Japanese Tales

by Royall Tyler

  After running a little way off, the monkey turned back toward its savior with an ingratiating expression on its face. “Well, you’re safe now,” said the woman, “and I hope you appreciate all my trouble. I know you’re only an animal, but still, you should be grateful.”

  The monkey seemed to listen, then scampered toward the hills. On the way it headed, of all places, for the rock where the baby lay, picked up the baby, and ran on. The child watching the baby took fright and burst into tears. The mother looked on in dismay as the monkey darted into the hills with her baby, and she raged at its ingratitude.

  “Well,” said her friend, “that’ll teach you! A lot of appreciation you get from a fur-face like that! If I’d killed it, it would have made me a meal and you wouldn’t have had your baby stolen. The nasty brute!”

  The two women ran after the monkey and found it took care not to get more than about a hundred yards ahead of them. When they ran at top speed, the monkey matched them; when they slowed down, it slowed down too.

  Finally the women stopped. “Ignorant beast!” the mother shouted after it. “Here I saved your life, you could at least show some gratitude! How dare you steal my baby! I suppose you’ll eat him. Couldn’t you give me his life for yours?” But the monkey ran on and carried the baby to the top of a tall tree.

  The weeping mother gazed up from below while the monkey sat in a fork high aloft. Next, the monkey held a good-sized branch bent far back, at the same time jiggling the baby under its arm. The baby began to cry. When it stopped, the monkey jiggled it again and made it cry some more. The sound quickly attracted an eagle, which swooped in to seize the prey. Obviously the baby was going to be eaten one way or another, if not by the monkey then by the eagle. But the monkey bent the branch a little further, then released it with perfect timing. It caught the eagle in the head and the bird plummeted to the ground.

  Again the monkey bent the branch and made the baby cry, and again an eagle came swooping in. It went the way of the first. The mother understood that the monkey had never meant actually to steal her child. It had just wanted to repay its debt by killing eagles for her.

  “I understand, monkey, I understand!” she called through her tears. “But that’s enough now! Please, please bring my baby back down!”

  By now the monkey had killed five eagles. It descended from tree to tree, laid the baby gently near its mother, then leapt into the tree again and sat there, scratching.

  Smiling through her tears, the mother nursed her child. When her husband dashed up, the monkey vanished into the forest. Under the tree lay five dead eagles.

  The husband wondered at the story he got from his wife. He cut off the five eagles’ wings and tails and took them home with his family. Bit by bit he sold the eagle feathers for basic necessities, so that in the end the monkey did repay its debt — but at the price of what agony for the mother before she understood!

  220.

  THE UGLY SON

  Long ago a gambler had a son whose eyes and nose looked as though they had been squashed together by main force. This made the young man outstandingly ugly. His parents were wondering how on earth they were to get him married when they heard that a rich man was seeking a handsome bridegroom for his beloved daughter. They let the father know that the “fairest youth in all the land” wanted to marry the girl. The rich man accepted the match and set the date for the betrothal.

  On the couple’s first night the brotherhood of gamblers gathered in borrowed finery and escorted the young man to his bride, doing their best to hide their faces under a brilliant moon. The groom looked quite presentable among them. This was how he began his nightly visits to the girl, in accordance with custom.

  But all too soon came the dreaded night (the one that would seal the marriage forever) when the young man would have to lie with his betrothed right through dawn and into day. Undaunted, the gamblers thought up a plan.

  One of them got up over the ceiling of the couple’s room, trod the boards till they creaked and groaned, and bellowed in a terrible voice, “Fairest youth in all the land!”

  The household quaked to hear him, for they recalled countless stories of supernatural visitations that had started exactly this way. The terrified groom called back, “I hear I’m the one people call fairest in the land. What do you want?” Three times the voice over the ceiling roared and three times the groom replied.

  The family wanted to know why he answered at all. “I can’t help myself!” he explained.

  “The daughter of this house,” the demon bellowed, “has been mine for three years, and I want to know what you think you’re doing sleeping with her!”

  “But, but,” stammered the groom, “I had no idea! I didn’t know! Please don’t hurt me!”

  “You nasty sneak!” the demon roared. “I’ll ask you just one thing before I go. Which do you cherish most, your life or your looks?”

  “How can I answer that?” protested the bridegroom.

  His parents-in-law whispered frantically to him that he shouldn’t mind his looks as long as he kept his life. “Tell him your looks!” they said.

  He obeyed.

  The demon replied with a horrid sort of sucking noise. The groom screamed, buried his face in his arms, and collapsed. The demon left.

