Folk Legends of Japan (9 page)

Even today people in summertime sometimes hear the voice of the
kappa
from the sea, saying: "Don't let the children go out to the beach, for the guest is coming." By the guest he means the
kappa
from Kawajiri. As the
kappa
from this other village is not bound by the promise of the
kappa
who lost his arm in Fukiura, the latter warns against the coming of the former.

So it is said that children have never been injured in the river or at the seashore of this village.

THE KAPPA OF KODA POND

The legend of the wooden-bowl lender is described in the
Minzokugaku Jiten
under "Wankashi densetsu" as extending all over Japan from southern Kyushu to northern Tohoku. Some families even claim descent from the dishonest man who refused to return the bowls to the
kappa
and say they still have those bowls
(zenwan).
The article cites a Chinese legend of borrowing bowls from a mountain fox, and a French story of borrowing a pan from a mound. Kitami Toshio has analyzed 150 such legends in Japan, finding them concentrated near important rivers
(Folklore Studies,
XIV, Tokyo, 1955, pp. 258-59).

In Murai, pp. 11-12, "Kappa Who Repaid Kindness," the story begins like the present one but the
kappa
leaves his liberator fish rather than bowls. In Yanagita-Mayer,
Japanese Folk Tales,
no. 54, pp. 155-57, "Mototori (Clearing-the-Old-Score) Mountain," a greedy farmer keeps tray sets borrowed from a mountain cave; his six-year-old son cannot walk, until one day he stands up and carries two rice bags back to the cave as compensation.

Text from
Chiisagata-gun Mintah Shu,
pp. 61-62.

T
HERE WAS
a
kappa
in Koda Pond in Junin-mura. Saito Bunji of that village tied his horse to a tree by that pond. The
kappa
came out of the pond and took the reins and began to pull the horse into the pond. The frightened horse jumped up and ran back home and entered the stable. As the water in the
kappa's
head had been spilled, the
kappa
lost his strength and was dragged by the horse into the stable. When Bunji came to see the horse, the
kappa
made apologies to him and said: "Please forgive me. If you prepare a feast in your home, I will certainly lend you necessary bowls." So Bunji forgave him.

From then on, any time he held a feast, the bowls were prepared in the yard the night before. After he had used them, he put them in the yard and they disappeared during the night. However, one time a neighbor hid a set of the bowls when the rest were being returned to the
kappa.
The
kappa
took them during the night, but he never again lent bowls to Bunji.

THE KAPPA WHO PLAYED "PULL-FINGER"

The
kappa
is seen here in two more of his favorite roles, an evil water creature who devours humans, and a helpful one who sets their broken bones.

Text from
Chiisagata-gun Mintan Shu,
pp. 10-11.

T
HERE IS
a pond called Akanuma-ike at the foot of Mt. Tateshina, and near the pond there is a big stone called Kagihiki-ishi [Pull-Finger Stone]. Once a child used to stand on that stone and called to the passers-by: "Let's play Pull-finger." The passers-by would stop and play Pull-finger for fun. Then the child would pull them into the pond and eat them up. Many people were killed in that way. At last the people decided that the child must be a
kappa
who lived in the pond.

A man named Tachiki from Suwa said: "I will destroy the
kappa."
He asked his lord if he could borrow a good horse. Then he rode by this stone, and as he expected, the child asked him to play Pull-finger. He answered the child: "All right." And they locked fingers. No sooner had they locked fingers than he whipped the horse and rode as fast as he could. The child could not bear to be dragged by the horse. He said: "Please excuse me, I am really the
kappa
of Akanuma Pond. Please don't kill me. Then I will teach you the secret of bonesetting." And the man said: "Then teach me that secret."

The
kappa
taught him in detail. "Because you've taught me the secret of bonesetting, I will set you free. But if you continue to live in this place, you might have the desire to eat people again. So go somewhere else tonight," said the man. So the
kappa
went away to the pond of Wada-mura and he has been living there quietly.

And this Tachiki is said to be the founder of the family line of the famous surgeon Tachiki.

THE KAPPA BONESETTER

The
kappa's
occult bonesetting powers are further described here. Ikeda, p. 43, speaks of a certain salve as reputedly the
kappa's
secret. Such a tradition is related by Shiojiri, pp. 18-19, going back to the early eighteenth century, and told on an old family in Himeji. The
kappa
asked the samurai to give him back the right arm he had cut off, saying he could reset it with a special medicine. In return for the favor he gave the samurai the formula for the salve.

Text from Sempo Nakata, "Kappa's Medicine," in
Tabi to Densetsu,
I (February, 1028), pp. 5-6. From a larger selection entitled "The Story of Unsho-an Takatori, a Bonesetter at Hakata in Chikuzen," pp. 1-9.

I
T WAS
during the Genroku period [1688-1703] that a bonesetter named Takatori Unsho-an lived at Hakata in the province of Chikuzen. His wife was a daughter of Miyake Kakusuke, a masterless samurai in Higo. She was noted not only for her surpassing beauty but also for her accomplishments.

Late one night it happened that while she was in the toilet, she felt some strange hand touch her buttock. As she was a stout-hearted woman she did not become too upset but shouted: "Rascal!" Then she saw in the moonlight a strange, shaggy little man running away toward the river side. Nothing else happened that night. The next night the wife went to the toilet with her precious short sword. While she was in the toilet the strange creature appeared and repeated his action of the night before. The wife cried out: "Rascal!" and she cut off its hand with one stroke of the sword. The strange creature ran away shrieking with pain. The next morning the wife told her husband all about what had happened and showed him the creature's hand she had cut off. It was webbed and looked something like a snapping-turtle's foot.

