Japanese Folk Tale

Help from Animals 135
Further reference:
Mukashibanashi kenkyu II 12 2. A study of "The forbidden room"
by Suzuki Tozo.
132. The Monkey Farthing
This is in the same group as "The nightingale farthing." The coin
was received as a gift of gratitude from a monkey. When it was put on
a money box, money was made. When put on a rice chest, rice was
made. (Refer to the passage in "The dog, the cat, and the ring.")
Yamagata, Higashitagawa-gun: MK I 10 33, "The white macaw" (Shiroi
inko).
Niigata: Sado shu 81, "The old man who scattered ashes" No. 2 (Haimaki
jiji). This belongs to the group, "The old man who made
flowers bloom."
Hiroshima, Takata-gun, Kita-mura: Geibi 54, "Choja from a monkey"
(Saru Choja). Here it is called monkey's money. The money was
taken by the old woman next door. A dog and a cat went to bring
it back. The cat brought it and that is why the cat and dog are
unfriendly.
Inaba (Tottori): Nihon zenkoku 215, "The monkey's thanks" (Saru no
henrei).
Shimane, Ochi-gun: Minzoku bun II 7, "The monkey's thanks" (Saru no
orei). It is a little broken up, but there is a part about a monkey
being tormented by children at the beginning. MK II 10 29, "The
old man on the east bank and the old man on the west bank"
(Togan no jiji to seigan no jiji).
133. Rat J6do
Once upon a time an old man took a toasted buckwheat cake with
him to his garden patch when he went to dig. While he was digging a
rat came out cautiously. The old man broke off half of his cake and
gave it to the rat. It picked it up and crawled back into its hole. The
rat came out again, and the old man gave him some of his cake again.
He picked it up and went back into its hole. Then the father rat came
out and thanked the old man. He invited him to his house. The old man
closed his eyes as he was told and followed the rat. He found himself
in a splendid parlor. The children that he had seen before came out
and thanked him. He was given a fine feast. When he started to leave,
they gave him money. The old man next door tried to imitate him. He
took a toasted buckwheat cake to his garden patch to dig. He gave
some of his cake to the little rats and was invited to their home.
While he was eating, he saw rats put gold into a mortar. As they