Japanese Folk Tale

Cleverness at Work 157
and since his mother could not see him, he went confidently to the
cake store. He stole cakes to eat. His mischief got worse and worse to
the consternation of the villagers.
He put his cloak and hat into a drawer of his mother's chest, but
she thought they were filthy old things and burned them up. When the
boy found out, he went to the river naked, got himself wet all over
and then rolled in the ashes until his body was covered with them. His
mother could no longer see him. He ran out to the wine shop and drank
as much as he wanted, but the ashes came off around his mouth.
Everybody said there was a ghost mouth drinking the wine and started
to chase him. Along the way, he had to urinate, and then that place
became visible. There was excitement everywhere and everyone chased
him. A samurai came along swinging his sword this way and that. The
boy was forced to jump off the bridge into the river. Then the ashes
all came off and the boy became visible.
Nagano, Kamiina-gun
Iwate, Kamihei-gun: Roo 81, 210, "The tengu's little fan" (Tengu no ko
egi). The principal character is a gambler who traded the fan for
his dice. The latter part is an amusing tale of making a nose grow
high and shrink. It ends with his success in the world.
"The priest and the fox" (Oshe to ki tsune). The priest traded
his old hood for the fox's magic towel. He put it on his head and
teased the young men in the village.
Yamagata, Higshitagawa-gun: MK I 11 33, "The Life Needle and the
Death Needle" Okibari shinibari). The principal character is a lazy
man who got a Life Needle and a Death Needle from a kappa. He
tried the Death Needle on the Kappa and ran away. It ends with
the clause, " .•• and that was last night's dream."
Tales about danger are often turned into humorous ones.
Fukushima, Iwaki: Iwaki 60, 155, "The invisible straw cloak of the
tengu" (Tengu no kakure mino).
Nishishirakawa-gun: Nihon zenkoku 128, "The treasure of the fox"
(Kitsune no takaramono). Isokichi of Futagozuka-mura traded his
three-colored hood for the fox pearls of Doemon Fox of Sekiwaku-mura.
Niigata, Minamikanbara-gun: Dai-ichi 49, "The invisible straw cloak and
hat" (Kakure mino gasa). A drunkard traded a persimmon seed for
an invisible straw cloak and hat of a tengu.
Nagano, Kamiina-gun: Dai-ichi 54, "The tengu's invisible straw cloak
and hat" (Tengu no kakure mino gasa). Example. Substituting a
cake store owner for the wine merchant and a mother for the wife
are good examples of changes to make children'S tales. And there
is still a wine merchant at the end.
Shimoina-gun: Fukihara No.3 39. Refer to "Hachiroten."
Saitama, Kumagaya: Chiho. * An old fox turned 999 men into priests.
The 1000th was already a priest. He traded a seven-colored
umbrella for sixteen hoods.
Hyego, Kanzaki-gun: Dai-ichi 67, "The gambler and the tengu" (Bakuchiuchi
to tengu).
Shimane, Hinokawa-gun, Hirata: TD II 10 19, "Tarebei Fox and Priest