Long, long ago Japan was governed by Hohodemi, the fourth Mikoto (or
Augustness) in descent from the illustrious Amaterasu, the Sun Goddess.
He was not only as handsome as his ancestress was beautiful, but he was
also very strong and brave, and was famous for being the greatest
hunter in the land. Because of his matchless skill as a hunter, he was
called “Yama-sachi-hiko” or “The Happy Hunter of the Mountains.”
His elder brother was a very skillful fisher, and as he far surpassed
all rivals in fishing, he was named “Umi-sachi-hiko” or the “Skillful
Fisher of the Sea.” The brothers thus led happy lives, thoroughly
enjoying their respective occupations, and the days passed quickly and
pleasantly while each pursued his own way, the one hunting and the
other fishing.
One day the Happy Hunter came to his brother, the Skillful Fisher, and
said:
“Well, my brother, I see you go to the sea every day with your fishing
rod in your hand, and when you return you come laden with fish. And as
for me, it is my pleasure to take my bow and arrow and to hunt the wild
animals up the mountains and down in the valleys. For a long time we
have each followed our favorite occupation, so that now we must both be
tired, you of your fishing and I of my hunting. Would it not be wise
for us to make a change? Will you try hunting in the mountains and I
will go and fish in the sea?”
The Skillful Fisher listened in silence to his brother, and for a
moment was thoughtful, but at last he answered:
“O yes, why not? Your idea is not a bad one at all. Give me your bow
and arrow and I will set out at once for the mountains and hunt for
game.”
So the matter was settled by this talk, and the two brothers each
started out to try the other’s occupation, little dreaming of all that
would happen. It was very unwise of them, for the Happy Hunter knew
nothing of fishing, and the Skillful Fisher, who was bad tempered, knew
as much about hunting.
The Happy Hunter took his brother’s much-prized fishing hook and rod
and went down to the seashore and sat down on the rocks. He baited his
hook and then threw it into the sea clumsily. He sat and gazed at the
little float bobbing up and down in the water, and longed for a good
fish to come and be caught. Every time the buoy moved a little he
pulled up his rod, but there was never a fish at the end of it, only
the hook and the bait. If he had known how to fish properly, he would
have been able to catch plenty of fish, but although he was the
greatest hunter in the land he could not help being the most bungling
fisher.
The whole day passed in this way, while he sat on the rocks holding the
fishing rod and waiting in vain for his luck to turn. At last the day
began to darken, and the evening came; still he had caught not a single
fish. Drawing up his line for the last time before going home, he found
that he had lost his hook without even knowing when he had dropped it.
He now began to feel extremely anxious, for he knew that his brother
would be angry at his having lost his hook, for, it being his only one,
he valued it above all other things. The Happy Hunter now set to work
to look among the rocks and on the sand for the lost hook, and while he
was searching to and fro, his brother, the Skillful Fisher, arrived on
the scene. He had failed to find any game while hunting that day, and
was not only in a bad temper, but looked fearfully cross. When he saw
the Happy Hunter searching about on the shore he knew that something
must have gone wrong, so he said at once:
“What are you doing, my brother?”
The Happy Hunter went forward timidly, for he feared his brother’s
anger, and said:
“Oh, my brother, I have indeed done badly.”
“What is the matter?—what have you done?” asked the elder brother
impatiently.
“I have lost your precious fishing hook—”
While he was still speaking his brother stopped him, and cried out
fiercely:
“Lost my hook! It is just what I expected. For this reason, when you
first proposed your plan of changing over our occupations I was really
against it, but you seemed to wish it so much that I gave in and
allowed you to do as you wished. The mistake of our trying unfamiliar
tasks is soon seen! And you have done badly. I will not return you your
bow and arrow till you have found my hook. Look to it that you find it
and return it to me quickly.”
The Happy Hunter felt that he was to blame for all that had come to
pass, and bore his brother’s scornful scolding with humility and
patience. He hunted everywhere for the hook most diligently, but it was
nowhere to be found. He was at last obliged to give up all hope of
finding it. He then went home, and in desperation broke his beloved
sword into pieces and made five hundred hooks out of it.
