{"collection":"myth-cosmogony","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_73293/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_73293","id":"gutenberg_73293","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/73293","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Mythology, Legends & Folklore","Fairy tales -- Japan","Folklore -- Japan","Tales -- Japan"],"text":"JAPANESE FOLK STORIES AND FAIRY TALES\n\n\n\n\n         [Illustration: JAPANESE FOLK STORIES AND FAIRY TALES]\n\n\n\n\n                         JAPANESE FOLK STORIES\n                                  AND\n                              FAIRY TALES\n\n                                   BY\n                          MARY F. NIXON-ROULET\n\n       AUTHOR OF \u201cWITH A PESSIMIST IN SPAIN,\u201d \u201cOUR LITTLE SPANISH\n            COUSIN,\u201d \u201cOUR LITTLE ALASKAN COUSIN,\u201d ETC., ETC.\n\n                   [Illustration: [Publisher's logo]]\n\n                  NEW YORK \u00b7:\u00b7 CINCINNATI \u00b7:\u00b7 CHICAGO\n                         AMERICAN BOOK COMPANY\n\n\n\n\n                          COPYRIGHT, 1908, BY\n                         AMERICAN BOOK COMPANY\n\n                  ENTERED AT STATIONERS\u2019 HALL, LONDON\n                         COPYRIGHT, 1908, TOKYO\n\n                         JAPANESE FOLK STORIES\n                                W. P. I\n\n\n\n\n                                   TO\n                          DR. ALFRED DE ROULET\n\n\n\n\nCONTENTS\n\n\n                                              Page\n\n  The Choice of the Princess                     9\n\n  The Mirror of the Sun Goddess                 17\n\n  The Sworded Falcon                            22\n\n  The Phantom Cats                              27\n\n  The Sword of the Clustering Clouds of Heaven  35\n\n  The Boastful Bamboo                           40\n\n  The Angel\u2019s Robe                              46\n\n  The Moon and the Cuckoo                       50\n\n  The Hang-The-Money-Up Tree                    54\n\n  The Goddess of Green-growing Things           58\n\n  The Knightly Waste-paper Man                  62\n\n  The Hunter and the Priest                     73\n\n  The Princess Moonbeam                         78\n\n  The Single Lantern of Yamato                  83\n\n  The Soul of the Samurai                       87\n\n  The Dream of the Golden Box                   91\n\n  The Princess of the Sea                       96\n\n  The Firefly of Matsui                        104\n\n  The Mountain Rose                            107\n\n  The Evil One and the Rat                     112\n\n  The Painter of Cats                          115\n\n  The Coming of Benten Sama                    124\n\n  The Waterfall Which Flowed Sak\u00e9              128\n\n  The Boy and the Spirits of Things            133\n\n  The Daughter of a Samurai                    137\n\n  The Fishes of the Boiling Spring             144\n\n  The Inao of the Ainu                         149\n\n  The Goblin Tree                              154\n\n  The Man Who Became a Serpent                 158\n\n  The Laughing Dumpling                        162\n\n  The Sacrifice to Kompira                     173\n\n  The Two Brothers                             177\n\n  The Princess and the Fox Baby                183\n\n\n\n\nTHE CHOICE OF THE PRINCESS\n\n\nA beautiful princess lived in Inaba. She was called the Princess of\nYakami, and was the loveliest princess in all the land. Her skin was\nlike velvet, her hair was dark as night, and her eyes were as bright\nand soft as the stars. She was sweet as well as fair, but willful, and\nwhen they said, \u201cFair Princess, you must marry,\u201d she replied, \u201cThe time\nhas not yet come. I see nowhere in Inaba the man who may be my lord.\u201d\n\nAt this the court was in despair. The Princess would not marry until\nshe was quite ready,--that the counselors knew. They had not counseled\nthe little, pretty, willful princess for nothing. Had the king, her\nfather, lived it might have been different; but he was long since gone,\nand the queen mother could do no more with the princess than could the\nwise men of the kingdom. Early in her life the princess had learned\nthat there was just one thing she could say which no one could answer.\nShe had only to look very sweetly at whoever was trying to persuade her\nto do something, and then, with a dainty little smile, say simply, \u201cBut\nI don\u2019t want to!\u201d\n\nThat was all. No one, not even the wisest of the counselors, had ever\nfound an answer to that. It was a strange state of affairs; for all the\nlittle princesses before had been gentle and sweet, and had done just\nwhat they were told.\n\nThe counselors at length proclaimed that all young men of proper age\nand rank should present themselves for the princess to look at and see\nif she liked any of them well enough to marry.\n\nThe news of this quickly spread everywhere. It was no time at all\nbefore the road to Yakami was seen crowded with youths. There were\nyouths tall and short, fat and thin, handsome and ugly, and each hoped\nhe would be the favored suitor.\n\nAmong others there came eighty-one brothers, each of whom had seen the\npicture of the princess and wished to win her. These brothers were of\nnoble family, but the youngest was the only one who was really noble.\nHe was as brave as Yositum\u00e9! Eighty of the brothers were ugly and\njealous of one another. It seemed as if they could agree upon nothing\nin all the world except treating the youngest meanly. They despised him\nbecause he was so good and gentle, and never rude or quarrelsome.\n\nThe eighty-first brother never complained. He tried to please his\nbrothers; and when he found that he could not, he stayed away from\nthem as far as possible.\n\nWhen, therefore, they went to wait on the princess, he lingered at the\nback of the train; for his brothers scoffed at him and made him carry\ntheir burdens, as if he had been a servant.\n\nThe eighty brothers went proudly ahead. As they toiled up a\nmountain-side they came upon a poor little hare stretched out upon the\ngrass. All his fur had been pulled out and he was ill and wretched.\n\n\u201cLet me tell you what will cure you,\u201d said one of the brothers, with a\nwicked laugh to his companions. \u201cGo down to the sea; bathe yourself in\nthe salt water, and then run to the top of the hill. The Wind God of\nthe hilltop will cure you, and your fur will grow again.\u201d\n\n\u201cThank you, noble prince,\u201d said the hare; and as the eighty brothers\nturned away laughing, he hurried to the sea shore.\n\nAlas! the salt water hurt his tender skin, and the sun and wind burned\nhim so that he cried out with pain.\n\nThe eighty-first brother, trudging along with his brothers\u2019 bundles,\nheard the cry and hurried to see if some one was hurt.\n\n\u201cPoor little fellow!\u201d he said, pityingly. \u201cWhat is the matter?\u201d\n\n\u201cYour voice is kind, your face is kind, and I feel that you have a kind\nheart,\u201d said the hare. \u201cPerhaps you can help me if I tell you my story.\u201d\n\n\u201cI will gladly do so if I can,\u201d said the eighty-first brother.\n\n\u201cI was born in the Isle of Oki,\u201d said the hare. \u201cWhen I grew up I\nlonged to see the world, but I knew not how to reach the mainland.\nAfter a long time, however, I thought of a way. Great numbers of\ncrocodiles were in the habit of coming to the beach to sun themselves.\nOne day I said to them boastfully, \u2018There are more hares in Oki than\ncrocodiles in the sea.\u2019\n\n\u201c\u2018Not so,\u2019 said one of the crocodiles, \u2018there are a great many more\ncrocodiles.\u2019\n\n\u201c\u2018Let us count,\u2019 I answered, \u2018and then both will be satisfied. I can\ncount all of you crocodiles very easily. You have only to form a line\nfrom here to Cape Kita, and let the nose of one be at the tail of\nanother, and I will run lightly across on your backs and count as I go.\nThen we shall know how many crocodiles there are.\u2019\n\n\u201c\u2018But how shall we know about the hares?\u2019 asked a crocodile.\n\n\u201c\u2018Oh, that we can decide later,\u2019 I answered.\n\n\u201cSo they did as I had said. They formed in a line, and I ran across.\nTheir broad backs made a good bridge, but, alas, why did I not know\nenough to hold my tongue? As I jumped from the last crocodile to\nthe bank, I cried, \u2018I have fooled you well! I don\u2019t care how many\ncrocodiles there are. I only used you as a bridge to reach the\nmainland.\u2019 But just as I said this, the last monster grabbed me with\nhis teeth and tore off all my fur.\n\n[Illustration: \u201cGO AND BATHE IN THE FRESH WATER OF THE RIVER\u201d]\n\n\u201c\u2018You deserve to be killed,\u2019 he said. \u2018But I will let you go. In future\ndo not try to deceive creatures bigger than yourself.\u2019\u201d\n\n\u201cIndeed, he was quite right,\u201d said the eighty-first brother. \u201cYou were\nwell paid for being deceitful; but I am very sorry for you.\u201d\n\n\u201cLet me finish my story,\u201d said the hare, hanging his head at this\nrebuke. \u201cAs I lay here, smarting with pain, a train of princes passed\nby. One of them told me to bathe in the sea and run in the wind. I did\nso, and that is what put me in this painful state. Now what can I do,\nfor I can hardly bear my suffering?\u201d\n\n\u201cIt must have been my eighty brothers whom you met,\u201d said the prince.\n\u201cI must try to help you, since they have been so cruel. Go and bathe in\nthe fresh water of the river. Then take pollen from the reeds and rub\nyourself with it. Your skin will heal, and your fur will grow again.\u201d\n\n\u201cThank you, most noble prince,\u201d cried the hare. \u201cYou are as good\nas your eighty brothers are evil. You will find that I am not\nungrateful,\u201d and he hastened to the river.\n\nSoon he felt quite well; and he hurried away, scarcely waiting to bid\nthe prince good-by.\n\nThe eighty-first brother smiled to himself as he thought, \u201cHe is not so\ngrateful as he pretended.\u201d Then he went on to the court.\n\nThe hare, however, was already there. He had heard the talk about the\nwedding of the princess, and he saw how he could serve the one who had\nbeen kind to him.\n\nOne of the hare\u2019s brothers was a handsome little fellow who had been\ngiven to the princess and who was a great favorite at the court. So the\nhare of Inaba hurried to this brother and told him his story.\n\n\u201cNow, to help my prince to wed your princess,\u201d he said. \u201cTwo such kind\nsouls should dwell together and make the world happier.\u201d\n\n\u201cTrust me,\u201d said his brother, who had grown wise since he came to the\npalace and had learned court ways.\n\nSo when the eighty brothers presented themselves before the princess,\ndressed all in their finest array, she received them scornfully and\nsent them all away.\n\n\u201cYour faces smile,\u201d she said, \u201cbut your hearts are cruel, and I will\nhave none of you.\u201d\n\nBut when the eighty-first brother presented himself before her golden\nthrone, she stretched forth her hand and said, \u201cGood heart and true, I\nwill share my throne with you and you alone!\u201d\n\nThen was the eighty-first brother glad; and all the people rejoiced and\nthe little hare danced merrily on two legs and said, \u201cYou see now, dear\nPrince, that I am not ungrateful; for it is due to me that you are the\nChoice of the Princess.\u201d\n\n\n\n\nTHE MIRROR OF THE SUN GODDESS\n\n\nMany, many years ago, when the gods reigned in high heaven, the country\nof Nippon rose from the waters. Izanagi and Izananu, standing upon the\nfloating bridge of heaven, thrust down a glittering blade. They probed\nthe blue ocean and the drops from the sword\u2019s point hardened and became\nislands; and thus was created the \u201cLand of Many Blades,\u201d the isles of\nNippon.\n\nNow Izanagi and Izananu were the highest of the gods of heaven, and\nthey had two children, Amaterasu and Susanoo. Susanoo was made god of\nthe sea, and his sister was the bright and beautiful sun goddess, whose\nname meant Great Goddess of the Shining Heaven.\n\nShe reigned happily from her bright golden throne for many years, but\nSusanoo, like many other brothers, was a tease, and he made his sister\nvery angry with some of his tricks. She was quite patient with him, as\nelder sisters should be, but at last there came a time when she could\nno longer stand his naughty ways.\n\nAmaterasu sent Susanoo one day upon an errand, for she wished him to\nfind a goddess named Uke-mochi, who lived in the reedy moors. When\nSusanoo found her he was tired and hungry, and so he asked her for\nfood. Uke-mochi took food from her mouth to give him and this made him\nvery angry. \u201cWhy feed me with foul things? You shall not live!\u201d he\ncried; and, drawing his sword, he struck her dead.\n\nWhen he went home and told Amaterasu what he had done, his sister was\nin a great rage and left her brother in total darkness. She fled to the\ncave of Ameno and closed the entrance with a huge rock. Then was all\nthe earth dark, for the sun goddess no longer shed her light upon men.\nSo terrible was it upon earth that at last the other gods met together\nnear the cave, to consult and see what could be done.\n\nThey tried in every way to persuade Amaterasu to come forth, but she\nsulked like a naughty child and would not shine upon them. At last they\nthought of a plan to entice the goddess from her cavern by means of an\nimage of herself. So a mirror was made, very large and fine. It was\nhung upon a tree, just before the door of the cave, and a strong hempen\ncord was put in the hands of a god who hid himself beside the door.\n\nA number of cocks were started to crowing, and the lovely goddess Uzum\u00e9\nbegan to dance to music from a bamboo tube. The gods kept time by\nstriking two pieces of wood together, and one of them played a harp\nmade by placing six of their bows together with the strings upward and\ndrawing grass and rushes across them. Great bonfires were lighted, and\na huge drum was brought for Uzum\u00e9 to dance upon. This she did with so\nmuch spirit and grace that all the gods were delighted. They laughed\nwith joy, clapped their hands, and fairly shook high heaven with their\nmerriment.\n\n[Illustration: \u201cUZUM\u00c9 BEGAN TO DANCE\u201d]\n\nAmaterasu heard the noise and could not understand it. She was annoyed\nbecause the gods seemed to be having such a good time without her.\nShe had thought that they could not possibly get along unless she let\nthe light of her face shine upon them. She was naturally very curious\nto find out what it was all about. So she pushed open the door of her\ncave, just a little bit, and peeped out. There, by the light of the\nbonfires she saw Uzum\u00e9\u2019s graceful dancing, and heard her sing,\n\n   \u201cHito futa miyo\n    Itsu muyu nana\n    Ya koko no tari.\u201d[1]\n\n\u201cWhy does Uzum\u00e9 dance and why do the gods laugh? I thought both heaven\nand earth would be sad without me\u201d, said Amaterasu crossly.\n\n\u201cOh, no,\u201d laughed Uzum\u00e9. \u201cWe rejoice because we have here a deity who\nfar surpasses you in beauty.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhere?\u201d demanded the sun goddess indignantly. \u201cLet me see her!\u201d and as\nshe spoke she caught sight of her own reflection in the mirror.\n\nShe had never seen such a thing before and was greatly astonished. She\nstepped outside her cave to see more plainly this radiant rival, when\nlo! the god who was waiting, seized her and drew her forth, quickly\npassing the rope across the cave door to prevent her return. Thus was\nthe sun goddess restored to earth.\n\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[1] \u201cGods! behold the carven door,\n     Majesty appears! Rejoice!\n     Our hearts are fully satisfied!\u201d\n\n\n\n\nTHE SWORDED FALCON\n\n\nIn the days of the Emperor Koan there lived near Koya a falcon which\nhad wings and a tail of swords. It was far more dreaded than a\nporcupine of even the largest spines, and it used to lie in wait near\nthe village of Koya to carry off people and eat them.\n\nNo one was safe from the ferocious bird. Little people, playing beneath\nthe pines, happy in childish glee, were but tender morsels for the\ncruel bird. Women resting under the long racemes of the woodland\nwistaria, were attacked and dragged screaming to his nest. Even the men\nworking in the rice fields would sometimes hear a cry of agony and see\none of their number suddenly rise into the air in the clutches of the\nmonstrous bird.\n\nThe villagers despaired of ever being able to rid themselves of this\nterrible creature. At last they sent a petition to the Mikado, urging\nhim to send some one to deliver them from the pest.\n\n\u201cBehold!\u201d they cried, \u201cWe, the subjects of Your Majesty, are in much\nfear and danger from this fierce creature, and we beseech you to save\nus, your humble servants.\u201d\n\nThe Mikado sent to their aid the brave Prince Yashimasa; and the Prince\ntarried long in the village, for the bird was very wary and hid from\nsight. When the Prince went out to seek him, the falcon would disguise\nhimself in various shapes. First, he would appear as a woman washing\nclothes beside the river; then he would become a tree growing beside a\nrippling waterfall; and again, he would look like a crane standing on\nthe reedy shore.\n\nIt took so long to find the creature that Prince Yashimasa tarried\nfor months in the house of Atago Shoji, a gentleman of the town. Thus\nit came about that he loved Atago\u2019s daughter, the fair and gentle\nShiragika, and the maiden returned his love. The two walked happily\ntogether in the iris-bordered meadows, and chatted long and cheerfully\nin the shade of the bamboo trees.\n\nOne day Prince Yashimasa found the nest of the falcon upon a hilltop\nand he cried, \u201cAha! my fine fellow! At last I have you! Soon I shall\ndestroy you, and the village will no longer be in dread, but will\nrejoice greatly.\u201d\n\nHe hid himself in a bamboo thicket, armed with his bow and arrows, and\nawaited the coming of the falcon.\n\n[Illustration: \u201cHE SENT HIS ARROW THROUGH ITS CRUEL HEART\u201d]\n\nAt last it came, fierce and terrible. Its eyes gleamed like twin stars,\nits tail spread like forked lightning, its wings of gleaming steel beat\nthe air like flames of fire!\n\n\u201cIt is indeed the sworded falcon,\u201d said Yashimasa, and, aiming\ncarefully, he sent his arrow through its cruel heart. The falcon\ndropped dead, and Yashimasa hurried to the village to tell the news.\n\nThen all the people rejoiced, singing the victor\u2019s praises. \u201cHail to\nthe noble prince!\u201d they cried. \u201cHe has delivered us from the evil claws\nand the cruel beak of this demon-bird! Greatly will our lord the Mikado\nreward him.\u201d\n\nBut Shiragika wept and mourned, for now that her lover\u2019s task was done,\nshe knew that he must return to his home. He must go alone, for it was\nnot fitting that she, a simple village maiden, should go with him to\nthe Emperor\u2019s court.\n\n\u201cYashimasa,\u201d she wept. \u201cFarewell forever. Forget me and be happy!\u201d\n\n\u201cNever!\u201d cried Yashimasa. \u201cAs soon as I have told the Mikado of the\nsuccess of my mission I will return to find you. Never will I forget\nyou;\u201d and he bade her a tender farewell.\n\nShe waited long and looked for his return, but he came not, for the\nMikado sent him on other missions to far lands and he must obey. At\nlast, with her kimono sleeves loaded with stones, she dropped gently\nto sleep in the great river. And as she sank to rest, she sighed,\n\u201cYashimasa! In its death, the sworded falcon pierced my heart!\u201d\n\nWhen Yashimasa heard of her death, he mourned her truly; and when he\ngrew old he returned to Koya and died beside the stream where she had\nperished.\n\n\n\n\nTHE PHANTOM CATS\n\n\nA ruined temple stood in a lonely wood. All about it was a trackless\nforest. The huge trees waved above it, the leaves in the thicket\nwhispered about it, the sun goddess seldom shone upon it with her light.\n\nUguisu,[2] poet of the woods, sang in the plum tree near by. He sang\nthe poet\u2019s song to the plum tree which he loved:\n\n   \u201cSend forth your fragrance upon the eastern winds,\n    Oh flower of the plum tree,\n    Forget not the spring because of the absence of the sun.\u201d\n\nRuined though the temple was, it still held a shrine and hither came\nWakiki Mononofu, a young Samurai.[3] He was a brave young soldier who\nwas seeking his fortune in the wide, wide world. He had lost his way\nand wandered in the forest seeking the path, until at length he came to\nthe little clear space where was the temple. A storm was coming up, and\na palace could not have seemed more welcome to the young warrior.\n\n\u201cHere is all I want,\u201d he said to himself. \u201cHere I shall have a shelter\nfrom the storm god\u2019s wrath, and a place to sleep and dream of glory and\nadventure. What more could be desired?\u201d\n\nThen he wrapped himself in his mantle, curled up in a corner of the\nsacred room, and soon fell asleep. But his slumber did not last long.\nHis pleasant dreams were disturbed by horrid sounds, and waking, he\nsprang to his feet and looked out of the temple door.\n\nThere he saw a troop of monstrous cats which seemed in the weird\nmoonlight like phantoms, marching across the clear space in front of\nthe temple, and dancing a wild dance. As they danced they uttered\nhorrid sounds, yells, and wicked laughs; and through these he could\nhear the words of a strange chant:\n\n   \u201cWhisper not to Shippeitaro\n    That the Phantom Cats are near,\n    Whisper not to Shippeitaro\n    Lest he soon appear.\u201d\n\nWakiki crouched low behind the door; for, brave as he was, there was\nsomething so dreadful in the appearance of the creatures that he did\nnot want them to see him. Soon, however, with a chorus of wild yells,\nthey disappeared as quickly as they had come. Then Wakiki lay down and\nslept again, nor did he waken until the sun goddess peered into the\ntemple and whispered to him that it was morning.