This was the song of the kago men.
About nightfall they came to the house of Hasunuma the samurai.
“Go you in, my dear lord,” said the Lady of the South Wind. “I will wait without; if my father is very wroth with you, only show him the golden comb.” And with that she took it from her hair and gave it him. Smooth and warm it lay in his hand. Then Konojo went into the house.
“Welcome, welcome home, Konojo, son of Saito!” cried Hasunuma. “How has it fared with your knightly adventure?”
“Knightly adventure!” said Konojo, and blushed.
“It is a year since your sudden departure, and we supposed that you had gone upon a quest, or in the expiation of some vow laid upon your soul.”
“Alas, my good lord,” said Konojo, “I have sinned against you and against your house.” And he told Hasunuma what he had done.
When he had made an end of his tale:
“Boy,” said the samurai, “you jest, but your merry jest is ill-timed. Know that my child lies even as one dead. For a year she has neither risen nor spoken nor smiled. She is visited by a heavy sickness and none can heal her.”
“Sir,” said Konojo, “your child, the Lady of the South Wind, waits in a kago without your garden wall. I will fetch her in presently.”
Forth they went together, the young man and the samurai, but they found no kago without the garden wall, no kago-bearers and no lady. Only a broken bough of withered blossom lay upon the ground.
“Indeed, indeed, she was here but now!” cried Konojo. “She gave me her comb—her golden comb. See, my lord, here it is.”
“What comb is this, Konojo? Where got you this comb that was set in a dead maid’s hair, and buried with her beneath the green grass? Where got you the comb of Aiko, the Lady of the Moon, that died for love? Speak, Konojo, son of Saito. This is a strange thing.”
Now whilst Konojo stood amazed, and leaned silent and bewildered against the garden wall, a lady came lightly through the trees. She moved as a wave of the sea, or a cloud of the sky, or the wild bamboo grass in the wind.
“Aiyamé,” cried the samurai, “how are you able to leave your bed?”
The young man said nothing, but fell on his knees beside the garden wall. There the lady came to him and bent so that her hair and her garments overshadowed him, and her eyes held his.
“Lord,” she said, “I am the spirit of Aiko your love. I went with a broken heart to dwell with the shades of Yomi. The very dead took pity on my tears. I was permitted to return, and for one short year to inhabit the sweet body of my sister. And now my time is come. I go my ways to the grey country. I shall be the happiest soul in Yomi—I have known you, beloved. Now take me in your arms, for I grow very faint.”
With that she sank to the ground, and Konojo put his arms about her and laid her head against his heart. His tears fell upon her forehead.
“Promise me,” she said, “that you will take to wife Aiyamé, my sister, the Lady of the South Wind.”
“Ah,” he cried, “my lady and my love!”
“Promise, promise,” she said.
Then he promised.
After a little she stirred in his arms.
“What is it?” he said.
So soft her voice that it did not break the silence but floated upon it.
“The comb,” she murmured, “the golden comb.”
And Konojo set it in her hair.
A burden, pale but breathing, Konojo carried into the house of Hasunuma and laid upon the white mats and silken cushions. And after three hours a young maid sat up and rubbed her sleepy eyes. She was brown and quick and light and laughing. Her hair was tumbled about her rosy cheeks, unconfined by any braid or comb. She stared first at her father, and then at the young man that was in her bower. She smiled, then flushed, and put her little hands before her face.
“Greeting, O Lady of the South Wind,” said Konojo.
Once upon a time the jelly-fish was a very handsome fellow. His form was beautiful, and round as the full moon. He had glittering scales and fins and a tail as other fishes have, but he had more than these. He had little feet as well, so that he could walk upon the land as well as swim in the sea. He was merry and he was gay, he was beloved and trusted of the Dragon King. In spite of all this, his grandmother always said he would come to a bad end, because he would not mind his books at school. She was right. It all came about in this wise.
The Dragon King was but lately wed when the young Lady Dragon his wife fell very sick. She took to her bed and stayed there, and wise folk in Dragonland shook their heads and said her last day was at hand. Doctors came from far and near, and they dosed her and they bled her, but no good at all could they do her, the poor young thing, nor recover her of her sickness.
The Dragon King was beside himself.
“Heart’s Desire,” he said to his pale bride, “I would give my life for you.”
“Little good would it do me,” she answered. “Howbeit, if you will fetch me a monkey’s liver I will eat it and live.”
“A monkey’s liver!” cried the Dragon King. “A monkey’s liver! You talk wildly, O light of mine eyes. How shall I find a monkey’s liver? Know you not, sweet one, that monkeys dwell in the trees of the forest, whilst we are in the deep sea?”
Tears ran down the Dragon Queen’s lovely countenance.
“If I do not have the monkey’s liver, I shall die,” she said.
Then the Dragon went forth and called to him the jelly-fish.
“The Queen must have a monkey’s liver,” he said, “to cure her of her sickness.”
“What will she do with the monkey’s liver?” asked the jelly-fish.
“Why, she will eat it,” said the Dragon King.
“Oh!” said the jelly-fish.
