kato sayemon
kato sayemon lived in the palace of the shogun ashikaga, where he had his separate apartments, and as there was no war at that time, he remained contentedly with his wife and concubines. kato sayemon was a man who loved luxury and ease, and he regarded domestic peace as the greatest of all earthly blessings. he honestly believed that among all his smiling, courteous women there was nothing but harmony, and this thought made life particularly sweet to him.
one evening kato sayemon went into the palace garden and was enchanted by the ever-moving cloud of fireflies, and he was scarcely less pleased with the gentle song of certain insects. "what a charming scene," murmured sayemon, "and what a charming world we live in! bows and smiles and abject humility from my women. oh, it's all very wonderful and very delightful! i would have life always so."
thus voicing his thoughts in this self-satisfied manner, he chanced to pass his wife's room, and peeped in with a loving and benevolent eye. he observed that his wife was playing go with one of his concubines. "such polite decorum," murmured sayemon. "surely their words are as sweet as honey and as soft and fair as finely spun silk. but stay! what strange thing is this? the hair of my wife and the hair of my concubine have turned into snakes that twist and rear their heads in anger. all the time these women smile and bow and move their pieces with well-ordered charm and grace. gentle words come from their lips, but the snakes of their hair mock them, for[pg 371] these twisting reptiles tell of bitter jealousy in their hearts."
kato sayemon in his palace of the shogun ashikaga.
sayemon's beautiful dream of domestic happiness was for ever shattered. "i will go forth," said he, "and become a buddhist priest. i will leave behind the hot malice and envy of my wife and concubines, and in the teaching of the blessed one i shall indeed find true peace."
the next morning sayemon left the palace secretly, and though search was made for him, he could not be found. about a week later sayemon's wife reduced the establishment and lived quietly with her little son, ishidomaro. two years went by and still there came no news of her husband.
at length sayemon's wife and child went in search of the missing man. for five years they wandered about the country, till at length they came to a little village in kishu, where an old man informed the weary and travel-stained wanderers that sayemon was now a priest, and that a year ago he lived in the temple of kongobuji, on mount koya.
the next day the woman and her son found that at the temple of kongobuji no women were permitted to enter, so ishidomaro, after carefully listening to his mother's instructions, ascended the mountain alone. when the boy, after a long and arduous climb, reached the temple, he saw a monk, and said: "does a priest called kato sayemon live here? i am his little son, and my good mother awaits me in yonder valley. five years we have sought for him, and the love that is in our hearts will surely find him."
the priest, who was none other than sayemon himself, thus addressed his son: "i am sorry to think that your journey has been in vain, for no one of the name of kato sayemon lives in this temple."
[pg 372]
sayemon spoke with outward coldness, but within his heart there was a struggle between his religion and love for his son. knowing, however, that he had left his wife and child well provided for, he yielded to the teaching of the lord buddha and crushed out his parental feelings.
ishidomaro, however, was not satisfied, for he felt instinctively that the man before him was in reality his father, and once again he addressed the priest: "good sir, on my left eye there is a mole, and my mother told me that on the left eye of my father there is a similar mark, by which i might at once recognise him. you have the very mark, and in my heart i know that you are my father." and having said these words the boy wept bitterly, longing for arms that never came to caress and soothe the unhappy little fellow.
sayemon's feelings were again stirred; but with a great effort to conceal his emotion, he said: "the mark of which you speak is very common. i am certainly not your father, and you had better dry your eyes and seek him elsewhere." with these words the priest left the boy in order to attend an evening service.
sayemon continued to live in the temple. he had found peace in serving the lord buddha, and he cared not what became of his wife and child.
how an old man lost his wen
there was once an old man who had a wen on his right cheek. this disfigurement caused him a good deal of annoyance, and he had spent a considerable sum of money in trying to get rid of it. he took various medicines and applied many lotions, but instead of the wen disappearing or even diminishing, it increased in size.
one night, while the old man was returning home laden with firewood, he was overtaken by a terrible thunderstorm, and was forced to seek shelter in a hollow[pg 373] tree. when the storm had abated, and just as he was about to proceed on his journey, he was surprised to hear a sound of merriment close at hand. on peeping out from his place of retreat, he was amazed to see a number of demons dancing and singing and drinking. their dancing was so strange that the old man, forgetting caution, began to laugh, and eventually left the tree in order that he might see the performance better. as he stood watching, he saw that a demon was dancing by himself, and, moreover, that the chief of the company was none too pleased with his very clumsy antics. at length the leader of the demons said: "enough! is there no one who can dance better than this fellow?"