  What had happened to the groom’s face? A lamp was brought in, and by its light they saw that his eyes and nose looked as though they had been jammed together. “Oh, if only I’d told him my life!” he sobbed. “How can I live among people with a face like this? And to think that you never once saw me as I used to be! What an awful mistake it was to get involved with a girl claimed by a horrible demon!”

  Moved by this complaint, the girl’s father promised him his fortune in compensation. In fact, to the young man’s entire satisfaction, his father-in-law took excellent care of him and even built a separate house for him, on the pretext that the present one’s possibly faulty location might have had something to do with the calamity. The young man lived a very pleasant life indeed.

  SOURCES

  AND

  NOTES

  When possible, I have given approximate dates for the events described in the tales, or the internal evidence which makes it possible to date them. (Not that these events are necessarily historically true!) Dates mentioned in the tales are noted again here.

  1. Konjaku 31/37.

  2. Konjaku 28/40.

  3. Uji shūi 3/16.

  4. Konjaku 31/33.

  5. Shasekishū 7/17.

  6. Kokonchomonjū 246.

  7. Konjaku 28/25. Sanesuke lived 957–1046.

  8. Konjaku 28/5. Tamemori was appointed governor of Echizen in 1029.

  9. Konjaku 28/39.

  10. Konjaku 28/41. Sons of the court nobility studied at the Academy.

  11. Konjaku 27/9. 9th century.

  12. Konjaku 27/7.

  13. Konjaku 27/21. Third quarter of 11th century.

  14. Konjaku 27/13.

  15. Uji shūi 3/15.

  16. Konjaku 27/1.

  17. Shasekishū 8/11.

  18. Konjaku 28/12.

  19. Uji shūi 2/7.

  20. Kohon setsuwashū 62.

  21. Konjaku 28/11. Kaishū died in 1016.

  22. Konjaku 11/29. Tenji reigned 661–668.

  23. Konjaku 11/13. Second quarter of 8th century.

  24. Konjaku 11/7. 736.

  25. Konjaku 12/7. 752.

  26. Konjaku 11/25, 11/9. Kōbō Daishi returned from China in 804 and died in 835.

  27. Kōfukuji ranshōki. 1007–1013.

  28. Konjaku 21/11. Ban no Yoshio was exiled in 866 and died in 868.

  29. Konjaku 31/15.

  30. Konjaku 19/32. Ca. 1000.

  31. Kasuga Gongen genki 17, Kasuga Daimyōjin gotakusenki. 1202. In Gotakusenki the god (speaking through the medium) introduces himself as “this old man.” The passage about the god having been higher than Myōe after all is from Gotakusenki.

  32. Shintōshū 8. Ca. 460–70.

>   33. Konjaku 20/1. Ca. 880s.

  34. Konjaku 20/2. Ca. 980.

  35. Konjaku 20/11.

  36. Konjaku 13/33. Perhaps 8th century.

  37. Uji shūi 11/6.

  38. Senjūshō 6/10. Shōkū lived 910–1007.

  39. Kokonchomonjū 386. Kazan abdicated in 986 and died in 1008.

  40. Tsurezuregusa 69. See note 38.

  41. Hosshinshū 4/10.

  42. Hosshinshū 6/12. Saigyō lived 1118–1190.

  43. Jikkinshō 10/24. Early 1200s. Tennōji, one of the first temples founded in Japan, is now in Osaka, which did not exist then. Its relics were famous. In an important myth the Sun Goddess, angered by her brother’s outrageous conduct, hid herself in a cave and so plunged the world into darkness. She had to be lured out again by the other gods.

