Japanese Folk Tale

316 The Yanagita Guide to the Japanese Folk Tale
[nisai goma] if he told her enough, but he was given two year old
sesame [nisai goma] instead.
Yamagata, Higashitagawa-gun, Karikawa-mura: MK II 7 31, "Sleepy
stories" (Nemutai hanashi). One is about what happened on the way
to visit Haguro Shrine. A man chased a snake shU [shoo], and it
glided away zerot. He chased it shii and it glided away zerot, etc.
The second setting is also a pilgrimage to Haguro. Bright autumn
leaves were on trees along a river bank and many frogs were in it.
When a frog croaked gegu-gegu, a leaf fell potato A frog croaked
gegu-gegu, a leaf fell potat, etc.
Miyagi, Momoo-gun: Kyodo den I 182, "A feudal lord who liked tales"
(Hanashi suki na tono sarna); Kyodo den 3 117, "An old woman who
liked tales" (Mukashi suki na baba). A feudal lord and an old
woman got their fill of tales.
Fukushima, Iwaki-gun: Iwaki 184, "The long story" (Nagai hanashi).
Niigata: Sado shu 200, "The long story" (Nagai hanashi). One story is
about a boat loaded with 1000 rats. They jumped onto a bridge one
at a time as they said, "Hold onto my tail with your teeth, chiichii-chii."
In the other, a white loin cloth hung down from the sky
in clear weather. It still hung there no matter how much it was
pulled.
Minamiuonuma-gun: MK I 7 29. One story is about horse chestnuts
growing on the bank of a river. The other is about a snake so long
that he wrapped himself around Mt. Fuji seven times and a half,
and then tried to go home.
Ishikawa: Kaga 132, "The 5000 bushel boat" (Sen goku bune). A 5000
bushel boat packed with frogs.
Nagano, Shimoina-gun: Mukashibanashi 94, 151, "A long scary tale"
(Nagakute kowai hanashi) and "The longest story in the world"
(Sekai no ichiban nagai hanashi). A story for a feudal lord who
liked tales and one about ants that dragged rice one grain at a
time.
Gifu, Yoshiki-gun: Hidabito V 6 8, "A tale without an end" (Hatenashi
banashi). Four tales with the same title. A chestnut tree on a bank
in one. A bride in another taught her husband to say, "The leaves,
the stems, and potatoes can be eaten."
Yamaguchi: Nihon zenkoku 275, "The feudal lord who liked tales"
(Hanashi suki no tono sarna); Nihon den 172, "The feudal lord who
liked tales" (Hanashi suki no tono sarna). How a feudal lord who
liked tales chose a son-in-law.
Tokushima, Mirna-gun: MK II 1 31, "A story worth 1000 ryo" (Hanashi
senryo). They filled a 1000-bushel boat with fleas and let a few
out at a time. Awa Iyayama 135, "The long story" (Nagai hanashl).
Fukuoka, Munakata-gun: Fukuoka 212, "A tale without an end" (Tsukinu
hanashl). Many frogs gathered at a lake. A big one jumped in
dobon, then a little one chibin.
Oita: Naori 57, "A story without an end" (Hatenashi banashi). A man
sent for a boatload of lice and a boatload of fleas. The lice
crawled zoro-zoro and the fleas jumped hot. The story continued
for three days and three nights. The cho ja was worn out and took
the narrator as his son.
Nagasaki, IOjima: Minzoku ken No. 19 45. No title.