Japanese Folk Tale

Overcoming Evils 115
turned into a demon at the edge of the village and carried off a horse
to eat. This went on every night, so he told his father and mother.
They would not believe him and drove him away from home. He
wandered around as a beggar until a chance came for him to be
adopted into a family as a son-in-law. After five years passed, he
wanted to go home to see how things were. He gave his wife a mirror
and told her that if it became clouded, she would know that his life
was in danger and for her to set the male and female falcons in the
yard free. When he neared his home, he looked down from a hill at his
village, but there was no sign of a house. His sister was sleeping face
up and looked like a dreadful monster. When he cleared his throat, she
changed back to her usual form and saw her brother. She said that in
the many years he had been away their parents had died in an
epidemic. She asked him to beat on a drum she gave him for their
comfort while she went to boil rice. When he beat the drum, the
ghosts of his parents came out like rats and beat the drum for him. His
sister noticed the difference in the sound of the drum and came to
see. She found the rats beating it. While she was chasing the rats off
angrily, the brother managed to run away. She started after him. In
the meantime, the wife at home noticed the mirror was clouded, so she
set the two falcons free. The brother had climbed a tree and his sister
was digging at its roots to topple it when the birds arrived. They
pecked out her eyes, but both of them had been touched by the
demon's breath and died. The young man destroyed the demon and
made a grave for the birds. Then he went home safely to his wife and
parents.
Kagoshima, Koshikijima
Gifu: Zoku Hida 141, "The great snake and the tiger" (Daija to tora).
Fukuoka: Fukuoka 165, "The bear that saved a bride" (Yome 0 tasukeshi
kuma no hanashi).
Nagasaki, Kitatakaku-gun: Hogen shi 22 35, "The big snake" No. 1
(Daija); (Old) Iki 69, 72, "The younger sister who turned into a
snake" (Hebi ni natta imoto ) and "The snake bride" (Hebi yome no
hanashi).
Kagoshima, Amami Oshima: MK iI 4 24, "The elder sister a demon"
(Oni no ane). The gratitude of a tiger is added.
Kikaijima: MK I 7 39, "The demon mother" (Oni no haha).
Koshikijima: Koshiki 126, "The younger sister a demon" (Oni no
imoto). Example.
Okinoerabujima: Okinoerabu 219, "The elder sister a demon" (Oni
no ane).
Further reference:
Chosen mintan shu 110, "The fox younger sister and her three
brothers" (Kitsune imoto to san kyodai).