ago."
The stories range from Buddhist moral tales to humorous anecdotes and fairy tales. A great variety of characters appear in this legendary literature, such as Buddha himself, Shinto deities, noblemen and common people, and even goblins and animals, who act humorously, cruelly, or erotically in the stories. They all live in a world of disorder. The Japanese heroes and heroines live in the chaotic years of the late Heian period, when the nobleman-ruled social structure was being supplanted by the newly budding medieval feudal system. With national police no longer able to exercise authority in the provinces or in the capital, both the nobility and the masses struggled helplessly, their life and property threatened by bands of robbers day and night. In such a state of utter confusion, only the wicked could successfully seize an opportunity to survive, their consciences already paralyzed by evil influences. The honest and weak had no recourse but struggle in the abyss, madly seeking some miserable means of staying alive. Some could protect themselves from danger by using force, by exercising intellect, or by asking the help of merciful Buddha, and some others met a tragic end.
"... for several years, Kyoto had been visited by a series of calamities—earthquake, typhoon, great fire, and famine. And so the capital was deserted. Old records say that shattered wooden images of Buddha or the accessories of household Buddhist shrines, with red lacquer, gold, or silver leaf still sticking to them, were piled up on the roadside and sold for firewood. The whole capital being in such a state, there was, of course, no one who took the least interest in the repair of the decayed Gate of Rashomon. Profiting by the devastation, foxes and other wild animals came to inhabit the gate. Thieves made it their den. Finally it even became customary for people to bring unclaimed corpses to this gate and leave them there. Scared by its ghostliness, the people of Kyoto would not come near the gate after sunset."
Thus a dark picture of the destitute people in the decaying capital was painted by Ryunosuke Akutagawa (1892-1927), a literary genius, in his work Rashomon, which took its material from stories contained in Konjaku Monogatari. The screenplay for the world-famed Japanese film Rashomon was based on a mixture of his two stories, Rashomon and In a Bamboo Grove.
Konjaku Monogatari was written with an excellent realistic touch and therefore is highly valued as the first example of realism in Japanese prose literature. Though of unknown authorship, it is said to have been written by a court noble named Minamoto Takakuni (1004-1077), or rewritten later using his Uji Dainagon Monogatari (The Tales of Uji Dainagon) as the original.
Two of the stories, "The Iron Hat" and "The Lost Dinner," are from a second source, Tsurezure Gusa (Jottings of a Hermit), one of the master-works written in the era of military dictatorhip at Kamakura (1192-1333). It was written by the monk Kenko (1283-1350) around 1330. Popularly called Kenko Hoshi, the monk was of noble birth and versed in Japanese and Chinese classics. He was also a renowned waka composer of his time. Tsurezure Gusa contains 243 tales, each different in length and indicative of his philosophy. They can be divided into three categories—lessons on life, culture, and miscellaneous observations.
These stories, and illustrations by Masahiko Nishino, were selected from a series originally published in the Mainichi Daily Mews.
—HIROSHI NAITO
1. The fishermen's battle
LONG, LONG AGO, in the province of Kaga (now Ishikawa Prefecture), there lived a group of seven fishermen who always carried weapons of war, such as bows and arrows, as they went fishing.
One day they went out in a boat, as usual. While they were fishing at sea, black clouds suddenly covered the whole sky and the wind began blowing in violent gusts.
"A storm is coming!"
"Let us return to the shore at once."
They immediately stopped fishing and tried to row their boat with all their strength back to the shore. The wind blew harder and the boat was tossed about by angry waves. All the fishermen felt miserable. They soon found their boat was drifting toward the open sea. Gripping the edge of the boat in order not to be thrown out into the sea, they prayed to Holy Buddha for their safety.
As the storm blew over, the seven men did not know how long they had been adrift. They suddenly sighted an island out on the horizon. "Land!" they cried delightedly, and tried to row their boat toward the island. Strangely, the boat automatically began running toward it as if it were attracted by a magnet. It was not long before their boat reached the island. The fishermen landed on the shore and congratulated one another on their safety.
"What is the name of this island?"
"I have never heard of this island."
"Hey, look! There are many trees heavy with fruit over there."
Though they felt relieved to reach the island, they soon felt uneasy about it. Just then, a good-looking young man suddenly appeared from nowhere and addressed them: "Welcome to you all. I have been expecting your arrival. To tell the truth, it is I who have called you to this island." The fishermen could not understand what the young man had said, so they just stared at one another. One of them said that while fishing, they were overtaken by a storm which blew them to the island. Then the young man said it was he who had caused the storm to blow. At that, the fishermen imagined that he must have been more than an ordinary person, and looked at him nervously.
The young man cried something in the direction from which he had come, and the next instant there appeared many men carrying a chest. As the fishermen opened the chest, they found in it a sumptuous meal which the young man offered to them. Since the fishermen were very hungry, they gratefully ate it all.
Then the young man said, "Now, I want to ask a big favor of you. There is another island far away from here. The king of that island has tried to kill me many times because he wants to take this island from me. Tomorrow he will come again to fight our decisive battle. So, I have called you here to ask for your help."
The fishermen felt very interested in his story and promised that they would be glad to help him win a victory.
"How many men will come with him?"
"Oh, they are not human beings. I am not a human being either. You will find out what I am tomorrow."
The fishermen felt very uneasy about the young man.
He said, "Now, let us work out our fighting plan. When they appear, let them come ashore. Then I will come down from a hill beyond. As I fight the enemy king, I will give you a signal. Then you should immediately shower all your arrows on him. Since my enemy is a strong fighter, please be careful." He added that the battle would start at noon and that they should take their positions on a huge rock near the beach. With that, the young man disappeared into a wood beyond.
The next morning the fishermen took their positions on the rock, as told. In the meantime, black clouds covered the sky, and a strong wind began blowing, and mountainous waves came dashing ashore. They thought the battle would start soon. All of a sudden they saw a couple of big fireballs appear above the horizon, and the next moment these balls began approaching the island. Something was swimming toward them. They soon found it to be a very big centipede about 100 feet long. The fireballs were his sparkling eyes!
Just then, the fishermen heard the grass rustle on the hill beyond, and they saw an enormous serpent come down to the beach.
After glaring at each other for a moment, the animals started a fierce battle, biting each other's bodies. They fought for nearly four hours. As the centipede's feet gave