“Now,” said the King, “you must go and fetch me a live monkey. I have heard that they dwell in the tall trees of the forest. Therefore swim quickly, O jelly-fish, and bring a monkey with you back again.”
“How will I get the monkey to come back with me?” said the jelly-fish.
“Tell him of all the beauties and pleasures of Dragonland. Tell him he will be happy here and that he may play with mermaids all the day long.”
“Well,” said the jelly-fish, “I’ll tell him that.”
Off set the jelly-fish; and he swam and he swam, till at last he reached the shore where grew the tall trees of the forest. And, sure enough, there was a monkey sitting in the branches of a persimmon tree, eating persimmons.
“The very thing,” said the jelly-fish to himself; “I’m in luck.”
“Noble monkey,” he said, “will you come to Dragonland with me?”
“How should I get there?” said the monkey.
“Only sit on my back,” said the jelly-fish, “and I’ll take you there; you’ll have no trouble at all.”
“Why should I go there, after all?” said the monkey. “I am very well off as I am.”
“Ah,” said the jelly-fish, “it’s plain that you know little of all the beauties and pleasures of Dragonland. There you will be happy as the day is long. You will win great riches and honour. Besides, you may play with the mermaids from morn till eve.”
“I’ll come,” said the monkey.
And he slipped down from the persimmon tree and jumped on the jelly-fish’s back.
When the two of them were about half-way over to Dragonland, the jelly-fish laughed.
“Now, jelly-fish, why do you laugh?”
“I laugh for joy,” said the jelly-fish. “When you come to Dragonland, my master, the Dragon King, will get your liver, and give it to my mistress the Dragon Queen to eat, and then she will recover from her sickness.”
“My liver?” said the monkey.
“Why, of course,” said the jelly-fish.
“Alas and alack,” cried the monkey, “I’m grieved indeed, but if it’s my liver you’re wanting I haven’t it with me. To tell you the truth, it weighs pretty heavy, so I just took it out and hung it upon a branch of that persimmon tree where you found me. Quick, quick, let’s go back for it.”
Back they went, and the monkey was up in the persimmon tree in a twinkling.
“Mercy me, I don’t see it at all,” he said. “Where can I have mislaid it? I should not be surprised if some rascal has stolen it,” he said.
Now if the jelly-fish had minded his books at school, would he have been hoodwinked by the monkey? You may believe not. But his grandmother always said he would come to a bad end.
“I shall be some time finding it,” said the monkey. “You’d best be getting home to Dragonland. The King would be loath for you to be out after dark. You can call for me another day. Sayonara.”
The monkey and the jelly-fish parted on the best of terms.
The minute the Dragon King set eyes on the jelly-fish, “Where’s the monkey?” he said.
“I’m to call for him another day,” said the jelly-fish. And he told all the tale.
The Dragon King flew into a towering rage. He called his executioners and bid them beat the jelly-fish.
“Break every bone in his body,” he cried; “beat him to a jelly.”
Alas for the sad fate of the jelly-fish! Jelly he remains to this very day.
As for the young Dragon Queen, she was fain to laugh when she heard the story.
“If I can’t have a monkey’s liver I must needs do without it,” she said. “Give me my best brocade gown and I will get up, for I feel a good deal better.”
Urashima was a fisherman of the Inland Sea.
Every night he plied his trade. He caught fishes both great and small, being upon the sea through the long hours of darkness. Thus he made his living.
Upon a certain night the moon shone brightly, making plain the paths of the sea. And Urashima kneeled in his boat and dabbled his right hand in the green water. Low he leaned, till his hair lay spread upon the waves, and he paid no heed to his boat that listed or to his trailing fishing-net. He drifted in his boat till he came to a haunted place. And he was neither waking nor sleeping, for the moon made him mad.
Then the Daughter of the Deep Sea arose, and she took the fisherman in her arms, and sank with him, down, down, to her cold sea cave. She laid him upon a sandy bed, and long did she look upon him. She cast her sea spell upon him, and sang her sea songs to him and held his eyes with hers.
He said, “Who are you, lady?”
She told him, “The Daughter of the Deep Sea.”
“Let me go home,” he said; “my little children wait and are tired.”
“Nay, rather stay with me,” she said:
“Ah, now,” said the fisherman, “let be, for the dear gods’ sake.... I would go to mine own.”
But she said again:
“Let me go home,” said Urashima; “my little children wait and are tired.”
But she said:
“Ah, now,” said the fisherman, “let be, for the dear gods’ sake.... I would go to mine own.”
“Stay with me this one night.”
“Nay, not one.”
Then the Daughter of the Deep Sea wept, and Urashima saw her tears.
“I will stay with you this one night,” he said.
So after the night was passed, she brought him up to the sand and the seashore.
“Are we near your home?” she said.
He told her, “Within a stone’s throw.”
“Take this,” she said, “in memory of me.” She gave him a casket of mother-of-pearl; it was rainbow-tinted and its clasps were of coral and of jade.
“Do not open it,” she said; “O fisherman, do not open it.” And with that she sank and was no more seen, the Daughter of the Deep Sea.
As for Urashima, he ran beneath the pine trees to come to his dear home. And as he went he laughed for joy. And he tossed up the casket to catch the sun.
