Japanese Fairy Tales
This is the end of the story. Okuni-nushi-no-Mikoto is worshiped by the
people in some parts of Japan, as a god, and the hare has become famous
as “The White Hare of Inaba.” But what became of the crocodiles nobody
knows.
THE STORY OF PRINCE YAMATO TAKE
The insignia of the great Japanese Empire is composed of three
treasures which have been considered sacred, and guarded with jealous
care from time immemorial. These are the Yatano-no-Kagami or the Mirror
of Yata, the Yasakami-no-Magatama or the Jewel of Yasakami, and the
Murakumo-no-Tsurugi or the Sword of Murakumo.
Of these three treasures of the Empire, the sword of Murakumo,
afterwards known as Kusanagi-no-Tsrugugi, or the grass-cleaving sword,
is considered the most precious and most highly to be honored, for it
is the symbol of strength to this nation of warriors and the talisman
of invincibility for the Emperor, while he holds it sacred in the
shrine of his ancestors.
Nearly two thousand years ago this sword was kept at the shrines of
Ite, the temples dedicated to the worship of Amaterasu, the great and
beautiful Sun Goddess from whom the Japanese Emperors are said to be
descended.
There is a story of knightly adventure and daring which explains why
the name of the sword was changed from that of Murakumo to Kasanagi,
which means grass clearing.
Once, many, many years ago, there was born a son to the Emperor Keiko,
the twelfth in descent from the great Jimmu, the founder of the
Japanese dynasty. This Prince was the second son of the Emperor Keiko,
and he was named Yamato. From his childhood he proved himself to be of
remarkable strength, wisdom and courage, and his father noticed with
pride that he gave promise of great things, and he loved him even more
than he did his elder son.
Now when Prince Yamato had grown to manhood (in the olden days of
Japanese history, a boy was considered to have reached man’s estate at
the early age of sixteen) the realm was much troubled by a band of
outlaws whose chiefs were two brothers, Kumaso and Takeru. These rebels
seemed to delight in rebelling against the King, in breaking the laws
and defying all authority.
At last King Keiko ordered his younger son Prince Yamato to subdue the
brigands and, if possible, to rid the land of their evil lives. Prince
Yamato was only sixteen years of age, he had but reached his manhood
according to the law, yet though he was such a youth in years he
possessed the dauntless spirit of a warrior of fuller age and knew not
what fear was. Even then there was no man who could rival him for
courage and bold deeds, and he received his father’s command with great
joy.
He at once made ready to start, and great was the stir in the precincts
of the Palace as he and his trusty followers gathered together and
prepared for the expedition, and polished up their armor and donned it.
Before he left his father’s Court he went to pray at the shrine of Ise
and to take leave of his aunt the Princess Yamato, for his heart was
somewhat heavy at the thought of the dangers he had to face, and he
felt that he needed the protection of his ancestress, Amaterasu, the
Sun Goddess. The Princess his aunt came out to give him glad welcome,
and congratulated him on being trusted with so great a mission by his
father the King. She then gave him one of her gorgeous robes as a
keepsake to go with him and to bring him good luck, saying that it
would surely be of service to him on this adventure. She then wished
him all success in his undertaking and bade him good speed.
The young Prince bowed low before his aunt, and received her gracious
gift with much pleasure and many respectful bows.
“I will now set out,” said the Prince, and returning to the Palace he
put himself at the head of his troops. Thus cheered by his aunt’s
blessing, he felt ready for all that might befall, and marching through
the land he went down to the Southern Island of Kiushiu, the home of
the brigands.
Before many days had passed he reached the Southern Island, and then
slowly but surely made his way to the head-quarters of the chiefs
Kumaso and Takeru. He now met with great difficulties, for he found the
country exceedingly wild and rough. The mountains were high and steep,
the valleys dark and deep, and huge trees and bowlders of rock blocked
up the road and stopped the progress of his army. It was all but
impossible to go on.
Though the Prince was but a youth he had the wisdom of years, and,
seeing that it was vain to try and lead his men further, he said to
himself:
“To attempt to fight a battle in this impassable country unknown to my
men only makes my task harder. We cannot clear the roads and fight as
well. It is wiser for me to resort to stratagem and come upon my
enemies unawares. In that way I may be able to kill them without much
exertion.”
So he now bade his army halt by the way. His wife, the Princess
Ototachibana, had accompanied him, and he bade her bring him the robe
his aunt the priestess of Ise had given him, and to help him attire
himself as a woman. With her help he put on the robe, and let his hair
down till it flowed over his shoulders. Ototachibana then brought him
her comb, which he put in his black tresses, and then adorned himself
with strings of strange jewels just as you see in the picture. When he
had finished his unusual toilet, Ototachibana brought him her mirror.
He smiled as he gazed at himself—the disguise was so perfect.
He hardly knew himself, so changed was he. All traces of the warrior
had disappeared, and in the shining surface only a beautiful lady
looked back at him.
Thus completely disguised, he set out for the enemy’s camp alone. In
the folds of his silk gown, next his strong heart, was hidden a sharp
dagger.