\n\n[Illustration: \u201cA TROOP OF MONSTROUS CATS\u201d]\n\nBy the morning light it was easy to find the path which the night\u2019s\nshadows had hidden from him, and being very hungry he started out to\nseek some dwelling. The path led away from the temple, in an opposite\ndirection to that from which he had come the night before. Soon,\nhowever, he came out of the forest and saw a little hamlet surrounded\nby green fields.\n\n\u201cHow fortunate I am,\u201d he cried joyfully. \u201cHere are houses, and so there\nmust be people, and people must have something to eat. If they are kind\nthey will share with me, and I am starving for a bowl of rice.\u201d\n\nHe hurried to the nearest cottage, but as he approached he heard sounds\nof bitter weeping. He went up to the door, and was met by a sweet young\ngirl whose eyes were red with crying. She greeted him kindly, and he\nasked her for food.\n\n\u201cEnter and welcome,\u201d said she. \u201cMy parents are about to be served with\nbreakfast. You shall join them, for no one must pass our door hungry.\u201d\n\nThanking her the young warrior went in and seated himself upon the\nfloor. The parents of the young girl greeted him courteously. A small\ntable was set before him, and on it was placed rice and tea. He ate\nheartily, and, when he had finished eating, rose to go.\n\n\u201cThank you very many times for such a good meal, kind friends,\u201d he said.\n\n\u201cYou have been welcome. Go in peace,\u201d said the master of the house.\n\n\u201cAnd may happiness be yours,\u201d returned the young Samurai.\n\n\u201cHappiness can never again be ours,\u201d said the old man, with a sad face,\nas his daughter left the room. Her mother followed her and from behind\nthe paper partitions of the breakfast room, Wakiki could hear sounds as\nif she were trying to comfort the young girl.\n\n\u201cYou are then in trouble?\u201d he asked, not liking to be inquisitive, and\nyet wishing to show sympathy.\n\n\u201cTerrible trouble,\u201d said the father. \u201cThere is no help! Know, gentle\nSamurai, that there is within the forest a ruined temple. This shrine,\nonce the home of sacred things, is now the abode of horrors too\nterrible for words. Each year a mountain spirit, a demon whom no one\nhas ever seen, demands from us a victim, upon pain of destroying the\nwhole village. The victim is placed in a cage and carried to the temple\njust at sunset. There she is left and no one knows what is her fate,\nfor in the morning not a trace of her remains. It must always be the\nfairest maiden of the village who is offered up and this year, alas, it\nis my daughter\u2019s turn;\u201d and the old man buried his face in his hands\nand groaned.\n\n\u201cI should think this strange thing would make the young girls of your\nvillage far from vain and each would wish to be the ugliest,\u201d said the\nyoung warrior. \u201cIt is terrible indeed, but do not despair. I am sure\nI shall find a way to help you.\u201d He paused to think. \u201cTell me, who is\nShippeitaro?\u201d he asked suddenly, as he remembered the scene of the\nnight before.\n\n\u201cShippeitaro is a beautiful dog owned by our lord the prince,\u201d said the\nold man, wondering at the question.\n\n\u201cThat will be just the thing,\u201d cried the Samurai. \u201cKeep your daughter\nclosely at home. Do not allow her out of your sight. Trust me and she\nshall be saved.\u201d\n\nHe hurried away, and having found the castle of the prince, he begged\nthat just for one night Shippeitaro be lent to him.\n\n\u201cUpon condition that you bring him back to me safe and sound,\u201d said the\nprince.\n\n\u201cTo-morrow he shall return in safety,\u201d the young warrior promised.\n\nTaking Shippeitaro with him he returned to the village; and when\nevening came, he placed the dog in the cage which was to have carried\nthe maiden.\n\n\u201cTake him to the ruined temple,\u201d he said to the bearers, and they\nobeyed.\n\nWhen they reached the little shrine they placed the cage on the ground\nand ran away to the village as fast as their legs could carry them.\nThe young warrior laughed softly, saying to himself, \u201cFor once fear is\ngreater than curiosity.\u201d\n\nHe hid himself in the little temple as before, and so quiet was the\nspot that he could scarcely keep awake. Soon he was aroused, however,\nby the same weird chant he had heard the evening before. Through the\ndarkness came the same troop of fearful phantom cats led by a fierce\nTom cat, the largest he had ever seen. As they came, they chanted with\nunearthly screeches,\n\n   \u201cWhisper not to Shippeitaro,\n    That the phantom cats are near,\n    Whisper not to Shippeitaro\n    Lest he soon appear.\u201d\n\nThe song was scarcely ended, when the great Tom cat caught sight of\nthe cage and sprang upon it with a fierce yowl. With one sweep of his\npaw he tore open the lid, when instead of the dainty morsel he had\nexpected, out leaped Shippeitaro! The noble dog sprang upon the beast\nand shook him as a cat shakes a rat, while the other beasts stood\nstill in amazement. Drawing his sword the young warrior dashed to\nShippeitaro\u2019s aid and to such good purpose that in a few moments the\nphantom cats were no more.\n\n\u201cBrave dog!\u201d cried Wakiki. \u201cYou have delivered a whole village by your\ncourage! Let us return and tell the people what has happened, that all\nmen may do you honor.\u201d\n\nPatting the dog on the head he led him back to the village. There in\nterror the maiden awaited his return, but great was her joy when she\nheard of her deliverance.\n\n\u201cOh, sir,\u201d she cried. \u201cI can never thank you! I am the only child of my\nparents, and no one would have been left to care for them had I gone to\nbe the monster\u2019s victim!\u201d\n\n\u201cDo not thank me,\u201d said the young warrior. \u201cI have done little. All the\nthanks of the village are due to the brave Shippeitaro. It was he who\ndestroyed the phantom cats.\u201d\n\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[2] The nightingale.\n\n[3] Japanese word for soldier.\n\n\n\n\nTHE SWORD OF THE CLUSTERING CLOUDS OF HEAVEN\n\n\nIn the olden days the gods dwelt by the isles of the Land of Many\nBlades, and there they used the swords, To-Nigiri and Ya-Nigiri. These\nwere magic blades, but they were not so keen and terrible as the sword\nof the Clustering Clouds of Heaven.\n\nAnd this is the story of that sword:\n\nAmaterasu, the sun goddess, had a superb sword, whose flashing blade\nwas like a gleam of light. This sword she greatly prized, but a\nmalicious dragon stole it away and carried it to his den. The goddess\ncried for aid to Susanoo, her brother, and he pursued the dragon. It\nwas a horrible beast with eight heads and terrible claws, and it roared\nat the god with each of its eight mouths.\n\nSusanoo was a crafty and clever warrior and he knew that he could\nconquer the dragon only by guile. So he gave him soft words and smiles.\n\n\u201cWhat a wonderful warrior you would make, Sir Dragon,\u201d he said. \u201cHad\nyou but a sword you could conquer the world.\u201d\n\n\u201cI am not without a weapon and that a magic one,\u201d haughtily replied the\ngreat beast as he flapped his mighty tail. \u201cBehold!\u201d and as he spoke\nSusanoo saw that the magic sword was concealed beneath the dragon\u2019s\ntail.\n\n\u201cI drink to your health, O Wonderful One!\u201d he cried. \u201cMay you live as\nlong as there is no one mightier.\u201d And he offered him a huge draught of\n_sak\u00e9_.[4]\n\n\u201cThat is wishing that I may live forever,\u201d said the dragon, and he\ndrank off the _sak\u00e9_ at a single gulp.\n\n\u201cYou have said it,\u201d said Susanoo with a deep reverence, and he offered\nhim a second cup for his second head. By the time the dragon had taken\neight cups, one for each of his great yawning mouths, his heads were so\ndizzy that he did not know at all what he was doing, and so he lay down\nto rest under the cliff.\n\nThen Susanoo crept up and quickly struck off one of his heads and then\nanother, and another until only one was left. By that time the dragon\nwas quite wide-awake and very much enraged. He rushed at Susanoo and\nwould have devoured him had not Amaterasu seen her brother\u2019s danger.\nShe sent a gleam of dazzling sunlight into the dragon\u2019s eyes so that he\ncould not see where he was going. Then Susanoo cut off the last head,\nand seizing the magic sword, bore it in triumph to his sister. She\nplaced it in a shrine for safe-keeping and there it remained for many a\nday.\n\nIt was not to rest there always, however, for another hero was to wield\nit, and this was Yamato-Dak\u00e9, son of the Emperor Koan.\n\nA terrible war was being waged with the savages in the eastern part\nof Japan, and Yamato went forth to conquer them, bearing with him the\nSacred Sword. But the savages were not easy to overcome. They laid in\nwait in the bamboo thickets and sent showers of poisoned arrows upon\nYamato\u2019s men, who were sore afraid of them.\n\n\u201cA foe in the dark is as ten,\u201d they cried. \u201cWe are beset by the\neight-headed dragon of Susanoo!\u201d and all of Yamato\u2019s words of cheer and\nencouragement could scarce persuade them to go on to battle.\n\n\u201cHow can we fight what we can not see?\u201d they said.\n\nThe savages were well pleased and determined to destroy the whole army\nat once. They therefore placed a huge ring of brushwood around Yamato\u2019s\narmy and, setting fire to it, they marched away.\n\nBut Yamato prayed to the gods, and, drawing his magic sword, he cut and\nhewed the grass in front of the fire until it drove back the flames.\nThen there came a wind from heaven which fanned the fire until it\nswept back whence it had come and lo! it overtook the savages and burnt\nthem until not one was left.\n\n[Illustration: \u201cYAMATO WENT FORTH TO CONQUER THEM\u201d]\n\nThen Yamato-Dak\u00e9 returned home with great rejoicing and all the people\nmet him with shouts.\n\n\u201cHail to the Chief of the Sword of the Clustering Clouds of Heaven,\u201d\nthey cried. \u201cFor he has rescued us from the savages of the East.\u201d\n\nAnd Yamato hung up the sword at the Holy Shrine of Atsuta, where it\nrests to this day; and the Mikado said, \u201cHenceforth shall it be called\nthe Grass Mower, and it shall be one of the three precious things of\nthe Mikados.\u201d\n\nBut Yamato made answer, \u201cAs the deeds of the gods are greater than the\ndeeds of men, call it not Grass Mower to honor Yamato, but still let it\nbe known ever as the \u2018Sword of the Clustering Clouds of Heaven.\u2019\u201d\n\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[4] A Japanese liquor.\n\n\n\n\nTHE BOASTFUL BAMBOO\n\n\nBeneath the gleaming snows of Fuji lay a great forest. There many giant\ntrees grew, the fir, the pine, the graceful bamboo, and the camellia\ntrees. The balmy azaleas and the crinkled iris bloomed in the shade.\nThe blue heavens were fleecy with snowy clouds, and gentle zephyrs\ncaressed the blossoms and made them bow like worshipers before a shrine.\n\nSide by side there grew two bamboo trees. One of these was tall,\nstrong, and stately; and he reared his haughty head to heaven and bowed\nnot to the North Wind as he passed. The other was a slender bamboo, so\nslight and delicate that it swayed with every breeze, and moaned with\nfright when a storm swept down the wrath of the mountain.\n\nThe children loved the graceful bamboo, and named her Silver Mist; but\nthe big bamboo looked down upon her with scorn.\n\n\u201cYou bend and bow to every breeze. Have you no pride? It is not fitting\nthat a bamboo should show fear. I stand straight and strong and bow to\nno one,\u201d he said.\n\n\u201cYou are going to be of some great use in the world, I am sure,\u201d said\nthe humble bamboo. \u201cI am only fit to trim the houses for the New Year\u2019s\nfeast. But you will become a beam in some great house or, maybe, even\nin a palace.\u201d\n\n\u201cDo not think I shall be only that,\u201d cried the boastful bamboo with a\nscornful laugh. \u201cI am indeed intended for something great. I think I\nshall be chosen for the mast of a mighty ship. Then will the wings of\nthe ship swell with the breeze, and it will fly over the ocean and I\nshall see strange lands and new peoples. All men will behold me and\nwill say, \u2018See the stately bamboo which graces yonder junk!\u2019 As for\nyou, poor timorous one, you are not even brave enough to deck the New\nYear\u2019s feast. You will be used to make mats for people to tread under\nfoot.\u201d\n\nThe slim little bamboo did not answer back. She only bent her head and\ncried bitterly. The flowers felt sorry for her and breathed their soft\nperfume about her to comfort her.\n\nAs the days went by the slim bamboo grew prettier, and the children\nloved her more and more. They played beneath her waving branches, they\nmade flower chains and garlands and hung them from her boughs.\n\n\u201cSee,\u201d they cried in childish glee. \u201cThis is the Lady Silver Mist. Let\nus tie a flower _obi_[5] around her slender waist;\u201d and they bound a\ngirdle of flowers about her.\n\nOne day there came woodmen to the forest, and they chopped down many of\nthe trees, trampling the grass and the flowers under foot. When they\nsaw the big bamboo they said,\n\n\u201cHere is a tall, straight tree. It will do for a mast. We will cut it\nfirst.\u201d\n\n\u201cGood-by,\u201d said the boastful bamboo to the slender one. \u201cI am going to\nsee the world and do great things. Good-by, child, I hope you will not\nbe used to make rain coats. When I am on the bright and beautiful sea I\nshall remember and pity you!\u201d\n\n\u201cGood-by,\u201d sighed his little comrade. \u201cGood fortune go with you.\u201d\n\nThe big bamboo was cut down, and the hillside saw him no more. When,\nhowever, the woodmen came to the little tree, they smiled to see it so\nbeautifully garlanded with flowers and they said, \u201cThis little tree has\nfriends.\u201d\n\nThen the children took courage and ran to the woodcutters and cried,\n\u201cPray do not cut down our tree! In all the forest we love it best. It\nis the Lady Silver Mist and it has been our playmate for many moons.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou must dig it up and bear it away if you wish to save its life,\u201d\nsaid the chief woodman. \u201cWe are sent to this forest to clear it, so\nthat a grand palace may be built upon the hillside where all is so fair\nand beautiful.\u201d\n\n\u201cGladly will we root her up and take her to our home,\u201d answered the\neldest child; and very carefully they dug her up, not destroying even a\nsingle root, for the woodman helped them, so kind was he and of a good\nheart.\n\nThey placed the slim bamboo in a lovely garden beside the sea, and she\ngrew fair and stately and was happy. All around was calm and beautiful.\nThe sea waves lapped the coral strand. By day, the sun shone on the\ntawny sands and turned them to gold; the sky was blue as a turquoise,\nand pearly clouds floated across it like shadowy angel\u2019s wings. By\nnight the moon goddess rose in silvery beauty and bathed the garden in\nlight; it kissed the leaves of the bamboo, until the dew sparkled upon\nthem like diamonds in a setting of silver.\n\nFragrant flowers bloomed at the bamboo\u2019s feet: irises from their meadow\nhome, azaleas, rare lotus lilies, and a fringe of purple wistaria\nwafting its breath in friendship upon her. Here she grew in strength\nand grace. All things were her friends, for she gave to all of her\nsweetness; and to the winds she bowed her head.\n\n\u201cGreat North Wind,\u201d she said gently, \u201chow thou art strong!\u201d And to the\nSouth Wind she said, \u201cHow sweet and kind thou art!\u201d To the flowers she\ngave shade and to the children, who still loved her, companionship.\n\n[Illustration: \u201cTHE GREAT BAMBOO, PROSTRATE UPON THE GROUND\u201d]\n\nOne night she shivered and bowed her head very, very low, for there\ncame a storm from the sea, a storm so fierce and wild as to frighten\nher very soul. The waves of the sea tossed the white foam heavenward;\nthey rose up in giant walls of fury until ships sunk in the troughs\nbetween and were dashed to pieces. The beach was strewn with wrecks,\nand when daylight came, Lady Silver Mist gazed upon the scene. She\nrecognized her old friend, the great bamboo, prostrate upon the ground,\nwhile all around him lay bits of the junk over which he had reared his\nhaughty head.\n\n\u201cAlas! my poor friend!\u201d she cried. \u201cWhat a sad fate is yours! Would\nthat I could aid you.\u201d\n\n\u201cNo one can help me,\u201d he replied with a moan. \u201cWould that I had been\nmade into a common coolie pole with which to push a country junk! Then\nmight I have been useful for many years! No, my heart is broken, Silver\nMist. Farewell.\u201d\n\nHe gave a long shuddering sigh and spoke no more. Soon some men who\ncame to clear up the wreckage, chopped the mast up for firewood; and\nthat was the end of the boastful bamboo.\n\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[5] Sash.\n\n\n\n\nTHE ANGEL\u2019S ROBE\n\n\nOnce an angel bore to earth the soul of a child. She bore it to a\nlittle bamboo house beside a bamboo tree, and there it received a\nloving welcome. Many friends gathered around to greet the little\nnewcomer as soon as they saw the kite[6] fly up from before the house.\nDear little kimonos were given the baby. One was of the finest silk and\nembroidered with the crane and the pine; for these mean long life in\nJapan.\n\nThe angel loved the little child she had brought, and she tarried long\nat the window of the little bamboo house among the trees and flowers.\nShe felt glad that she had brought the little one to such a happy home.\n\nShe had left her robe in the trees; for it had caught there in her\nflight, and she had not waited to remove it. A fisherman passing by,\nsaw the beautiful, floating silk and, loosening it, he said, \u201cThis is a\nvery pretty thing. I have never seen anything like it before. I shall\ntake it to my sweetheart.\u201d\n\nThe angel heard him as she floated through the air, and she cried, \u201cI\npray you, sir, give me back my robe! I may not return to heaven without\nit!\u201d\n\n\u201cDo not return, fair one,\u201d he replied, dazzled by her radiant beauty.\n\u201cStay here upon the earth and delight us all with your grace.\u201d\n\n\u201cNot so, not so,\u201d she cried in fear. \u201cKnow you not that an angel may\nnot stay long on earth and live! Her beauty fades, her soul grows sick\nwithin her, and soon she is no more. Give me my robe and let me return,\nfor I pine for the pearly gates and the golden streets.\u201d\n\n\u201cI will return it if you will dance for me,\u201d said the fisherman; and\nthe angel consented.\n\n\u201cFirst give me my robe that my dance may be more perfect,\u201d she said.\n\n\u201cNo, no, my beauty,\u201d he answered, \u201cfor then you will fly away and I\nshall never see you dance.\u201d\n\n\u201cFie upon you, base mortal! Deceit was born of man; the heavens know it\nnot!\u201d she said in displeasure.\n\nThen the fisherman was much ashamed and gave her the robe; and she\ndanced for him a dance of wonderful grace and beauty, such as mortal\nhad never dreamed of before. He wished to gaze forever at the lovely,\nfloating being. The moonlight shone upon her, bathing her in silvery\nlight, beneath the feathery bamboo, with snow-capped Fuji above the\nclouds, calm and serene.\n\nWhile she danced, visions of heaven came to the fisherman, and when she\nwas wafted from his sight by a snowy cloud, he sank upon the ground\nand, covering his face with his hands, he wept bitterly, as he cried,\n\u201cAlas! alas! Nevermore will things of earth seem fair!\u201d\n\n[Illustration: \u201cSHE WAS WAFTED FROM HIS SIGHT\u201d]\n\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[6] In Japan a kite is always sent up from a house where a little boy\nis born.\n\n\n\n\nTHE MOON AND THE CUCKOO\n\n\nIn the far years of the twelfth century the Lord Mikado was cursed with\na terrible illness. All Nippon prayed to the gods. Men offered all\ntheir richest offerings to appease the wrath of heaven, but it availed\nthem naught. His Majesty grew worse and none of the great men who came\nto him could divine the cause of his trouble.\n\nEvery temple was full of devotees. Each shrine had its worshipers, but\nSorrow was the guest at every door. His Majesty grew worse and worse,\nand every night was stricken with a horrible nightmare.\n\nAt last it was noticed that each evening a dark cloud moved across\nthe heavens and hung over the palace. From it shone two fiery orbs,\ngleaming fiercely. The priests prayed and threatened, but the brooding\ndemon remained. At last a young warrior whose name was Yorimasa came\nforward and said, \u201cLet me slay this horrid beast who, with his black\nbreath and fiery eyes, threatens the life of our beloved emperor. If I\nfail I can but die and my life is the Mikado\u2019s in any case. Let me go!\u201d\n\n[Illustration: \u201cFROM IT SHONE TWO FIERY ORBS, GLEAMING FIERCELY\u201d]\n\n\u201cGo, and the gods go with you!\u201d the priests replied, and Yorimasa went\nforth to conquer or to die.\n\nHe breathed a prayer to the great god Hachiman, his patron, and set a\nheavy arrow in his well-strung bow. Twang, went the bow string, and\nlo! the arrow brought the monster low. It was indeed a fiend, terrible\nenough to have destroyed the emperor, for it had the head of a monkey,\nthe claws of a tiger, the body of a lion, and the tail of a mighty\nserpent.\n\nYorimasa was brave, however, and he made at the beast with his good\nsword. Nine times he plunged it into the ferocious monster\u2019s breast,\nand at last it fell dead.\n\nThe emperor now promptly recovered, and wishing to reward Yorimasa for\nhis bravery, he called him and said: \u201cAt the risk of your own life, you\nhave saved that of your emperor. What will you have in reward?\u201d\n\nYorimasa answered, \u201cMost August One, my life was your own. Why should I\nnot risk it to save that for which all Nippon would be honored to die?