Japanese Folk Tale

Unpromising Marriages that Became Happy 31
22. The Copper Pheasant Wife
A man named Yasuke of Yamura was going to the year's end
market at Hodaka on the 28th day of the twelfth month. He rescued a
copper pheasant that was caught in a snare by the road, and left the
500 mon he was carrying in payment. The last part resembles a katarimono.
Nagano: Minamiazumi-gun shi 927, "Yasuke of Yamura" (Yamura no
Yasuke).
Ishikawa: Nomi 1150, "The origin of the hair ornament" (K6gai no
yurai). The latter part of the legend about Nakayama the Second
of Nishijo-mura, Ogaya. A beautiful girl came and stayed. The man
accompanied her as far as Hotoke Pass, and she turned into a
white pheasant and disappeared. It is said that she was the incarnation
of Hakusan Gongen. She left a comb and a hair ornament as
tokens of gratitude and the ornament is still preserved. Pheasants
are now never eaten by this family.
23. The Bird Wife
The story is told like the stork tale, but it is a wild goose. She
came to the poor man who saved her. She wove cloth and bore him a
child. The latter part is in the form of the Itonaga of Harima tale.
Akita, Senhoku-gun: Ugo 44, "The wild goose" (K6notori). Example.
Fukushima: Iwaki 11, "The gratitude of the wild goose" (K6notori no
ongaeshi).
Tokushima: Awa Iyayama 24, "The bird wife" (Tori ny6b6). This
includes an episode like the Itonaga of Harima story.
24. The Fox Wife
Once upon a time a man was having difficulties because his wife
was ill and had gone home to her parents. He rescued a white fox from
the stream where he was fishing one day and took it home with him.
She said she would repay his kindness and left. Then a woman appeared
and asked to work as his maid. He let her stay and presently she
bore him a child. One day the child told his father that his mother was
sweeping the yard with her tail. That puzzled the man. He climbed
into the rafters for a look. He was surprised to see she really had a
tail. He ran her off the place. Before she left, she wrote a poem tell-