sighed, "I am aweary of the green hills ... the fair waters call me.
Woe to be a younger brother!" And when Prince Fire Flash took no heed of
him, but angled with his rod, day and night, and caught things broad of
fin and things narrow of fin, Prince Fire Fade drooped with desire, and
let his long hair fall untended upon his shoulders. And he murmured,
"Oh, to try my luck upon the sea!" till at last Prince Fire Flash,
his elder brother, gave him the rod for very weariness, and betook
himself to the mountains. And all day he hunted, and let fly the
heavenly-feathered arrows; but rough of hair or soft of hair, never a
thing did he catch. And he cried, "Fool, fool, to barter the heavenly
luck of the gods!" So he returned.
And his Augustness, Prince Fire Fade, took the luck of the sea, and
angled in sunshine and in gloom; but broad of fin or narrow of fin,
never a fish did he catch. And, moreover, he lost his brother's
fish-hook in the sea. So he hung his head, and returned.
And Prince Fire Flash said, "Each to his own, the hunter to the
mountain, and the fisherman to the sea ... for thou and I have brought
nothing home, and this night we sleep hungry. We may not barter the luck
of the gods. And now, where is my fish-hook?"
So Prince Fire Fade replied, saying softly, "Sweet brother, be not angry
... but, toiling all day with thy fish-hook, broad of fin or narrow of
fin, not a fish did I catch; and, at the last, I lost thy fish-hook in
the sea."
At this his Highness, Prince Fire Flash, flew into a great rage, and
stamping his feet, required the fish-hook of his brother.
And Prince Fire Fade made answer, "Sweet brother, I have not thy
fish-hook, but the deep sea, whose bottom no man may search. Though I
should die for thee, yet could I not give thee back thy fish-hook."
But his elder brother required it of him the more urgently.
Then Prince Fire Fade burst the wild wistaria tendrils which bound his
august ten-grasp sword to his side. And he said, "Farewell, good sword."
And he broke it into many fragments, and made five hundred fish-hooks to
give to his brother, Prince Fire Flash. But Prince Fire Flash would have
none of them.
And again Prince Fire Fade toiled at a great furnace, and made one
thousand fish-hooks; and upon his knees he humbly offered them to his
brother, Prince Fire Flash. For he loved his brother. Nevertheless
Prince Fire Flash would not so much as look at them, but sat moody, his
head on his hand, saying, "Mine own lost fish-hook will I have, that and
no other."
So Prince Fire Fade went grieving from the palace gates, and wandered
lamenting by the seashore; and his tears fell and mingled with the foam.
And, when night came, he had no heart to return homewards, but sat down,
weary, upon a rock amid the salt pools. And he cried, "Alas, my brother,
I am all to blame, and through my foolishness has this come upon me. But
oh, my brother, together were we nursed upon the sweet breast of our
mother, Princess Blossoming-Brightly-as-the-Flowers-of-the-Trees, for
almost hand in hand did we come into the world."
And the moon rose so that the sea and the Central Land of Reed Plains
was light. But Prince Fire Fade ceased not to lament.
Then Shiko-Tsuchi-no-Kami, the Lord of Sea Salt, came with the rising
tide, and spoke, "Wherefore weeps the Heaven's Sky Height?"
And Prince Fire Fade made answer: "I have taken my brother's fish-hook,
and I have lost it in the sea. And though I have given him many other
fish-hooks for compensation, he will have none of them, but desires only
the original fish-hook. Truly, the gods know, I would give my life to
find it; but how should that serve?"
And Shiko-Tsuchi-no-Kami took him by the sleeve to where a boat moved
upon the water, and set him in the boat and pushed it from the shore,
saying, "My son, pursue the pleasant path that Tsuki-Yomi-no-Kami, His
Augustness, the Moon Night Possessor, has made for thee upon the waters.