\nI claim no reward. In my heart is joy that I have served my emperor.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut I will reward you,\u201d said the Mikado. \u201cFor I should be as just as\nyou are generous. Here is the sword Shichi-no-O (the King of the Wild\nBoars) for since you can wield a sword so nobly, it is fitting that\nyou have a noble sword, my brave Yorimasa. Two things delight the heart\nof brave men, love and duty, woman and warfare. Since you have been\nsuccessful with the one, I will give you success with the other. It has\ncome to my ears that you love Ajama[7] and that she loves you. Take her\nand may you be happy and may your children live and prosper and grow up\nto serve their emperor as their father has served his.\u201d\n\nThen Yorimasa bent low before him and thanked him; and a gentleman of\nthe court composed a verse about Yorimasa, and sang a song to him in\nwhich he compared his rapid rise into favor to the cuckoo\u2019s flight\ntoward the crescent moon. But Yorimasa was as modest as he was brave\nand would not admit that he deserved any special praise. So he answered\nthe poet\u2019s song by singing these lines:\n\n   \u201cLike the cuckoo\n    So high to soar\n    How is it so?\n    Only my bow I bent,\n    That only sent the shaft.\u201d\n\nBut he and Ajama were soon married, and lived happily ever after, in\nthe sunshine of the Mikado\u2019s favor.\n\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[7] Ajama, Flowering Sweet Flag. In Japan all women are named for\nflowers.\n\n\n\n\nTHE HANG-THE-MONEY-UP TREE\n\n\nOnce upon a time, nearly a thousand years ago, a man named\nOnonatakamura offended the Mikado and was sent into exile. His wife\nloved him dearly and wished to go with him, but, though she cried and\nbegged to be allowed to do so, the Mikado would not permit her.\n\nIn her despair at being separated from her beloved husband, she made\nup her mind to go to the Sacred Shrine of Is\u00e9 and pray for him. She\nstole quietly away to the foot of Mt. Hi-yei, but not being used to\nwalking she soon grew weary and sat down to rest under a pine tree.\nIt was a beautiful country that she looked upon. The hillside bloomed\nwith flowers. The pines waved their green branches against the soft\nblue sky, and, serene and lofty, the mountains rose heavenward. A kind\nwind caressed her brow as she sat resting, and the murmur of the trees\nseemed to bring her comfort.\n\nA farmer coming that way, she spoke to him saying, \u201cGood day, kind sir.\nPray tell me how far it is to the temple of Is\u00e9?\u201d\n\n\u201cTwenty days\u2019 journey,\u201d he made answer, being a rude fellow and\nunkind. He wished to annoy her, for he knew well it was not so far.\n\n[Illustration: \u201cI WILL HERE MAKE MY OFFERING\u201d]\n\n\u201cAlas!\u201d she sighed. \u201cI shall never reach that sacred shrine! How then\nshall my dear husband be brought back to me! Surely the gods will hear\nthe prayer of a faithful wife, no matter where she may be. I will here\nmake my offering and my prayers, and the Eternal Kindness will hear.\u201d\n\nThen she hung some coins upon a pine tree, and prayed earnestly that\nthe gods would bless her husband and take her to him.\n\nThe farmer heard her, but his heart was still hard, and when she went\naside to rest he tried to steal the money from the tree. But the gods\nhad heard her prayer, and the tree suddenly turned into a two-headed\nserpent which spit fire at the thief\u2019s approach. The farmer was so\nterribly frightened, that he repented that he had been so unkind; and\nhe took the woman by the hand and led her in safety to the shrine she\nsought.\n\nThen were her prayers answered, for the gods softened the heart of the\nMikado, and when one told him of the devotion of this good wife, he\nsent for her to come to his throne.\n\n\u201cSo faithful a woman should have a reward,\u201d he said. \u201cWhat will you\nthat I bestow upon you?\u201d\n\n\u201cThe return of my husband, Most Revered One,\u201d she answered; and\nstraightway he sent word to Ononatakamura to come back from exile.\n\nOf the pine tree upon which the money had been hung they made a shrine.\nWhoever was ill of any complaint, and prayed there, was made well; and\nwhoever besought there any favor of the gods was sure to receive it in\nabundance. And from that time the place was called the \u201cShrine of the\nHang-the-Money-Up Tree.\u201d\n\n\n\n\nTHE GODDESS OF GREEN-GROWING THINGS\n\n\nAmaterasu, the sun goddess, loved the earth. So long had she shone upon\nit with her gracious light that it was to her as a beloved child and\nshe wished for it all good things. When she found growing from the body\nof Ukimochi, whom Susanoo had slain in wrath, a mulberry tree, and also\na silkworm, rice grains, barley and beans she said to herself,\n\n\u201cBehold, the gods make good to grow out of evil. From death comes life.\nThe slaying of Ukimochi was a deed of wrath, yet from it will come\npeace to the people of the earth.\u201d\n\nShe made barley and beans the seeds of dry places, and rice the seeds\nof moor and fen. Mulberry trees she planted upon the hillsides, and\nupon these she reared silkworms so that the art of silk-weaving might\nbegin.\n\nHaving thus given to the world things of such usefulness and beauty,\nthe sun goddess desired to have them cared for. So she commanded\nSusanoo to send to earth his daughter, Mihashirano. He obeyed and the\ndaughter came down from heaven. But she could find no place to live,\nand therefore wandered for a long time to and fro in Nippon.\n\nOne day a fisherman named Sakino, who lived at Itsuku, one of the isles\nof the sea, was casting his nets near Okanoshima. As he fished he saw\na curious boat with a bright red sail coming towards him. There seemed\nsomething strange about the boat; and Sakino waited until it sailed\nclose to him. Then he beheld upon it the goddess Mihashirano, who spoke\nto him.\n\n\u201cSakino,\u201d she said, \u201clong have I passed to and fro in the Isles of\nMany Blades, and watched by field and moor and hillside to see the\nlife-giving seeds which Amaterasu bestowed upon you. Well nourished\nhave they been and watched so that you have had much rice and barley.\nNow, wherefore have I not a shrine built in my honor, where men may\ncome to bring thanks, and where I may dwell in peace?\n\n\u201cGo thou to the Mikado and request that he build for me a temple at\nMiyajima; then will I protect the Mikado\u2019s land forever and ever.\u201d\n\nSakino hastened to Kioto and revealed all this to the Mikado. At that\ntime there was a great famine in the far provinces of Nippon, and the\nMikado said, \u201cThe goddess is displeased with us, and so this famine has\ncome upon my people. Hasten your return to Itsuku and build there a\ntemple to do her honor. Here is much treasure; go quickly and build.\u201d\n\n[Illustration: \u201cIT FLEW AHEAD OF SAKINO\u2019S BOAT\u201d]\n\nSakino was delighted with this task, and he hurried homeward as fast as\nhe was able. He could not at first decide which would be the best place\nfor the temple, so he sailed around the islands seeking the loveliest\nspot. Then as he sailed a strange thing chanced; for from the very top\nof the mountain flew a huge bird, and it flew ahead of Sakino\u2019s boat\nall the way. This he took as an omen, and he followed the bird closely\nuntil it stopped and hovered over a wooded hillside.\n\n\u201cHere we shall build the temple of Mihashiranohime-o-kami, the gentle\ngoddess of the earth\u2019s fruitfulness. We shall raise a temple to do\nher honor,\u201d he cried. \u201cThe torii shall rise up out of the sea; the\nlight-bearing pillars shall guard the entrance, and men shall come from\nfar and near to see the shrine. Then shall they see how the Goddess of\nGreen-growing Things is honored in the Land of Many Blades.\u201d\n\nThis he did and the goddess dwelt happily in her abode, and there\nwas no more famine in the land; for the shrine of the Goddess of\nGreen-growing Things is to this very day honored in the isles of\nNippon.\n\n\n\n\nTHE KNIGHTLY WASTE-PAPER MAN\n\n\nI\n\nThere was once a young noble who was very poor. He was a Samurai who\nhad offended his lord and so was obliged to leave his own province\nand travel in search of employment. It was very hard for him to find\nanything to do, for neither he nor his fair young wife had been taught\nto work.\n\n\u201cAlas! my bride! White as the lily art thou and tender as the\ncarnation,--to what has thy love for me brought thee!\u201d he cried.\n\nBut Tsuiu caressed him sweetly and said, \u201cI am happy since my lord has\ntaken me with him. The good-luck god will surely hear our prayers and\nwe shall find a fortunate issue.\u201d\n\nThen was the soul of Shindo lightened and he strode along the highway\ngladly, and Tsuiu walked beside him, and the breath of the morning was\nsweet and kind. They walked for many hours and found no rest; but the\nmusic of the grass-larks was sweet and the sun was bright.\n\nBut when the shadows began to fall, and the fireflies to flit among\nthe tall grasses, and the moon to creep slowly above the crest of the\nmountains, the little wife drew closer to Shindo San; for in her terror\nshe saw robbers in every tree and bush.\n\n\u201cBe not afraid, my beloved,\u201d he said, as he drew her within his\nsheltering arms. \u201cSee! here is a pleasant knoll beneath this sendai\ntree. Wrap yourself in my mantle. Pillow your head upon my arm. Then\nmay the god of dreams send you a good-luck dream and may your slumber\nbe sweet. I will watch!\u201d\n\n\u201cI will obey, my lord,\u201d said Tsuiu. She closed her eyes, and, holding\nthe left sleeve of her kimono across her face, she was soon fast asleep.\n\nShindo watched and waited, his hand upon his sword; but he too was\nweary, and soon his eyes closed and his head drooped. He slept and\ndreamed that two huge dragons came out of the West and sought to devour\nthem; and lo! as he cried aloud in terror for the safety of Tsuiu San,\na greater Dragon came out of the East and devoured the first two, and\nhe and his bride escaped.\n\nThen he awoke suddenly and sprang to his feet, putting O Tsuiu San\nbehind him, for robbers were upon him, and there were two. He drew\nhis sword and fought fiercely, but they well-nigh overpowered him. He\nfelt his strength fail. The blood was gushing from a wound in his\narm. Suddenly there appeared upon the scene a ronin who quickly put to\nflight the robbers and saved the life of Shindo.\n\nThen he and O Tsuiu San thanked the ronin very heartily, and finding\nthe morning dawn at hand, and hearing the morning bell from a distant\ntemple, they started on their way.\n\n\u201cTell me first, whence you come and whither you go,\u201d said the ronin.\n\u201cFor I well see that you are of better times, and that misfortune has\nbrought you here.\u201d\n\n\u201cWe are in dire distress,\u201d said the Samurai, \u201cand I have scarce a\n_yen_[8] to buy rice for the breakfast of my wife.\u201d Then he told all\ntheir story to the ronin, who, being of a good heart, was grieved at\ntheir sorrows.\n\n\u201cIt is little that I can do for you myself,\u201d he said, \u201csince I am but\na wanderer with nothing in my sleeves. But come with me and I will\nset you in the way of making a good but simple friend. Yonder are\nthe towers and temples of Yedo,\u201d and he pointed to the roofs of a\ncity gleaming gold in the morning sun. \u201cIn a certain street lives a\ntradesman, a poor fellow, yet of a good heart. He bears the name of\nChohachi. Seek him and tell him I commend you to his kindness. My road\nlies elsewhere. _Sayonara!_\u201d[9]\n\nBidding good-by to the ronin, the two hurried on and finding Chohachi,\nhe took them in and made them welcome. There they remained several\ndays until O Tsuiu San recovered from her fatigue, and Shindo from his\nwound. Then Chohachi spoke.\n\n\u201cHonored One,\u201d he said, \u201cvery welcome are you and yours to the shelter\nof our roof tree, but the rice pot holds not enough for four. Is there\nany way in which you are able to make the pot boil?\u201d\n\n\u201cGood friend,\u201d replied Shindo, \u201cin the house of my fathers the rice pot\never boiled without assistance from me. I know no way.\u201d\n\nChohachi knit his brows.\n\n\u201cCan the Honorable One teach the young men to fence?\u201d\n\n\u201cAlas,\u201d cried Shindo. \u201cI have little skill as a swordsman. I fear I\nknow not enough to teach fencing.\u201d\n\n\u201cCan the Honorable One teach writing?\u201d demanded Chohachi.\n\n\u201cOf that I know even less,\u201d replied his guest, so mournfully that\nChohachi hastened to reassure him. \u201cSome way shall be found to boil the\npot even if we have to hunt the magic paddle of the Oni.\u201d\n\nSo the tradesman thought and thought.\n\n\u201cWhat can this dear fellow do?\u201d he asked himself.\n\n\u201cIt must be something of the easiest for he seems not to have much\nthought for trading. I have it! He shall be a waste-paper man! A boy or\na simpleton could do that!\u201d\n\nSo he purchased a light pole of bamboo with two baskets at the end, and\na pair of bamboo sticks. He called the Samurai \u201cChobei,\u201d for Shindo was\ntoo fine a name for a waste-paper man, and the Samurai was started in\nbusiness.\n\nThe first day Chobei lost himself, and had to pay a man to guide him\nhome. He had bought no waste paper and Chohachi laughed at him, and\nscolded, too, saying,\n\n\u201cCall out! No one will know what you want if you walk about the streets\nin silence like a monk!\u201d\n\nChobei was anxious to do all things right, for it pained him to be\ndepending upon the good trader, and it hurt him still more to think of\nlittle O Tsuiu San sitting all day over her embroidery, trying to earn\na few coins with which to boil the pot.\n\nSo, in order to grow used to the sound of his own voice, he went to an\nopen lot, where there was not a house in sight, and shouted, \u201cWaste\npaper! waste paper!\u201d all day until he was hoarse. The street boys\nthought he was mad, and they laughed at him and threw stones. Then\nhe went home more discouraged than ever, and Chohachi, choked with\nlaughter, explained again patiently,\n\n\u201cSee, good Samurai, go into the back streets; rich people do not sell\nwaste papers. Talk with the women, engage them with pleasant words and\nflattery, and then say, \u2018Perhaps you have some waste paper to sell.\u2019\u201d\n\n[Illustration: \u201cCHOBEI WENT FORTH TO TRY AGAIN\u201d]\n\nSo Chobei went forth to try again, and this time he sought in the\npoorer streets. There young women were washing upon the steps, children\nwere playing upon the pavement, old women were talking in the doorways,\nand to them all Chobei smiled and bowed, \u201cMay the sun goddess smile\nupon you, honorable august Madame,\u201d he would say with his most courtly\nair. \u201cThat you and your honorable family are in good health is my wish.\nIt gives me pleasure to meet you. I am from a far street and I ask the\nhonor of your acquaintance. Have you any waste paper to sell?\u201d\n\nAlthough the good women understood, he might have left unsaid all his\nremarks except the last. But they were pleased with his air, and they\nransacked their houses for waste paper. They called him the \u201cKnightly\nWaste-paper Man,\u201d and soon he had a very good trade and earned many\n_yen_, which Chohachi helped him carefully to spend. Then O Tsuiu San\nand the little daughter whom the gods sent to them, were well cared\nfor.\n\n\nII\n\nOne day the Knightly Waste-paper Man was crying his wares through the\nstreets when he saw a crowd about a man who had fallen by the way.\n\n\u201c\u2019Tis but a starving beggar,\u201d said one. But Chobei had learned much\nin the days when he had walked the streets without a _sen_[10] in his\nsleeves, and his heart was tender. He hurried to the beggar\u2019s aid and\nto his surprise found that he was no other than Bun-yemon, the ronin\nwho had helped him to escape from his home, when his lord was angry so\nlong ago. He caused him to be taken up and carried home.\n\nThat night Chobei talked long with Tsuiu.\n\n\u201cGratitude is a sacred duty,\u201d he said. \u201cBut for this ronin perhaps we\nshould have been murdered, and now that he has reached this low estate,\nit is our place to help him, but how?\u201d O Tsuiu San sighed.\n\n\u201cIn all these years, my lord,\u201d she said, \u201cwe have lived by the favor of\nthe gods, but we have saved nothing. How much should we give Bun-yemon?\u201d\n\n\u201cNot less than twenty-five gold _rio_,[11]\u201d said Chobei. \u201cIt is a\nfortune! There is but one way in which we might obtain it. We might\nsell Iroka.\u201d\n\n\u201cSell my daughter!\u201d cried Tsuiu. \u201cMy lord, my lord!\u201d and she wept\nbitterly. Chobei wept also, but at last he said,\n\n\u201cIt is terrible for me as well as for you, but do you not see that\nthere is no other way?\u201d\n\n\u201cThere is no other way,\u201d said Tsuiu, to whom the will of her lord was\nlaw.\n\nThen they told Iroka all the story and she said,\n\n\u201cHonorable parents, there is no other way. Permit me to be sold, for it\nis an honor for me to become a geisha for the debt of my parents.\u201d\n\nTherefore, with many tears, they sold Iroka and, as she was very\npretty, they obtained for her the sum of five and twenty gold _rio_.\n\nThis Chobei bore to Bun-yemon who refused to take it; but Chobei,\npretending to restore it to his own pocket, slipped it into a lacquered\nbox and departed. After he was gone, the wife of Bun-yemon found the\nmoney, and her husband was very angry with her, that she had not\nwatched more carefully.\n\n\u201cThis good fellow should never have given me the money,\u201d he said. \u201cHe\nis poor--only a waste-paper man. I will not take it for anything. You\nmust carry it back.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut I know not where he lives,\u201d said the wife. \u201cAnd since you have the\nmoney, let me go to the pawnshop and redeem your jeweled sword, that we\nmay sell the sword for a larger sum. Then we can pay back Chobei and\nstill have something for ourselves.\u201d\n\nAfter much coaxing Bun-yemon at last consented to do this and redeemed\nthe sword. But the pawnbroker\u2019s clerk was angry, for he had expected to\nown the sword for the small sum which had been lent Bun-yemon. So he\naccused Bun-yemon of stealing the money and officers came and carried\nhim to prison, setting a watch upon his wife.\n\nShe, however, determined to free her husband. The Machi-Bugyo of Yedo\nwas the most righteous of judges and she went straight to him, escaping\nfrom the watchful eye of the officers when there was a fire in the\nneighborhood and every one was much excited. She found the Machi-Bugyo,\nas he was riding to inspect the firemen, and she knelt in the dust,\ncatching hold of his bridle rein.\n\n\u201cMost noble Machi-Bugyo,\u201d she cried. \u201cHonorably deign to listen. They\nhave taken my husband from me, and they accuse him unjustly. You, who\nare the friend of the poor, save him!\u201d\n\nThe Lord of the city listened, and, being of a good heart, he had\ncompassion upon the wife of Bun-yemon. He ordered the clerk of the\npawnbroker to appear before him, and also Bun-yemon. And Chobei,\nhearing of the trouble, appeared and told that he had given the\ntwenty-five gold _rio_. Bun-yemon was therefore cleared from the charge\nof theft.\n\n\u201cGo in peace,\u201d said the Machi-Bugyo to him. \u201cThe master of the evil\nclerk shall pay a fine of one hundred gold _rio_, because a master\nshould have only honest servants. The wicked clerk shall be put to\ndeath, for he witnessed falsely against an innocent man. The gold shall\nbe given to Bun-yemon who must, with twenty-five _rio_, redeem the\ndaughter of Chobei.\n\n\u201cAs for you, Chobei, you have done well in paying your debt of\ngratitude at so great a cost to yourself; and your daughter is to be\ncommended for her obedience. Take this reward for you both,\u201d and he\ngave him a hundred _yen_. \u201cBe dismissed, for I have spoken.\u201d\n\nThen were all happy, for Iroka was returned to her parents and Chobei\u2019s\nfriend, Chohachi, was rewarded for his kindness of heart.\n\nThe whole matter soon coming to the ears of the Shogun, he commanded\nthe old lord of Chobei to forgive him and restore him to his home. Then\nwas Chobei, whom men again called Shindo, very happy, and he no longer\ncried \u201cWaste Paper!\u201d through the back streets of Yedo. But there he is\nnot forgotten, for when the women gather to gossip they speak of him\nwith smiles, saying ever of him, \u201cIsuzure wo kite mo kokoro wa nishiki\n(coat of rags, heart of brocade).\u201d\n\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[8] Japanese coin equivalent to our dollar.\n\n[9] Good-by.\n\n[10] A Japanese coin equivalent to our cent.\n\n[11] A Japanese ounce.\n\n\n\n\nTHE HUNTER AND THE PRIEST\n\n\nThere was once a hunter who dwelt in the village of Kyoto and sought\nhis game upon the mountain of Atagoyama. He was proud of being so\nmighty a hunter, for he never came empty-handed from the forest; yet at\ntimes he felt ill at ease. This was because he made a daily business of\nkilling, and so he was displeasing to the Buddha.[12]\n\nTo set his conscience at rest, therefore, he often made offerings of\nrice and fruit to a certain holy priest who dwelt in a little shrine\nupon the mountain-side.\n\nThe priest was very good. Studying the sacred books he dwelt in the\nsolitude of the forest. He was so far from the homes of men that he\nwould have fared ill had it not been for the visits of the hunter who\nbrought to him supplies of things to eat.\n\nOne day the hunter came to the temple.\n\n\u201cHonorable one,\u201d he said politely, \u201cI have brought you a bag of rice.\nMay each grain be a prayer for me.\u201d\n\n\u201cGood friend,\u201d said the priest, \u201cI thank you, and in return I will show\nyou a miracle. For many years I have read and studied and reflected\nupon the Holy Books and it may be that I am receiving my reward. Know\nthen, that each night the Buddha comes to me, here at the temple,\nriding upon an elephant. Do you not believe? Then tarry and see.