He took these to his angry brother and offered them to him, asking his
forgiveness, and begging him to accept them in the place of the one he
had lost for him. It was useless; his brother would not listen to him,
much less grant his request.
The Happy Hunter then made another five hundred hooks, and again took
them to his brother, beseeching him to pardon him.
“Though you make a million hooks,” said the Skillful Fisher, shaking
his head, “they are of no use to me. I cannot forgive you unless you
bring me back my own hook.”
Nothing would appease the anger of the Skillful Fisher, for he had a
bad disposition, and had always hated his brother because of his
virtues, and now with the excuse of the lost fishing hook he planned to
kill him and to usurp his place as ruler of Japan. The Happy Hunter
knew all this full well, but he could say nothing, for being the
younger he owed his elder brother obedience; so he returned to the
seashore and once more began to look for the missing hook. He was much
cast down, for he had lost all hope of ever finding his brother’s hook
now. While he stood on the beach, lost in perplexity and wondering what
he had best do next, an old man suddenly appeared carrying a stick in
his hand. The Happy Hunter afterwards remembered that he did not see
from whence the old man came, neither did he know how he was there—he
happened to look up and saw the old man coming towards him.
“You are Hohodemi, the Augustness, sometimes called the Happy Hunter,
are you not?” asked the old man. “What are you doing alone in such a
place?”
“Yes, I am he,” answered the unhappy young man. “Unfortunately, while
fishing I lost my brother’s precious fishing hook. I have hunted this
shore all over, but alas! I cannot find it, and I am very troubled, for
my brother won’t forgive me till I restore it to him. But who are you?”
“My name is Shiwozuchino Okina, and I live near by on this shore. I am
sorry to hear what misfortune has befallen you. You must indeed be
anxious. But if I tell you what I think, the hook is nowhere here—it is
either at the bottom of the sea or in the body of some fish who has
swallowed it, and for this reason, though you spend your whole life in
looking for it here, you will never find it.”
“Then what can I do?” asked the distressed man.
“You had better go down to Ryn Gu and tell Ryn Jin, the Dragon King of
the Sea, what your trouble is and ask him to find the hook for you. I
think that would be the best way.”
“Your idea is a splendid one,” said the Happy Hunter, “but I fear I
cannot get to the Sea King’s realm, for I have always heard that it is
situated at the bottom of the sea.”
“Oh, there will be no difficulty about your getting there,” said the
old man; “I can soon make something for you to ride on through the
sea.”
“Thank you,” said the Happy Hunter, “I shall be very grateful to you if
you will be so kind.”
The old man at once set to work, and soon made a basket and offered it
to the Happy Hunter. He received it with joy, and taking it to the
water, mounted it, and prepared to start. He bade good by to the kind
old man who had helped him so much, and told him that he would
certainly reward him as soon as he found his hook and could return to
Japan without fear of his brother’s anger. The old man pointed out the
direction he must take, and told him how to reach the realm of Ryn Gu,
and watched him ride out to sea on the basket, which resembled a small
boat.
The Happy Hunter made all the haste he could, riding on the basket
which had been given him by his friend. His queer boat seemed to go
through the water of its own accord, and the distance was much shorter
than he had expected, for in a few hours he caught sight of the gate
and the roof of the Sea King’s Palace. And what a large place it was,
with its numberless sloping roofs and gables, its huge gateways, and
its gray stone walls! He soon landed, and leaving his basket on the
beach, he walked up to the large gateway. The pillars of the gate were
made of beautiful red coral, and the gate itself was adorned with
glittering gems of all kinds. Large katsura trees overshadowed it. Our
hero had often heard of the wonders of the Sea King’s Palace beneath
the sea, but all the stories he had ever heard fell short of the
reality which he now saw for the first time.