And, at the end, thou shalt come to a palace made of fishes' scales,
which is the palace of the great King of the Sea. Before the gate there
is a clear well, and by the well-side there grows a cassia tree with
many spreading branches. Therefore climb thou into the branches of the
cassia tree, and there wait for the King's daughter, who shall come to
give thee counsel."
And Prince Fire Fade, standing up in the boat, made obeisance, and
thanked the Lord of Sea Salt. But this one girded his august garments
and pushed the boat before him, till he was thigh-deep in the water. And
he said, "Nay, nay, fair youth, no thanks, only do my bidding."
So his Augustness, Prince Fire Fade, came to the Sea King's palace. And
he forthwith climbed the cassia tree and waited among its green
branches.
At the day's dawning came the handmaidens of the Sea King's daughter,
with their jewelled vessels, to draw water from the well. And as they
stooped to dip their vessels, Prince Fire Fade leaned and watched them
from the branches of the cassia tree. And the glory of his august
countenance made a brightness upon the waters of the well. So all the
maidens looked up and beheld his comeliness, and were amazed. But he
spoke them fairly, and desired of them a little water from their
vessels. So the maidens drew him water in a jewelled cup (howbeit the
jewels were clouded, because of the coldness of the well water), and
they presented it to him with all reverence. Then, not drinking the
water, Prince Fire Fade took the royal jewel from his neck, and holding
it between his two lips he dropped it into the cup, and the cup he gave
again to the maidens.
Now they saw the great jewel shining in the cup, but they could not move
it, for it clung fast to the gold. So the maidens departed, skimming the
water like the white birds of the offing. And they came to the Sea
King's daughter, bearing the cup and the jewel in it.
And the Princess, looking at the jewel, asked them, "Is there,
perchance, a stranger at the gate?"
And one of the maidens answered, "There is some one sitting in the
branches of the cassia tree which is by our well."
And another said, "It is a very beautiful young man."
And another said, "He is even more glorious than our king. And he asked
water of us, so we respectfully gave him water in this cup. And he drank
none of it, but dropped a jewel into it from his lips. So we have
brought them unto Thine Augustness, both the cup and the jewel."
Then the Princess herself took a vessel and went to draw water at the
well. And her long sleeves, and certain of the folds of her august
garments, floated behind her, and her head was bound with a garland of
sea flowers. And coming to the well she looked up through the branches
of the cassia tree. And her eyes met the eyes of Prince Fire Fade.
And presently she fetched her father, the Sea King, saying, "Father,
there is a beautiful person at our gate." So the Sea King came out and
welcomed Prince Fire Fade, and said, "This is the August Child of the
Heaven's Sun Height." And leading him into his palace he caused the
floor to be spread with eight layers of rugs of asses' skins, and eight
layers of rugs of silk, and set the Prince upon them.
And that night he made a great banquet, and celebrated the betrothal of
Prince Fire Fade to his daughter, the fair Jewel Princess. And for very
many days there was held high revel and rejoicing in the Sea King's
palace.
But one night, as they took their ease upon the silken floor, and all
the fishes of the sea brought rich dishes, and sweetmeats in vessels of
gold and coral and jade to set before them, the fair Jewel Princess
herself sat at Prince Fire Fade's right hand to pour the wine into his
cup. And the silver scales upon the palace walls glittered in the
moonlight. But Prince Fire Fade looked out across the Sea Path and
thought of what had gone before, and so heaved a deep sigh.
Then the Sea King was troubled, and asked him, saying, "Wherefore dost
thou sigh?" But Prince Fire Fade answered nothing.
And the fair Jewel Princess, his betrothed wife, came closer, and
touched him on the breast, and said softly, "Oh, Thine Augustness, my
sweet spouse, art thou not happy in our water palace, where the shadows
fall green, that thou lookest so longingly across the Sea Path? Or do
our maidens not please thee, who move silently, like the birds of the
offing? Oh, my lord, despise me not, but tell me what is in thine
heart."