\u201d\n\n[Illustration: \u201cI WILL SHOW YOU A MIRACLE\u201d]\n\nSpeaking respectfully to the priest, the hunter said, \u201cI long to see\nthis wonderful thing.\u201d But in his heart he said to himself, \u201cThis thing\ncan not be true.\u201d\n\nThen he turned to the little temple boy and asked, \u201cHave you seen this\nmarvel?\u201d\n\n\u201cSix times I have seen Fugen Bosatsu and fallen before him,\u201d said the\nboy; and the hunter marveled again.\n\nDark and silent was the night, save for the wind spirit who swept\nthrough the trees, now whispering softly, now moaning as if in pain.\nBehind the clouds the moon hid herself, throwing now and again fitful\ngleams across the little shrine at the door of which knelt the priest\nand his acolyte. Behind them stood the hunter, his heart filled with\nunbelief. No word was spoken and only a quick indrawing of the hunter\u2019s\nbreath betokened his amazement as the vision came.\n\nIn the east arose a star, which grew and grew until the whole\nmountain-side seemed light; and then there appeared a snow-white\nelephant with six huge tusks. Upon his back was a rider, and as the\nfigures neared the temple, the priest and the temple boy threw\nthemselves upon the ground, praying aloud to the Fugen Bosatsu.\n\nBut the hunter had no prayer within his soul. This thing seemed to\nhim not holy but accursed, and, springing in front of the priest, he\nset a shaft, drew his bow to the full, and sent his arrow straight to\nthe heart of the Buddha. Straight to the heart it went, clear to the\nfeathers of the shaft, and lo! a terrible cry rent the air. No longer\nwas there white light over the mountain. All was darkness.\n\n\u201cDemon in human form!\u201d cried the priest. \u201cIs it not enough that you\nspend your vile life destroying God\u2019s creatures upon the earth? To this\nsin, must you add that of destroying Buddha himself?\u201d\n\n\u201cNot so,\u201d replied the hunter. \u201cBe not so rash. Judgment of others is\nfar too great a sin for one so holy as yourself. Listen, and I will\nexplain what I have done. I have not destroyed the Buddha. You have\nbeen deceived. Do you think it is possible that I could see Fugen\nBosatsu? I am a mighty hunter, stained with the blood of living\ncreatures. This is displeasing to the Buddha. Now then, would he reveal\nhimself to me? The boy too is but a lad, and why should he see holy\nvisions? You think because you have read and studied much, and because\nyou are of a pure life and a truthful tongue that the Buddha desires\nto do you honor and reveal to you Fugen Bosatsu. No, good sir, for\nwere this true, you alone could see the vision and it would not be\nvouchsafed to two sinful ones beside.\n\n\u201cIndeed, you saw not Fugen Bosatsu, but something deceiving and false;\nand when the morning comes I will prove to you that I speak the truth.\u201d\n\nSo when the morning broke in golden streams across the mountain-top the\nhunter and the priest looked long and carefully, and they found a spot\nof blood where had stood the vision of the night. Another and another\nthey found, forming a slender trail which led deep into the forest,\nand ever the crimson trail grew larger and larger until at last they\nfound a pool of blood beside the body of a huge badger which lay dead,\npierced by an arrow.\n\n\u201cSee,\u201d said the hunter. \u201cYou have been deceived though you are far\nholier than I. All your study can not teach you what I was taught by\ncommon sense.\u201d\n\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[12] Buddhism does not approve the taking of life.\n\n\n\n\nTHE PRINCESS MOONBEAM\n\n\nA woodman once dwelt with his wife at the edge of the forest, under the\nshadow of the Honorable Mountain. The two were industrious and good,\nbut though they loved each other they were not happy. No children had\ncome to bless them and this the wife mourned deeply.\n\nThe husband pitied her and treated her very kindly, yet still she was\nsad. As she gazed upon the snows of Fujiyama her heart swelled within\nher and she prostrated herself and said, \u201cFuji no Yama, Honorable\nMountain, my heart is heavy because no childish arms encircle my neck,\nno little head nestles in my bosom. From thy eternal purity send some\nlittle white soul to comfort me!\u201d\n\nThe Honorable Mountain spoke not; yet as she prayed, lo, from its\nheights there sparkled and glowed a tiny light. Fitful and gleaming it\nseemed, yet it had a silver radiance as of the moon.\n\nThe woodman\u2019s wife beheld it, and she called to her husband eagerly,\n\u201cCome hither, I pray you. See the strange light which comes from Fuji\nSan. I seem to see a face smiling at me. It is the face of a little\nchild!\u201d\n\nThen her husband smiled at her fancy, but, because he loved her, he\nsaid indulgently, \u201cI will go and see what it is.\u201d\n\n\u201cI thank you, my lord; go quickly!\u201d she replied.\n\nSo, quickly he went to the forest, and as he neared a mountain stream,\nwith Fuji gleaming cold and white in the moonlight, he saw the strange\nlight, which seemed to hover and rest upon the branches of a tall\nbamboo. Hastening thither he found there a moon child, a tiny, fragile,\nfairy thing, more beautiful than any child he had ever seen.\n\n\u201cLittle creature,\u201d he said. \u201cWho are you?\u201d\n\n\u201cMy name is Princess Moonbeam,\u201d she answered sweetly. \u201cMy mother is the\nMoon Lady, and she has sent me to Earth because every Moon Child must\ndo some good thing, else will its silvery light become pale and wan and\nbe of no avail.\u201d\n\n\u201cLittle Princess,\u201d he said eagerly, \u201cthe best of good deeds is to\ncomfort a sad heart. Come home with me and be a child to my wife, who\nweeps for children. Thus will your beams grow bright.\u201d\n\n\u201cI will go with you,\u201d said the little Moonbeam, and, rejoicing greatly,\nhe bore her tenderly to his wife.\n\n\u201cI bring you a treasure,\u201d he said. \u201cThe Moon Lady sends you this beam\nof light to lighten your sad heart.\u201d\n\n[Illustration: \u201cLOVELIER GREW THE MOON CHILD EVERY YEAR\u201d]\n\nThen was his wife much overjoyed and she took the little creature to\nher bosom and cared for her.\n\nLovelier grew the Moon Child every year and much she rejoiced the\nhearts of her foster parents. Her hair was like a golden aureole about\nher face. Her eyes were deep and tender, her cheeks were pale and\ndelicate, and about her there was a subtle and unearthly charm. Every\none loved her, even the emperor\u2019s son, who, hunting in the forest, saw\nher lighting up the humble cottage with her heavenly light. He loved\nher dearly and she loved him, but alas! she could not marry him because\nher life upon the earth could be but twenty years. Then she must return\nto her home in the moon, for so willed her mother the Moon Lady.\n\nAt last the day came when she must go. Her parents wept, and could not\nbe consoled; and her lover, who was now the emperor, could not keep\nher, although he besought High Heaven to spare her.\n\nHer mother caught her up in a silver moonbeam; and all the way to the\nMoon the little Princess wept silvery tears. As the tears fell from her\neyes, lo! they took wings and floated away looking for the form of her\nbeloved, the emperor, who might see her no more.\n\nBut the silver-bright tears are seen to this day floating hither and\nyon about the vales and marshes of fair Nippon. The children chase\nthem with happy cries, and say, \u201cSee the fireflies! How fair they are!\nWhence came they?\u201d\n\nThen their mothers relate to them the legend and say, \u201cThese are the\ntears of the little Princess, flitting to seek her beloved\u201d; and over\nall, calm and eternal, smiles the Honorable Mountain.\n\n\n\n\nTHE SINGLE LANTERN OF YAMATO\n\n\nThere was a poor woman in Yamato who was very good. She prayed daily at\nthe graves of her parents, although she was very old. Daily she placed\nthere some grains of rice, although she was very, very poor. She went\nto the temple whenever she was able, and prayed much. She was kind to\nthe poor and gave always to the hungry, so that often she went hungry\nherself.\n\n\u201cIt is better to be hungry than to grow hard of heart,\u201d she said.\n\nNow they made a grand temple in Yamato and all the people were proud\nand gave to it many _yen_. They gave a lantern of bronze so wonderfully\nfine that all men wondered, for the workmanship was delicate and\nbeautiful. The lantern makers had sat and wrought upon it for days with\nmatchless skill and patience. The stand was large and the light so\nsmall as to seem but a mere glimmer of the light of the world.\n\nMany lanterns were given to the temple and a rich man gave a thousand\nlarge ones.\n\n\u201cAll men shall see that I am of a generous heart,\u201d he said proudly to\nhimself.\n\n[Illustration: \u201cSHE WENT TO THE TEMPLE AND PRAYED MUCH\u201d]\n\nThe poor woman was grieved at heart.\n\n\u201cI have nothing to give,\u201d she said. \u201cThe gods would accept nothing\nthat I have.\u201d She looked carefully over her poor little house, but\nalas! There was nothing any one would buy. She had only the barest\nnecessaries and these much worn and used for many years.\n\nAt last she bethought herself that she still possessed one thing which\nshe might sell. Her hair was yet long and black. It might not bring\nmuch, but it would be worth something.\n\n\u201cI am too old to marry, no one cares how I look,\u201d she said, smiling to\nherself. \u201cI will sell my hair to make a temple offering.\u201d\n\nSo she sold it for a small sum, which happily she found was enough to\nbuy one little temple light. This she joyfully placed upon the shrine.\n\nHow tiny it looked beside the rich man\u2019s great ones! Yet its light\nseemed to her to warm her old heart into fresher life, and she was\nhappy.\n\nThat night there was a great festival in the temple. All the lamps were\nlighted, from the great ones of the rich man to the tiny one which the\npoor woman had placed there with such loving care.\n\nThe whole temple was aglow with light, and all the people praised the\nrich man and said, \u201cHow generous he is! How great!\u201d\n\nBut just as they were praising him and admiring the lights, there\nsprang up a sudden fierce wind. It blew so wild a gust that the\nlight of all the great lanterns of the rich man went out, and all\nwas darkness. Yet not all--for lo! there gleamed through the gloom a\ntiny light, as bright as the light of day. It was the little light of\nthe poor woman, which with its spark seemed to light the whole great\ntemple, and all the people wondered. Then they looked with care to see\nwhence came the little light and when they found it was the gift of so\nhumble a soul they marveled again. But the priest of the temple, who\nwas old and good and very wise, said, \u201cDo not marvel! In the sight of\nthe All Knowing One, the poor gift of a good heart is more worthy than\nall the splendor of the rich and proud.\u201d\n\n\n\n\nTHE SOUL OF THE SAMURAI\n\n\nFar upon a Western headland the pine trees waved their arms to the sea\nand the sea god loved them and dashed his high foaming spray to send\nthem greeting. Giant _torii_[13] rose heavenward, that the Golden Crow,\nthe strange and mystic Hobo Bird, might rest there, in his swift flight\ntoward the sun god.\n\nThe sea flowed restless and proud at the foot of the cliffs and\nthe beach was soft and treacherous, and the sea god yearly claimed\na victim, when the air was heavy with the sweet scent of the wild\npittosporum.\n\nO Nitta San was a great warrior. He fought for Go-Daigo the emperor and\nwas his faithful general. Many a battle he fought and won, though the\nmen of the Hojo Clan were many and strong and fought well. But when he\nreached the headland of the pines, the soul of O Nitta San was heavy\nwithin him.\n\n\u201cThe men of the Hojo guard the sea with ships, they watch the hills\nwith archers,\u201d he said to his head man. \u201cThey are as many as the waves\nof the sea. Our fate is in the hands of the gods!\u201d\n\n\u201cThe favor of the gods must be won, O Nitta San,\u201d said the head man.\n\u201cI am of small account, but let me throw myself into the sea, and\nperchance the sea god may accept the sacrifice and smile upon you, my\nmaster.\u201d\n\n\u201cNot so,\u201d replied O Nitta San. \u201cI myself will appease the god of the\nsea, that he may grant us a passage to conquer the city, for the glory\nof my master the emperor.\u201d\n\n\u201cHonorably the emperor will reward you,\u201d said the head man bowing low,\nbut O Nitta San shook his head.\n\n\u201cI desire no reward,\u201d he said. \u201cDo you hear the chirp of that bird? In\na land where even the wild songsters of the forest cry \u2018Chiu,\u2019[14] do\nnot think a Samurai needs a reward.\u201d\n\nO Nitta San turned him to the cliffs, and he raised his hands to the\nsea god and prayed long and earnestly. Then he drew from its scabbard\nhis sword, and lovingly he gazed upon its keen and shining blade. He\nraised it toward the clouds and it gleamed in the moonlight like a\nshimmering serpent.\n\n\u201cBeloved comrade, Soul of the Samurai,\u201d[15] he cried. \u201cWell have you\nserved me in many a fierce battle. You are a friend as well as a\nservant. Now serve me once again and appease the wrath of the sea god!\u201d\nFor a moment he lovingly laid the sword against his breast, then \u201cGod\nof the Sea,\u201d he cried aloud, \u201caccept my sacrifice and care for the Soul\nof the Samurai.\u201d And so saying he cast far from him the sword.\n\n[Illustration: \u201cHE LAID HIS SWORD AGAINST HIS BREAST\u201d]\n\nIt screamed through the air and smote the water, and a myriad sparkling\ncrystals rose into the air. They leaped to encircle the sword, as if\nlovingly encrusting it with diamonds. It rose upon a wave, it fell, the\npearl-like foam covered it, and O Nitta San saw it no more.\n\nBut from the sea came a dull murmuring sound, and the waters rolled\nback from the cliffs and a passageway appeared.\n\n\u201cKompira has accepted my sacrifice,\u201d cried O Nitta San. \u201cWe may pass\nover in safety to conquest and glory.\u201d\n\nThen the army passed over at the edge of the cliff, and they fought a\nmighty battle with the Hojo and took the city.\n\nGo-Daigo was glad, and he greatly rewarded O Nitta San who was proud\nand of a good heart fighting for the emperor.\n\nHe offered much rice and millet to Kompira, god of the sea, but never,\nso long as he lived, did he smile when the sun-crested waves sparkled\nand broke into diamonds before him, for he murmured to himself, \u201cOh,\nKompira, God of the Sea, deal gently with my offering, be kind to the\nSoul of the Samurai.\u201d\n\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[13] An archway placed before certain shrines in Japan; originally a\nperch for sacred fowl heralding the approach of day.\n\n[14] Loyalty.\n\n[15] In Japan, a title given to the sword.\n\n\n\n\nTHE DREAM OF THE GOLDEN BOX\n\n\nHojo Tokimasa had two daughters. Musako, the elder, was as beautiful as\nthe eight beauties of Omi. Her hair was as black as polished ebony, her\neyes were deep and dark and full of fire, her skin was smooth as ivory.\nShe was clever, too, as well as beautiful. But her sister Ume was the\nfavorite of her father.\n\nUme was sweet and gentle and her father thought to marry her well,\nthough she had not her sister\u2019s beauty.\n\nOne night, Ume dreamed a good-luck dream, that a bird brought her a\ngolden box, and she told her sister, while she arranged the elder\u2019s\nebon locks in the early morning.\n\n\u201cThat is a dream of good omen,\u201d said Musako. \u201cGive it to me and I will\ngive you in return my golden mirror, into which I have so often gazed.\u201d\n\nNow little Ume did not wish to part with her good-luck dream at all;\nbut, more than anything in the world, she desired to share her sister\u2019s\nbeauty. So she said, as she thrust a superb jade hairpin into place,\n\u201cI will give you the dream, fair sister, and may it bring you good\nfortune; and so may I, gazing into your mirror, gain some of your\nradiant beauty, for to you the gods have been kind.\u201d\n\nMusako smiled at the flattery, and thought much all day upon the happy\ndream.\n\nLate in the twilight, when the moon shone through the flowering plum\ntree and the fragrance of the plum blossoms stole over the garden, and\nthe nightingale sang of love in the branches, there came a bold knock\nat the castle gate.\n\nWhen the gate was opened and the stranger bidden welcome in the name\nof the god of hospitality, he spoke simply, \u201cI am Yoritomo. The men of\nthe Taira pursue me, and Kiyomori, their chief, has slain my father and\nmany of my father\u2019s house. You are my father\u2019s friend. Of you I ask\nshelter.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou are welcome,\u201d said Hojo. \u201cAbide with us until safety awaits you\nwithout.\u201d\n\nThen Yoritomo thanked him and did remain. Ere long he sent his retainer\ninto Hojo\u2019s presence to act as go-between, and ask him for the hand of\nhis daughter Ume. He had seen her. She was gentle and discreet. She was\nthe favorite of the old man, her father. Why should he not be adopted\ninto the family for her sake?\n\nBut his retainer desired ever the best for his beloved master. He had\nseen the radiant beauty of Musako as she had walked in the arbor of\nwistaria, herself a fairer flower, even, than the long purple racemes\nswaying in the breeze. He decided in his own mind that the elder sister\nwas the one for his master.\n\n[Illustration: \u201cSHE ARRANGED HER SISTER\u2019S EBON LOCKS\u201d]\n\n\u201cThe falcon may not mate with the dove,\u201d he said to himself. \u201cO Musako\nSan is far more beautiful than her sister and more clever. She will be\na better mate for my glorious master than the gentle dove her sister. I\nshall request her hand of Hojo San.\u201d\n\nSo he demanded O Musako San from her father, and that good man was much\ndistressed.\n\n\u201cTruly I should like to give my daughter to your master,\u201d he said. \u201cBut\nshe is promised to a lord of the Taira Clan and I dare not break my\nword to him.\u201d\n\nThen the retainer returned to Yoritomo very sad. He bore such glowing\naccounts of the beauty and cleverness of O Musako San that Yoritomo\u2019s\ncuriosity was fired, and by night he stole beneath the window where she\nsat peering into the garden and wondering when the good-luck bird would\nfly to her.\n\nHow fair she was! And when she saw the handsome youth who gazed so\nardently upon her, how kindly her eyes looked upon him! Yoritomo\ndetermined that she and no other should be his wife. He stole her upon\nher very wedding day, not, perhaps, without her father\u2019s knowledge,\nand through all the troubles of his career, she was his faithful wife.\n\nBut gazing into Musako\u2019s mirror, the little sister grew fairer every\nday, and she wedded a great lord and bore him many sons.\n\n\n\n\nTHE PRINCESS OF THE SEA\n\n\nA beautiful princess lived in the depths of the sea. She was fairer\nthan any mortal maiden, and sweet as she was fair. Her voice was as\ngentle as the sea waves lapping the strand, her sigh was as soft as the\nsound of the wind through the reeds of the shore, and her laugh was\nmusical as the tinkle of water through the coral branches.\n\nHer mother was no more, but her father, the old Sea King, adored\nher and gave her all the treasures of the deep. Her necklace was of\ncoral, her girdle was of pearls, her hairpins were of curiously carved\ntortoise shell, her kimono was embroidered with feathery seaweed, and\nher floating _obi_ with delicate traceries of kelp, encircled her\nslender waist.\n\nThe princess lived in a magnificent palace built of mother-of-pearl.\nAll the creatures of the sea had given to its adornment. Pearls gleamed\nfrom its walls, amber pillars, like shafts of light, supported its\nroof, while a million lights gleamed from branching corals. The walls\nwere tinted in exquisite colors and decorated with sprays of seaweed\nfloating in cool green waves in which the fish seemed really swimming,\nso natural did they appear.\n\nThe princess did not always stay in this home, beautiful as it was. She\nloved the fresh breath of the open sea. It brought the color into her\ncheeks and made her happy. When she went forth she rode upon a dolphin,\nwho plunged through the sea foam and rode over the crested waves with\ncareless grace.\n\nOne day the princess mounted his back for a long ride. The next day\nand the next she went again and always in the same direction. Then her\nfather noticed that she seemed sad, and he said to her, \u201cWhere do you\ngo each day, my daughter? Why is it that you do not stay at home?\u201d\n\n\u201cIt is lonely here, my father,\u201d she answered. \u201cI like to ride upon the\ntop of the waves, for there I can watch the strange beings who live\nupon the land. You talk to me of marrying. Find me a sea-prince like\none of those mortals whom I have seen and I will marry him.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhom have you seen?\u201d demanded her father, much astonished, for he did\nnot know that she had ever seen a mortal.\n\n\u201cI know not his name,\u201d said the maiden. \u201cBut I have seen him upon the\nshore. He fishes there and I have heard many of the fishes say how kind\nhe is and how gentle. He is handsome, too. He fishes only for such\nsea food as he must eat and he puts back into the water all those fish\nwhich are not good for him to eat. Oh, my father! I love this youth!\nHe is so great and strong! Bring him to me!\u201d and the little princess\nclasped her hands together as she looked at her father.\n\nBut the Sea King was angry. \u201cIt is not fitting that you should think\nsuch thoughts,\u201d he said in high displeasure. \u201cA sea princess should not\nmarry a mere mortal. Tarry at home henceforth! No more shall you go to\nride upon the dolphin!