  44. Konjaku 24/1. Makoto died in 868.

  45. Kasuga Gongen genki 10. Rin’e lived 950–1025. He became abbot in 1017.

  46. Jikkinshō 10/25.

  47. Kokonchomonjū 265. 1107.

  48. Jikkinshō 10/22. Noritaka lived 999–1076.

  49. Uji shūi 3/4.

  50. Senjūshō 5/15. Saigyō lived 1118–1190.

  51. Uji shūi 14/11. Perhaps mid-11th century.

  52. Uji shūi 9/1, Konjaku 20/10. Yōzei reigned 877–884.

  53. Konjaku 27/19. Perhaps first quarter of 11th century. Sanesuke lived 957–1046.

  54. Uji shūi 1/14. Minamoto no Sadafusa lived 1130–1188.

  55. Uji shūi 9/7.

  56. Kohon setsuwashū 19. Ca. 900.

  57. Konjaku 30/1. Heichū died in 923.

  58. Uji shūi 3/2. Tadaie, a poet, lived 1032–1091.

  59. Uji shūi 2/8. Abe no Seimei lived 921–1005.

  60. Uji shūi 11/3. See note 59.

  61. Konjaku 24/19.

  62. Uji shūi 11/3. See note 59.

  63. Uji shūi 14/10. Michinaga (966–1027) built Hōjōji in 1020.

  64. Konjaku 24/24. Murakami reigned 946–967. Hakuga no Sammi (918–980) is also known as Minamoto no Hiromasa.

  65. Konjaku 29/18.

  66. Konjaku 13/10.

  67. Konjaku 25/11. Yorinobu (968–1048) became governor of Kōzuke in 999.

  68. Uji shūi 13/6. Early 11th century.

  69. Jikkinshō 10/27.

  70. Shasekishū 7/24. 1278.

  71. Uji shūi 15/6. Not Kanemichi but Mototsune founded Gokurakuji; he lived 836–891.

  72. Uji shūi 8/3. Emperor Daigo reigned 897–930.

  73. Uji shūi 15/8. Sōō lived 831–918. He founded Mudōji in 856. The Somedono Empress, daughter of Fujiwara no Yoshifusa, lived 829–900.

  74. Konjaku 16/32.

  75. Uji shūi 13/10. Ennin lived 794–864. He returned from China in 847.

  76. Konjaku 16/20. Perhaps ca. 950.

  77. Uji shūi 10/6.

  78. Konjaku 29/28.

  79. Uji shūi 7/4. Perhaps second quarter of 10th century.

  80. Kokonchomonjū 606. Ca. 1180s.

  81. Kokonchomonjū 681.

  82. Konjaku 16/17. 896.

  83. Uji shūi 1/18. Perhaps ca. 900.

  84. Konjaku 27/31. Kiyoyuki lived 847–918.

  85. Uji shūi 8/7. Jōkan lived 843–927.

  86. Konjaku 13/2.

  87. Uji shūi 13/13.

  88. Nara ebon “En no Gyōja.” En no Gyōja was exiled in 699 and disappeared in 701. I chose this version of his story because the Konjaku version is incomplete, and because it is fuller than the standard account in Nihon ryōiki (ca. 822).

  89. Jikkinshō 7/1.

  90. Konjaku 28/24. Montoku reigned 850–858.

  91. Konjaku 31/17. Ca. 1025.

  92. Kokonchomonjū 599. 1171.

  93. Konjaku 28/28. “Our own time” must be the early 12th century.

  94. Konjaku 28/18.

  95. Uji shūi 3/6.

  96. Kokonchomonjū 385. Uda abdicated in 897 and died in 931.

  97. Uji shūi 11/10. Nichizō lived 905?–985?

  98. Konjaku 14/43. Perhaps early 10th century.

  99. Konjaku 31/13.

  100. Konjaku 13/1. 941.

  101. Fusō Ryakki 25. Genkō shakusho 9 supplied the ending about the “vajra-handled bell,” etc.

  102. Uji shūi 2/4.

  103. Kokonchomonjū 45. 930 or 931. The original has 931, but I have changed the date to agree with no. 101. Other documents have 930 for the bolt of lightning hitting the palace. Where this version has the god as half salmon, another (Shingonden) has him as half frog.

  104. Konjaku 17/26.

  105. Konjaku 19/29. Yamakage lived 825–889.

  106. Tango Fudoki. I used this version because the one in Kojidan is a little garbled, and lacks the closing passage. Nihongi supplied the date, 477.

  107. Kokonchomonjū 682.

  108. Shasekishū 7/18. Between 1264 and 1275.

  109. Konjaku 29/40.

  110. Konjaku 29/39.

  111. Konjaku 14/3.

  112. Shasekishū 7/2. 1270s.

  113. Konjaku 15/20.

  114. Konjaku 15/1. Ca. 770–780.

  115. Konjaku 19/14.

  116. Uji shūi 11/9.

  117. Konjaku 15/23. Ca. 1040.

  118. Uji shūi 13/9.

  119. Uji shūi 2/14. Daigo reigned 897–930. According to Konjaku, the Minister of the Right was Minamoto no Hikaru, who died in 913.

  120. Jikkinshō 1/7. Reizei reigned 967–969.

  121. Uji shūi 8/6.

  122. Kokonchomonjū 607.

  123. Shasekishū 7/20.

  124. Uji shūi 4/1.

  125. Konjaku 20/7. The Somedono Empress, daughter of the Regent Yoshifusa, lived 829–900. Montoku, her son, reigned 850–858.

  126. Konjaku 20/4. En’yū reigned 969–984. The original indicates that the characters for Kōzen are to be pronounced “Kaguyama,” but the reading “Kōzen” is well attested elsewhere. I have adopted “Kōzen” to make the place recognizably the same as the place where the dragon lived in no. 183.