Then Prince Fire Fade answered, "My lovely lady, Thine Augustness, let
nothing be hidden from thee, because of our love." And he told them all
the story of the fish-hook, and of his elder brother's wrath.
[Illustration: The Sea King and the Magic Jewels.--_P. 45._]
"And now," he said, "will the Jewel Princess give me counsel?"
Then the Jewel Princess smiled, and rose up lightly, and her hair was so
long that it hung to the edge and hem of her silken red robe. And she
passed to where the palace steps led down into the water. And standing
upon the last step she called to the fishes of the sea, and summoned
them, great and small, from far and near. So the fishes of the sea, both
great and small, swam about her feet, and the water was silver with
their scales. And the King's daughter cried, "O fishes of the sea, find
and bring me the august fish-hook of Prince Fire Flash."
And the fishes answered, "Lady, the _Tai_ is in misery, for something
sticks in his throat so that he cannot eat. Perchance this may be the
august fish-hook of his Augustness, Prince Fire Flash."
Then the Princess stooped down and lifted the _Tai_ from the water, and
with her white hand she took the lost fish-hook from his throat. And
after she had washed and dabbled it for a little, she took it in to
Prince Fire Fade. And he rejoiced and said, "This is indeed my brother's
fish-hook. I go to restore it instantly, and we shall be reconciled."
For he loved his brother.
But the fair Jewel Princess stood silent and sorrowing, for she thought,
"Now will he depart and leave me lonely."
And Prince Fire Fade hastened to the water's edge, and there bestrode a
valiant crocodile, who should bring him to his journey's end. And ere
he went, the Sea King spoke: "Fair youth, now listen to my counsel. If
thy brother sow rice upon the uplands, do thou sow thy rice low, in the
water meads. But if thy brother sow his rice in the water meads, then do
thou, Thine Augustness, sow thy rice upon the uplands. And I who rule
the rains and the floods will continually prosper the labours of Thine
Augustness. Moreover, here are two magic jewels. If thy brother should
be moved by envy to attack thee, then put forth the Tide Flowing Jewel
and the waters shall arise to drown him. But if thou shouldst have
compassion upon him, then put forth the Tide Ebbing Jewel, and all the
waters shall subside, and his life be spared."
And his Augustness Prince Fire Fade gave thanks with obeisance. And he
hid the fish-hook in his long sleeve, and hung the two great jewels
about his neck. Then the fair Jewel Princess came near and bade him
farewell, with many tears. And the Sea King charged the crocodile,
saying, "While crossing the middle of the sea, do not alarm him."
So Prince Fire Fade sat upon the crocodile's head; and in one day he
came to his own place and sprang lightly to shore. And unsheathing his
dagger, he hung it upon the crocodile's neck for a token.
Hereupon, Prince Fire Fade found his brother, and gave him back his own
fish-hook that had been lost. Nevertheless, because of the two great
jewels, which he wore in the folds of his raiment, he had everlasting
dominion over his brother, and flourished in all his doings.
And, after some time, there came to Prince Fire Fade the daughter of the
Sea King, the fair Jewel Princess. And she came across the Sea Path
bearing in her arms a young child. And she, weeping, laid down the child
at the feet of His Augustness and said, "My lord, I have brought thy
son."
But Prince Fire Fade raised her up and made her welcome, and built for
her a palace on the seashore, at the limit of the waves. And the palace
was thatched with cormorant's feathers. So they dwelt there with the
August Child.
And the fair Jewel Princess besought her lord, saying, "Sweet husband,
look not on me in the dark night, for then I must take my native shape;
with those of my land it is ever so. Howbeit, look not on me, lest I
should be ashamed and misfortune should follow." So Prince Fire Fade
promised her, and spoke many fair words of assurance.
Nevertheless, there came a night when Prince Fire Fade lay awake, and
could get no rest. And, at length, when it was very dark, before the
dawn, he arose and struck a light to look upon his bride as she slept.
