by Yei Theodora Ozaki · 1903
Fantasy · Classics
Twenty-two traditional tales retold in English by Yei Theodora Ozaki, including the tongue-cut sparrow, the fisher lad Urashima Taro, the bamboo-cutter and the moon-child, and the ogre of Rashomon. The stories come from Japanese folk and fairy-tale tradition, with a few from China.
Content note: Retold in 1903, in a style of its time. Some tales include violence, ogres and death.
Long, long ago there lived, in Japan a brave warrior known to all as Tawara Toda, or “My Lord Bag of Rice.” His true name was Fujiwara Hidesato, and there is a very interesting story of how he came to change his name.
One day he sallied forth in search of adventures, for he had the nature of a warrior and could not bear to be idle. So he buckled on his two swords, took his huge bow, much taller than himself, in his hand, and slinging his quiver on his back started out. He had not gone far when he came to the bridge of Seta-no-Karashi spanning one end of the beautiful Lake Biwa. No sooner had he set foot on the bridge than he saw lying right across his path a huge serpent-dragon. Its body was so big that it looked like the trunk of a large pine tree and it took up the whole width of the bridge. One of its huge claws rested on the parapet of one side of the bridge, while its tail lay right against the other. The monster seemed to be asleep, and as it breathed, fire and smoke came out of its nostrils.