The Happy Hunter would have liked to enter the gate there and then, but
he saw that it was fast closed, and also that there was no one about
whom he could ask to open it for him, so he stopped to think what he
should do. In the shade of the trees before the gate he noticed a well
full of fresh spring water. Surely some one would come out to draw
water from the well some time, he thought. Then he climbed into the
tree overhanging the well, and seated himself to rest on one of the
branches, and waited for what might happen. Ere long he saw the huge
gate swing open, and two beautiful women came out. Now the Mikoto
(Augustness) had always heard that Ryn Gu was the realm of the Dragon
King under the Sea, and had naturally supposed that the place was
inhabited by dragons and similar terrible creatures, so that when he
saw these two lovely princesses, whose beauty would be rare even in the
world from which he had just come, he was exceedingly surprised, and
wondered what it could mean.
He said not a word, however, but silently gazed at them through the
foliage of the trees, waiting to see what they would do. He saw that in
their hands they carried golden buckets. Slowly and gracefully in their
trailing garments they approached the well, standing in the shade of
the katsura trees, and were about to draw water, all unknowing of the
stranger who was watching them, for the Happy Hunter was quite hidden
among the branches of the tree where he had posted himself.
As the two ladies leaned over the side of the well to let down their
golden buckets, which they did every day in the year, they saw
reflected in the deep still water the face of a handsome youth gazing
at them from amidst the branches of the tree in whose shade they stood.
Never before had they seen the face of mortal man; they were
frightened, and drew back quickly with their golden buckets in their
hands. Their curiosity, however, soon gave them courage, and they
glanced timidly upwards to see the cause of the unusual reflection, and
then they beheld the Happy Hunter sitting in the tree looking down at
them with surprise and admiration. They gazed at him face to face, but
their tongues were still with wonder and could not find a word to say
to him.
When the Mikoto saw that he was discovered, he sprang down lightly from
the tree and said:
“I am a traveler, and as I was very thirsty I came to the well in the
hopes of quenching my thirst, but I could find no bucket with which to
draw the water. So I climbed into the tree, much vexed, and waited for
some one to come. Just at that moment, while I was thirstily and
impatiently waiting, you noble ladies appeared, as if in answer to my
great need. Therefore I pray you of your mercy give me some water to
drink, for I am a thirsty traveler in a strange land.”
His dignity and graciousness overruled their timidity, and bowing in
silence they both once more approached the well, and letting down their
golden buckets drew up some water and poured it into a jeweled cup and
offered it to the stranger.
He received it from them with both hands, raising it to the height of
his forehead in token of high respect and pleasure, and then drank the
water quickly, for his thirst was great. When he had finished his long
draught he set the cup down on the edge of the well, and drawing his
short sword he cut off one of the strange curved jewels (magatama), a
necklace of which hung round his neck and fell over his breast. He
placed the jewel in the cup and returned it to them, and said, bowing
deeply:
“This is a token of my thanks!”
The two ladies took the cup, and looking into it to see what he had put
inside—for they did not yet know what it was—they gave a start of
surprise, for there lay a beautiful gem at the bottom of the cup.
“No ordinary mortal would give away a jewel so freely. Will you not
honor us by telling us who you are?” said the elder damsel.
“Certainly,” said the Happy Hunter, “I am Hohodemi, the fourth Mikoto,
also called in Japan, the Happy Hunter.”
“Are you indeed Hohodemi, the grandson of Amaterasu, the Sun Goddess?”
asked the damsel who had spoken first. “I am the eldest daughter of Ryn
Jin, the King of the Sea, and my name is Princess Tayotama.”
“And,” said the younger maiden, who at last found her tongue, “I am her
sister, the Princess Tamayori.”
“Are you indeed the daughters of Ryn Jin, the King of the Sea? I cannot
tell you how glad I am to meet you,” said the Happy Hunter. And without
waiting for them to reply he went on:
“The other day I went fishing with my brother’s hook and dropped it,
how, I am sure I can’t tell. As my brother prizes his fishing hook
above all his other possessions, this is the greatest calamity that
could have befallen me. Unless I find it again I can never hope to win
my brother’s forgiveness, for he is very angry at what I have done. I
have searched for it many, many times, but I cannot find it, therefore
I am much troubled. While I was hunting for the hook, in great
distress, I met a wise old man, and he told me that the best thing I
could do was to come to Ryn Gu, and to Ryn Jin, the Dragon King of the
Sea, and ask him to help me. This kind old man also showed me how to
come. Now you know how it is I am here and why. I want to ask Ryn Jin,
if he knows where the lost hook is. Will you be so kind as to take me
to your father? And do you think he will see me?” asked the Happy
Hunter anxiously.