\u201d\n\nSo the poor little princess stayed at home and pined. She missed the\nfresh air of the upper sea and the sight of the blue sky, but above all\nshe missed the young fisherman. At last she grew weak and ill and her\nfather could endure it no longer.\n\n\u201cAre you pining still for that young mortal?\u201d he asked one day; and she\nreplied,\n\n\u201cOh, my father, unless I speak with him my heart will break!\u201d\n\n\u201cGo to the shore where he fishes,\u201d said the Sea King. \u201cChange yourself\ninto a sea turtle and allow him to catch you in his net. You say he is\nof such a wonderful kindness--well, Mortals do not eat such turtles;\nand so if he throws you down upon the sands to die, I will rescue you,\nbut if he places you again in the water, I give my consent to your\nbringing him here to my palace.\u201d\n\nThis the wily old king said, thinking the fisherman would surely throw\nthe turtle aside; but the princess smiled happily, for she knew he\nwould prove kind.\n\nNow Urashima, for that was the fisherman\u2019s name, knew nothing at all of\nall this. When therefore next day he found in his net a huge turtle, he\nsaid to himself, \u201cWell, my fine fellow, what a pity it is that you are\nnot eatable! You would make a good meal for my honorable parents were\nyou as good as you are big. But since you are not, run along home to\nyour friends,\u201d and he dropped the turtle back into the waves.\n\nWhat was his surprise to see rise from the sea and come toward him\nacross the crested waves, a huge dolphin, carrying on its back a sea\nnymph fair as the dawn. She cast upon him a sun-bright glance and said,\n\n\u201cCome with me, oh Mortal! Come to the depths of my sea-girt home and\nsee my palace of emerald and pearl. I was that turtle which you cast\ninto the sea, for I took that form to see if you were of as great\nkindness of heart as the fishes said.\u201d\n\nUrashima stood spellbound and stared at the vision of loveliness before\nhim.\n\n\u201cCome with me,\u201d said the princess, again. \u201cThe coral caves await\nyou,--will you not come?\u201d\n\n[Illustration: \u201cA DOLPHIN CARRYING ON ITS BACK A SEA NYMPH\u201d]\n\n\u201cNot for all the wealth of the ocean would I leave my beloved home, but\nto be with you, loveliest of sea nymphs,\u201d cried Urashima, bewitched by\nher beauty and loveliness.\n\nHe went with her to the depths of the ocean and there memory fell from\nhim, and he forgot his home. He thought only of the princess and basked\nin the sunshine of her smile.\n\nSo they were married and lived happily, and even the old Sea King grew\nto like Urashima and blessed him before he died.\n\nUrashima had lived in the Dragon Palace of the Princess of the Sea\nwhat seemed to him but a short time when memory came to him again.\nHe thought of his father and mother and of his little brothers and\nsisters, and he grew sad. The princess watched him and her heart sank.\n\n\u201cHe will go from me and not return,\u201d she sighed. \u201cAlas! alas! for\nmortal love!\u201d\n\nUrashima at last said to the princess, \u201cBeloved princess, I have spent\nthese months of our life together in happiness so great that I would\nthat it could last forever. I remember, however, my old home and the\ndear ones I left there. Give me leave, therefore, to return to earth\nfor but a day, that I may see them once more. They know not where I\nam. They know nothing of my happiness. Let me go, and quickly I will\nreturn.\u201d\n\n\u201cAlas, my beloved, you will never return,\u201d she said. \u201cNever more will\nyour deep sea home see you again,--that my poor heart tells me. But\nif the yearning for home has seized you, I may not keep you here. Go,\nbut take this with you,\u201d and she handed him a casket made of a single\npearl and set with a picture of the princess. \u201cSo long as you keep this\nunopened you may return; but open it, and you will never see me again.\nFarewell.\u201d\n\nSo Urashima returned to earth bearing with him the little casket.\n\nHis home seemed strange to him. The village street was not what it used\nto be; his father\u2019s house no longer stood beneath the tall bamboo; he\nsaw no familiar faces. At last, puzzled and distressed, he asked a\npasser-by if he knew aught of the people of Urashima.\n\n\u201cUrashima!\u201d he answered in amazement. \u201cHe was drowned in the sea, many,\nmany years ago. His people all lie buried on the hill. Their very tombs\nare lichen-grown with age.\u201d\n\n\u201cAm I dreaming,\u201d cried Urashima. \u201cMy Sea Princess, what have you done\nto me?\u201d\n\nThen seizing the casket he gazed upon the face of the nymph and as\nhe did so a strange desire came over him to see what was within. He\nopened it just a crack and a thin, gray smoke rose toward heaven, and\nin the curling clouds he seemed to see the lovely form of the princess,\nand her eyes gazed sadly at him. Then he looked down at himself in\nwonder. From a stalwart youth he had become a white-haired old man;\nand, weeping bitterly, he stretched forth his hands to the sea.\n\n\u201cAh, my princess, farewell forever. Without thee I faint and die. Thy\nlove alone gave life,\u201d and he sank down upon the sands and was no more.\n\nHe had been gone from earth a thousand years.\n\n\n\n\nTHE FIREFLY OF MATSUI\n\n\nShizoku of Matsui loved a maiden called Kennei-Botaru, for she was\nbright and sparkling. Late one snowy night he was returning from a\nwedding party when amidst the tiny snowflakes which were beginning to\nfall, he saw a strange light flicker and flash before him.\n\n   \u201cKagaribo mo\n    Hotaru mo hikaru\n    Genji kama!\u201d[16]\n\nhe exclaimed, wondering that the O-botaru (great firefly) should be\nflitting about in winter snows.\n\nAs he gazed upon it, the creature flashed and darted toward him and so\nannoyed him that he thrust at it with the stick he carried.\n\nHither and yon it flashed, like a will-o\u2019-the-wisp until at last it\ndarted away into the garden of the house wherein dwelt his betrothed.\n\nThe next day he saw his beloved, and she said to him shyly, \u201cLast\nnight I had a strange dream. I thought I had wings and could fly and\nthat I was flying through the night. It was cold and there was snow\nin the air and I said to myself, \u2018Where is my beloved that I may fly\nto his breast and be warm?\u2019 Then I saw you coming swiftly toward the\nbridge with your lantern, though the moon shone bright in the heavens.\nThen I flew to you, but you were not overjoyed to receive me. You\nstruck at me and drove me from you, and I fled in terror into the\ngarden where I hid myself in the heart of a plum blossom, and the\nsnow fell upon me and I was cold. Then I awoke and I was afraid, and\nsomething whispered to me \u2018His heart is cold to you as was the heart of\nthe plum blossom when the snow fell upon it!\u2019 What means my dream?\u201d\n\n\u201cIndeed, I can not tell,\u201d he made answer. \u201cBut I know well you read its\nmeaning wrong. Were I to drive you from me and you to seek another,\nthen would your heart\u2019s resting place be cold as was the plum blossom\nof your dream. But trouble not yourself, beloved, for never shall I\ndrive you away,\u201d and he smiled upon her and the heart of O Botaru San\nwas comforted.\n\n[Illustration: \u201cHE THRUST AT IT WITH THE STICK\u201d]\n\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[16] \u201cIs that the glimmer of far festal fires,\n      Or the shimmering of the firefly?\n      Ah, it is the Genji!\u201d\n\n\n\n\nTHE MOUNTAIN ROSE\n\n\nOta Dakwan was a noble _daimio_.[17] His castle was filled with\nretainers who waited upon him, at his least word flying to obey his\ncommands. Men vied with each other to do him honor, bowing low before\nhim as he passed and saying \u201cBehold Ota Dakwan, the Daimio!\u201d\n\nYoung maidens blushed at his name and when the moon shone through the\nlattice, sighed to the nightingale to sing the praises of this splendid\nwarrior.\n\nHonors crowded thick upon him, but of it all he wearied and often\nsought the forest, there to hunt in solitude. Where the great trees\nspread their branches and the bamboos and the pines talked together he\nspent many hours, returning to his castle at night, weary, but with his\ngame bag full.\n\nOften people said to him, \u201cWhat do you find so wonderful in the forests\nof the hill country?\u201d\n\n\u201cSunlight and shade,\u201d he answered, \u201ceverglade and waterfall, game to\nhunt and no one to say me nay; above all, the mighty mountain, cool and\naloof as is the spirit of the great;\u201d and at his answer men wondered.\n\nOne day Ota Dakwan hunted long upon the mountain-side, so long that he\nwandered far from home and a great storm of rain came upon him, from\nwhich there was no shelter. He was glad, therefore, when in a lonely\nspot he saw a tiny cottage beside a grove of great bamboos, and he ran\nto it for shelter.\n\nWithin was a young maiden who smiled upon him, but spoke not. She was\nbeautiful as a dream though poorly clad, and he said to her, \u201cWill you\nlend me a straw rain coat? for every tree in the forest sends down her\nshowers and I shall be drenched before I can reach my home.\u201d\n\nThe maiden blushed deeply and without a word hastily left the room.\nIn a moment she returned, her delicate cheeks flushed pink, carrying\na _yamabuki_[18] blossom which she placed in his hand, still with no\nword, only a sigh and a blush.\n\n\u201cWhat means this?\u201d he asked, much puzzled. \u201cI ask protection from the\nrain and you give me a flower. Were you not as fair as the first cherry\nblooms of spring, I could find it in my heart to be angry with you.\nSpeak!\u201d But she only shook her head and sighed, and, angry at last,\nhe turned on his heel and left her, going forth into the rain, the\nflower still in his hand.\n\n[Illustration: \u201cSHE RETURNED CARRYING A _YAMABUKI_\u201d]\n\nHe, the adored of all Yedo, to be laughed at by a mere country maiden\nwho would not even speak to him! At this thought his heart rose within\nhim, but remembering how sweetly she smiled and how like a rose she\nblushed, his anger melted away.\n\n\u201cShe was as the flower she gave me, a mountain rose,\u201d he thought to\nhimself. Then he raised the delicate blossom to his face and its\nsweet scent was as the breath of morning, fresh and kind. The rain\nceased, and hurrying homeward he was met by his head man who greeted\nhim anxiously. To him he told his strange adventure, and the head\nman said, \u201cThe poet says \u2018the mountain rose has many petals but it\nhas no seed.\u2019[19] The maiden meant to tell you in poetic vein that\nshe possessed no rain coat. She is the fair, dumb daughter of your\nlordship\u2019s keeper, and they are very poor.\u201d\n\n\u201cThey shall be so no longer,\u201d said the daimio. \u201cFor one with so fair a\nsoul should have fairer surroundings, and one upon whom the gods have\nlaid a finger should have kindness from those of this world.\u201d\n\nThen he showed much kindness to her father, and to the maiden, sending\nto them gifts of rice and tea and rich garments. And oftentimes,\nwhen tired with his morning\u2019s hunt, he would rest within the little\nlonely hut, and Yamabuki would serve him a cup of tea with a shy grace.\nWhenever he spoke to her it was with kindness and she would smile and\nblush and sigh a little, while he murmured to himself, \u201cThe god of\nsilence laid his finger upon your lips, Yamabuki, little silent one.\u201d\n\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[17] Lord or knight.\n\n[18] Wild rose.\n\n[19] _Mino_, the Japanese word for \u201cseed,\u201d means also a rain coat.\n\n\n\n\nTHE EVIL ONE AND THE RAT\n\n\nWhen the Spirit of Creation had finished his work, he came down from\nHeaven and gazed upon what he had done.\n\nHe saw the mountains gleaming pure against the blue, the rivers winding\nsilvery to the sea, the rice fields lying warm and moist in the\nvalleys--and it was good. He gazed upon the trees waving in the wind,\nthe iris fields and the lotus ponds, the cherry blooms and the plum\nblossoms, and he smiled well pleased.\n\nThen the Evil One appeared to him and with a hateful voice said, \u201cDo\nnot flatter yourself that you have done all well in this world. Indeed\nyou have not. There are many things which are neither pretty nor\nuseful. See how ugly this thistle is, and of what use is the bramble?\nHad I made things I would have done much better.\u201d\n\nThen the Spirit of Creation was very angry. He thought a thing of wrath\nand created a rat. It was large and fierce, and it quickly jumped into\nthe mouth of the Evil One and bit out his tongue. Then was the Evil One\nin great rage and he uttered horrid cries and danced an evil dance\nupon the grass. He thought to himself, \u201cSince the rats are here, they\nshall be made to be a torment to the earth,\u201d and he made them increase\ngreatly until they overran the Land of the Ainu.\n\n[Illustration: \u201cHE DANCED AN EVIL DANCE UPON THE GRASS\u201d]\n\nAt this the people were very unhappy. \u201cOh, Creating Spirit,\u201d they\ncried, \u201ctake away these pests, for they eat our grain and our rice,\nthey gnaw our huts, they frighten our children. Destroy them, oh kind\nCreating Spirit.\u201d\n\nBut the Spirit shook his head. \u201cNot so,\u201d he said, \u201cI may not destroy\nthat which I have once made. But I will create another thing which\nshall war with the rats, and so you shall be helped in your distress.\u201d\n\nHe created straightway cats and the cats warred greatly upon the rats\nso that they grew less. Then were the people pleased and rejoiced, but\nan old man said to them, \u201cSpeak not evil of the rats, nor of anything\nwhich the Creating Spirit has made. It must be that the Creating Spirit\nis displeased when his works are spoken ill of, for he punished the\nEvil One for so doing. Besides, everything created is of some use. Even\nthe rat bit off the tongue of the Evil One.\u201d\n\n\n\n\nTHE PAINTER OF CATS\n\n\nOnce upon a time a long, long time ago there was a boy who was clever\nand polite and kind, and it would seem as if he was a very fine boy\nindeed. But he had one fault. He would draw pictures of cats.\n\nNow that does not appear to be a very bad fault, but the trouble was\nthat Kihachi would not do anything else. He drew cats at school when he\nshould have been studying his lessons. He drew them when all the other\nchildren were at play and when it would have been far better for him to\nhave been running and jumping.\n\nWhen his brothers and sisters were sleeping peacefully at night upon\ntheir wooden pillows, Kihachi would arise from his sleeping mat and,\nstealing to the paper partitions of the little room into which streamed\nthe moonlight, he would draw cats. In the early morning when the sun\ngleamed over the tiny garden and the dew lay like jewels upon the rice\nfields, still Kihachi could be found drawing cats.\n\nHe drew large cats and small cats, mother cats and kittens. He drew\nthem even upon his clothes, and this caused his mother much annoyance,\nthough she was very patient. When, however, it came to pass that she\nfound a whole family of kittens playing their pranks, in pencil, upon\nher own best _obi_,[20] she felt that something must be done.\n\n\u201cMy lord,\u201d she said to her husband, \u201cthis boy and his cats make me too\nmuch trouble. I have done everything to cause him to stop, but to no\navail. I have even burned him with the _moxa_[21] but still he does not\ncease. He says he can not. Our other sons are able to help you in the\nfield and our daughter is a great assistance to me in the household.\nBut Kihachi does not work, and his schoolmaster says he will not study.\nHe will do nothing but draw cats. What shall we do with him?\u201d\n\n\u201cIt may be that so strange a boy will grow up to be something quite\ndifferent from us,\u201d said his father. \u201cHe is always agreeable. Every\nmorning he says most politely, \u2018O hayo, O tat\u2019 San, O hayo, O oka\nSan.\u2019[22] It seems to me _Bot chan_[23] is not bad. Perhaps he would\nmake a good priest. Let us take him to the temple and see if he will\nnot there forget his cats.\u201d\n\nSo they took him to the temple and the priest received them with\ncourtesy. \u201cEnter, honorably enter!\u201d he said, and they entered saying,\n\u201cWe have brought to you our youngest boy in the hope that you will\ngraciously permit him to become your acolyte.\u201d\n\nThe priest asked Kihachi many questions, very difficult ones, and these\nhe answered so cleverly that the old man said to the parents, \u201cThis\nchild is destined to be great. He is very clever. Leave him with me and\nI will teach him all he needs to become a priest.\u201d\n\nSo Kihachi stayed in the temple and he studied very hard. He liked to\nget up early as the mists were breaking over Fuji San and the temple\nbells were ringing in the dawn. He loved to sit in the twilight when\nthe flowers of the _yamabuki_ are mirrored in the still marsh waters.\nHe loved to pluck the primrose, flower of happiness, and to twine it\nwith the _nanten_[24] into wreaths for the shrine of Buddha. He liked\nto read and to study the sacred books and he learned many prayers, but\nstill he liked to draw, and still he drew cats.\n\nHe drew them on the margins of the books, on the prayer rolls, on the\nvery _kakemonos_[25] of the temple, and this much displeased the good\nold priest.\n\nAt last he could not stand it any longer and he called the boy to him.\nKihachi bowed very low, his hands and forehead touching the floor.\n\n\u201cBot chan,\u201d said the priest, \u201cyou will never make a good priest. You\nmay some day become a great artist, but you will never be anything\nelse. You had better go away from the temple and seek your fortune in\nthe world. Here is a bag of rice for you. Put it in a bundle of your\nclothes, and go, and may good fortune go with you. I will give you one\nlast bit of advice. When darkness gathers, fear great places, seek\nsmall shelter.\u201d\n\nKihachi thanked the priest and went mournfully away from the temple. It\nseemed to him as if he was always to be unhappy because of his cats,\nbut he could not help drawing them. He was afraid to go home, for he\nknew his father would punish him for disobeying the priest. He did\nnot know what to do. At last he thought of a large temple in the next\nvillage, and wondered if some of the priests there would not take him\nfor an acolyte.\n\n\u201cAt least I can try,\u201d he said, and hurried on, hoping to reach the\ntemple before night.\n\nIt was a long way, and his feet grew very sore and he was tired. So\nit was a great disappointment when he reached the temple to find it\ndeserted. Not a priest was there to offer incense, not an acolyte to\nring the temple bells.\n\n\u201cHow strange it is that everything is covered with dust! There are\ncobwebs spun over the altars!\u201d he said. \u201cIt seems to me an acolyte is\nneeded. I shall stay at least for the night and perhaps to-morrow the\npriests may return. They will commend me if I make things very clean.\u201d\n\nHe laid down his bundle and began to clean the temple with a will, and\nsoon it was quite free from dirt and dust. Then he sat down and rested,\nbut noticing a large screen with quite a blank space upon it, he drew\nout his writing box and began to draw cats as hard as he could draw.\n\nHe thought nothing of how time was passing until suddenly he noticed it\nwas growing quite dark, and he began to be a little afraid. He looked\nabout him. How huge and deserted seemed the temple hall! How small a\nboy he was! Then he remembered the old priest\u2019s parting words, \u201cWhen\ndarkness hovers, fear great places, seek small shelters.\u201d Surely this\nwas a great place! He hunted about hoping to find a small place which\nmight be safer, and, surely enough, there was a tiny recess in the wall\nwith a door which could be slid into place. He entered and found there\nwas just room enough for him to curl up and go to sleep, which he\ndid, for he was so tired that sleep came to him quickly.\n\n[Illustration: \u201cHE BEGAN TO DRAW CATS\u201d]\n\nHe slept soundly, but at last was awakened by a loud noise. It seemed\nas if a thousand ogres were fighting, and with the noise of the\nfighting came horrid screams. Kihachi was afraid to make a peephole in\nthe paper partition, and so he lay very still until at last there was a\nmore awful scream than before and the sound of a heavy fall. Then all\nwas still.\n\nKihachi lay quite still until the morning light began to creep into his\ncabinet, and then he thought, \u201cI must get up and ring the dawn bell;\nfor when the priests return they will be pleased to find that I have\nattended to everything.\u201d\n\nSo he jumped up and hastened to ring the bell. Pure and clear its tones\nrang out over the cool morning air, and Kihachi noticed figures in the\nvalley below moving rapidly, and he said, \u201cHere come the priests. I\nhope they will be pleased with what I have done.\u201d\n\nThen he went to look at the cats he had drawn in the great temple hall\nthe night before. But what a sight met his eyes! Upon the floor of\nthe temple was a pool of blood and beside it the body of a fierce and\nterrible rat, the largest he had ever seen. It was as large as a cow,\nindeed it was a monster rat goblin.\n\n\u201cWhat killed you?\u201d he cried, \u201cthere must have been a battle royal here\nin the night, for I heard sounds as if an army of cats was let loose.\u201d\n\nThen his heart stood still, for he saw that the mouths of all the cats\nhe had drawn were covered with blood!\n\n\u201cMy cats killed the rat goblin!\u201d he cried joyfully; and at that moment\nhe heard steps and turning, saw the headman of the village with several\nother men entering the temple.\n\n\u201cWhat does this mean?\u201d asked the headman. \u201cDo you not know that this\ntemple is haunted by a terrible rat goblin? Surely you did not spend\nthe night here?\u201d\n\n\u201cI spent it quite comfortably,\u201d said Kihachi, \u201cand I think the goblin\nis dead.