After examining it carefully, Unsho-an said to his wife: "Fine, fine! It's a wonderful thing. This is a
kappas
hand. A
kappa
must have fallen for you. Anyway you did very well. A
kappa's
hand is a rare thing."

"How disagreeable to think of being loved by a
kappa!
Don't say such a thing," said the wife, giving a scowl at die husband. But soon she softened her countenance and asked: "Is it really a
kappa's
hand?"

That night a voice was heard by the head of Unsho-an's bed. It said: "Give me back my hand." Unsho-an was not a mere doctor, but a samurai who attended the feudal lord. He took up his bow from the
tohonoma
and plucked the string. Then the voice stopped. The next night and the next, the same voice was heard. By the third night Unsho-an was tired of hearing it, so he spoke to it saying: "What can you want with your hand which was cut off a few days ago?"

"Your question is reasonable in the human world, but it is different with us. We
kappa
can join a hand to the arm however cold it may become, and when we join it, it will perform just as well as it ever did. So please give it back to me, I pray you," said the
kappa,
showing himself before Unsho-an and bowing down his head. On hearing this, Unsho-an thought to himself: "He speaks pleasingly. I will see how he sets bones." So then he said to the
kappa:
"In truth, I determined to kill such a rascal as you on the spot with my sword the moment I saw you. But now I will return your hand to you, provided you show me how you set broken bones."

"That is an easy thing," said the
kappa,
and on receiving his dead-cold hand, joined it skillfully to his arm before Unsho-an's eyes. The samurai watched the
kappa's
action with keen interest, murmuring: "That's good, that's good." Then the
kappa
thanked him and disappeared.

The next day there were two big fish on the fence of Unsho-an's garden. He knew that the
kappa
had brought them out of gratitude, and he enjoyed eating them with his wife. From that time on he practised the method of bonesetting which he had learned from the
kappa,
and gradually he became a famous bonesetter. His family prospered for a long time and this method of bonesetting was transmitted from generation to generation.

A GRATEFUL KAPPA

Chihei Nakamura, who wrote the present story, is a well-known Japanese author. I met him in his native town of Miyazaki in southern Kyushu, where he showed me his considerable collection of
kappa
figurines. This account shows signs of literary style, for instance in the use of dialogue, although it is clearly in a genuine tradition.

Text from
Hyuga Minwa Shu,
pp. 68-71.

I
N THE NORTHERN DISTRICT
of Miyazaki Prefecture, they sometimes call the
kappa "hyosuho."
There are not a few stories concerning the
hyosubo.
The following is one of these stories which has been handed down in this district.

Once upon a time, at Nakayama Shrine in the present Kadokawamachi (in Higashi Usuki-gun), there lived a Shinto priest called Kimmaru. Although a priest, he was very good at fencing and was renowned for his bravery throughout the neighborhood.

One fine day, he was rambling in the village at random and he came to the foot of an earthen bridge. Suddenly he felt that something was there and stopped walking. A
kappa
peeped out from under the bridge.

"Is that you,
Hyosubo?
Don't be too mischievous." Throwing out these words at the
kappa,
the priest was about to pass by when the
kappa's
voice hastily beseeched him from behind.

"Mr. Priest, Mr. Priest, please listen to my story." The
kappa's
voice sounded very sorrowful. The priest turned round and even saw tears in the eyes of the
kappa.

"Mr. Priest, I used to have many children—my treasures. But a tremendously big snake which dwells in this river appeared every night and swallowed my dear children one by one. I have now only one child left. I hear that you are very expert in fencing, so please do away with the snake by dint of your sword."

"I am sorry to hear that. I'll kill the snake for you."

Kimmaru thus promised the
kappa,
and he stood under the bridge that night carefully prepared for battle. When he had made ready to attack the snake, the creature appeared to swallow down the surviving child of the
kappa.
Kimmaru lost no time in slashing at the snake with his sword. He was so skillful and speedy that the enormous snake was cut into two and died instantly.

When Kimmaru put up his sword and stood upon the bridge, the
kappa
appeared before him.

"Thank you very much, Mr. Priest. From now on, we can sleep in peace. I'd like to repay your kindness. Don't you have any wish? If you have, please tell it to me."

Kimmaru was reminded of the pranks that
kappa
sometimes played upon the village children. "Then, will you promise me that you will never play tricks on my offspring, for instance, by pulling them into the water?"

"Certainly I will, Mr. Priest. I will never be mischievous towards your offspring. So please be assured on this point." So promising, the
kappa
disappeared again into the night-darkened river.

Even today, children of that town will loudly recite the following words before they plunge into the water to swim:

"Mr. Hyosubo, we belong to the family of Kimmaru. Don't play pranks on us."

This custom is said to have originated since that time.

WRESTLING A KAPPA

The similarity between Goro and his rice and Popeye and his spinach will strike American readers.

This story was collected by Professor Teigo Yoshida while doing field work in a mountainous farm village, Nao, Yamato-mura, Saga-gun, Saga-ken, in 1955. He heard it from Zertgo Morita, then about seventy years old. Professor Yoshida has given me other information about
kappa
beliefs in Kyushu, which I have included in the introduction to this chapter.