Reading Notes: Japanese Fairy Tales Part B (Ozaki)

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The Goblin of Adachigahara: 

• There was a long plain called Adachgahara in Japan 
• Many travelers had disappeared and were never heard from again 
• People told stories of travelers who were lured into the goblin’s cottage and eaten 
• One day a priest came to the plain. He was lost and needed help but he could not find anyone to show him the road or warn him 
• After wandering for some time he came across a cottage. It looked worn down and inside there was an old woman spinning 
• He called to the woman ask asked if he could spend the night. 
• She told him that she did not have the bed or room for a guest but he insisted that he would sleep on the kitchen floor 
• She reluctantly agreed and welcomed him in and went to prepare him some food 

The Goblin of Adachigahara (cont): 

• After the priest ate, he spent some time talking to the old woman 
• She offered to go gather firewood because he was cold but he tried to tell her he would do it
• She refused to let him and told him to stay put and not move or go near the inner room and he told her he would not go and look 
• After some time he grew curious and got up and headed towards the room 
• He changed his mind and quickly returned to his spot 
• More time passed and the woman had still not returned and his curiosity grew 
• He headed to the room and pushed back the door. 
• Inside the room was filled with the bones of dead men and the floor was covered in blood. 
• He grabbed his things and went running from the cottage 
• As he fled he heard the woman calling out to him and asking why he looked into the room 
• He continued to run and she chased after him with a knife 
• He ran until dawn broke and the woman had vanished. He knew he had met the Goblin of Adachigahara and he was glad to leave the haunted plain behind. 

The Ogre of Rashomon: 

• The people in the city of Kyoto were terrified of the ogre who was said to haunt the Gate of Rashomon 
• It was whispered that the ogre was a cannibal and they all lived in fear 
• There was a great warrior named Raiko who was known for killing ogres and was always followed by a band of faithful knights. He lived in the town of Rashomon 
• They all sat at dinner one night and discussed the stories of the horrible cannibal ogre 
• Some of the knights did not believe it to be true because Raiko had killed all of the ogres already
• Some knights wanted to prove that this story was fake and one of them named Watanabe decided to take a piece of paper with all their names on it and place it at the Gate of Rashomon
• As he reached the gate he saw no signs of an ogre. He placed the paper with all of their names on it on the gate and then left 

The Ogre of Rashomon (cont): 

• As Watanabe placed the paper on the gate he saw something behind him 
• He called out to whatever was there and saw the arm of an ogre 
• He drew his sword and cut the arm. The ogre yelled and dashed in front of the warrior
• Watanabe was surprised by how large the ogre was and chased it down as it attempted to flee
• He was unable to catch it so he returned to the gate, collected the arm he cut and returned to the city again
• He showed everyone the arm and people from all over came to see it 
• He had a box made to protect the arm and sealed it closed. He never allowed it out of his sight 
• One night an old woman knocked on his door asking for help 
• A servant answered the door and went to go tell Watanabe of her presence. 
• She claimed to be the nurse who helped raise him and he ordered for her to be let in 

The Ogre of Rashomon (end): 

• She told him that she had heard of what he had done to the ogre and said that he should be highly praised
• She asked if she could see the arm and Watanabe told her he would not show her
• He said ogres are very vengeful creatures and that if he opened the box there was no telling if the ogre would appear to take his arm back 
• The old woman understood his reasoning but still pleaded to claim that she was special because she was his nurse 
• She asked if he believed her to be a spy for the ogre and he told her he did not think so and reluctantly agreed to show her the arm
• As soon as she saw the arm she grabbed it and exclaimed her excitement over getting her arm back 
• Watanabe tried to stop the ogre from fleeing with the arm but he was unable to 
• The ogre was too afraid of Watanabe to ever try to be near him again so it ran and the people of the city were able to live without fear 

The Story of Princess Hase: 

• In the ancient capital of Japan, Nara there lived a State minister named Prince Toyonari Fujiwara and his wife Princess Murasaki
• They wanted a child but years had gone by and they had yet to conceive one 
• They decided to go to the temple of Hase-no-Kwannon and pray and after many years hoping she would come to them in the form of a child 
• They did this for a long time and sure enough, their prayer was answered. A daughter was born and they were very happy. They called her Hase-Hime 
• When she was 5 her mother fell ill and she died. Before she died she told her daughter to be a good girl and to look at her father’s new wife as her true mother 
• Sometime later Prince Toyonari married again and she was a cruel woman to Hase-Hime.  She never was cruel back to her stepmother 
• Hase-Hime learned to play the koto and when she was 12 her father took her to play for the emperor.

The Story of Princess Hase (cont): 

• The emperor wanted Princess Hase to play with her stepmother Princess Terute
• She practiced daily and was very good but her stepmother did not and asked someone to take her place playing with her stepdaughter 
• This made her very jealous that her stepdaughter succeeded at something she did not  
• One day the stepmother ordered some poison and put it in some sweet wine. She gave the wine as a reward to Hase-Hime for playing so well 
• The stepmother was not paying attention and accidentally gave the poisoned drink to her own son instead of Hase-Hime 
• He died soon after drinking and the stepmother was punished by losing her own child and grew to hate her stepdaughter even more 
• When Hase-Hime was 13 she had become the poetess which was very cultivated by women in Japan 
• One rainy season, floods were reported every day and damage was done to the neighborhood. 
• An order was sent to tall the priests telling them to constantly pray for the people 

The Story of Princess Hase (cont): 

• People began to talk about Princess Hase being the most gifted poetess of the day. 
• It is said that long ago a gifted maiden moved Heaven by praying in verse and brought rain that ended the famine and drought 
• The people believed the princess might be able to do the same but this frightened the princess because of how much responsibility that was
• She wrote her poem down and read it aloud 
• The waters ceased roaring and the emperor who will ill recover soon after as well
• He was very pleased and rewarded her with a lieutenant-general ranking
• Her stepmother was very upset by her success and she grew more and more envious 
• When her husband was away, she ordered her servants to take the princess to the Hibari Mountains and kill her there. She was going to make up a story about how she had died 
• The servant who was ordered pretend to be loyal to the stepmother but he knew the princess was innocent 
• He knew he could not return unless he killed her so he built a home in the wild for him and his wife and asked two older people the care for the princess 
• The princess knew that when her dad returned, he would search for her 

The Story of Princess Hase (end): 

• After some time the princess’s dad returned home and was told by his wife that his daughter ran away for fear of being punished for something 
• He kept the matter quiet for fear of scandal but searched everywhere for her 
• One day he decided to gather his men and go hunting in the mountains in order to relieve some worry and stress
• Once he made it to the mountains he noticed a small house near the forest 
• He heard a beautiful voice reading from the home and he went to investigate because he was curious 
• As he neared, he realized this was his missing daughter so be began to call out to her 
• She was excited to see him and she ran to embrace him 
• The servant who took her there came out and told her father of what had happened and why they hid in the mountains 
• He hurried home with his daughter and confronted his wife
• She was afraid of punishment so she ran and was never heard from again 
• The servant was rewarded with a promotion and spent the rest of his days happily devoted to the princess
• The father adopted a son from the court nobles to be his heir and marry his daughter. She lived happily and gave birth to a boy 
• To this day there is a tapestry in one of the Buddhist temples that people claim is the work of the princess 

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