\u201d Then he showed the headman the rat and his cats, and told him\nwhat had happened in the night. The headman said, \u201cIt is well that you\nobeyed the old priest\u2019s instructions to \u2018seek small shelters.\u2019 This\ngoblin has haunted the temple for many months and no one who has come\nhere has ever returned. Your cats are very lifelike; I believe that\nsome day you will be a great artist. In the city yonder you will find\nmy brother. Go to him and tell him your story. He will help you. You\nhave done my village a good turn with your cats, so here is a present\nto help you along;\u201d and he gave him twenty _yen_.\n\nThen was Kihachi very glad in his heart, and he made his thanks to the\nheadman and went his way.\n\nAnd thereafter, when he became a great artist and taught many boys to\ndraw, he laughed as he told his pupils, \u201cMy first great picture was a\ndrawing of cats, and for it I received twenty _yen_.\u201d And his pupils\nwere much astonished and called him always \u201cThe Painter of Cats.\u201d\n\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[20] Sash.\n\n[21] Punk.\n\n[22] Good morning, Father--Good morning, Mother.\n\n[23] Boy.\n\n[24] Heavenly bamboo, a tree with bright scarlet berries.\n\n[25] Hangings or pictures.\n\n\n\n\nTHE COMING OF BENTEN SAMA\n\n\nLong ago the river of Kashigoye flowed into the sea by the Marsh of the\nTerrible Dragons. The dragons were five, and yearly they came forth and\ndevoured the maidens of the village and there was no way to hinder. But\nthe people cried loudly to Benten Sama, the goddess of mothers, the\nbestower of love and beauty.\n\nNow Benten Sama had many sons: Daikoku, who gives wealth, Ebisu, who is\nthe god of fishermen, Hatei, who is full of mirth, and others equally\nrenowned.\n\nOf all these sons, Benten Sama loved Ebisu best, and for his sake all\nfishermen were dear to her. When, therefore, O Ume San, daughter of the\nheadman of the village, besought the blessing of the gentle goddess\nupon her lover, a fisherman, Benten Sama listened.\n\n\u201cGoddess of Mercy,\u201d murmured the girl. \u201cSend thy blessing upon him, for\nmy honorable father will not consent to our union. He says, \u2018When the\nfive Dragons of the Marshlands are no more thou shalt marry this fisher\nlad.\u2019 I pray you, gentle goddess, soften the heart of my father, and\nmay thy son Ebisu bestow his favor upon Hakuga.\u201d\n\n[Illustration: BENTEN SAMA]\n\nBenten Sama listened to the girl\u2019s prayer and smiled. She whispered to\nher son and he was kind. He filled Hakuga\u2019s nets with fish and these\nbrought many _yen_. He then approached the father of O Ume San and\nbesought of him his daughter, his Go-between[26] saying, \u201cHonorably\ndeign to listen to the prayer of Hakuga and give to him your daughter,\nfor he has many _yen_!\u201d But the father replied ever the same, \u201cWhen the\nfive Marsh Dragons are no more,\u201d and the Go-between returned sadly to\nHakuga.\n\nThen the maiden prayed again to Benten Sama and she said, \u201cKind\nGoddess, hear! Send some curse upon the five Marsh Dragons, that Hatei\nyour son may bestow mirth upon us, for we are sad.\u201d\n\nThen Benten Sama thought, and that which she thought was good. It was\nthe time of the red maple leaf[27] and Tatsu Hima[28] ruled. Benten\nSama asked her aid, as she flaunted her banners upon the hillside, and\nthat night there came a fearful storm. The storm howled and shrieked,\nand all the people cowered in terror. All night it raged, and the\nthunder god gave five mighty roars, and at each roar a dragon lay dead.\n\nAnd when the sun god lighted the world, all was still and smiling, the\nMarsh of the Dragons was gone, and in its stead rose an island, green\nand beautiful, and above it hovered Benten Sama, throned upon a rainbow.\n\nThen were the people much pleased at their deliverance from the five\nDragons of the Marsh, and they made a shrine to Benten Sama at that\npoint where she had appeared.\n\nAnd O Ume San married the fisherman and they lived happily ever after.\n\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[26] A Japanese never asks for a wife himself. He always sends a\nprofessional matchmaker who is called a \u201cGo-between.\u201d\n\n[27] November.\n\n[28] Goddess of Autumn.\n\n\n\n\nTHE WATERFALL WHICH FLOWED SAK\u00c9\n\n\nOnce there was a poor woodcutter who toiled early and late for a\nliving. He worked harder than others, because he loved his old father\nand mother dearly, and wished to give them all the good things of\nlife. But though he was more diligent than any other woodcutter of the\nvillage, he never seemed able to gain enough _sen_ to buy _sak\u00e9_ and\ntea, but only enough for rice and bread.\n\nOne day he climbed high up on the mountain to find the best wood. It\nwas a very steep mountain, and no one else would try to climb so high.\nSo he worked alone. Chop, chop, his axe broke the stillness and soon he\nhad a goodly pile of logs.\n\nStopping for a moment to rest, he saw a badger lying asleep under a\ntree, and he thought to himself, \u201cAha, my fine little beastie! You will\nmake a fine morsel for my father\u2019s supper. He and my mother have not\ntasted meat for many a day.\u201d\n\nThe longer he looked at the badger, however, the less he wanted to\nkill him. He was such a little creature and it seemed mean to kill a\nsleeping thing and one so much smaller than himself!\n\n\u201cNo,\u201d he said to himself at last, \u201cI can not kill him! I will but work\nthe harder that I may earn money to buy my parents some meat!\u201d\n\nNow the badger seemed to understand and approve of this resolve on the\npart of the young woodcutter. He opened one eye and then the other.\nThen he blinked saucily at the woodcutter.\n\n\u201cThank you,\u201d he said. \u201cThat was a wise conclusion.\u201d\n\nThe young man dropped his axe and jumped high into the air, so great\nwas his astonishment at hearing a badger talk.\n\n\u201cYou couldn\u2019t kill me if you tried,\u201d said the badger. \u201cBesides, I am\nfar more useful to you alive than dead. And now, because you have\nproved yourself of a kind heart, I will show you kindness. Bring me the\nflat, white stone which lies beneath yonder pine tree.\u201d\n\nThe woodcutter turned to obey, and suddenly stopped in wonder. Spread\nupon the stone was the finest feast he had ever seen. There were rice\nand _sak\u00e9_, fish and _dango_,[29] and other good things. He sighed as\nhe looked, for he wished he could take the food home to his parents.\n\n\u201cSit and eat,\u201d said the badger who answered his thoughts as if they had\nbeen spoken. \u201cYour father and mother shall eat the same.\u201d\n\nThe woodcutter obeyed, but when he tried to thank his little friend, he\nsaw that the badger was gone and that, just where he had sat, there was\na sparkling, tinkling waterfall. It rippled over stones and crags and\nsang a sweet little song, and as the woodcutter stooped to drink of it\nlo! the waterfall flowed with _sak\u00e9_! It was the richest he had ever\ntasted and he filled his gourd with it and hurried home to share it\nwith his parents.\n\nWhen he arrived there and had told his story, his mother smiled and\nsaid, \u201cThou art a good son.\u201d\n\n\u201cWe have fared as well,\u201d his father said, \u201cfor we found spread for us\njust such a feast as yours, though we knew not at all whence it came.\u201d\n\nNext day the young man went early to his work. As he climbed the\nmountain he saw, to his surprise, a troop of woodcutters following him,\nand each carried a gourd. Some one had overheard him tell his father\nof the waterfall which flowed _sak\u00e9_, and all the woodcutters of the\nvillage wished to taste of the wonderful drink.\n\nWhen they drank, however, they were filled with rage, for to them the\nwaterfall flowed only water. Then they reviled the youth and cried,\n\n\u201cBase one, you have beguiled us here on false pretenses! You have\nspoken falsely! We have toiled here for nothing! You are an evil\nfellow!\u201d\n\n[Illustration: \u201cTHE WOODCUTTER STOOPED TO DRINK OF IT\u201d]\n\nBut he replied calmly, \u201cI did not ask you to come. For me the waterfall\nflows _sak\u00e9_ still, as sweet as yester-eve.\u201d\n\nThey went away in great anger, and as they went the waterfall almost\nseemed to laugh, so gayly did it tinkle over the stones. When the\nwoodcutter drank, however, the laughter turned to music and a sweet\nvoice crooned a gentle song,\n\n   \u201c_Sak\u00e9_ for him who is kind,\n    Water for those who seek self,\n    _Sak\u00e9_ for him who is kind!\u201d\n\nThereafter it was the same. Whenever the woodcutter, worn with toil,\nstooped to drink from the sparkling waterfall, or at night when he\nfilled his gourd to bear to his father at home, the _sak\u00e9_ flowed free\nand clear and delicious. And ever the tinkling voice repeated, over and\nover to the music of waters falling,\n\n    \u201c_Sak\u00e9_ to him who is kind.\u201d\n\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[29] A kind of dumpling.\n\n\n\n\nTHE BOY AND THE SPIRITS OF THINGS\n\n\nThere was once a little boy of the Ainu who was very wise. He seldom\nplayed with the other boys, for the spirits of things were his\nplaymates. No one could see his playmates, but he talked to them and\nloved them better than all the children whom he knew.\n\n\u201cMy friends tell me strange things,\u201d he said; and his mother asked,\n\u201cWho are your friends and what strange things do they tell you, my\nchild?\u201d\n\n\u201cMy friends are the spirits of things,\u201d the boy made answer. \u201cI can not\ntell you what they say, but the spirit of the pine tree whispers to me\nthe things the spirit of the north wind tells to him; the tall bamboo\nspirit bends down as the tree sways, and talks of the sun\u2019s glowing\nrays; the birds and blossoms speak to me of the earth\u2019s beauty. Even\nthe common things have spirits and they tell me many things.\u201d\n\nThe boy\u2019s mother sighed, as she looked at him, for she thought he was\ntoo wise.\n\nOne day the boy fell ill. He was very sick, but no one knew what was\nthe matter with him. He drooped from day to day and seemed not to care\nfor anything. And it was the winter time.\n\n[Illustration: \u201cTHE BIRDS AND BLOSSOMS SPEAK TO ME\u201d]\n\nOne day his mother came to him and said, \u201cMy son, the first plum\nblossom is seen upon the trees. The sun is warm. Will you not go out of\ndoors to see it?\u201d\n\n\u201cThe plum blossom spirit whispered me of its coming,\u201d he said. \u201cI will\ngo and see.\u201d\n\nThen he crept slowly from the little thatched hut and, resting at the\ndoor, he saw the plum blossom and smelled its delicious fragrance. He\nsmiled a little and then a queer look came into his eyes. He held his\nchin in the palm of his hand and sat quietly nodding his head once or\ntwice as if saying, \u201cYes.\u201d\n\nAt last his mother could bear no longer to be without his thoughts. She\nfeared to lose him, and she felt jealous of everything that came near\nto him. \u201cTell me what you think, little son,\u201d she said.\n\n\u201cI will tell you,\u201d the boy answered. \u201cOftentimes a boy and girl come to\nplay with me. They are Spirit Children and we play many things. To-day\nthey have told me why I am ill. It is this. My grandfather had a fine\naxe. With it he made many things, a tray, and a pestle to pound millet,\nand others. But my father threw away the axe, forgetting how well it\nhad served. Now it lies rusting, and the spirit of the axe is angry.\nBecause the spirit of the axe is angry, it has made me ill. So, if you\ndo not wish me to die, you must tell my father to seek the axe and do\nhonor to its spirit.\u201d\n\n\u201cIt shall be as you say, my son,\u201d said his mother, and she sought\nhis father and told him all. Then he found the axe, and polished it\ncarefully until it shone. He made for it a new handle of ironwood, and\ncarved it with care. And to it he set up a worship stick. This stick\nwas tall, and its feathers curled and waved in the breeze.\n\nThen the spirit of the axe was happy, and the boy was made well, so\nthat joy fell upon the soul of his mother.\n\nAnd when he grew to be a man, he became a great augur, for the spirits\nof things came often to him and told him much that was concealed from\nother beings. For the spirits of things were his friends.\n\n\n\n\nTHE DAUGHTER OF A SAMURAI\n\n\nThere was once a daughter of a Samurai who was both beautiful and good.\nHer name was O Cho San. Her father was dead, and she worked very hard\nto support her mother who was ill. The mother had trained her daughter\nin the best of manners, therefore O Cho San had no trouble in finding\nwork.\n\nThere was a certain nobleman in need of a maid servant, and he\napproached O Cho San and asked her to serve him.\n\n\u201cWhat would my duties be?\u201d inquired the girl as she respectfully bowed\nto the ground before him. \u201cI must hear, and then I can tell if I can do\nthem.\u201d\n\n\u201cThey are all the common duties of a maid,\u201d he replied--\u201call but one\nthing, which is most strange. You will have the care of the porcelain\nplates of my fathers.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut that is not a strange duty for a maid,\u201d answered O Cho San. She\nsmiled at him, showing her pretty white teeth and a dimple in one\ncheek. \u201cI have washed china before this, and always with care.\u201d\n\n\u201cYet it is the one thing which is most hard,--to find a maid who will\nattend to this,\u201d he answered. \u201cKnow, O Cho San, that the porcelain is\npriceless. There are twelve plates and each one is perfect. They are so\nold that they are of the fashion of the Owari potter who learned the\nsecrets of Karatsu and made a flight of cranes across the blue sky.\n\n\u201cThe porcelain is so beyond all value that my ancestor made the law\nthat whoever broke a plate should straightway have a finger cut off. So\nyou see the china must be washed with care.\u201d\n\nO Cho San clasped and unclasped her slender brown fingers nervously,\nthen she hid them quite away in the sleeves of her kimono. Her cheek\npaled a little, but she said bravely, \u201cI will take the place, most\nhonorable sir, and I shall try to keep my fingers.\u201d\n\nThen she thought to herself, \u201cIt is not the most desirable of places to\nlive where one loses a finger for each nick of china, but the _yen_ he\npays are many more than I can earn elsewhere, and my dear mother must\nhave tea and rice. Besides, it is not likely that such costly porcelain\ncan be often used, and when it is, I shall offer many prayers that it\nbe used in safety.\u201d\n\nSo O Cho San served the nobleman faithfully.\n\nIt was easy to see that she was a favorite with all, for she had\nmanners of such engaging gentleness that every one loved her. At first\nthis pleased her. When, however, she found that even the master\u2019s son\nwas in love with her, she was unhappy.\n\nShe did not care at all for him, and she knew that to marry him would\ndisplease her master, who was kind to her. So she refused to listen to\nthe young man, and this made him very angry. Being bad at heart, he\nresolved to be avenged upon her.\n\n\u201cI will ask my father to give a party at which the porcelain plates\nshall be used,\u201d he said to himself. \u201cShe will surely break one, and\nthen she will turn to me to save her from her punishment. If she does\nnot, she will lose a finger;\u201d and on his face there was a cruel frown.\n\nAs he had said, so it was done. The master gave a supper and the\npriceless dishes were used. Thanks to the kindness of the gods who\nwatch over little maidens, O Cho San washed them, dried them on the\nsoftest of paper napkins, and set them carefully away all unbroken. But\nalas, when the master came to look them over, the bottom one of the\npile was broken.\n\nGreat was the excitement.\n\nO Cho San wept and proclaimed her innocence.\n\n\u201cHonorable Master,\u201d she cried, \u201cit is another hand than mine which has\nbroken it. But if I am to be punished, cut a piece from my face instead\nof my hand. Then I may still work for my mother.\u201d\n\n[Illustration: \u201cO CHO SAN PROCLAIMED HER INNOCENCE\u201d]\n\n\u201cThe law of my fathers required a finger for each plate broken,\u201d said\nthe master sorrowfully; for although he liked the gentle little maid\nand did not wish to hurt her, he feared to disobey the law.\n\n\u201cYou shall not cut even her finger nail,\u201d suddenly cried a rough voice.\nThe group around O Cho San turned in astonishment to see who dared\nspeak so to the master.\n\nIt was Genzaburo, a servant, very rough but honest and good.\n\n\u201cO Cho San may not be punished for what she has not done,\u201d he said.\n\u201cI myself broke the plate. You ask me why? Because I love O Cho San.\nShe is as fair as the cherry bloom in early spring, but to me cold\nand remote as the snows upon the crest of the mountains. I thought to\nmyself, she is a Samurai\u2019s daughter and will never marry me. But if she\nlose a finger no one else will marry her. Therefore in time she will\nturn to me, and I shall win her for my wife. Then I broke the plate.\u201d\n\n\u201cHow did you break it?\u201d demanded the master sternly.\n\n\u201cThat I will show you,\u201d said Genzaburo. \u201cIt was very simple. I was told\nto mend the lid of the box in which the plate was kept. Then I thought\nof the plates, and I drew forth one and _bang!_ my hammer fell upon it\njust like this!\u201d and he brought his hammer down with great force.\n\nThere was a crash terrible to hear, a scream from O Cho San, an\nexclamation of rage from the master, for the hammer had descended upon\nthe pile of plates, and of the beautiful porcelain nothing at all\nremained but fragments.\n\nIn all the confusion Genzaburo alone was calm. He stood smiling at the\nruin he had wrought, and his master cried, \u201cThe man is quite mad! Take\nhim away!\u201d\n\n\u201cNot so, my master, I am not mad,\u201d Genzaburo replied. \u201cI did this\nthing with reason. Take all my fingers if you wish, or even my life if\nthe commands of your honorable ancestors must be carried out. But I\nshall have the happiness of knowing that no more little maids can be\nfrightened and mutilated by your cruelty.\u201d\n\nThe nobleman gazed upon him in silence; but the son threw himself\nbefore his father.\n\n\u201cI beg you, oh my father, forgive this mad fellow,\u201d he cried. \u201cI too am\nin fault, for I persuaded you to give this entertainment in the hope\nthat she would break a plate and then turn to me in her trouble.\u201d\n\nThen O Cho San knelt before him and said, \u201cHonorable Master, since I\nam the occasion of this great trouble in your household, I beg you\nto permit me to go away and be not angry with either your son or your\nservant. Forgive them, and of your graciousness allow me to depart,\nsince my only wish is to work for the welfare of my dear mother.\u201d\n\nThen was the nobleman greatly touched. Mindful of Genzaburo\u2019s long\nservice, he forgave him. He forgave his son, also; for since O Cho San\nloved him not, he needed no further punishment. Mindful still more of O\nCho San\u2019s pleasant services in his household, he said, \u201cWe will speak\nno more of the porcelain plates of my ancestors. O Cho San will not\nleave me. She shall continue to live in my service and her wages shall\nbe increased.\u201d\n\nThen he gave her a reward, and she lived many years and earned much\n_yen_ for the welfare of her dear mother.\n\n\n\n\nTHE FISHES OF THE BOILING SPRING\n\n\nMany, many years ago there lived at Atami a holy priest. Of all the\npoor people of the village, he was the very poorest, for he gave away\nnearly all that was given to him; and he was often hungry.\n\nAtami was by the sea and the people lived on the sea\u2019s bounty. When the\nwinter swept down from Fuji San, and the storm god roared on the waves\nand frightened the fish away, then all the people hungered. The fathers\nand mothers hungered greatly, for they gave nearly all there was to\nthe children, who were not, therefore, so much in want. But the priest\nhungered most of all; for he was the father of his people, and so gave\nthem of his own share of food. Indeed, he gave them more than this;\nfor, under the camphor tree which grew beside his little temple on the\nhill, he sat and prayed for his people, and the gods heard his prayers.\n\nOne day the fish were gone from the shore and the people were very\nhungry. The priest of Atami sat and prayed, and lo! the camphor\ntree opened, and there appeared to him a lovely goddess in a mantle\nof purple. Her face was fair and kind, but her eyes gleamed with\ndispleasure, and she said, \u201cSit not here and pray for fish, oh foolish\none! Even now the fish are upon your shore; behold them!\u201d Then the tree\nclosed and he saw her no more.\n\nThe priest was afraid and hastened to the shore; and there he saw a\nterrible sight and smelled a terrible smell.\n\nThe whole beach was covered with fishes. There were big fishes and\nlittle fishes, long fishes and fat fishes, and strange fishes that no\none had ever seen before. They would have fed the village for many\ndays, but alas! each fish was scalded as by fire and was crumbling into\nbits.\n\nThe good priest wept as if his heart would break, crying aloud, \u201cAlas,\nmy people, my people!\u201d\n\nThen he climbed high upon the hill above the village, and looked over\nthe sea, hoping that he might learn what had caused the fish to die.\nThere he prayed to the gods, \u201cOpen my eyes that I may see, and aid my\npeople.\u201d\n\nFar out at sea, and under the surface of the water, he beheld a great\nturmoil. The waters boiled and bubbled as if in torment. And through\nthe waters, the fishes leaped, and lo! they were scalded to death.\n\nThe priest called to the watchman, who stood upon the hill to tell the\npeople when good fish came to the shore, \u201cHaste! haste!\u201d he said, \u201crun\nto the temple and bring me a branch from the holy camphor tree which\ngrows beside it. For thy life, haste!