Reading Notes: Japanese Fairy Tales Part A (Ozaki)

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My Lord Bag of Rice: 

• There was a brave warrior known as Tawara Toda or “My Lord Bag of Rice”
• His true name was Fujiwara Hidesato
• He sailed in search of adventures and he had not gone far before he came to the bridge of Seta-no-Karashi over Lake Biwa
• As soon as he got to the bridge, he saw a huge serpent-dragon in his path 
• It seemed to be sleeping and breathed fire as it slept
• Hidesato snuck over the dragon and as he walked away he heard someone call his name 
• He turned around and saw the dragon was gone and a strange looking man was in its place 
• Hidesato knew that this was no mortal man 
• The man asked him if he would grant a request to him 
• Hidesato said he would if it was in his power but he wanted to know who he was first
• The man told him that he was the Dragon King of the Lake and that he lives in the water under the bridge
• The Dragon King asked Hidesato to kill his mortal enemy who lives in the mountains beyond 
• He tells Hidesato that he and his children live in fear of the centipede who comes to take his children away every night 
• Dragon king tells Hidesato that he has sat on the bridge in Dragon-form hoping a strong man would come along but all ran when they saw him 

My Lord Bag of Rice (cont.): 

• Hidesato felt sorry for the Dragon King and promised to do what he could to help him 
• He asked where the centipede lived and the Dragon king told him that he lives on the mountain Mikami but it came every night at the same time 
• Hidesato followed the king to his home under the bridge 
• He was amazed by its beauty and was surprised at the large feast that was there for him. 
• Suddenly the place began to shake as if an army had been to march 
• Hidesato saw the centipede and tried to calm the Dragon King. 
• He asked the king for his bow and arrows so he could kill the centipede 
• Hidesato noticed that he only had three arrows left 
• He shot at the centipede but the arrow just bounced off of its head 
• He suddenly remembered that human saliva was poisonous to centipedes so he put the arrow in his mouth before racking it and letting it fly 
• This time it hit his head and landed in its brain. The centipede shuddered and fell down dead. 

My Lord Bag of Rice (end): 

• Everyone in the palace was filled with joy 
• Another feast was prepared for Hidesato 
• He was given many gifts from the king who begged him to stay and celebrate for a few days 
• Of those gifts, he was given was a bag of rice, a roll of silk, a cooking pot, and a bell 
• When Hidesate returned home he found that the present was magical. 
• The bag of rice never empties or grew less regardless of how much was made 
• Hidesato became very rich because he never needed to buy rice, silk or firing and was always known as My Lord Bag of Rice since then. 

The Adventures of Kintaro, The Golden Boy:

• There was a brave soldier named Kintoki who fell in love with a beautiful lady and married her 
• He fell into disgrace at Court and was dismissed
• He was so upset that his mind did not survive long and he died, leaving behind a young wife 
• She fled to the Ashigara Mountains after her husband died and had a son who she named Kintaro or the Golden Boy 
• He was very strong and by the time he was 8 he could cut down trees faster than woodcutters
• He made friends with wild animals and they looked to him as their master 
• He was most fond of the monkey, deer, hare, and the bear
• One day Kintaro suggested a wrestling match and told them the winner would get a prize 
• The first up to wrestle was the money and the hare 

The Adventures of Kintaro (cont):

• The hare was able to defeat the monkey in the first round 
• Kintaro gave the hare a rice dumpling as a prize for winning
• The monkey did not think that he had been fairly beaten so he asked Kintaro to let them wrestle again 
• Kintaro agreed and they began to wrestle again
• This time, the monkey was victorious. The next round began again and this time the deer fought the hare
• The deer went down on one knee and the hare was declared the winner 
• Kintaro decided that was enough for the day and they set out to return home 
• They came upon a rushing river and Kintaro use this strength to create a bridge for them to cross

The Adventures of Kintaro (cont): 

• The animals all were amazed at how strong Kintaro was. 
• From a distance, a woodcutter watched Kintaro build the bridge for his animal companions and swore he would find out where he came from and how he was so strong 
• Kintaro did not know it but the woodcutter was following him back home 
• As Kintaro returned home he told his mother of his adventures and suddenly a man appeared and asked if he could join Kintaro the next time he went out with wrestle with his animal friends
• This man was the woodcutter, and he entered their home and told Kintaro to test his strength against him 
• They each tried to best each other and finally, the old man declared it a draw game 

The Adventures of Kintaro (end): 

• The woodcutter tells Kintaro that he is indeed very strong and that by the time he is a grown man he will most likely be the strongest man in all of Japan 
• He tells Kintaro’s mother that he should be a samurai but she disagrees saying that he is uneducated and wild 
• The woodcutter tells her that he is a great general in Japan and he would like to take Kintaro to become a samurai 
• When Kintaro grew up he became the chief of the Four Braves and he was the strongest of them all 
• Over time, he became the greatest hero in his country and he spends the last of his days living happily with his mother in the capital. 

The man Who Did Not Wish to Die: 

• There was a man named Sentaro who inherited a small fortune from his father and spent his time carelessly, without any thoughts of work
• One day the thought of sickness and death came to him and he grew scared of the idea of death 
• He wanted to live until he was five or six hundred years old 
• Sentaro knew that Mount Fuji was rumored to be the home of the Elixir of Life so he set out to find it
• After a few days, he met a hunter and asked him where he could find the hermits who have the Elixir and the hunter told him he didn’t know but that there was a notorious robber who lived in the area 
• This answer irritated Sentaro so he decided to go to the shrine of Jofuku who is worshiped as the patron god of a hermit in the south of Japan 

The Man Who Did Not Wish to Die (cont): 

• When he reached the shrine he prayed for seven days 
• On the seventh day, Jofuku appeared and told Sentaro that his wish was very selfish and warned him of how hard a hermit’s life is 
• Instead of the Elixir, Jofuku sent Sentaro to the country of Perpetual Life where people live forever 
• After he reached it, Sentaro wandered around curiously and decided to look up lodgings at one of the hotels 
• H found a nice proprietor who helped him find a nice home to live in since he was now a resident of the country of Perpetual Life 
• Unlike Sentaro, the people there longed for death because they had lived such long lives and no one ever got sick 
• These people rushed to buy poisons every time they came to the market and had the poisons for every meal. The people were very sad and the rich men would have given all their money and possessions in order to escape the never-ending life 

The Man Who Did Not Wish to Die (end): 

• Sentaro never saw anyone ill after consuming all of the poisonous foods 
• He told himself he would never grow tired of living and he was the only happy man on the island 
• As time past he grew more unhappy after some poor business deals and disagreements with neighbors 
• After a few hundred years he began to grow tired of life and longed to see his old home and wondered if he would be in this country forever 
• He recollected with Jofuku and prayed to be sent back to his homeland 
• As he did this the crane that delivered him to the country reappeared and grew until he could mount it and fly towards his home 
• As he was headed home there was a storm and the crane crumpled and Sentaro plummeted toward the sea 
• All of the sudden he awoke only to find that he had fallen asleep while praying before the shrine 
• A light came toward him and told him of how he was not meant for eternal life and it suggested he return to his home 
• Sentaro took this lesson to heart and returned to his old home where he lived his life and prospered. 

 Story Source: Japanese Fairy Tales by Yei Theodora Ozaki (1908).