when the old man heard these words, it seemed that his youth returned to him again, and having at one time been an expert dancer, he offered to show his skill. so the old man danced before that strange gathering of demons, who congratulated him on his performance, offered him a cup of saké, and begged that he would give them the pleasure of several other dances.
the old man was extremely gratified by the way he had been received, and when the chief of the demons asked him to dance before them on the following night, he readily complied. "that is well," said the chief, "but you must leave some pledge behind you. i see that you have a wen on your right cheek, and that will make an excellent pledge. allow me to take it off for you." without inflicting any pain, the chief removed the wen, and having accomplished this extraordinary feat, he and his companions suddenly vanished.
the old man, as he walked towards his home, kept on feeling his right cheek with his hand, and could scarcely realise that after many years of disfigurement he had at last the good fortune to lose his troublesome and unsightly wen. at length he entered his humble abode,[pg 374] and his old wife was none the less pleased with what had taken place.
a wicked and cantankerous old man lived next door to this good old couple. for many years he had been afflicted with a wen on his left cheek, which had failed to yield to all manner of medical treatment. when he heard of his neighbour's good fortune, he called upon him and listened to the strange adventures with the demons. the good old man told his neighbour where he might find the hollow tree, and advised him to hide in it just before sunset.
the wicked old man found the hollow tree and entered it. he had not remained concealed more than a few minutes when he rejoiced to see the demons. presently one of the company said: "the old man is a long time coming. i made sure he would keep his promise."
at these words the old man crept out of his hiding-place, flourished his fan, and began to dance; but, unfortunately, he knew nothing about dancing, and his extraordinary antics caused the demons to express considerable dissatisfaction. "you dance extremely ill," said one of the company, "and the sooner you stop the better we shall be pleased; but before you depart we will return the pledge you left with us last night." having uttered these words, the demon flung the wen at the right cheek of the old man, where it remained firmly fixed, and could not be removed. so the wicked old man, who had tried to deceive the demons, went away with a wen on either side of his face.
a japanese gulliver[1]
shikaiya wasobioye was a man of nagasaki, and possessed considerable learning, but disliked visitors.[pg 375] on the eighth day of the eighth month, in order to escape the admirers of the full moon, he set off in his boat, and had proceeded some distance, when the sky looked threatening, and he attempted to return, but the wind tore his sail and broke his mast. the poor man was tossed for three months on the waves, until at last he came to the sea of mud, where he nearly died of hunger, for there were no fishes to be caught.
at length he reached a mountainous island, where the air was sweet with the fragrance of many flowers, and in this island he found a spring, the waters of which revived him. at length wasobioye met jofuku, who led him through the streets of the main city, where all the inhabitants were spending their time in pursuit of pleasure. there was no death or disease on this island; but the fact that here life was eternal was regarded by many as a burden, which they tried to shake off by studying the magic art of death and the power of poisonous food, such as globe-fish sprinkled with soot and the flesh of mermaids.
when twenty years had passed by wasobioye grew weary of the island, and as he had failed in his attempts to take his life, he started upon a journey to the three thousand worlds mentioned in buddhist scriptures. he then visited the land of endless plenty, the land of shams, the land of the followers of the antique, the land of paradoxes, and, finally, the land of giants.
after wasobioye had spent five months riding on the back of a stork through total darkness, he at length reached a country where the sun shone again, where trees were hundreds of feet in girth, where weeds were as large as bamboos, and men sixty feet in height. in this strange land a giant picked up wasobioye, took him to his house, and fed him from a single grain of monster rice, with chopsticks the size of a small tree.[pg 376] for a few weeks wasobioye attempted to catechise his host in regard to the doctrines of the old world whence he came, but the giant laughed at him and told him that such a small man could not be expected to understand the ways of big people, for their intelligences were in like proportion to their size.
the jewel-tears of samébito
one day, while totaro was crossing the long bridge of séta, he saw a strange-looking creature. it had the body of a man, with a skin blacker than that of a negro; its eyes glowed like emeralds, and its beard was like the beard of a dragon. totaro was not a little startled at seeing such an extraordinary being; but there was so much pathos in its green eyes that totaro ventured to ask questions, to which the strange fellow replied:
"i am samébito ["a shark-person"], and quite recently i was in the service of the eight great dragon kings as a subordinate officer in the dragon palace. i was dismissed from this glorious dwelling for a very slight fault, and i was even banished from the sea. ever since i have been extremely miserable, without a place of shelter, and unable to get food. pity me, good sir! find me shelter, and give me something to eat!"
totaro's heart was touched by samébito's humility, and he took him to a pond in his garden and there gave him a liberal supply of food. in this quiet and secluded spot this strange creature of the sea remained for nearly half a year.
totaro and samébito.
now in the summer of that year there was a great female pilgrimage to the temple called miidera, situated in the neighbouring town of Ōtsu. totaro attended the festival, and there saw an extremely charming girl. "her face was fair and pure as snow; and the loveliness of her lips assured the beholder that their very utterance[pg 377] would sound 'as sweet as the voice of a nightingale singing upon a plum-tree.'"
totaro at once fell in love with this maiden. he discovered that her name was tamana, that she was unmarried, and would remain so unless a young man could present her with a betrothal gift of a casket containing no fewer than ten thousand jewels.
when totaro learnt that this fair girl was only to be won by what seemed to him an impossible gift, he returned home with a heavy heart. the more he thought about the beautiful tamana, the more he fell in love with her. but alas! no one less wealthy than a prince could make such a betrothal gift—ten thousand jewels!
totaro worried himself into an illness, and when a physician came to see him, he shook his head, and said: "i can do nothing for you, for no medicine will cure the sickness of love." and with these words he left him.
now samébito gained tidings of the sickness of his master, and when the sad news reached him, he left the garden pond and entered totaro's chamber.
totaro did not speak about his own troubles. he was full of concern for the welfare of this creature of the sea. "who will feed you, samébito, when i am gone?" said he mournfully.
when samébito saw that his good master was dying, he uttered a strange cry, and began to weep. he wept great tears of blood, but when they touched the floor they suddenly turned into glowing rubies.
when totaro saw these jewel-tears he shouted for joy, and new life came back to him from that hour. "i shall live! i shall live!" he cried with great delight. "my good friend, you have more than repaid me for the food and shelter i have given you. your wonderful tears have brought me untold happiness."
[pg 378]
then samébito stopped weeping, and asked his master to be so good as to explain the nature of his speedy recovery.
so totaro told the shark-man of his love-affair and of the marriage-gift demanded by the family of tamana. "i thought," added totaro, "that i should never be able to get ten thousand jewels, and it was that thought that brought me so near to death. now your tears have turned into jewels, and with these the maid will become my wife."
totaro proceeded to count the jewels with great eagerness. "not enough! not enough!" he exclaimed with considerable disappointment. "oh, samébito, be so good as to weep a little more!"
these words made samébito angry. "do you think," said he, "i can weep at will like women? my tears come from the heart, the outward sign of true and deep sorrow. i can weep no longer, for you are well again. surely the time has come for laughter and merrymaking, and not for tears."
"unless i get ten thousand jewels, i cannot marry the fair tamana," said totaro. "what am i to do? oh, good friend, weep, weep!"
samébito was a kindly creature. after a pause, he said: "i can shed no more tears to-day. let us go to-morrow to the long bridge of séta, and take with us a good supply of wine and fish. it may be that as i sit on the bridge and gaze toward the dragon palace, i shall weep again, thinking of my lost home, and longing to return once more."
on the morrow they went to the séta bridge, and after samébito had taken a good deal of wine, he gazed in the direction of the dragon kingdom. as he did so his eyes filled with tears, red tears that turned into rubies as soon as they touched the bridge. totaro,[pg 379] without very much concern for his friend's sorrow, picked up the jewels, and found at last that he had ten thousand lustrous rubies.
just at that moment they heard a sound of sweet music, and from the water there rose a cloud-like palace, with all the colours of the setting sun shining upon it. samébito gave a shout of joy and sprang upon the parapet of the bridge, saying: "farewell, my master! the dragon kings are calling!" with these words he leaped from the bridge and returned to his old home again.
totaro lost no time in presenting the casket containing ten thousand jewels to tamana's parents, and in due season he married their lovely daughter.
[1] adapted from professor b. h. chamberlain's translation in the transactions of the asiatic society of japan, vol. vii.