\u201d\n\nThe watchman, being young, made great haste. Soon he brought back a\nbough of the tree. Its leaves were like green jade and it was of more\navail than many demons.\n\nThen the priest prayed upon the shore, while he waved his camphor\nbranch in the air, \u201cOh Kwan-on, Goddess of Mercy,\u201d he said, \u201clook upon\nour distress and have pity upon my people. Give us fish lest we die.\nAnd cause the turmoil in the sea to cease.\u201d\n\nHe threw the sacred bough far from him into the sea. Then there came\na mighty rumbling, and the crest of the hill rose into a cone, and\nthrough it the waters burst, rising toward heaven in a stream so high\nthat it seemed to reach the clouds.\n\nSoon the people came with speed and made channels in the earth. The hot\nwater flowed into the channels, and all who bathed therein were cured\nof their ailments; and the place was called the \u201cSpring of Kindness.\u201d\n\nThen was the old priest much rejoiced, for the fish came back to his\npeople, and there was food to eat. He dwelt long in the shrine on the\nhilltop, and his people were grateful to him, and made him many\nofferings.\n\nAnd to this day the camphor tree grows, with its small, pointed,\ngreen-jade leaves, old, and strong, and fragrant, upon the hill of\nAtami.\n\n[Illustration: KWAN-ON, GODDESS OF MERCY]\n\n\n\n\nTHE INAO OF THE AINU\n\n\nIn the beginning of things the world was very hot. The mountains\nbreathed fire and smoke, even the snows were melted and the sun goddess\nshone fiercely, with a cruel light. She scorched the food of the\npeople, and withered their flowers and trees.\n\nBut Okikurumi, a mighty fisherman, saw the sorrows of the Ainu and\ngrieved. He was of a kind heart, and all the people loved him. He was\ntall and straight as a young bamboo, of gentle mien and thoughtful,\nwise for the safety of the Ainu whom he loved.\n\nWhen, therefore, the land was scorched with the heat, and folk were\nstarving, Okikurumi caught many fish and sent them to the Ainu by his\nwife.\n\nShe was named Tureshi, and she lived but to do the will of her lord.\n\n\u201cGo thou to the Ainu,\u201d he said, \u201ctake this basket of fish. Put it in at\nthe window of the chief man of the village and hasten back. I forbid\nthe Ainu to question you or to look at you. Go!\u201d\n\n\u201cYes, my lord,\u201d Tureshi answered; and she girdled her kimono about her\nand started upon her errand.\n\n[Illustration: \u201cOKIKURUMI WAS A MIGHTY FISHERMAN\u201d]\n\nDay after day she went to the aid of the suffering people. But they saw\nher not, for Okikurumi had commanded them to refrain from gazing upon\nthe face of his wife.\n\nAt last, however, one man grew curious. He wished to see this forbidden\nbeing. \u201cShe is either the most beautiful person in the world or else\nshe is so ugly that her husband feels shame to have her seen of other\nmen,\u201d he said to himself. \u201cIn any case I will find out.\u201d\n\nThus he spoke, being of an evil nature and all unmindful of the\nbenefits of Okikurumi. When Tureshi came to the window, therefore, he\nlay in wait, while Kusa-Hitari[30] sang in the night. Catching Tureshi\nby the hand he drew her into the house, and gazed upon her lovely\nface. For she was the most beautiful of women, her husband\u2019s joy and\npride. Then, she in great alarm fled from the Ainu to her husband\u2019s\nside, crying out to Okikurumi, \u201cMy lord, I have obeyed you, but send me\nnot again to these ungrateful people who disobey your commands. Their\nwretched lives are not worth the saving.\u201d\n\nOkikurumi was full of wrath and he declared that, henceforth and\nforever, the men of the Ainu should find food for their own women,\nsince Tureshi could not go to them without insult.\n\nThen were the men of the Ainu very sad, and many of them died and their\nchief men mourned.\n\nSo they took an _inao_[31] and set it up upon the sea shore. Its staff\nwas straight and slender, and its curls and tassels floated free in the\ngentle breeze. By this they meant to worship the spirit of the sea and\nimplore him to bring them good fortune.\n\nThen the sea spirit, who loved not Okikurumi, was pleased with the\n_inao_ and sent them many fish.\n\nBut again there came a famine to the land of the Ainu, and it was worse\nthan any that had gone before. The children hungered, and the mothers\nwept, and the old men set up an _inao_; but all was of no avail. At\nlast they sought a wise man, and he gave them good counsel, saying,\n\u201cGather together all the crumbs which are left in the village, millet\nand rice malt, and make a little cup of wine.\u201d This they did.\n\n\u201cPour it into six cups of lacquer,\u201d he said, and this they did. And the\nscent of the _sak\u00e9_ rose upward, even unto heaven, and it was good.\n\nThe gods hastened from far and near to see whence came the delicious\nsmell. They drank of the _sak\u00e9_ and it was very good. Then they danced\nand sang and laughed in glee. And as they danced, one goddess pulled\nout two hairs from a deer and cast them far away, and lo! from the\nmountains came two herds of deer. Then another goddess plucked two\nscales from a fish and threw them far into the river, and behold,\nshoals of fish swam from the sea.\n\nThen were the Ainu much rejoiced, and men went proudly forth upon the\nmountains to hunt the deer; and others sought the river and caught many\nfish. And from that day there was always fish and flesh in the land of\nthe Ainu, and there was no more famine.\n\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[30] Cricket.\n\n[31] Prayer-plume.\n\n\n\n\nTHE GOBLIN TREE\n\n\nA Samurai dwelt in the Oni province and his name was Satsuma\nShichizaemon. He had a garden, the most beautiful of any in the\nvillage. It was filled with flowering plants, and the shrubs had a\ndelicious fragrance which filled the air. Golden-hearted lilies floated\nupon the tiny lake, dwarf pines waved their branches over the water\u2019s\nedge, and above all, dark and silent, towered a huge _enoki_, or goblin\ntree.\n\nThis tree had stood there for centuries, and no one had dared to cut a\nbranch or even to pull one of its leaves.\n\nShichizaemon, however, was of a bad heart, and had no reverence for the\nthings of his fathers. He wished the view from his window not to be\nhidden, and the _enoki_ stood between him and the valley. So he gave\norders to have the tree cut down.\n\nThat night his mother dreamed a dream. She saw before her a terrible\ndragon-like monster whose forked tongue spit fire, and who said to her,\n\u201cMother of Satsuma Shichizaemon, beware! Your son shall die and all his\nhouse if he harm the _enoki_, for the spirits of the trees will not\nsuffer insult to the goblin tree.\u201d\n\n[Illustration: \u201cTHE DWELLING WAS LEFT DESERTED\u201d]\n\nNext day she told her son of her dream, but he only laughed at her, and\nsaid, \u201cIf all the spirits of the earth and air and water were to come\nto you in dreams, still I should make way with this tree.\u201d Then he sent\na woodman to cut down the tree.\n\nAs the tall tree fell with a crash so loud as to frighten all the\nhousehold, Satsuma also fell to the ground.\n\n\u201cI am ill!\u201d he cried. \u201cThe tree! The tree!\u201d and he knew no more;\nfor he was dead. Soon too his wife fell ill, and then his mother.\nWithin a month there remained not one of all his people. Even the\nservants disappeared from earth, all crying as their spirits departed,\n\u201cA-a-e-e-e-i! The tree! The tree!\u201d\n\nLong the dwelling was left deserted. Stagnant waterweeds fouled the\nlake, and even the songs of the birds seemed mournful and sad. At last\nit was remembered that there remained of the family of Satsuma but one\nperson, a nun named Tikem, who dwelt in the temple at Yamashira. They\nsent to her saying, \u201cO Tikem San, will you not come to the garden of\nyour kinsman, and remove the terrible curse which rests upon it?\u201d\n\n\u201cI will come,\u201d she answered.\n\nShe came to the dwelling of Satsuma Shichizaemon, her kinsman, and all\nthe people in the village watched in fear, lest the sickness of the\ngoblin tree should come upon her. But O Tikem San feared not.\n\nShe abode in the house calmly attending to her duties, and she was\nwell. Every day she went to the place where had stood the goblin tree,\nand there she offered up prayers for the kinsman who had perished. And\nthere was no more curse, for the holiness of O Tikem San rested upon\nthe place like a gentle breath from heaven. And all the children of the\nvillage played happily in the sunlit garden where once had been the\ngoblin tree.\n\n\n\n\nTHE MAN WHO BECAME A SERPENT\n\n\nThere was once a hunter who shot a great bear, and the beast ran from\nhim and entered a cave.\n\n\u201cI will go after it,\u201d the hunter said to himself, \u201cfor, since it is\nwounded, it will be easy to kill it when it is trapped in the cave.\u201d\n\nSo he went into the cave, but could find no bear. He saw its tracks,\nand they led down a dark passage which seemed to slope into the earth.\nHe followed this passage a long way, but found no bear. Suddenly he\ncame into an open space and saw before him a beautiful garden. It was\nfilled with wonderful trees such as he had never before seen, and some\nof them bore strange fruits.\n\nNow as there was no one to forbid, he plucked some berries and found\nthat they were good. But suddenly he was overcome with a strange\nfeeling, and gazing down upon himself, he saw that he was turned into\na horrible serpent. Struck with terror, he cried, \u201cWhat fearful thing\nhas befallen me? I who was a man, ruler over all animals, even the\nfour-footed kings of the forest, am become the lowest of the low, even\na loathsome serpent.\u201d He hung his head in shame, and crawled back\nthrough the cave, and lay down at the foot of a huge pine tree.\n\n[Illustration: \u201cHE STOOD BESIDE THE BODY OF A HUGE SERPENT\u201d]\n\nWearied and distressed, at last he fell asleep and dreamed a dream. In\nhis dream a woman appeared to him, who looked kindly upon him and said,\n\u201cI feel sorrow for you, unhappy youth. I am the spirit of the pine\ntree, and you may hear me speak when the wind sweeps from Fuji San and\nwhispers through my pines. This thing has happened to you because you\nate the fruit of Fengtu,[32] of which no man may eat in safety. But you\ncan be saved if you will obey me. Climb to the very topmost branches of\nthis pine and hurl yourself down to earth. So you may return to your\ntrue self.\u201d\n\nThe hunter awoke and, remembering his dream, said, \u201cIt would be better\nto be dashed to pieces than to remain alive and be a loathsome serpent.\nI will throw myself down from the tree and may the gods help me.\u201d\n\nGliding carefully up to the very topmost branch, he poised for a\nmoment, and then gave a mighty leap. He fell to the ground and for a\nlong time he knew no more.\n\nWhen he returned to himself, he stood at the foot of the great pine\ntree beside the crushed body of a huge serpent, and his own form\nwas once more the form of a man. Then was his heart full of a great\nthanksgiving, and he straightway set up _inao_ beneath the kindly pine\ntree.\n\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[32] Hades.\n\n\n\n\nTHE LAUGHING DUMPLING\n\n\nThere was once an old woman who laughed at everything. She was a very\nold woman, but she seemed young. That was because she laughed so much,\nfor the god of laughter made all the lines in her face pleasant lines.\n\nShe laughed at rain, she laughed at drought, she laughed at poverty.\nShe had never had a chance to laugh at wealth, for she was very, very\npoor. She made rice dumplings to sell, and so she was called by the\npeople about her the \u201cLaughing Dumpling.\u201d Her name was really Sanja.\n\nSanja had but one wish. She never prayed to Juro-Jin[33] for good\nfortune, or to any of the gods for wealth; but she wished above all\nthings to make the finest rice dumplings in all the city. She tried\nand tried, and each time she made them better than the last; but she\nnever made them quite perfect, and so she was never quite satisfied.\nShe never had quite all the rice she wanted to work with; for she was\nso poor that each grain seemed to her as dear as a piece of money to a\nmiser.\n\nBut still she tried and still she laughed. One day she sat in her\nkitchen making her dumplings with her usual care. Her little house\nstood at the top of a hill, quite outside of the city, and as she\nworked and patted with her paddle, one of the finest of her dumplings,\nit slipped and rolled right out of the door and down the hill.\n\n\u201cDear, dear!\u201d she cried, \u201cthat will never, never do! I can\u2019t afford to\nlose that dumpling. Perhaps I can catch it.\u201d\n\nSo she sprang up and ran after it as fast as her feet would carry her.\nBut the dumpling had a good start, and she could not catch it. She saw\nit ahead of her, and suddenly it bounced down a hole in the ground. She\nran after it, and before she knew it, her _geta_[34] slipped into the\nhole and she dropped through.\n\n\u201cA-a-a-i!\u201d she cried, \u201cwhere am I going?\u201d\n\nShe did not stop falling until her breath was almost gone. Then\nsuddenly she found herself in a place she had never seen before. The\ntrees and flowers looked strange, and she felt a little frightened and\nvery much alone. But as she looked about her her heart grew lighter,\nfor she saw a statue of Jizu and him she well knew. So she bowed\nto him, and said, \u201cGood morning, my Lord Jizu. Have you seen a rice\ndumpling fall this way?\u201d\n\n\u201cGood morning,\u201d answered Jizu, with his very sweet smile. \u201cYes, I saw\na dumpling and it went past here, down the hill, skipping as if it had\nlegs.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, thank you very much, then I must skip after it,\u201d said Sanja.\n\n\u201cNot so,\u201d answered Jizu, \u201cdo not go down there. An _Oni_[35] lives\nthere, and he may do you harm.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut I must have my dumpling,\u201d laughed the old woman; and she ran on in\nthe direction the dumpling had taken. She had gone only a little way\nwhen she came to another statue of Jizu. Being a good woman as well as\npolite, she bowed to it very reverently, and said, \u201cMy good Lord Jizu,\nhave you seen a dumpling pass this way?\u201d\n\n\u201cAs if it had wings, it flew past me,\u201d said Jizu, smiling upon her most\nsweetly.\n\n\u201cThen I must hurry to catch it,\u201d said the old woman.\n\nBut Jizu shook his head, \u201cYou must not think of that,\u201d he said, \u201cthere\nis an Oni below there who is most wicked. He does not like old women at\nall, and he will surely be cruel to you if he does not eat you.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut I must have my dumpling,\u201d said Sanja. \u201cHe\u2019ll not eat me. I\u2019m too\ntough. Tee-hee-hee!\u201d and she ran laughing on her way.\n\nAs she went along she thought she smelled her dumpling, and, as she was\nvery hungry, it smelled very good.\n\n\u201cIf I ever catch that dumpling I will certainly eat every bit of it,\u201d\nshe said to herself. \u201cI will punish it for giving me such a chase.\nTee-hee-hee!\u201d Then she felt a shadow across her face. She looked up and\nsaw another statue of Jizu.\n\n\u201cMost gracious Lord Jizu,\u201d she said, smiling up into his ever smiling\nface, \u201chave you seen my dumpling pass this way?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes, it passed but a moment ago,\u201d he answered, \u201cbut do not think of\nsearching for it, for the Oni who lives beyond is very fierce and\ncruel, and he will certainly eat you. He is fond of dumplings, but he\nis much fonder of human meat.\u201d\n\n\u201cOne who is as old as I am hasn\u2019t any very fresh meat on her bones,\ntee-hee-hee!\u201d laughed Sanja. But as she spoke, she heard a terrible\nnoise and her face turned pale.\n\n\u201cGet behind me quickly,\u201d said Jizu, \u201chere comes the Oni. Perhaps you\nmay escape him if you hide behind me.\u201d\n\nO Sanja San crept quickly behind him. She found herself not so brave\nas she had thought, and she did not feel at all like laughing. She hid\nherself very carefully behind Jizu, and up came the Oni, very wild and\nfierce.\n\n\u201cGood morning, Lord Jizu,\u201d he said, \u201cI smell meat!\u201d\n\nEven for the Oni, Jizu\u2019s smile was the same, and he made answer, \u201cGood\nmorning, Oni. Is it not dumpling that you smell? I saw one pass this\nway not long ago.\u201d\n\n\u201cNo, indeed,\u201d said the Oni, \u201cit is not dumpling. I know one passed this\nway, for I saw it. What I smell now is human meat!\u201d and he sniffed and\nsniffed until Sanja shivered. But for all her fear, she wanted very\nmuch to laugh.\n\n\u201cI don\u2019t smell it,\u201d said Jizu, still smiling. \u201cAre you sure it is not\nrice dumpling? It seems to me that I smell a little of it about you.\u201d\n\n\u201cThat is not strange,\u201d said the Oni with a grin; \u201cfor when I saw that\njuicy dumpling rolling my way I caught it and ate it. It was good. I\nwish I had the person who made it!\u201d\n\nO Sanja San was as angry as she could be at the thought of his eating\nher dumpling. She was frightened, too, and she cowered closer in the\nshadow of the Lord Jizu.\n\n\u201cWhat I smell now is meat, fresh human meat, juicy, young and tender!\u201d\nand the Oni sniffed again and smacked his lips very impolitely.\n\nThis was too much for Sanja. She could not help thinking of her\nwrinkled, withered flesh, and how far from juicy, young and tender it\nwas. She laughed out loud, \u201cTee-hee-hee. Tee-hee-hee!\u201d\n\nThe Oni\u2019s ears were as good as his nose, and without a word he\nstretched out a long, hairy arm behind Jizu, and pulled her forth from\nher hiding place. She was frightened terribly, but still she laughed.\n\n\u201cWho are you?\u201d demanded the Oni.\n\n\u201cI am the woman who made the dumpling,\u201d she answered. \u201cWhy did you eat\nit?\u201d\n\n\u201cBecause it was good,\u201d said the Oni.\n\n\u201cYou couldn\u2019t eat me for that reason,\u201d said Sanja.\n\n\u201cI don\u2019t intend to eat you,\u201d said the Oni. \u201cYou will come home with me\nand cook. You needn\u2019t be afraid. As long as you cook good dumplings for\nme nothing will harm you.\u201d\n\n\u201cVery well,\u201d said Sanja politely, for there was really nothing else to\nsay.\n\nThe Oni put her in a boat and rowed away across a river to his castle.\nThere she cooked for him such dishes as he had never before tasted, and\nthey were good.\n\nBut when she came to make rice dumplings, the Oni said to her, \u201cYou are\na good cook, but you are wasteful. When you cook rice put but one grain\ninto the pot.\u201d\n\n\u201cOne grain!\u201d she cried. \u201cTee-hee-hee! how could any one live on one\ngrain of rice?\u201d\n\n\u201cI will show you,\u201d said the Oni. \u201cFor though you are a woman and think\nyou know much, there are some things which I know better than you.\u201d\n\nSanja was silent; but she tossed her head a little, and said to\nherself, \u201cHow impolite he is! And how vain to think he could possibly\nknow more than I do!\u201d\n\n\u201cBe sure you have your water boiling,\u201d said the Oni. \u201cPut one grain of\nrice in the pot, then take this paddle in your hand and if you want\nrice for ten persons stir ten times, in this way;\u201d and he stirred the\npaddle about in the water. \u201cSee!\u201d and lo! the grain of rice burst into\nten pieces, and each piece into ten more, and each a perfect grain,\nuntil the pot was filled.\n\nSanja fairly gasped with astonishment.\n\n\u201cThis is a magic paddle,\u201d said the Oni; \u201cand with it you can cook every\nthing, serve every one, and always have enough.\u201d\n\nSo Sanja stayed with the Oni and cooked for him, and she gave perfect\nsatisfaction. The dumplings she made were always perfect, and the\nrice pot was never empty, because of the magic paddle.\n\n[Illustration: \u201cSHE GAVE PERFECT SATISFACTION\u201d]\n\nAll went very well until one day Sanja grew homesick. She felt as if\nshe could not stay with the Oni another day, and as if she would die if\nshe could not go home. She thought and thought about it; and the little\nhut with its paper walls, and the cherry tree beside it seemed fairer\nthan all the fine castles of Oni Land. So, one day when the Oni had\ngone off for a day\u2019s hunting, she decided to try to escape. She stole\nout of the castle and down to the river\u2019s bank; and there she found\nthe boat in which the Oni had brought her. Quickly she got into it and\nbegan to row. She had reached the middle of the river, when she heard a\nloud cry from the shore. There was the Oni with all his friends, waving\ntheir hands wildly and calling loudly to her, \u201cCome back, Laughing\nDumpling, come back!\u201d\n\nShe was afraid to go on and still more afraid to go back. She began to\nrow harder than ever when she saw what the Oni was doing. He and all\nhis friends stooped down and, making cups of their hands, they began\nto drink the water of the river. They drank and drank, and soon there\nwas so little water left to float the boat that they could wade to her\nacross the river bed. She was so frightened that she could hardly\nthink. As they came nearer, however, she thought how funny they looked,\nwading out from the reedy shore, and she laughed, \u201cTee-hee-hee!\u201d\n\nThe Oni stopped and looked at her, \u201cHow strange that she laughs at\neverything!\u201d said one.\n\nShe laughed again, \u201cTee-hee-hee!\u201d\n\n\u201cShe shall not laugh at me!\u201d cried her master; and he started fiercely\ntoward her.\n\nThe Laughing Dumpling was not going to be caught if she could help it,\nfor she felt that this was now no laughing matter. Wondering what she\ncould do to get away, she thought of the magic paddle which was tucked\nin her belt, where she had always carried it. She drew it forth, and\nreaching over the side of the boat she quickly stirred the waters.