“Ah, me,” he said, “the sweet scent of the pines!” So he went calling to his children with a call that he had taught them, like a sea-bird’s note. Soon he said, “Are they yet asleep? It is strange they do not answer me.”
Now when he came to his house he found four lonely walls, moss-grown. Nightshade flourished on the threshold, death lilies by the hearth, dianthus and lady fern. No living soul was there.
“Now what is this?” cried Urashima. “Have I lost my wits? Have I left my eyes in the deep sea?”
He sat down upon the grassy floor and thought long. “The dear gods help me!” he said. “Where is my wife, and where are my little children?”
He went to the village, where he knew the stones in the way, and every tiled and tilted eave was to him most familiar; and here he found folk walking to and fro, going upon their business. But they were all strange to him.
“Good morrow,” they said, “good morrow, wayfarer. Do you tarry in our town?”
He saw children at their play, and often he put his hand beneath their chins to turn their faces up. Alas! he did it all in vain.
“Where are my little children,” he said, “O Lady Kwannon the Merciful? Peradventure the gods know the meaning of all this; it is too much for me.”
When sunset came, his heart was heavy as stone, and he went and stood at the parting of the ways outside the town. As men passed by he pulled them by the sleeve:
“Friend,” he said, “I ask your pardon, did you know a fisherman of this place called Urashima?”
And the men that passed by answered him, “We never heard of such an one.”
There passed by the peasant people from the mountains. Some went a-foot, some rode on patient pack-horses. They went singing their country songs, and they carried baskets of wild strawberries or sheaves of lilies bound upon their backs. And the lilies nodded as they went. Pilgrims passed by, all clad in white, with staves and rice-straw hats, sandals fast bound and gourds of water. Swiftly they went, softly they went, thinking of holy things. And lords and ladies passed by, in brave attire and great array, borne in their gilded kago. The night fell.
“I lose sweet hope,” said Urashima.
But there passed by an old, old man.
“Oh, old, old man,” cried the fisherman, “you have seen many days; know you ought of Urashima? In this place was he born and bred.”
Then the old man said, “There was one of that name, but, sir, that one was drowned long years ago. My grandfather could scarce remember him in the time that I was a little boy. Good stranger, it was many, many years ago.”
Urashima said, “He is dead?”
“No man more dead than he. His sons are dead and their sons are dead. Good even to you, stranger.”
Then Urashima was afraid. But he said, “I must go to the green valley where the dead sleep.” And to the valley he took his way.
He said, “How chill the night wind blows through the grass! The trees shiver and the leaves turn their pale backs to me.”
He said, “Hail, sad moon, that showest me all the quiet graves. Thou art nothing different from the moon of old.”
He said, “Here are my sons’ graves and their sons’ graves. Poor Urashima, there is no man more dead than he. Yet am I lonely among the ghosts....”
“Who will comfort me?” said Urashima.
The night wind sighed and nothing more.
Then he went back to the seashore. “Who will comfort me?” cried Urashima. But the sky was unmoved, and the mountain waves of the sea rolled on.
Urashima said, “There is the casket.” And he took it from his sleeve and opened it. There rose from it a faint white smoke that floated away and out to the far horizon.
“I grow very weary,” said Urashima. In a moment his hair turned as white as snow. He trembled, his body shrank, his eyes grew dim. He that had been so young and lusty swayed and tottered where he stood.
“I am old,” said Urashima.
He made to shut the casket lid, but dropped it, saying, “Nay, the vapour of smoke is gone for ever. What matters it?”
He laid down his length upon the sand and died.
A pedlar journeyed with his pack upon the great high-road which leads to the city of Kioto. He found a child sitting all alone by the wayside.
“Well, my little girl,” he said, “and what make you all alone by the wayside?”
“What do you,” said the child, “with a staff and a pack, and sandals outworn?”
“I am bound for Kioto, and the Mikado’s Palace, to sell my gauds to the ladies of the Court.”
“Ah,” said the child, “take me too.”
“What is your name, my little girl?”
“I have no name.”
“Whence come you?”
“I come from nowhere.”
“You seem to be about seven years old.”
“I have no age.”
“Why are you here?”
“I have been waiting for you.”
“How long have you waited?”
“For more than a hundred years.”
The Pedlar laughed.
“Take me to Kioto,” said the child.
“You may come if you will,” said the Pedlar. So they went their ways together, and in time they came to Kioto and to the Mikado’s Palace. Here the child danced in the august presence of the Son of Heaven. She was as light as the sea-bird upon a wave’s crest. When she had made an end of dancing, the Mikado called her to him.
“Little maid,” he said, “what guerdon shall I give you? Ask!”
“O Divinely Descended,” said the child, “Son of the Gods ... I cannot ask.... I am afraid.”
“Ask without fear,” said the Mikado.
The child murmured, “Let me stay in the bright presence of your Augustness.”
“So be it,” said the Mikado, and he received the child into his household. And he called her Tamamo.
Very speedily she became mistress of every lovely art. She could sing, and she could play upon any instrument of music. She had more skill in painting than any painter in the land; she was a wonder with the needle and a wonder at the loom. The poetry that she made moved men to tears and to laughter. The many thousand characters were child’s play to her, and all the hard philosophies she had at her fingers’ ends. She knew Confucius well enough, the Scriptures of Buddha, and the lore of Cathay. She was called the Exquisite Perfection, the Gold Unalloyed, the Jewel without Flaw.
And the Mikado loved her.
Soon he clean forgot honour and duty and kingly state. Day and night he kept Tamamo by his side. He grew rough and fierce and passionate, so that his servants feared to approach him. He grew sick, listless, and languid, he pined, and his physicians could do nothing for him.
“Alas and alack,” they cried, “what ails the Divinely Descended? Of a surety he is bewitched. Woe! woe! for he will die upon our hands.”
“Out upon them, every one,” cried the Mikado, “for a pack of tedious fools. As for me, I will do my own will and pleasure.”
He was mad for love of Tamamo.
He took her to his Summer Palace, where he prepared a great feast in her honour. To the feast were bidden all the highest of the land, princes and lords and ladies of high estate; and, willy-nilly, to the Summer Palace they all repaired, where was the Mikado, wan and wild, and mad with love, and Tamamo by his side, attired in scarlet and cloth of gold. Radiantly fair she was, and she poured the Mikado’s saké out of a golden flagon.
He looked into her eyes.
“Other women are feeble toys beside you,” he said. “There’s not a woman here that’s fit to touch the end of your sleeve. O Tamamo, how I love you....”
He spoke loudly so that all could hear him, and laughed bitterly when he had spoken.
“My lord ... my lord ...” said Tamamo.
Now as the high company sat and feasted, the sky became overcast with black clouds, and the moon and the stars were hid. Suddenly a fearful wind tore through the Summer Palace and put out every torch in the great Hall of Feasting. And the rain came down in torrents. In the pitchy darkness fear and horror fell upon the assembly. The courtiers ran to and fro in a panic, the air was full of cries, the tables were overturned. The dishes and drinking-vessels crashed together, the saké spilled and soaked into the white mats. Then a radiance was made visible. It came from the place where Tamamo was, and it streamed in long flames of fire from her body.
The Mikado cried aloud in a terrible voice, “Tamamo! Tamamo! Tamamo!” three times. And when he had done this he fell in a deathly swoon upon the ground.
And for many days he was thus, and he seemed either asleep or dead, and no one could recover him from his swoon.
Then the Wise and Holy Men of the land met together, and when they had prayed to the gods, they called to them Abé Yasu, the Diviner. They said:
“O Abé Yasu, learned in dark things, find out for us the cause, and if it may be, the cure, of our Lord’s strange sickness. Perform divination for us, O Abé Yasu.”
Then Abé Yasu performed divination, and he came before the Wise Men and said:
Then the Wise Men said, “Speak out, Abé Yasu, for your saying is dark, and we cannot understand it.”
“I will do more than speak,” said Abé Yasu. And he spent three days in fasting and in prayer. Then he took the sacred Gohei from its place in the Temple, and calling the Wise Men to him he waved the sacred Gohei and with it touched each one of them. And together they went to Tamamo’s bower, and Abé Yasu took the sacred Gohei in his right hand.
Tamamo was in her bower adorning herself, and her maidens were with her.
“My lords,” she said, “you come all unbidden. What would you have with me?”
“My lady Tamamo,” said Abé Yasu the Diviner, “I have made a song after the fashion of the Chinese. You who are learned in poetry, I pray you hear and judge my song.”
“I am in no mood for songs,” she said, “with my dear lord lying sick to death.”
“Nevertheless, my lady Tamamo, this song of mine you needs must hear.”
“Why, then, if I must ...” she said.
When Abé Yasu the Diviner had spoken, he came to Tamamo and he touched her with the sacred Gohei.
She gave a loud and terrible cry, and on the instant her form was changed into that of a great fox having nine long tails and hair like golden wire. The fox fled from Tamamo’s bower, away and away, until it reached the far plain of Nasu, and it hid itself beneath a great black stone that was upon that plain.
But the Mikado was immediately recovered from his sickness.
Soon, strange and terrible things were told concerning the great stone of Nasu. A stream of poisonous water flowed from under it and withered the bright flowers of the plain. All who drank of the stream died, both man and beast. Moreover, nothing could go near the stone and live. The traveller who rested in its shadow arose no more, and the birds that perched upon it fell dead in a moment. People named it the Death Stone, and thus it was called for more than a hundred years.
Then it chanced that Genyo, the High Priest, who was a holy man indeed, took his staff and his begging bowl and went upon a pilgrimage.
When he came to Nasu, the dwellers upon the plain put rice into his bowl.
“O thou Holy Man,” they said, “beware the Death Stone of Nasu. Rest not in its shade.”
But Genyo, the High Priest, having remained a while in thought, made answer thus:
“Know, my children, what is written in the Book of the Good Law: ‘Herbs, trees and rocks shall all enter into Nirvana.’”
With that he took his way to the Death Stone. He burnt incense, he struck the stone with his staff, and he cried, “Come forth, Spirit of the Death Stone; come forth, I conjure thee.”
Then there was a great flame of fire and a rending noise, and the Stone burst and split in sunder. From the stone and from the fire there came a woman.
She stood before the Holy Man. She said:
“Poor Spirit,” said Genyo. “Take my staff and my priestly robe and my begging bowl and set forth upon the long journey of repentance.”
Tamamo took the priestly robe and put it upon her; in one hand she took the staff, in the other the bowl. And when she had done this, she vanished for ever from the sight of earthly men.
“O thou, Tathagatha,” said Genyo, “and thou, Kwannon, Merciful Lady, make it possible that one day even she may attain Nirvana.”
If you’ll believe me there was a time when the fairies were none so shy as they are now. That was the time when beasts talked to men, when there were spells and enchantments and magic every day, when there was great store of hidden treasure to be dug up, and adventures for the asking.
At that time, you must know, an old man and an old woman lived alone by themselves. They were good and they were poor and they had no children at all.
One fine day, “What are you doing this morning, good man?” says the old woman.
“Oh,” says the old man, “I’m off to the mountains with my billhook to gather a faggot of sticks for our fire. And what are you doing, good wife?”
“Oh,” says the old woman, “I’m off to the stream to wash clothes. It’s my washing day,” she adds.
So the old man went to the mountains and the old woman went to the stream.
Now, while she was washing the clothes, what should she see but a fine ripe peach that came floating down the stream? The peach was big enough, and rosy red on both sides.
“I’m in luck this morning,” said the dame, and she pulled the peach to shore with a split bamboo stick.
By-and-by, when her good man came home from the hills, she set the peach before him. “Eat, good man,” she said; “this is a lucky peach I found in the stream and brought home for you.”
But the old man never got a taste of the peach. And why did he not?
All of a sudden the peach burst in two and there was no stone to it, but a fine boy baby where the stone should have been.
“Mercy me!” says the old woman.
“Mercy me!” says the old man.
The boy baby first ate up one half of the peach and then he ate up the other half. When he had done this he was finer and stronger than ever.
“Momotaro! Momotaro!” cries the old man; “the eldest son of the peach.”
“Truth it is indeed,” says the old woman; “he was born in a peach.”
Both of them took such good care of Momotaro that soon he was the stoutest and bravest boy of all that country-side. He was a credit to them, you may believe. The neighbours nodded their heads and they said, “Momotaro is the fine young man!”
“Mother,” says Momotaro one day to the old woman, “make me a good store of kimi-dango” (which is the way that they call millet dumplings in those parts).
“What for do you want kimi-dango?” says his mother.
“Why,” says Momotaro, “I’m going on a journey, or as you may say, an adventure, and I shall be needing the kimi-dango on the way.”
“Where are you going, Momotaro?” says his mother.
“I’m off to the Ogres’ Island,” says Momotaro, “to get their treasure, and I should be obliged if you’d let me have the kimi-dango as soon as may be,” he says.
So they made him the kimi-dango, and he put them in a wallet, and he tied the wallet to his girdle and off he set.
“Sayonara, and good luck to you, Momotaro!” cried the old man and the old woman.
“Sayonara! Sayonara!” cried Momotaro.
He hadn’t gone far when he fell in with a monkey.
“Kia! Kia!” says the monkey. “Where are you off to, Momotaro?”
Says Momotaro, “I’m off to the Ogres’ Island for an adventure.”
“What have you got in the wallet hanging at your girdle?”
“Now you’re asking me something,” says Momotaro; “sure, I’ve some of the best millet dumplings in all Japan.”
“Give me one,” says the monkey, “and I will go with you.”
So Momotaro gave a millet dumpling to the monkey, and the two of them jogged on together. They hadn’t gone far when they fell in with a pheasant.
“Ken! Ken!” said the pheasant. “Where are you off to, Momotaro?”
Says Momotaro, “I’m off to the Ogres’ Island for an adventure.”
“What have you got in your wallet, Momotaro?”
“I’ve got some of the best millet dumplings in all Japan.”
“Give me one,” says the pheasant, “and I will go with you.”
So Momotaro gave a millet dumpling to the pheasant, and the three of them jogged on together.
They hadn’t gone far when they fell in with a dog.
“Bow! Wow! Wow!” says the dog. “Where are you off to, Momotaro?”
Says Momotaro, “I’m off to the Ogres’ Island.”
“What have you got in your wallet, Momotaro?”
“I’ve got some of the best millet dumplings in all Japan.”
“Give me one,” says the dog, “and I will go with you.”
So Momotaro gave a millet dumpling to the dog, and the four of them jogged on together. By-and-by they came to the Ogres’ Island.
“Now, brothers,” says Momotaro, “listen to my plan. The pheasant must fly over the castle gate and peck the Ogres. The monkey must climb over the castle wall and pinch the Ogres. The dog and I will break the bolts and bars. He will bite the Ogres, and I will fight the Ogres.”
Then there was the great battle.
The pheasant flew over the castle gate: “Ken! Ken! Ken!”
Momotaro broke the bolts and bars, and the dog leapt into the castle courtyard. “Bow! Wow! Wow!”
The brave companions fought till sundown and overcame the Ogres. Those that were left alive they took prisoners and bound with cords—a wicked lot they were.
