Reading Diary B: Japanese Fairy Tales (Ozaki)

Watanabe Tatsuna Fighting the Demon at the Rashomon, by Utagawa Kuniyoshi (1798-1861)

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In the second half of the Japanese Fairy Tales by Ozaki, there is the Goblin of Adachigahara. This story is about a cannibalistic goblin of the Adachigahara province, who disguised itself as an old woman. A Buddhist priest visits the region by virtue of being lost.

   As the night was beginning to show on the plain, the priest finds a worn down cottage tended to by the old woman. He asks if he can stay the night, and the old woman reluctantly agrees. 

   She offers the priest dinner, which he gratefully accepted. The two talk for a long time, until the fire runs out. The old woman offers to get firewood, but the priest insists that he do the job. The woman does the job anyway, but bids the priest not to look in the inner room. For a while, he resists his curiosity from looking in the room. But he eventually gives in and looks to his horror: the entire room has the bones of men and blood splattered on the wall. 

   Realizing the woman is the cannibal goblin, the priest collects his stuff and leaves. As he does, he hears the woman's voice behind him, telling him to come back. As she began to give chase, the priest began to chant a prayer which makes the goblin disappear. 

Another story is that of the Ogre of Rashomon, which begins as a tale of a cannibal ogre that guards the Gate of Rashomon. A warrior general named Riako, who is told about the ogre by his band of five knights that accompanies him at all times. One of his knights, Watanabe takes a piece of paper signed by the other four knights to the Gate, which he plans to post there if he finds no ogre. He winds up finding no ogre and heads home. 

   But then Watanabe is grabbed by the helmet by a large, heavy arm. It turns out it was the ogre, and both it and Watanabe face off and fight for a long period of time. Once the ogre realized he could not scare or defeat Watanabe, he starts to flee. Watanabe then gives chase, but stops once he notices something on the ground: its the ogre's arm. He takes it as a prize and shows his comrades, but after a while starts to fear that the ogre might try to retrieve it: so he locks it in a strong box. 

   Soon afterward, an old woman asks for admittance into the Knights' headquarters. Watanabe allows this, and she praises him about driving away the ogre from the Gate. She then requests to see the arm of the ogre, which Watanabe initially refuses. But after much pleading from the woman, Watanabe shows her the arm. She grabs the arm and transforms back into the ogre. But fearing Watanabe's skill and courage, the ogre leaves the country which allows the citizens to rest peacefully from then on.

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