And he beheld a great scalèd dragon, with translucent eyes, which was
coiled up at the couch's foot. And Prince Fire Fade cried out aloud for
terror, and dropped the light. Then morning broke very grey upon the
sea. And at the same instant the great dragon stirred, and from its
coils the Jewel Princess lifted up her lovely head. And the green scales
fell away from her like a garment. So she stood, in a white robe, with
her child upon her breast. And she hung her head and wept, saying, "O
Thine Augustness, my sweet spouse, I had thought to have made the Sea
Path a highway between thy land and mine, that we might go and come at
pleasure. But now, though I warned thee, thou hast looked upon me in the
night. Therefore, my lord, between me and thee it is farewell. I go
across the Sea Path, and of this going there is no return. Take thou the
August Child."
She spoke, and departed immediately upon the Sea Path, weeping and
covering her face with her hair and looking back to the shore. And she
was never more seen upon the Central Land of Reed Plains. Moreover, she
shut the gates of the sea and closed the way to her father's palace. But
the young maid, her sister, she sent to be a nurse to her babe, and
because, for all that had been, she could not restrain her loving heart,
she made a little song, and sent it to her lord by the maid, her sister.
And the song said:
"Oh, fair are the red jewels,
And fair is the string on which they are strung ...
Even so, fair is my babe.
But brighter far, and more renowned are the white jewels,
The jewels that are like my lord."
Then the husband answered, in a song which said:
"As for thee, my lady, whom I took to be my bride,
To the island where lights the wild duck--the bird of the offing,
I shall not forget thee till the end of my life."
VI
THE GOOD THUNDER
Folks say that Rai-den, the Thunder, is an unloving spirit, fearful and
revengeful, cruel to man. These are folks who are mortally afraid of the
storm, and who hate lightning and tempest; they speak all the evil they
can of Rai-den and of Rai-Taro, his son. But they are wrong.
Rai-den Sama lived in a Castle of Cloud set high in the blue heaven. He
was a great and mighty god, a Lord of the Elements. Rai-Taro was his one
and only son, a brave boy, and his father loved him.
In the cool of the evening Rai-den and Rai-Taro walked upon the ramparts
of the Castle of Cloud, and from the ramparts they viewed the doings of
men upon the Land of Reed Plains. North and South and East and West they
looked. Often they laughed--oh, very often; sometimes they sighed.
Sometimes Rai-Taro leaned far over the castle walls to see the children
that went to and fro upon earth.
One night Rai-den Sama said to Rai-Taro, "Child, look well this night
upon the doings of men!"
Rai-Taro answered, "Father, I will look well."
From the northern rampart they looked, and saw great lords and
men-at-arms going forth to battle. From the southern rampart they
looked, and saw priests and acolytes serving in a holy temple where the
air was dim with incense, and images of gold and bronze gleamed in the
twilight. From the eastern rampart they looked, and saw a lady's bower,
where was a fair princess, and a troop of maidens, clad in rose colour,
that made music for her. There were children there, too, playing with a
little cart of flowers.
"Ah, the pretty children!" said Rai-Taro.
From the western rampart they looked, and saw a peasant toiling in a
rice-field. He was weary enough and his back ached. His wife toiled with
him by his side. If he was weary, it is easy to believe that she was
more weary still. They were very poor and their garments were ragged.
"Have they no children?" said Rai-Taro. Rai-den shook his head.
Presently, "Have you looked well, Rai-Taro?" he said. "Have you looked
well this night upon the doings of men?"
"Father," said Rai-Taro, "indeed, I have looked well."
"Then choose, my son, choose, for I send you to take up your habitation
upon the earth."
"Must I go among men?" said Rai-Taro.
"My child, you must."
"I will not go with the men-at-arms," said Rai-Taro; "fighting likes me
very ill."
"Oho, say you so, my son? