Week 6 Reading Diary, continued: Japanese Fairy Tales

The continuation of Japanese Fairy Tales.


Schippeitaro

• It is custom that when a Japanese boy reaches manhood, he would leave the house.
• A young man set off from his village, determined to never come back until he had done some great deed that would make him famous.
• He finally saw a mountain covered with a dense forest, thinking that there would be a high chance for adventure, he headed towards it. He got lost and couldn't get out.
• He found a chapel and took shelter there for the night. 
• There suddenly was a loud noise that woke him up.
• He went to look and saw a troop of hideous cats, dancing furiously. At midnight, they all vanished.
• It's weird that the creatures come on time every night for the next few nights to come.

The Crab and the Monkey

• There's a crab that lives in the hole on the shady side of a mountain.
• She was carrying rice back when a monkey came down and bargained with the crab. 
• The monkey came by another day and ate most of the good fruit. The crab asked him to do somersaults and when he did the fruits fell out of his pockets.
• The monkey got what he deserved.

The Magic Kettle

• An old man live in his little house on the mountain.
• He was just standing there one day when he turned around and saw a kettle. He took it and cleaned it.
• He boiled some water and while he was watching, the kettle changed into a tanuki.
• He sold it to Jimmu, a tradesman. When he got home, the kettle once again turned into a tanuki. When he told his neighbor, he recommended Jimmu take it around and show it off, he could be rich. 
• After a while, he grew rich. He felt guilty, so he returned the kettle to the man with gold pieces in it. The kettle brought them both luck.

How the Wicked Tanuki was Punished

• The hunters had killed all wild animals until only 3 remained. They hid in the thickest part of the forest, high up in the mountain. They were tanuki, his wife the fox, and their little son.
• They were wise and cautious animals. 
• They were starving when the tanuki came up with the idea to play dead while his wife transformed into a man and sold him. 
• He managed to escape from the buyer. They were starved again, and this time it's the foxes turn.
• While bargaining, since fox's skin don't sell as well, the tanuki had a thought --that he and his son would have more food if the fox were gone. He told the buyer that the fox wasn't really dead. The man hit the fox in the head.
• The little tanuki waits for his mother to return. He knows magic from the fox.
• He challenged his father. He went to the middle of the bridge. A king came by, and the father, thinking it's his son, didn't hide. 
• The soldiers thought the king was in danger and seized the tanuki. 
• The little tanuki avenged his mother.

The Slaying of the Tanuki

• A man and his wife lived in a cottage. He made friends with a hare.
• The tanuki hated the man. The tanuki would cause a lot of trouble. The man got mad.
• The man waited for the tanuki and finally one day had him bound by the legs. 
• The old woman pitied him. The tanuki got free.
• How gruesome! The tanuki put the woman in the mortar and pounded until she was fine, and planned to cook her and feed her to her husband!!
• The man was on the way back. The tanuki transformed to a woman and put the clothes on.
• When the man had eaten half the meal, he turned back. He told the man he ate his wife.
• The old man and the hare worked together to kill the tanuki.

The turtle bringing Uraschimataro to the sea god (source: Google)

Uraschimataro and the Turtle

• An old couple lived by the coast. They had a son, Uraschimataro, which means son of the island.
• He was daring and brave. 
• He caught a little turtle one day. He let it go back to sea. 
• Years went by and he saw the turtle again. To pay his debt, the turtle asked Uraschimataro to climb on his back and bring him back to land.
• The turtle brought him to the sea god instead. The princess begged him to stay and he did. 
• He really wanted to see his parents one day. The princess was convinced he would never come back. 
• Uraschimataro said he would return. There is one way to bring him back safely, and he said he'd do it. 
• The princess went to get a tiny golden box from her shelf, telling Uraschimataro to keep it and never open it. If he can do this, the turtle will bring him back. 
• He arrived back and realized everything has changed. Three hundred years have passed by. His parents died the day he disappeared. 
• He opened the box. Purple vapour came out. He realized his hand grew old, and saw his face as a mummy. 
• No one recognized him when he went back to the village. He went to the shore and called to the turtle, but it never came.