Princess Tayotama listened to this long story, and then said:
“Not only is it easy for you to see my father, but he will be much
pleased to meet you. I am sure he will say that good fortune has
befallen him, that so great and noble a man as you, the grandson of
Amaterasu, should come down to the bottom of the sea.” And then turning
to her younger sister, she said:
“Do you not think so, Tamayori?”
“Yes, indeed,” answered the Princess Tamayori, in her sweet voice. “As
you say, we can know no greater honor than to welcome the Mikoto to our
home.”
“Then I ask you to be so kind as to lead the way,” said the Happy
Hunter.
“Condescend to enter, Mikoto (Augustness),” said both the sisters, and
bowing low, they led him through the gate.
The younger Princess left her sister to take charge of the Happy
Hunter, and going faster than they, she reached the Sea King’s Palace
first, and running quickly to her father’s room, she told him of all
that had happened to them at the gate, and that her sister was even now
bringing the Augustness to him. The Dragon King of the Sea was much
surprised at the news, for it was but seldom, perhaps only once in
several hundred years, that the Sea King’s Palace was visited by
mortals.
Ryn Jin at once clapped his hands and summoned all his courtiers and
the servants of the Palace, and the chief fish of the sea together, and
solemnly told them that the grandson of the Sun Goddess, Amaterasu, was
coming to the Palace, and that they must be very ceremonious and polite
in serving the august visitor. He then ordered them all to the entrance
of the Palace to welcome the Happy Hunter.
Ryn Jin then dressed himself in his robes of ceremony, and went out to
welcome him. In a few moments the Princess Tayotama and the Happy
Hunter reached the entrance, and the Sea King and his wife bowed to the
ground and thanked him for the honor he did them in coming to see them.
The Sea King then led the Happy Hunter to the guest room, and placing
him in the uppermost seat, he bowed respectfully before him, and said:
“I am Ryn Jin, the Dragon King of the Sea, and this is my wife.
Condescend to remember us forever!”
“Are you indeed Ryn Jin, the King of the Sea, of whom I have so often
heard?” answered the Happy Hunter, saluting his host most
ceremoniously. “I must apologize for all the trouble I am giving you by
my unexpected visit.” And he bowed again, and thanked the Sea King.
“You need not thank me,” said Ryn Jin. “It is I who must thank you for
coming. Although the Sea Palace is a poor place, as you see, I shall be
highly honored if you will make us a long visit.”
There was much gladness between the Sea King and the Happy Hunter, and
they sat and talked for a long time. At last the Sea King clapped his
hands, and then a huge retinue of fishes appeared, all robed in
ceremonial garments, and bearing in their fins various trays on which
all kinds of sea delicacies were served. A great feast was now spread
before the King and his Royal guest. All the fishes-in-waiting were
chosen from amongst the finest fish in the sea, so you can imagine what
a wonderful array of sea creatures it was that waited upon the Happy
Hunter that day. All in the Palace tried to do their best to please him
and to show him that he was a much honored guest. During the long
repast, which lasted for hours, Ryn Jin commanded his daughters to play
some music, and the two Princesses came in and performed on the KOTO
(the Japanese harp), and sang and danced in turns. The time passed so
pleasantly that the Happy Hunter seemed to forget his trouble and why
he had come at all to the Sea King’s Realm, and he gave himself up to
the enjoyment of this wonderful place, the land of fairy fishes! Who
has ever heard of such a marvelous place? But the Mikoto soon
remembered what had brought him to Ryn Gu, and said to his host:
“Perhaps your daughters have told you, King Ryn Jin, that I have come
here to try and recover my brother’s fishing hook, which I lost while
fishing the other day. May I ask you to be so kind as to inquire of all
your subjects if any of them have seen a fishing hook lost in the sea?”
