Japanese Folk Tale

Ghost Stories 205
Tochigi, Haga-gun: Shimotsuke 65, "The cat disguised as a squash"
(Kabocha ni baketa neko).
Shizuoka, Suchi-gun: Shizuoka 331, "The cat's gratitude" {Neko no
ongaeshi).l
Hiroshima, Futami-gun: Geibi 194, "The cat ghost" (Neko bake banashi).
Kumamoto, Tamana-gun: MK I 4 27, "The evil spell cast by a cat"
(Neko no tatatta hanashi). It is told as a true story at Yanagawa,
Chikugo.
Amakusajima: Amakusa min 141, "The cat's curse" (Neko no tatari).
A big squash grew from where a cat was buried after it was killed.
When the squash was cut open, a snake came out.
Kagoshima, Okierabu: Okinoerabu 98, "The wife's scheme" (Tsuma no
hakarai).
Further reference:
In the story about the wife from the Sky World in Minamitakakugun,
Nagasaki, 1000 red cows were buried and squash was planted over
them. The squash grew to the sky. Perhaps squash were formerly
melons, or this is a trend toward humorous tales. The tale is widely
distributed. The narrator may be a rokubu because one has a good part
in it.
199. The Cat's Secret
A man and a cat and a rooster lived together. They were all 42
years old. The cat told the rooster he wanted to kill the man and
become master, himself. The rooster was astonished and crowed with
all his might to warn his master. The man only said it was a sign of
bad luck and abandoned the rooster in the mountain. A passing medicine
peddler heard about it. He put the rooster in his basket and took
it back. He suddenly beat the cat to death as it slept. The master was
angry until the peddler explained why he did it. When the peddler
stopped at that house the next year and inquired, the master said a
squash had grown from where he had buried the cat. He said they
could eat it that night. The peddler thought it strange. He dug around
the roots of the squash and found it had sprouted from the cat's
mouth. Everyone was astonished.
Niigata, Minamikanbara, Mitsuke-shi
Aomori: Tsugaru k 27. No title. The story is also in Hachinohe; Tekkiri
252. A note.
Iwate, Hienuki-gun: MK I 11 46, "The ,cat's dance" (Neko no odori);
K5sh5 9 6, "The cat's ballad" (Neko no shinnai katari).
Kamihei-gun: Kikimimi 348, "The ghost cat" No. 7 (Kaiby6 no
hanashi). The cat's j5ruri. A tired traveler picked up a stick from
a grave and used it as a staff. When he tapped with it, he heard a