Reading Notes: Japanese Fairy Tales, Part B
For this weeks reading notes, I have chosen more Japanese Fairy Tales, only this time they are written by Yei Theodora Ozaki (link above). For part B, there are only three stories, "The Goblin of Adachigahara", "The Ogre of Rashomon", and "The Story of Princess Hase". All three of these stories have very similar titles, and tend to focus on the main character, the goblin, the ogre, or the princess.
"The Goblin of Adachigahara" is about a goblin who is the main character in many legends and tales told in the province of Mustu, Japan. He was said to be a cannibal who took the form of an old woman. One day, a priest happened upon the plain. He found some trees and took shelter there for the night. In the trees he found a cottage and an old woman inside. She spoke with the priest and made him some food. The old woman went out to find some wood for the fire and told the priest to not go into the back room. He disobeyed and went in the room, only to find bones of dead people. He realized he was in the home of the goblin and made his escape.
"The Ogre of Rashomon" is about an ogre who was said to haunt the Gate of Rashomon and kill anyone who passed by. A general named Raiko was said to have killed all the ogres, so Watanabe went to the gate to see for himself. He went to the bridge, fastened his item to the gate, and turned to leave when he noticed someone was behind him. He met the ogre and attacked him. Instead of killing him, he only cut off an arm. He met an old woman who then turned into the ogre. Watanabe had killed the ogre and the city was safe again.
The last story, "The Story of Princess Hase" is about a princess who was born to a king and queen. The parents had longed for a child, but had never been able to have one. They decided to go to the temple of Hase-no-Kwannon to meet the Mother of Mercy, Kwannon, and have their wish granted. Their wish was granted and they had a daughter. The queen died a few years later and the king remarried. The princess and the stepmother did not get along, but years later the princess was summoned to sing for the Emperor. The stepmother decided to try and poison her son. The son died at the hands of his own mother. She continued to off her stepdaughter throughout the years as her hatred for her only grew. In the end, Princess Hase lived happily ever after.
Overall, all three of these stories have very similar plots to them. I do like the writing and the amount of detail, but it would have been nice to have some variation in the plot lines. They all seemed like the same story, but just with different characters and different settings.
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