“Certainly,” said the obliging Sea King, “I will immediately summon
them all here and ask them.”
As soon as he had issued his command, the octopus, the cuttlefish, the
bonito, the oxtail fish, the eel, the jelly fish, the shrimp, and the
plaice, and many other fishes of all kinds came in and sat down before
Ryn Jin their King, and arranged themselves and their fins in order.
Then the Sea King said solemnly:
“Our visitor who is sitting before you all is the august grandson of
Amaterasu. His name is Hohodemi, the fourth Augustness, and he is also
called the Happy Hunter of the Mountains. While he was fishing the
other day upon the shore of Japan, some one robbed him of his brother’s
fishing hook. He has come all this way down to the bottom of the sea to
our Kingdom because he thought that one of you fishes may have taken
the hook from him in mischievous play. If any of you have done so you
must immediately return it, or if any of you know who the thief is you
must at once tell us his name and where he is now.”
All the fishes were taken by surprise when they heard these words, and
could say nothing for some time. They sat looking at each other and at
the Dragon King. At last the cuttlefish came forward and said:
“I think the TAI (the red bream) must be the thief who has stolen the
hook!”
“Where is your proof?” asked the King.
“Since yesterday evening the TAI has not been able to eat anything, and
he seems to be suffering from a bad throat! For this reason I think the
hook may be in his throat. You had better send for him at once!”
All the fish agreed to this, and said:
“It is certainly strange that the TAI is the only fish who has not
obeyed your summons. Will you send for him and inquire into the matter.
Then our innocence will be proved.”
“Yes,” said the Sea King, “it is strange that the TAI has not come, for
he ought to be the first to be here. Send for him at once!”
Without waiting for the King’s order the cuttlefish had already started
for the TAI’S dwelling, and he now returned, bringing the TAI with him.
He led him before the King.
The TAI sat there looking frightened and ill. He certainly was in pain,
for his usually red face was pale, and his eyes were nearly closed and
looked but half their usual size.
“Answer, O TAI!” cried the Sea King, “why did you not come in answer to
my summons today?”
“I have been ill since yesterday,” answered the TAI; “that is why I
could not come.”
“Don’t say another word!” cried out Ryn Jin angrily. “Your illness is
the punishment of the gods for stealing the Mikoto’s hook.”
“It is only too true!” said the TAI; “the hook is still in my throat,
and all my efforts to get it out have been useless. I can’t eat, and I
can scarcely breathe, and each moment I feel that it will choke me, and
sometimes it gives me great pain. I had no intention of stealing the
Mikoto’s hook. I heedlessly snapped at the bait which I saw in the
water, and the hook came off and stuck in my throat. So I hope you will
pardon me.”
The cuttlefish now came forward, and said to the King:
“What I said was right. You see the hook still sticks in the TAI’S
throat. I hope to be able to pull it out in the presence of the Mikoto,
and then we can return it to him safely!”
“O please make haste and pull it out!” cried the TAI, pitifully, for he
felt the pains in his throat coming on again; “I do so want to return
the hook to the Mikoto.”
“All right, TAI SAN,” said his friend the cuttlefish, and then opening
the TAI’S mouth as wide as he could and putting one of his feelers down
the TAI’S throat, he quickly and easily drew the hook out of the
sufferer’s large mouth. He then washed it and brought it to the King.
Ryn Jin took the hook from his subject, and then respectfully returned
it to the Happy Hunter (the Mikoto or Augustness, the fishes called
him), who was overjoyed at getting back his hook. He thanked Ryn Jin
many times, his face beaming with gratitude, and said that he owed the
happy ending of his quest to the Sea King’s wise authority and
kindness.
Ryn Jin now desired to punish the TAI, but the Happy Hunter begged him
not to do so; since his lost hook was thus happily recovered he did not
wish to make more trouble for the poor TAI. It was indeed the TAI who
had taken the hook, but he had already suffered enough for his fault,
if fault it could be called. What had been done was done in
heedlessness and not by intention. The Happy Hunter said he blamed
himself; if he had understood how to fish properly he would never have
lost his hook, and therefore all this trouble had been caused in the
first place by his trying to do something which he did not know how to
do. So he begged the Sea King to forgive his subject.