\nThen, lo! they began to flow again. They flowed so fast that they\nwashed the boat right into the shore. They filled the river so quickly\nthat the Oni had to swim for their lives.\n\nSanja ran quickly away, as fast as she could go, past the three statues\nof Jizu, up the hill and, with difficulty, up through the very hole\ninto which she had fallen.\n\nWhen she reached home she sat down quite exhausted; but as soon as she\ncould get her breath she laughed until she cried.\n\n\u201cI ought not to have taken away the Oni\u2019s paddle,\u201d she said; \u201cbut he\nate my dumpling, and made me cook all these months without any pay. Now\nI shall be able to make fine dumplings for all Kyoto. Tee-hee-hee!\u201d\n\nAnd so she did. For the magic paddle kept her always supplied with\nrice, and everybody came to eat of the wonderful rice cakes and to see\nthe Laughing Dumpling.\n\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[33] God of Good Fortune.\n\n[34] Wooden sandal.\n\n[35] A Japanese ogre.\n\n\n\n\nTHE SACRIFICE TO KOMPIRA\n\n\nYamato and his army came one day to Lagami, and then crossing the\nmountain, they soon arrived at the Bay of Yedo.\n\n\u201cIt will be easy to cross here,\u201d cried the prince to his men. \u201cThe\ndistance is small from one shore to the other. There is no water here\nto fear. We can soon conquer this obstacle.\u201d\n\nKompira, god of the sea, heard the prince\u2019s boast and was angry.\n\n\u201cI will show this proud fellow that he can not despise the least of my\nchildren,\u201d he said wrathfully.\n\nThen he blew upon the waves, and they lashed themselves into foam. They\nrose toward high heaven, and dashed against the ships of Yamato Take\nuntil they were beaten upon the rocks and nearly overwhelmed. There\narose, also, a fearful storm; the lightnings flashed about the ships,\nand the thunder roared, and all were sore afraid.\n\n\u201cHa, ha!\u201d laughed Kompira, \u201cI wonder if these mortals now see my power!\nThey may well fear me, Kompira, the god of the sea!\u201d\n\nYamato Take was sad. He gazed in the face of ruin.\n\n\u201cBehold,\u201d he sighed. \u201cThis is the end of all my struggles. My ships\nwill be dashed to pieces upon the rocks. We shall all perish in the sea\nor be taken prisoners by the enemy. The wrath of Kompira, great god of\nthe sea, is turned against me, for I have offended him. There is no\nmore hope.\u201d\n\nThen he laid his hand upon his second[36] sword; but his wife stayed\nhis hand.\n\n\u201cNot so, my lord,\u201d she cried, raising her beautiful pale face toward\nhis. She loved him and was always with him, in peace or war.\n\nShe was very lovely, the Princess Ota Tachabana; and Yamato Take\nlistened when she spoke.\n\n\u201cNot so, my dear lord,\u201d she spoke again. \u201cVictory shall be yours. We\nhave but to appease the wrath of Kompira and all will be well. I,\nmyself, will be the sacrifice needed for your dear safety.\u201d\n\nWith that she raised both her hands to the sea and prayed, \u201cO Kompira,\ngreat god of the sea, be not angry with my lord, for he is good. Send\nhim a fortunate issue, and accept my sacrifice.\u201d\n\nThus crying, she stood poised for a moment upon the prow of the ship,\nand then sprang into the sea.\n\n[Illustration: \u201cSHE SPRANG INTO THE SEA\u201d]\n\nYamato gave a terrible cry and would have followed her, but his chief\nmen laid hands upon him and would not let him go.\n\nThe wind sank to quietness, the waves grew calm, the storm ceased, and\nhis headman cried, \u201cMy lord, the sacrifice is accepted. We may now pass\nquickly in safety. Because she would wish it, rouse yourself to strife\nand conquest.\u201d\n\nWhen morning broke, the ships were safely moored by the farther shore.\nAs Yamato stepped out upon the sand, the lapping waves cast at his feet\nthe comb of the princess, his wife. He picked it up and commanded that\nat that spot a temple should be raised to her memory.\n\nThen he made a great conquest for his lord the emperor, and his\nsoldiers boasted of him and said, \u201cHe is the greatest warrior in the\nworld, the Prince Yamato Take!\u201d\n\nBut he was no longer proud. Instead, when men praised him, and honors\nwere showered upon him, he bent his head and said only, \u201cAzuma! azuma!\nwa ya!\u201d[37]\n\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[36] Every Samurai carried two swords, a long one to slay his enemies,\na short one to kill himself if about to be taken prisoner.\n\n[37] \u201cMy wife, alas, my wife!\u201d\n\n\n\n\nTHE TWO BROTHERS\n\n\nThere were once two brothers who were as different as day and night.\nThe oldest, Kurobei, cared only for himself and thought of nothing but\nof what might advance his own interests. Moreover, he was very proud\nand haughty. The younger brother\u2019s name was Kazuma. He was gentle and\nof a kind heart, and all the people loved him.\n\nWhen therefore the father died, and the two brothers were left alone in\nthe world (their mother having been dead for many years), there were\nthose among the servants who said, \u201cIt is a pity that O Kazuma is not\nthe elder, to rule the house; for his rule would be one of kindness.\u201d\n\nBoth Kurobei and Kazuma loved their father and had been dutiful sons.\nBoth had obeyed the old man and both had grieved at his death. They had\nhim buried with every token of respect and they wept at his loss.\n\n\u201cMy father is no more,\u201d cried Kurobei. \u201cI must place offerings upon his\ngrave that all men may see that I hold him in respectful remembrance.\u201d\n\nBut the younger brother wept most bitterly. \u201cAlas! alas!\u201d he cried. \u201cMy\nfather is gone from me! No longer may we go to him each day and ask his\nadvice upon the many things which trouble us! How shall we live? Let\nus each day place upon his grave flowers of remembrance. Perhaps his\nspirit may some day speak with us.\u201d\n\nKurobei agreed to this and each morning the two brothers could be seen\nbearing flowers to their father\u2019s grave, and there they talked to their\nfather, telling him of all the doings of their lives.\n\nAnd all the people saw and said, \u201cHow good Kurobei is! Though he has\nmuch to do, in the affairs of his home, still each day he takes his\nbrother with him and goes to his father\u2019s grave, lest the younger\nforget his filial piety.\u201d\n\nThus things went on for twelve months, and the matter coming to the\nemperor\u2019s ears, he appointed Kurobei to a high place in his household,\nsaying, \u201cOne who so well serves his father will be faithful in office.\u201d\nAnd Kazuma was much pleased at the honor shown to his brother, whom he\ndearly loved.\n\nKurobei went much to the palace and much enjoyed his new life. He said\nto Kazuma, \u201cYou will see now that you must go alone to my father\u2019s\ngrave, good brother, for I am much occupied with affairs. For the\nhonor of the family I must appear well at court, and my father would\nwish it. I have gone to his grave daily these twelve months and never\nomitted this respect; but now my duty to the emperor demands that the\nrest of my time be spent at the palace. Go you therefore to the grave,\nif you will, since you have no higher duty.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut my brother!\u201d cried Kazuma in astonishment. \u201cWill you neglect our\nfather\u2019s grave altogether?\u201d\n\n\u201cNot at all,\u201d replied the elder brother. \u201cBe not so hasty in your\njudgments, for that is a sin. I shall place before his grave the day\nlily which shall bloom daily, and thus shall I continue to do him\nhonor. I have chosen a handsome plant, and shall pay a gardener well to\ntend it for me. The flowers shall stand in my stead before the grave,\nand I shall have leisure to attend to my duties at the palace, coming\nto visit my father only upon the days of special f\u00eate.\u201d\n\n\u201cAlas, my brother,\u201d cried Kazuma. \u201cPlant not the lily of forgetfulness!\u201d\n\nKurobei only said, \u201cTrouble me no further, I have spoken.\u201d\n\nThen Kazuma spoke no more, but he went even more carefully each day to\nhis father\u2019s grave and there he made offerings. He talked to the spirit\nof his beloved father, and told him all things which occurred to him\neach day.\n\nThe elder brother at first went upon the feast days, but as time passed\nhe went less and less, and at last he went not even upon the Feast of\nthe Dead, when every one should remember their dead with incense and a\nbower of bamboo and bright berries.\n\nThis made Kazuma very sad, and at last he spoke.\n\n\u201cO Kurobei,\u201d he said, \u201chonorable brother, have you quite forgotten our\nfather? You never visit his grave.\u201d\n\nKurobei was angry and spoke harshly. \u201cWhy do you bother me, troublesome\nfellow? Did I not tell you I had no time to attend to it? I planted the\nlily, and I pay the gardener to attend to it; I can not do more for my\nduty lies elsewhere. Does not the lily fare well?\u201d\n\n\u201cIt fares well, my brother,\u201d said Kazuma sadly; and to himself he\nwhispered, \u201cthe lily of forgetfulness.\u201d\n\nThen after his brother had gone to the palace he wept much and said,\n\u201cMy brother\u2019s heart has grown like a stone. He has forgotten my father\nand all that he has for him is the lily of forgetfulness. I too shall\nplant a flower, but mine shall be the aster for memory; for I shall\nnever, never, forget my honorable father. Each day I will tend the\naster with my own hands; for it is a sacred flower, the flower of\nremembrance.\u201d\n\nThen he did as he said, and every day he tended the plants and prayed\nbeside his father\u2019s grave. And every day he loved his father more and\nmore.\n\n[Illustration: \u201cEVERY DAY HE TENDED THE PLANTS\u201d]\n\nOne day when he was tending the flower he heard a strange sound. He\nlistened and there seemed to come from the grave a whispering voice.\nIt said to him, \u201cO Kazuma, I am sent to guard the spirit of your\nhonorable father. Long have you remembered your parent when your\nbrother had forgotten him. You have planted for him the sacred asters\nof remembrance, and here they have bloomed in purple beauty. All these\nthings I have noticed and I am well pleased with your filial piety. So,\nfear me not, faithful son. To you I shall be a spirit of kindness so\nlong as you live. I can read the future, and ever I shall whisper to\nyou in dreams of the night, and I shall direct you in the paths which\nyou should follow to meet success. Farewell!\u201d\n\nThe voice ceased and Kazuma stood amazed before the asters and the day\nlilies of his brother. He returned home greatly wondering, and told his\nwife all that had happened.\n\nThat night, in sleep, the spirit came to him and told him all that he\nshould do to meet success; and when day came he obeyed the voice, and\nall was well with him. And so it continued, for success waited upon him\nat every turn, and his wife bore him many sons and all his life he was\nhappy and fortunate.\n\n\n\n\nTHE PRINCESS AND THE FOX BABY\n\n\nA little princess sat beneath the cherry blooms in the royal garden. It\nwas spring and the whole garden was a mass of radiant pink bloom, as\nsoft as the sunset glow on the snows of Fuji San.\n\nThe little princess was as fair as the cherry blooms, and the petals\nhad drifted lovingly upon her. They had powdered the ground about her\nlike snowflakes, and rested upon her soft black hair like a coronet of\npearl.\n\nAs she sat and dreamed in the sunshine, the little princess was very\nhappy, and she said to herself, \u201cWhat a beautiful world this is! I wish\nevery one was as happy as I am!\u201d This she said because her heart was as\nkind as her face was fair.\n\nThen she heard a sudden rush and the patter of tiny feet, and a little\nbaby fox sprang over the garden wall and ran right under the princess\u2019s\nrobe. She stooped and took it in her arms.\n\n\u201cPoor little frightened foxling,\u201d she said. \u201cWhat is the matter?\u201d\n\nBut the little fox only tucked his sharp nose under her arm and\ntrembled all over.\n\nThen the princess heard a shout and looking up, she saw some boys on\nthe wall.\n\n\u201cThat is our fox,\u201d they cried roughly, for they did not know she was a\nprincess. \u201cGive it to us!\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat are you going to do with it?\u201d she asked.\n\n\u201cKill it and eat the flesh for supper,\u201d cried the biggest boy. \u201cThen we\nwill sell the skin, and the liver can be sold to the magician doctor\nwho cures fever with it. We shall get many _bu_[38] for the fox, and we\ncan buy rice cakes and other things.\u201d\n\nThe little fox seemed to understand, for he cowered closer to the\nprincess. He poked his nose into the palm of her hand and kissed it\ngently.\n\n\u201cYou may have the price of the foxling, but you may not have his life,\npoor baby,\u201d said the little princess. \u201cHere,\u201d she pulled her purse from\nher kimono sleeve--\u201chere is a gold piece for the flesh, and one for the\nliver, one for the fur, and still another for the life of this poor\nlittle bundle of fur. And pray the gods to give you kinder hearts in\nyour breasts, for neither the gods nor men like cruel souls.\u201d\n\nThe boys quickly took the gold which she offered them, lest she should\nchange her mind and take back the coins, but she had no thought of\ndoing that. Gold was nothing to her, because of it she had plenty; but\nthe life of the fox baby seemed very precious.\n\n\u201cFox Baby,\u201d she said as she untied a string from his neck. \u201cWhere are\nyour father and mother?\u201d The fox gave a sad little whine, and its\neyes seemed full of tears. From a bamboo thicket nearby came some\nshort, sharp barks. The fox baby barked in return, and the princess\nsaw peering from between the bamboo branches two old foxes who looked\nanxiously at the baby.\n\n\u201cReally I believe these are your parents, foxling,\u201d she said. \u201cI shall\nlet you go to them. I would like to keep you for my playmate, you are\nso soft and pretty; but you would be lonely, no matter how much I loved\nyou, and I never could be as your father and mother. So run along and\nbe happy.\u201d\n\nShe stroked him gently and set him down, and with great leaps he was\noff to the bamboo thicket. Then the princess watched with pleasure, for\nthe old foxes received him with joy; they licked him over and over, and\nthen, one on either side the baby fox, they trotted happily away. The\nprincess smiled \u2019neath the cherry blooms and was glad.\n\nSummer bloomed and the lotus lay golden hearted on the waters\u2019 brim. It\npassed and the maples were scarlet and gold upon the hillsides. The sun\nwas a glory of burnished gold in the heavens, but within the palace\nall was dark.\n\nThe little princess walked no more in the garden. She lay parched with\nfever upon her slumber mat and her mother and father watched beside her\nday and night. All the wise doctors in the land had been called to her\nside.\n\n\u201cShe can not live,\u201d they said, \u201csince sleep does not visit her\neyelids.\u201d They tried by every means to make her sleep, but though her\neyelids were heavy and she longed for slumber, it came not, and every\nday she grew weaker.\n\nAt last came the emperor\u2019s magician and he gazed upon her long and\ncarefully. At last he said, \u201cShe is cast under a spell. Unless the\nspell is broken she must die. One must sit beside her from the going\ndown of the sun until it rises again in golden splendor from behind the\nmountains. That one will break the charm.\u201d\n\n\u201cThat is easy,\u201d cried the princess\u2019s maids. \u201cWe will watch to-night and\nsave her;\u201d for the little princess was so sweet and good that every one\nloved her. But lo! when the midnight came, the maidens felt a strange\ncharm steal over them, and a strange scent was wafted to them, and\nstrange music filled their ears, and they slept.\n\nWhen morning came they wept and felt very sad; for the princess was\nweaker and they had not broken the charm.\n\nThe princess\u2019s old nurse was very angry.\n\n\u201cFoolish ones,\u201d she cried. \u201cYou have idled and slept and my darling is\nnot yet well. I will watch to-night, for she grows weaker each day.\u201d\n\nBut alas! the old nurse was no more fortunate than the maidens, for the\nspell was woven about her also and she slept; and when she awoke, she,\ntoo, wept bitterly.\n\nThen all manner of people tried to withstand the charm and watch with\nthe sick maiden, and even the little princess\u2019s father and mother, but\nto no avail. And daily she grew weaker and weaker.\n\nAt last there came to the palace a young warrior, Ito San, who begged\nto be allowed to watch one night.\n\n\u201cI love the princess,\u201d he said. \u201cRather than sleep I shall die.\u201d Then\nhe took his sword, keen and sharp, and placing the point beneath his\nchin, rested the handle upon the floor. Each time his head drooped\nin sleep, the point would bite and sting, and, struggling with the\ndrowsiness which overtook him, he would sit upright again. In this way\nhe conquered sleep.\n\nWhen the princess opened her eyes she seemed less weak, and Ito gazed\nupon her with love in his eyes. Then sleepily, she smiled upon him, and\nat last she slept.\n\nHe sat beside her until morning not daring to move.\n\nAs the sunrise swept over the land, turning all to glowing beauty, he\nheard a strange, weird chant; and the words of it were stranger still,\nfor the voice sang,\n\n   \u201cServe to the little princess\n    Broth of the finest rice;\n    Grate into it fox\u2019s liver\n    For magical, healing spice.\n    For a wildwood fox, search far and near,\n    And the princess\u2019s ills will disappear.\u201d\n\n\u201cA fox\u2019s liver,\u201d cried the young warrior joyously. \u201cMy beloved, now\nshall you be saved!\u201d He repeated the song of the sunrise to the mother\nof the princess and she told the emperor. Then he sent far and wide to\nall the great hunters of the hills.\n\n\u201cBring us the liver of a fox,\u201d he commanded, \u201ca clean and healthy fox.\nDo this as quickly as possible, for my daughter is sick unto death.\u201d\n\nThe hunters sought on every hill and in every valley, through every\ntangled wildwood and over every moor, but they found no fox.\n\n\u201cThere are no foxes!\u201d they cried to the emperor. \u201cWe have searched far\nand near, and not one is to be found.\u201d\n\n[Illustration: \u201cHE SAT BESIDE HER, NOT DARING TO MOVE\u201d]\n\nThen the young warrior said, \u201cI will find one. There must be a fox\nsomewhere in the wildwood for this gentle little heart who loved all\nanimals.\u201d\n\nThen Ito San hunted far and wide, but he found no foxes; for the\ncunning animals had heard the proclamation of the emperor and had\nhidden themselves. So Ito San returned to the palace with grief in his\nheart, ready to slay himself in his despair.\n\nAt that moment he felt a hand touch his sleeve, and turning quickly he\nsaw a little old woman, with a queer little pointed face, and a mantle\nof red fur wrapped about her. In her hand she bore a jar, and she said,\n\u201cTake this quickly and the princess will be well.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat is the price?\u201d he asked.\n\n\u201cAlas!\u201d she burst into tears. \u201cThe price is more than you could ever\npay, but the princess paid it long ago. Hasten to her!\u201d\n\nThen Ito saw that the jar contained fox\u2019s liver and his heart bounded\nfor joy. He hurried to the palace, the words of the song in his ears.\n\n   \u201cServe to the little princess\n    Broth of the finest rice;\n    Grate into it fox\u2019s liver\n    For magical, healing spice.\n    For a wildwood fox, search far and near,\n    And the princess\u2019s ills will disappear.\u201d\n\nThey gave her the broth of rice with the liver grated into it, and lo!\nshe was well. And as she lay dreaming happily of Ito San and his great\nlove for her, there came to her in her dream, a fox cub who said, \u201cDear\nPrincess, I am that little fox you saved long ago from the cruel boys.\nMy father and mother were not ungrateful. So my father gave you his\nliver to make you well, and my mother, who would not live without him,\nsends her red fur to keep you warm. And this is because you were kind\nto the little foxling who was their baby.\u201d\n\nThen the princess awoke, and upon the sleeping mat there lay, soft and\nwarm and light, the skin of a red fox.\n\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[38] A Japanese coin.\n\n\n\n\nTranscriber\u2019s Notes\n\nItalicized text is surrounded by underscores: _italics_.\n\nSmall capitals are changed to all capitals.\n\nIllustrations have been moved so they do not break up the paragraphs.\nFootnotes have been moved to the end of the chapter.\n\nObvious typographical errors and punctuation errors have been corrected\nafter careful comparison with other occurrences within the text and\nconsultation of external sources. Except for those changes noted below,\nall misspellings in the text, and inconsistent or archaic usage, have\nbeen retained.\n\nThe following corrections have been applied to the text (before/after):\n\n  (p. 10)\n  ... the road to Yakima was ...\n  ... the road to Yakami was ...\n\n  (p. 27)\n  ... a young samurai. ...\n  ... a young Samurai. ...\n\n  (p. 61)\n  ... return to Itsuka and ...\n  ... return to Itsuku and ...\n\n  (p. 72)\n  ... kokoro wa nishike (coat ...\n  ... kokoro wa nishiki (coat ...\n\n  (p. 79)\n  ... a treasure,\u201d he said, ...\n  ... a treasure,\u201d he said. ...\n\n  (p. 94)\n  ... long purple racimes swaying ...\n  ... long purple racemes swaying ...\n\n  (p. 104)\n  ... the O-botaro (great firefly) ...\n  ... the O-botaru (great firefly) ...\n\n  (p. 110)\n  ... of all Yeddo, to be ...\n  ... of all Yedo, to be ...\n\n  (p. 118)\n  ... bit of advice, When ...\n  ... bit of advice. When ...\n\n  (p. 150)\n  \u201cOKI KURUMI WAS A MIGHTY FISHERMAN\u201d\n  \u201cOKIKURUMI WAS A MIGHTY FISHERMAN\u201d","title":"Japanese folk stories and fairy tales","tradition":"myth-cosmogony","translated_text":null,"word_count":30957}