Reading Diary B: Japanese Fairy Tales (Lang)

Japanese Fairy Tales (Lang)

 

The Monkey and the Crab illustrated cover

The Crab and the Monkey: This story has animals that possess a house and tools just as we humans do. The crab in this story is said to be a good housewife but I did not read anything about her being a wife since she had no husband. It made me wonder what happened to him. The monkey was a greedy and cunning animal that nearly killed the poor crab. Luckily the crab had a friend who was close by and helped her get better and get back at the monkey. The plan they came up with involved a heavy mortar that ended the greedy monkey’s life. In this story, what goes around comes around.

 

A statue of a tanuki with a hat and a staff

How the Wicked Tanuki was Punished: In a lot of Japanese folklore, there are certain animals who have the ability to use magic. In this story the tanuki and the fox both know how to use magic and could turn into humans. Just like how the sparrow turned into a young woman in the story of “The Sparrow and the Slit Tongue” that is mentioned in my Reading Diary A: Japanese Fairy Tales (Lang). The wicked tanuki and his wife, who is the fox, came up with a brilliant plan that would deceive humans in order to buy food for them and their son. Their plan worked twice, but the second time they did it the tanuki told the buyer that the fox was not quite dead. Soon the fox was killed and there was only the wicked tanuki and his son the young tanuki. The young tanuki soon figured out what had happened and challenged his father to a magic shapeshifting contest. The wicked tanuki turned into a man and stood in the middle of a bridge where he would meet his son in a disguise. A king soon came by and the wicked tanuki accused the king of being his son in disguise. This action only ended tanuki’s life as the king’s guards threw him over into the river where he drowned. The young tanuki watched and was pleased that his mother was avenged. 

Reading Diary A: Japanese Fairy Tales (Lang)

Two frogs in old Japanese outfit attempting to hold on to one another

Japanese Fairy Tale (Lang)

The Two Frogs: I found this story in the Japanese Fairy Tale (Lang) unit to be quite funny. Two frogs from different places deciding on the same day to go visit one another’s town and meeting each other on top of a big mountain sounds ridiculous because that is a long way for a frog to travel. Then their idea of holding each other up to see over the mountain to where they wanted to go was hilarious because I can imagine two little frogs with their nose up in the air looking behind them since their eyes are on top of their heads. A pretty funny story about two frogs deciding not to go visit the other town just because they forgot that their eyes are on top of their heads.

The Envious Neighbor: Here is a story about evil and greed of a neighbor next to an old man, his wife, and his precious dog. What was interesting was that the old man’s dog found treasure and kept bringing wealth to him and his wife when the dog was alive and after he passed away. The spiritual connection between man and his best friend really hits the spot in this story. Then when the envious neighbor had the dog, all he got was smelly things and frustration. It was sad what happened to the dog but in the end I am glad that the evil neighbor got what he deserved. This story was a bit long but it was worth reading.

The Sparrow and the Slit Tongue: This is another story that led to the demise of those who are greedy. Once again there is a relationship between man and an animal, this time the animal being a sparrow whom the man saves from a hungry raven. It was nice to see that the man and the sparrow had a great bond, however the man’s wife was greedy and bitchy about everything. It was cruel that she slit the birds tongue and chased it out of the house which made the man sad. Honestly, I do not know how that man could’ve ever stayed with such a crazy woman. However, the man did meet the sparrow once again but this time the sparrow was a young woman. I know that in Japanese mythology and folklore that entities can take shape of a human body so this was not a surprise to me. After seeing the sparrow again, she offered the man a small box and a large box to take home. The man left for home with the small box and soon after his wife went back to go get the larger box. It was then after she opened the large box and met her doom fitting for her. Snakes of venom with slit tongues just like how she had slit the sparrows ended her life.  

The greedy evil woman about to slit the sparrows tongue