Who could resist the pleading of so wise and compassionate a judge? Ryn
Jin forgave his subject at once at the request of his august guest. The
TAI was so glad that he shook his fins for joy, and he and all the
other fish went out from the presence of their King, praising the
virtues of the Happy Hunter.
Now that the hook was found the Happy Hunter had nothing to keep him in
Ryn Gu, and he was anxious to get back to his own kingdom and to make
peace with his angry brother, the Skillful Fisher; but the Sea King,
who had learnt to love him and would fain have kept him as a son,
begged him not to go so soon, but to make the Sea Palace his home as
long as ever he liked. While the Happy Hunter was still hesitating, the
two lovely Princesses, Tayotama and Tamayori, came, and with the
sweetest of bows and voices joined with their father in pressing him to
stay, so that without seeming ungracious he could not say them “Nay,”
and was obliged to stay on for some time.
Between the Sea Realm and the Earth there was no difference in the
night of time, and the Happy Hunter found that three years went
fleeting quickly by in this delightful land. The years pass swiftly
when any one is truly happy. But though the wonders of that enchanted
land seemed to be new every day, and though the Sea King’s kindness
seemed rather to increase than to grow less with time, the Happy Hunter
grew more and more homesick as the days passed, and he could not
repress a great anxiety to know what had happened to his home and his
country and his brother while he had been away.
So at last he went to the Sea King and said:
“My stay with you here has been most happy and I am very grateful to
you for all your kindness to me, but I govern Japan, and, delightful as
this place is, I cannot absent myself forever from my country. I must
also return the fishing hook to my brother and ask his forgiveness for
having deprived him of it for so long. I am indeed very sorry to part
from you, but this time it cannot be helped. With your gracious
permission, I will take my leave to-day. I hope to make you another
visit some day. Please give up the idea of my staying longer now.”
King Ryn Jin was overcome with sorrow at the thought that he must lose
his friend who had made a great diversion in the Palace of the Sea, and
his tears fell fast as he answered:
“We are indeed very sorry to part with you, Mikoto, for we have enjoyed
your stay with us very much. You have been a noble and honored guest
and we have heartily made you welcome. I quite understand that as you
govern Japan you ought to be there and not here, and that it is vain
for us to try and keep you longer with us, much as we would like to
have you stay. I hope you will not forget us. Strange circumstances
have brought us together and I trust the friendship thus begun between
the Land and the Sea will last and grow stronger than it has ever been
before.”
When the Sea King had finished speaking he turned to his two daughters
and bade them bring him the two Tide-Jewels of the Sea. The two
Princesses bowed low, rose and glided out of the hall. In a few minutes
they returned, each one carrying in her hands a flashing gem which
filled the room with light. As the Happy Hunter looked at them he
wondered what they could be. The Sea King took them from his daughters
and said to his guest:
“These two valuable talismans we have inherited from our ancestors from
time immemorial. We now give them to you as a parting gift in token of
our great affection for you. These two gems are called the nanjiu and
the kanjiu.”
The Happy Hunter bowed low to the ground and said:
“I can never thank you enough for all your kindness to me. And now will
you add one more favor to the rest and tell me what these jewels are
and what I am to do with them?”
“The nanjiu,” answered the Sea King, “is also called the Jewel of the
Flood Tide, and whoever holds it in his possession can command the sea
to roll in and to flood the land at any time that he wills. The kanjiu
is also called the Jewel of the Ebbing Tide, and this gem controls the
sea and the waves thereof, and will cause even a tidal wave to recede.”
