagasaki: (Old) Iki 116, “The magic towel” (Takara tenugui). Example. (New) Iki 46, “The magic towel” (Takara tenugui).
79. Water That Restores Youth
Once upon a time there was an old man and an old woman. The old woman became thirsty when she went into the hills to gather wood. She went farther back into the hills and found a spring where she took a drink. When she did that, she turned into a girl seventeen or eighteen years old. Her old man was surprised when she went home, and asked what had happened. When he heard, he decided to be young, himself. He set out to look for the spring, but no matter how long his wife waited, he did not return. She went to look for him and found him by the spring. He had drunk too much and turned into a baby.
Tochigi, Haga-gun: Dai-ni 32, “The old man who turned into a baby” (Kodomo ni natta ojii san no hanashi). Example.
Nagano: Chiisagata 161, “The water of youth” (Wakamizu).
Hiroshima, Jinseki-gun, Toyomatsu-mura: Geibi 79, “The water of youth” (Wakamizu). The origin of mugwort. A dutiful son went to Ise Shrine to dip up the First Water of New Year for a sick parent. When he returned, he found that his father had been dead for 30 days, but he restored him to life with the water. His wife thought the water was a bother and threw it out. A strange tree and plants grew from the medicine. They were called yonogi [“mugwort” or “one night tree”] because they grew in a single night.
Shimane, Ōchi-gun: MK II 10 32, “The water of Higan” (Higan no mizu no hanashi). This is turned into a humorous tale with a play on words and extreme exaggeration. Perhaps that is because of how it was heard originally, probably from an unknown traveller.
80. The Golden Hatchet
When an honest woodcutter was working by the edge of a pond, he accidentally dropped his hatchet into it. As he stood troubled, a beautiful girl came up out of the water with a golden hatchet in her hand. She asked him if he had dropped his. He said that his was a rusty one, not that. She went back into the water and brought up the rusty one. She praised the old man for his honesty and gave both hatchets to him. With that, he became a chōja.
When the old woman next door heard about the golden hatchet, she sent her lazy old man out to cut wood. His hatchet did not fall into the water, no matter how long he waited, so he threw it in. The beautiful girl appeared with a golden hatchet. The old man said that it was his and started to take it from her. She called him dishonest and cut his head with it. He went home covered with blood, and he became poorer and poorer.
Iwate, Shimohei-gun: Kikimimi 70, “The golden hatchet” (Kogane no chōna). Example.
Esashi-gun: Esashi 82, “The man who received a strange jewel from the Pond Spirit” (Fuchi no nushi kara fushigi na tama o moratta otoko no hanashi). Instead of a hatchet, it was a strange stone that caused rain when it was touched.
Fukushima, Iwaki-gun: Iwaki 39 172, “A palace that was under the water” (Mizu no naka ni goten no atta hanashi) and “Dig here, bow-wow” (Koko hore wan wan).
Aichi: Mikawa 526, “The ax from the Dragon Palace” (Ryūgū no ono). An ax from the Dragon Palace is treasured at the home of Mr. Suzuki in Oka, Miai-mura. It is said to have been traded for an ax made in the human world by someone who found that one marvellous.
Ōita: Naori 27, “The silver ax and the golden ax” (Kin no ono to gin no ono).
81. The Little Boy from the Dragon Palace
Once upon a time there was an old man in Higo who made a living by going into the mountains to cut wood and selling it in town. One day he could not sell any wood, no matter how much he tried. He came to the bridge in the center of town all worn out. He tossed his bundles of wood, one after the other, into the deep pool in the stream. After praying to Ryūjin [the Dragon Deity], he started home. Just then a beautiful girl holding a child in her arms came up out of the pool and told the old man the child was a gift from Ryūjin in repayment for the wood. She handed him the little boy and said his name was Little Runny-nose Boy. She said he would give the old man anything he asked for, but the old man was to prepare a dish of fresh shrimp for the little boy three times a day as an offering. After she had explained, she went back into the water.
The old man carried the child home and set him at the side of his alter shelf. He took good care of him. The boy would bring out anything the old man asked for with a single blowing sound from his nose. In a short time the old man became such a rich man that people hardly knew him.
The old man went to town every day to buy the shrimp and prepared the dish for the little boy, but finally that became a bother. He said to Little Runny-nose Boy that there was nothing more that he wanted and asked him to go back to the Dragon Palace and give his regards to Ryūjin. Little Runny-nose Boy went outside without a word, but for some time he could be heard snuffling. In the meantime, the storehouse and the house gradually disappeared and only the former shabby house remained. The terrified old man rushed out to stop the boy, but he could see no sign of him by then.
Aomori, Hachinohe: MK II 7 42, 43, “The New Year pine of the Dragon Palace” (Ryūgū no kadomatsu) and “Giri flew off” (Giri ga tonda hanashi).
Iwate: Esashi 13, 23, “The beginning of Hyottoko” (Hyottoko no hajimari) and “The Lucky God Untoku who came from the pool” (Fuchi kara agatta Fukushindō Untoko).
Shiwa-gun: Shiwa shū 8, “The Lucky God, Yonegai” (Fuku no kami Yonegai).
Niigata: Minamikanbara 89, “The little boy from the Dragon Palace” (Ryūgū Dōji).
Kumamoto, Tamana-gun: TD II 7 20, “Little Runny-nose Boy” (Hanatare kozō sama). Example; MK I 5 35, “Little Runny-nose Boy” (Hanatare kozō sama).