“Now, brothers,” says Momotaro, “bring out the Ogres’ treasure.”
So they did.
The treasure was worth having, indeed. There were magic jewels there, and caps and coats to make you invisible. There was gold and silver, and jade and coral, and amber and tortoise-shell and mother-of-pearl.
“Here’s riches for all,” says Momotaro. “Choose, brothers, and take your fill.”
“Kia! Kia!” says the monkey. “Thanks, my Lord Momotaro.”
“Ken! Ken!” says the pheasant. “Thanks, my Lord Momotaro.”
“Bow! Wow! Wow!” says the dog. “Thanks, my dear Lord Momotaro.”
A long, long time ago there lived in a quiet spot a young man and his wife. They had one child, a little daughter, whom they both loved with all their hearts. I cannot tell you their names, for they have long since been forgotten; but the name of the place where they lived was Matsuyama, in the Province of Echigo.
It happened once, while the little girl was still a baby, that the father was obliged to go to the great city, the capital of Japan, upon some business. It was too far for the mother and her little baby to go, so he set out alone, after bidding them goodbye and promising to bring them home some pretty present.
The mother had never been farther from home than the next village, and she could not help being a little frightened at the thought of her husband taking such a long journey; and yet she was a little proud too, for he was the first man in all that country-side who had been to the big town where the king and his great lords lived, and where there were so many beautiful and curious things to be seen.
At last the time came when she might expect her husband back, so she dressed the baby in its best clothes, and herself put on a pretty blue dress which she knew her husband liked.
You may fancy how glad this good wife was to see him come home safe and sound, and how the little girl clapped her hands, and laughed with delight when she saw the pretty toys her father had brought for her. He had much to tell of all the wonderful things he had seen upon the journey, and in the town itself.
“I have brought you a very pretty thing,” said he to his wife; “it is called a mirror. Look and tell me what you see inside.” He gave to her a plain white wooden box, in which, when she had opened it, she found a round piece of metal. One side was white, like frosted silver, and ornamented with raised figures of birds and flowers; the other was bright as the clearest crystal. Into it the young mother looked with delight and astonishment, for, from its depths was looking at her with parted lips and bright eyes, a smiling happy face.
“What do you see?” again asked the husband, pleased at her astonishment and glad to show that he had learned something while he had been away.
“I see a pretty woman looking at me, and she moves her lips as if she was speaking, and—dear me, how odd, she has on a blue dress just like mine!”
“Why, you silly woman, it is your own face that you see!” said the husband, proud of knowing something that his wife didn’t know. “That round piece of metal is called a mirror. In the town everybody has one, although we have not seen them in this country-place before.”
The wife was charmed with her present, and for a few days could not look into the mirror often enough; for you must remember that as this was the first time she had seen a mirror, so, of course, it was the first time she had ever seen the reflection of her own pretty face. But she considered such a wonderful thing far too precious for everyday use, and soon shut it up in its box again and put it away carefully among her most valued treasures.
Years passed on, and the husband and wife still lived happily. The joy of their life was their little daughter, who grew up the very image of her mother, and who was so dutiful and affectionate that everybody loved her. Mindful of her own little passing vanity on finding herself so lovely, the mother kept the mirror carefully hidden away, fearing that the use of it might breed a spirit of pride in her little girl.
She never spoke of it, and as for the father he had forgotten all about it. So it happened that the daughter grew up as simple as the mother had been, and knew nothing of her own good looks, or of the mirror which would have reflected them.
But by-and-by a terrible misfortune happened to this happy little family. The good, kind mother fell sick; and, although her daughter waited upon her, day and night, with loving care, she got worse and worse, until at last there was no doubt but that she must die.
When she found that she must so soon leave her husband and child, the poor woman felt very sorrowful, grieving for those she was going to leave behind, and most of all for her little daughter.
She called the girl to her and said, “My darling child, you know that I am very sick; soon I must die and leave your dear father and you alone. When I am gone, promise me that you will look into this mirror every night and every morning; there you will see me, and know that I am still watching over you.” With these words she took the mirror from its hiding-place and gave it to her daughter. The child promised, with many tears, and so the mother, seeming now calm and resigned, died a short time after.
Now this obedient and dutiful daughter never forgot her mother’s last request, but each morning and evening took the mirror from its hiding-place, and looked in it long and earnestly. There she saw the bright and smiling vision of her lost mother. Not pale and sickly as in her last days, but the beautiful young mother of long ago. To her at night she told the story of the trials and difficulties of the day; to her in the morning she looked for sympathy and encouragement in whatever might be in store for her.
So day by day she lived as in her mother’s sight, striving still to please her as she had done in her lifetime, and careful always to avoid whatever might pain or grieve her.
Her greatest joy was to be able to look in the mirror and say, “Mother, I have been to-day what you would have me to be.”
Seeing her look into the mirror every night and morning without fail, and seem to hold converse with it, her father at length asked her the reason of her strange behaviour. “Father,” she said, “I look in the mirror every day to see my dear mother and to talk with her.” Then she told him of her mother’s dying wish, and how she had never failed to fulfil it. Touched by so much simplicity, and such faithful, loving obedience, the father shed tears of pity and affection. Nor could he find it in his heart to tell the child that the image she saw in the mirror was but the reflection of her own sweet face, becoming by constant sympathy and association more and more like her dead mother’s day by day.