Then Ryn Jin showed his friend how to use the talismans one by one and
handed them to him. The Happy Hunter was very glad to have these two
wonderful gems, the Jewel of the Flood Tide and the Jewel of the Ebbing
Tide, to take back with him, for he felt that they would preserve him
in case of danger from enemies at any time. After thanking his kind
host again and again, he prepared to depart. The Sea King and the two
Princesses, Tayotama and Tamayori, and all the inmates of the Palace,
came out to say “Good-by,” and before the sound of the last farewell
had died away the Happy Hunter passed out from under the gateway, past
the well of happy memory standing in the shade of the great KATSURA
trees on his way to the beach.
Here he found, instead of the queer basket on which he had come to the
Realm of Ryn Gu, a large crocodile waiting for him. Never had he seen
such a huge creature. It measured eight fathoms in length from the tip
of its tail to the end of its long mouth. The Sea King had ordered the
monster to carry the Happy Hunter back to Japan. Like the wonderful
basket which Shiwozuchino Okina had made, it could travel faster than
any steamboat, and in this strange way, riding on the back of a
crocodile, the Happy Hunter returned to his own land.
As soon as the crocodile landed him, the Happy Hunter hastened to tell
the Skillful Fisher of his safe return. He then gave him back the
fishing hook which had been found in the mouth of the TAI and which had
been the cause of so much trouble between them. He earnestly begged his
brother’s forgiveness, telling him all that had happened to him in the
Sea King’s Palace and what wonderful adventures had led to the finding
of the hook.
Now the Skillful Fisher had used the lost hook as an excuse for driving
his brother out of the country. When his brother had left him that day
three years ago, and had not returned, he had been very glad in his
evil heart and had at once usurped his brother’s place as ruler of the
land, and had become powerful and rich. Now in the midst of enjoying
what did not belong to him, and hoping that his brother might never
return to claim his rights, quite unexpectedly there stood the Happy
Hunter before him.
The Skillful Fisher feigned forgiveness, for he could make no more
excuses for sending his brother away again, but in his heart he was
very angry and hated his brother more and more, till at last he could
no longer bear the sight of him day after day, and planned and watched
for an opportunity to kill him.
One day when the Happy Hunter was walking in the rice fields his
brother followed him with a dagger. The Happy Hunter knew that his
brother was following him to kill him, and he felt that now, in this
hour of great danger, was the time to use the Jewels of the Flow and
Ebb of the Tide and prove whether what the Sea King had told him was
true or not.
So he took out the Jewel of the Flood Tide from the bosom of his dress
and raised it to his forehead. Instantly over the fields and over the
farms the sea came rolling in wave upon wave till it reached the spot
where his brother was standing. The Skillful Fisher stood amazed and
terrified to see what was happening. In another minute he was
struggling in the water and calling on his brother to save him from
drowning.
The Happy Hunter had a kind heart and could not bear the sight of his
brother’s distress. He at once put back the Jewel of the Flood Tide and
took out the Jewel of the Ebb Tide. No sooner did he hold it up as high
as his forehead than the sea ran back and back, and ere long the
tossing rolling floods had vanished, and the farms and fields and dry
land appeared as before.
The Skillful Fisher was very frightened at the peril of death in which
he had stood, and was greatly impressed by the wonderful things he had
seen his brother do. He learned now that he was making a fatal mistake
to set himself against his brother, younger than he thought he was, for
he now had become so powerful that the sea would flow in and the tide
ebb at his word of command. So he humbled himself before the Happy
Hunter and asked him to forgive him all the wrong he had done him. The
Skillful Fisher promised to restore his brother to his rights and also
swore that though the Happy Hunter was the younger brother and owed him
allegiance by right of birth, that he, the Skillful Fisher, would exalt
him as his superior and bow before him as Lord of all Japan.
Then the Happy Hunter said that he would forgive his brother if he
would throw into the receding tide all his evil ways. The Skillful
Fisher promised and there was peace between the two brothers. From this
time he kept his word and became a good man and a kind brother.
The Happy Hunter now ruled his Kingdom without being disturbed by
family strife, and there was peace in Japan for a long, long time.
Above all the treasures in his house he prized the wonderful Jewels of
the Flow and Ebb of the Tide which had been given him by Ryn Jin, the
Dragon King of the Sea.
This is the congratulatory ending of the Happy Hunter and the Skillful
Fisher.