  127. Konjaku 14/44.

  128. Uji shūi 12/5. Kinsue lived 956–1029. This incident cannot be earlier than 981.

  129. Konjaku 30/14.

  130. Konjaku 31/9. Koretaka, the eldest son of Emperor Montoku, died in 897.

  131. Konjaku 31/8. Kochūjō served Empress Shōshi (988–1074).

  132. Konjaku 31/7. Mid-11th century.

  133. Konjaku 27/24.

  134. Konjaku 31/10.

  135. Jikkinshō 10/26.

  136. Konjaku 23/22.

  137. Uji shūi 6/5.

  138. Uji shūi 4/5.

  139. Konjaku 13/43.

  140. Konjaku 29/1.

  141. Konjaku 29/36.

  142. Konjaku 29/21. Ca. 1000.

  143. Konjaku 29/17.

  144. Konjaku 29/19. Ca. 1000.

  145. Uji shūi 2/10. Fujiwara no Yasumasa, the husband of the poet Izumi Shikibu (no. 178), lived 958–1036.

  146. Konjaku 17/42.

  147. Konjaku 14/7.

  148. Konjaku 12/28.

  149. Uji shūi 8/4. Fujiwara no Toshiyuki died in 901 or 907.

  150. Uji shūi 10/10.

  151. Konjaku 13/41.

  152. Uji shūi 1/12.

  153. Tsurezuregusa 53.

  154. Uji shūi 5/9. Zōyo lived 1032–1116.

  155. Konjaku 17/44.

  156. Uji shūi 1/13.

  157. Hosshinshū 3/5.

  158. Konjaku 12/31. Kōken reigned 749–758.

  159. Konjaku 13/34.

  160. Konjaku 15/41.

  161. Hosshinshū 3/8. Probably 1176.

  162. Konjaku 24/15. Perhaps ca. 1000. Tadayuki was the father of Jakushin (no. 179) as well as of little Yasunori.

  163. Uji shūi 10/9. Mochisuke died 958.

  164. Konjaku 28/29. Ki no Haseo lived 845–912.

  165. Konjaku 29/5. Ca. 1000.

  166. Konjaku 24/20.

  167. Jikkinshō 10/20. Hakuga no Sammi lived 918–980.

  168. Konjaku 14/42. First quar
ter of 10th century.

  169. Uji shūi 1/3.

  170. Uji shūi 12/24.

  171. Jikkinshō 6/18. Genshō reigned 715–724.

  172. Konjaku 17/47.

  173. Konjaku 16/29.

  174. Uji shūi 7/5.

  175. Konjaku 26/11.

  176. Uji shūi 6/2.

  177. Konjaku 17/33.

  178. Uji shūi 1/1. Dōmyō died in 1020. Izumi Shikibu’s husband appears in no. 145.

  179. Konjaku 19/3. Yoshishige no Yasutane became a monk in 986 and died in 1002. His father was Kamo no Tadayuki (nos. 162, 165).

  180. Konjaku 17/17.

  181. Konjaku 27/5.

  182. Senjūshō 6/3, 7/4, 7/5. Chūsan lived 935–976.

  183. Kojidan 5/24.

  184. Konjaku 16/15.

  185. Shasekishū 7/3. Ca. 1270.

  186. Uji shūi 4/4.

  187. Konjaku 26/9.

  188. Konjaku 26/8.

  189. Konjaku 31/12.

  190. Konjaku 27/2. Uda abdicated in 897 and died in 931.

  191. Kojidan 1/7. See note 190.

  192. Uji shūi 12/22. Yōzei abdicated in 884 and died in 949.

  193. Kokonchomonjū 605. Ca. 1215.

  194. Kokonchomonjū 601. Ca. 1200.

  195. Hosshinshū 7/6. Sanesuke lived 957–1046.

  196. Uji shūi 13/5. Possibly early 8th century.

  197. Konjaku 12/24. The regent, Fujiwara no Michinaga, recorded his pilgrimage to worship the Buddha-Ox in his diary. He went to Sekidera in the spring of 1025 (Manju 2.5.17).

  198. Konjaku 19/8.

  199. Hosshinshū 7/7.

  200. Heike monogatari 4. Between 1151 and 1154. Although this source is unlike my others, I thought the composite monster motif made the story worth including.

  201. Konjaku 27/29. Masamichi died in 1017.

  202. Konjaku 27/32.

  203. Konjaku 27/36.

  204. Kokonchomonjū 603. The Minase Palace belonged to Emperor Go-Toba, who abdicated in 1198 and died in 1239.

  205. Uji shūi 3/20.

  206. Konjaku 27/40.