Once there lived two brothers who were princes in the land.
The elder brother was a hunter. He loved the deep woods and the chase. He went from dawn to dark with his bow and his arrows. Swiftly he could run; he was strong and bright-eyed. The younger brother was a dreamer; his eyes were gentle. From dawn to dark he would sit with his book or with his thoughts. Sweetly could he sing of love, or of war, or of the green fields, and tell stories of the fairies and of the time of the gods.
Upon a fair day of summer the hunter betook himself very early to the woods, as was his wont. But the dreamer took his book in his hand, and, musing, he wandered by the stream’s side, where grew the yellow mimulus.
“It is the fairies’ money,” he said; “it will buy all the joys of fairyland!” So he went on his way, smiling.
And when he had continued for some time, he came to a holy shrine. And there led to the shrine a hundred steps, moss-grown and grey. Beside the steps were guardian lions, carved in stone. Behind the shrine was Fugi, the Mystic Mountain, white and beautiful, and all the lesser hills rose softly up like prayers.
“O peerless Fugi,” said the dreamer, “O passionless wonder mountain! To see thee is to hear sweet music without sound, the blessed harmony of silence.”
Then he climbed the steps, moss-grown and grey. And the lions that were carved in stone rose up and followed him, and they came with him to the inner gates of the shrine and stayed there.
In the shrine there was a hush of noonday. The smoke of incense curled and hung upon the air. Dimly shone the gold and the bronze, the lights and the mystic mirrors.
There was a sound of singing in the shrine, and turning, the dreamer saw a man who stood at his right hand. The man was taller than any child of earth. Moreover, his face shone with the glory of a youth that cannot pass away. He held a year-old child upon his arm and hushed it to sleep, singing a strange melody. When the babe fell asleep he was well pleased, and smiled.
“What babe is that?” said the dreamer.
“O dreamer, it is no babe, but a spirit.”
“Then, my lord, what are you?” said the dreamer.
“I am Jizo, who guards the souls of little children. It is most pitiful to hear their crying when they come to the sandy river-bed, the Sai-no-kawara. O dreamer, they come alone, as needs they must, wailing and wandering, stretching out their pretty hands. They have a task, which is to pile stones for a tower of prayer. But in the night come the Oni to throw down the towers and to scatter all the stones. So the children are made afraid, and their labour is lost.”
“What then, my lord Jizo?” said the dreamer.
“Why, then I come, for the Great One gives me leave. And I call ‘Come hither, wandering souls.’ And they fly to me that I may hide them in my long sleeves. I carry them in my arms and on my breast, where they lie light and cold,—as light and cold as the morning mist upon the mountains.”
When he had spoken, the year-old child stirred and murmured: so he rocked it, and wandered to and fro in the quiet temple court and hushed it as he went.
So the swift moments flew and the noontide passed away.
Presently there came to the shrine a lady most gentle and beautiful. Grey was her robe, and she had silver sandals on her feet. She said, “I am called The Merciful. For mankind’s dear sake, I have refused eternal peace. The Great One has given to me a thousand loving arms, arms of mercy. And my hands are full of gifts. O dreamer, when you dream your dreams you shall see me in my lotus boat when I sail upon the mystic mere.”
“Lady, Lady Kwannon ...” said the dreamer.
Then came one clothed in blue, speaking with a sweet, deep, well-known voice.
“I am Benten, the Goddess of the Sea and the Goddess of Song. My dragons are about me and beneath my feet. See their green scales and their opal eyes. Greeting, O dreamer!”
After her there came a band of blooming boys, laughing and holding out their rosy arms. “We are the Sons of the Sea Goddess,” they said. “Come, dreamer, come to our cool caves.”
The God of Roads came, and his three messengers with him. Three apes were the three messengers. The first ape covered his eyes with his hands, for he could see no evil thing. The second ape covered his ears with his hands, for he could hear no evil thing. The third ape covered his mouth with his hands, for he could speak no evil thing. Then came She, the fearful woman who takes the clothes of the dead who are not able to pay their toll, so that they must stand shivering at the entrance of the mysterious Three Ways. They are unfortunate indeed.
And many and many a vision the dreamer saw in that enchanted shrine.
And dark night fell, with storm and tempest and the sound of rain upon the roof. Yet the dreamer never stirred. Suddenly there was a sound of hurrying feet without. A voice called loud, “My brother, my brother, my brother!...” In sprang the hunter through the golden temple doors.
“Where are you?” he cried, “my brother, my brother!” He had his swinging lantern in his hand and held it high, as he flung his long blown hair back over his shoulder. His face was bright with the rain upon it, his eyes were as keen as an eagle’s.
“O brother ...” said the dreamer, and ran to meet him.
“Now the dear gods be thanked that I have you safe and sound,” said the hunter. “Half the night I have sought you, wandering in the forest and by the stream’s side. I was all to blame for leaving you ... my little brother.” With that, he took his brother’s face between his two warm hands.