Kagoshima, Kikaijima: Dai-ni 25, “Ryūjin and the flower pedlar” (Ryūjin to hana uri); Kikai 3, “Ryūjin and the flower pedlar” (Ryūjin to hanauri).
Further reference:
Momotarō no tanjō 59.
Mukashibanashi kenkyū I 4 7 and I 5 12.
82. The Golden Puppy
Aichi, Nukata-gun: Aichi 252, “Mafuku Chōja and the green snake” (Mafuku Chōja to aohebi). The origin of Mafuku Chōja at Iwatsumachi. He rescued a little snake and dreamed he would get a little dog. It would be a sea treasure, etc. He cooked three shō of rice every day for the dog, and it disgorged three shō of gold dust. That made the old man a chōja. This may be a recorded tale.
Nagasaki, Ikinoshima: Dai-ichi 81, “The turtle that disgorged gold” (Kin o hiru kame).
Kagoshima, Kikaijima: Shima II 440, “The dog that disgorged gold” (Kane o hiru inu).
83. The Boy Magician
Nagano, Shimoina-gun, Yamamoto-mura: Fukihara No. 3 49, In “Folk tales of Yamamoto-mura, Shimoina” by Inoue Masafumi. A little boy called Abe-no-dōji was the child of a fox. He was led to the Dragon Palace for saving a tortoise. He brought back treasures called tora-no-maki and ryūsengen. When he wore the tora-no-maki next to his skin, he could not feel heat or cold. When he put on the ryūsengen, he could understand what the birds said. He went to Kyoto to make his fortune because of what he heard. He went through the streets calling, “I pity those who do not know there will suddenly be a great calamity.” Soon he was called the boy magician. He cured the emperor’s illness.
84. The Visit to the Dragon Palace
Aomori, Hachinohe: MK II 7 42, “The visit to the Dragon Palace” (Ryūgū iri). A man called Zensuke at Sotogahama rescued a flatfish. A tortoise came to meet him and took him to visit the city in the sea. He received a box which he was not to open, but opened it and turned into an old man just as Urashimatarō did.
Iwate, Kamihei-gun: Kikimimi 463, “The instructions of Ryūjin” (Ryūjin no denju). He cured illnesses with the jar of sacred water Ryūjin gave him. When the jar was broken by mistake, plants grew where the water spilled. They were called mugwort. It reminds one of “The water of youth” and other such humorous stories.
85. The Magic Mallet
This belongs to the same group as “The little boy from the Dragon Palace.”
After an old man threw his pine boughs for New year into the river a messenger from the Dragon Palace appeared and took him to the Dragon Palace. He enjoyed all kinds of feasts there. He was given a magic mallet when he started home. He was told that anything he wanted would come out of it. He tried striking it and ordering rice [“kome”]. Lots of it came out. He asked for a storehouse [“kura”] next and got storehouses to put rice into. His neighbor was envious and inquired how it happened. He borrowed the mallet. He wanted to get a lot of storehouses at one time and said “komekura, komekura” as he shook it. Out came many little blind men [“ko-mekura”]. They chased him and killed him.
Aomori, Hachinohe: MK II 7 45, “The little blind men” (Komekura hōshi).
Hiroshima: Geibi 70, “Jizō Jōdo.” When he shook the mallet and said, “Komekura come out,” blind children came out and said, “We want rice, old man. We want cakes, old woman.” This is a child’s idea of the blind, and it is turned into a children’s story.
Okayama: Okayama bun II 6 32, “Komekura.”
Kumamoto, Amakusa: Kyōdo ken V 6 37, “The mudsnail man” (Tamina otoko).
Yatsushiro-gun: Dai-ichi 77, “Rice storehouses, little blind men” (Kome-kura, ko-mekura). Example. If one considers that the narrator was a blind hōshi, the play on words is more amusing.
86. The Handmill that Ground out Salt
Once there were two brothers at a certain place. The older was a sympathetic, good man, but the younger was a greedy gambler.
One year when a famine came, the older man gradually spent all his savings to help villagers around him until he became poor. While he was troubled one day because he had nothing to eat, a white-haired old man came and said that since he had been doing what he could for the villagers, he had brought something good for him. He gave him a handmill that would grind out anything he wanted and then he left. The older brother said for rice to come out or money to come out, it would come out when he turned the mill. He divided it all with the poor people around him. His brother heard about the strange handmill and wanted to get possession of it. He invited his brother to bring it along and took him with it into a boat. Then he rowed out to sea. There he killed his brother. The younger man was short of salt and asked for it as he turned the mill, but he did not know how to stop the mill. Finally, he sank with it to the bottom of the sea.
The reason the sea is salty is that the little handmill is still grinding.
Iwate, Kamihei-gun: Rōō 293, “The handmill that ground out salt” (Shiofuki usu). It tells of meeting Little People and trading a wheat manju for a handmill. There is an element of “Issun Bōshi.”
Fukushima, Iwaki-gun: Iwaki 169, “Why the sea is salty” (Umi no mizu no shoppai wake).
Okayama: Mitsu 171, “The handmill that ground out salt” (Shiofuki usu).
Tokushima, Mima-gun: Awa Iyayama 87, “The stone handmill in the sea” (Kaichu no ishiusu). Example.
Further reference:
Mukashibanashi kenkyū I 9 21, Chinese stories. Good and bad brothers are taught by a mountain god. They receive a handmill from a little spirit. It is stolen by a thief, etc.
Chōsen mintan shū 30, “Why the sea is salty” (Kaisui no shiokarai riyū). Stealing a treasure mill. It does not say how it was obtained. The first part is dropped.
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