The two chiefs Kumaso and Takeru wore sitting in their tent, resting in
the cool of the evening, when the Prince approached. They were talking
of the news which had recently been carried to them, that the King’s
son had entered their country with a large army determined to
exterminate their band. They had both heard of the young warrior’s
renown, and for the first time in their wicked lives they felt afraid.
In a pause in their talk they happened to look up, and saw through the
door of the tent a beautiful woman robed in sumptuous garments coming
towards them. Like an apparition of loveliness she appeared in the soft
twilight. Little did they dream that it was their enemy whose coming
they so dreaded who now stood before them in this disguise.
“What a beautiful woman! Where has she come from?” said the astonished
Kumaso, forgetting war and council and everything as he looked at the
gentle intruder.
He beckoned to the disguised Prince and bade him sit down and serve
them with wine. Yamato Take felt his heart swell with a fierce glee for
he now knew that his plan would succeed. However, he dissembled
cleverly, and putting on a sweet air of shyness he approached the rebel
chief with slow steps and eyes glancing like a frightened deer. Charmed
to distraction by the girl’s loveliness Kumaso drank cup after cup of
wine for the pleasure of seeing her pour it out for him, till at last
he was quite overcome with the quantity he had drunk.
This was the moment for which the brave Prince had been waiting.
Flinging down the wine jar, he seized the tipsy and astonished Kumaso
and quickly stabbed him to death with the dagger which he had secretly
carried hidden in his breast.
Takeru, the brigand’s brother, was terror-struck as soon as he saw what
was happening and tried to escape, but Prince Yamato was too quick for
him. Ere he could reach the tent door the Prince was at his heel, his
garments were clutched by a hand of iron, and a dagger flashed before
his eyes and he lay stabbed to the earth, dying but not yet dead.
“Wait one moment!” gasped the brigand painfully, and he seized the
Prince’s hand.
Yamato relaxed his hold somewhat and said.
“Why should I pause, thou villain?”
The brigand raised himself fearfully and said:
“Tell me from whence you come, and whom I have the honor of addressing?
Hitherto I believed that my dead brother and I were the strongest men
in the land, and that there was no one who could overcome us. Alone you
have ventured into our stronghold, alone you have attacked and killed
us! Surely you are more than mortal?”
Then the young Prince answered with a proud smile:—“I am the son of the
King and my name is Yamato, and I have been sent by my father as the
avenger of evil to bring death to all rebels! No longer shall robbery
and murder hold my people in terror!” and he held the dagger dripping
red above the rebel’s head.
“Ah,” gasped the dying man with a great effort, “I have often heard of
you. You are indeed a strong man to have so easily overcome us. Allow
me to give you a new name. From henceforth you shall be known as Yamato
Take. Our title I bequeath to you as the bravest man in Yamato.”
And with these noble words, Takeru fell back and died.
The Prince having thus successfully put an end to his father’s enemies
in the world, was prepared to return to the capital. On the way back he
passed through the province of Idum. Here he met with another outlaw
named Idzumo Takeru who he knew had done much harm in the land. He
again resorted to stratagem, and feigned friendship with the rebel
under an assumed name. Having done this he made a sword of wood and
jammed it tightly in the shaft of his own strong sword. This he
purposedly buckled to his side and wore on every occasion when he
expected to meet the third robber Takeru.
He now invited Takeru to the bank of the River Hinokawa, and persuaded
him to try a swim with him in the cool refreshing waters of the river.
As it was a hot summer’s day, the rebel was nothing loath to take a
plunge in the river, while his enemy was still swimming down the stream
the Prince turned back and landed with all possible haste. Unperceived,
he managed to change swords, putting his wooden one in place of the
keen steel sword of Takeru.
Knowing nothing of this, the brigand came up to the bank shortly. As
soon as he had landed and donned his clothes, the Prince came forward
and asked him to cross swords with him to prove his skill, saying:
“Let us two prove which is the better swordsman of the two!”
The robber agreed with delight, feeling certain of victory, for he was
famous as a fencer in his province and he did not know who his
adversary was. He seized quickly what he thought was his sword and
stood on guard to defend himself. Alas! for the rebel the sword was the
wooden one of the young Prince and in vain Takeru tried to unsheathe
it—it was jammed fast, not all his exerted strength could move it. Even
if his efforts had been successful the sword would have been of no use
to him for it was of wood. Yamato Take saw that his enemy was in his
power, and swinging high the sword he had taken from Takeru he brought
it down with great might and dexterity and cut off the robber’s head.
In this way, sometimes by using his wisdom and sometimes by using his
bodily strength, and at other times by resorting to craftiness, which
was as much esteemed in those days as it is despised in these, he
prevailed against all the King’s foes one by one, and brought peace and
rest to the land and the people.
When he returned to the capital the King praised him for his brave
deeds, and held a feast in the Palace in honor of his safe coming home
and presented him with many rare gifts. From this time forth the King
loved him more than ever and would not let Yamato Take go from his
side, for he said that his son was now as precious to him as one of his
arms.
But the Prince was not allowed to live an idle life long. When he was
about thirty years old, news was brought that the Ainu race, the