But the dreamer sighed, “I have been with the gods all night,” he said, “and I think I see them still. The place is holy.”
Then the hunter flashed his light upon the temple walls, upon the gilding and the bronze.
“I see no gods,” he said.
“What see you, brother?”
“I see a row of stones, broken images, grey, with moss-grown feet.”
“They are grey because they are sad, they are sad because they are forgotten,” said the dreamer.
But the hunter took him by the hand and led him into the night.
The dreamer said, “O brother, how sweet is the scent of the bean fields after the rain.”
“Now bind your sandals on,” said the hunter, “and I’ll run you a race to our home.”
Once upon a time there was an old man who lived all alone. And there was an old woman who lived all alone. The old man was merry and kind and gentle, with a good word and a smile for all the world. The old woman was sour and sad, as cross a patch as could be found in all the country-side. She grumbled and growled for ever, and would not so much as pass the time of day with respectable folk.
The old man had a pet sparrow that he kept as the apple of his eye. The sparrow could talk and sing and dance and do all manner of tricks, and was very good company. So the old man found when he came home from his work at night. There would be the sparrow twittering on the doorstep, and “Welcome home, master,” he would say, his head on one side, as pert and pretty as you please.
One day the old man went off to cut wood in the mountains. The old woman, she stayed at home for it was her washing day. She made some good starch in a bowl and she put it outside her door to cool.
“It will be all ready when I want it,” she said to herself. But that’s just where she made a mistake. The little sparrow flew over the bamboo fence and lighted on the edge of the starch bowl. And he pecked at the starch with his little beak. He pecked and he pecked till all the starch was gone, and a good meal he made, to be sure.
Then out came the old woman for the starch to starch her clothes.
You may believe she was angry. She caught the little sparrow roughly in her hand, and, alas and alack! she took a sharp, sharp scissors and cut his little tongue. Then she let him go.
Away and away flew the little sparrow, over hill and over dale.
“And a good riddance, too!” said the cruel old woman.
When the old man came home from the mountains he found his pet sparrow gone. And before long he knew all the tale. He lost no time, the good old man; he set out at once on foot, calling “Sparrow, sparrow, where are you, my tongue-cut sparrow?”
Over hill and over dale he went, calling “Sparrow, sparrow, where are you, my tongue-cut sparrow?”
At last and at length he came to the sparrow’s house, and the sparrow flew out to greet his master. Then there was a twittering, to be sure. The sparrow called his brothers and sisters and his children and his wife and his mother-in-law and his mother and his grandmother. And they all flew out to do the old man honour. They brought him into the house and they set him down upon mats of silk. Then they spread a great feast; red rice and daikon and fish, and who knows what all besides, and the very best saké to drink. The sparrow waited upon the good old man, and his brothers and sisters and his children and his wife and his mother-in-law and his mother and his grandmother with him.
After supper the sparrow danced, whilst his grandmother played the samisen and the good old man beat time.
It was a merry evening.
At last, “All good things come to an end,” says the old man; “I fear ’tis late and high time I was getting home.”
“Not without a little present,” says the sparrow.
“Ah, sparrow dear,” says the old man, “I’d sooner have yourself than any present.”
But the sparrow shook his head.
Presently they brought in two wicker baskets.
“One of them is heavy,” says the sparrow, “and the other is light. Say, master, will you take the heavy basket or the light?”
“I’m not so young as I once was,” says the good old man. “Thanking you kindly, I’d sooner have the light basket; it will suit me better to carry—that is, if it’s the same to you,” he says.
So he went home with the light basket. When he opened it, wonderful to tell, it was full of gold and silver and tortoise-shell and coral and jade and fine rolls of silk. So the good old man was rich for life.
Now, when the bad old woman heard tell of all this, she tied on her sandals and kilted her skirts and took a stout stick in her hand. Over hill and over dale she went, and took the straight road to the sparrow’s house. There was the sparrow, and there were his brothers and sisters and children and his wife and his mother and his mother-in-law and his grandmother. They were not too pleased to see the bad old woman, but they couldn’t do less than ask her in as she’d come so far. They gave her red rice and white rice and daikon and fish, and who knows what besides, and she gobbled it up in a twinkling, and drank a good cup of saké. Then up she got. “I can’t waste any more time here,” she says, “so you’d best bring out your presents.”
They brought in two wicker baskets.
“One of them is heavy,” says the sparrow, “and the other is light. Say, mistress, will you take the heavy basket or the light?”
“I’ll take the heavy one,” says the old woman, quick as a thought. So she heaved it up on her back and off she set. Sure enough it was as heavy as lead.
When she was gone, Lord! how the sparrows did laugh!
No sooner did she reach home than she undid the cords of the basket.
“Now for the gold and silver,” she said, and smiled—though she hadn’t smiled for a twelve-month. And she lifted up the lid.
“Ai! Ai! Kowai! Obaké da! Obaké!” she screeched.
The basket was full of ugly imps and elves and pixies and demons and devils. Out they came to tease the old woman, to pull her and to poke her, to push her and to pinch her. She had the fine fright of her life, I warrant you.