Japanese Folk Tale

Tales about Birds, Beasts, Plants and Trees 303
mised to help. The mortar and pestle climbed into the rafters, the cow
dung hid in the corner of the entrance, the bee in a window, the crab
in the water bucket, and the horse chestnut hid in the hearth. When
the monkey arrived, he said it was cold and he leaned across the
hearth to stir the coals. The chestnut popped up and burned the monkey.
He went to the kitchen to cool its burns in the water bucket,
but the crab pinched him. While he was crying with pain, the bee
stung him on his cheek. He started to rush away, but he slipped on the
cow dung and fell. Then the mortar and pestle fell on the monkey and
crushed him.
Aki ta, Kazuno-gun
Aomori: Tsugaru m 23, "The revenge of the monkey and the crab"
(Saru to kani no adauchi); Tsugaru k 7. No title. It begins with the
field they cultivated together, but the monkey was not allowed to
eat any. He was angry. While the crab cried, his friends came to
rescue him.
Iwate: Shiwa-shu 63, "The monkey's theft at night" (Saru no yato).
Hienuki-gun: Dai-ni 13, "The pheasant and the monkey" (Kiji to
saru).
Akita, Kazuno-gun: Dai-ichi 38, "The monkey and the crab" (Saru to
kani). Example. They worked the field together in the first part.
Niigata: Minamikanbara 12, "The monkey and the crab" (Saru to kani).
They went to Sarugababa to take revenge. The crab's child took
revenge. There is something unusual about the way this is told.
Sado: MK II 4 34, "The crab story" (Kani mukashi). The crab went
out to find salt water and he found a persimmon seed. (Nothing
unusual about how the tree grew.) The father was killed when the
monkey threw persimmons at him. His child went for revenge. He
gave millet dango to those who fought for him. These were a
chestnut, a bee, a rock on which straw is pounded, a forked stick,
a short sword, cow dung, and others.
Ishikawa: Kaga 38, "The monkey and the crab" (Saru to kani).
Nagano:. Chiisagata 236, "The monkey and the pheasant" (Saru to kiji).
The monkey and the pheasant picked up beans. Those who helped
in the revenge were a bee, a crab, cow dung, a piece of rope, a
mortar, etc.
KoshG (Yamanashi): Nihon dowa shin ken 300, "The battle between the
monkey and the crab" (Saru kani kassen). A little different from
the version in Enseki zasshi. The works mentioned there have
already been noted. The one in Kogane no uma is practically the
same.
Hiroshima: Geibi 143, "The monkey and the crab" No. 1 (Saru to kani).
Toyota-gun: Aki 3, "The battle between the monkey and the crab"
(Saru kani kassen).
Kamo-gun: Aki 6, "The battle over mochi by the monkey and the
crab" (Saru kani mochi kassen). These last two tales are different
in that there is mochi but no persimmon seed, close to tales of
cultivating a field together.
Fukuoka, Miyako-gun: Fukuoka 58, "Oronkoron's revenge for his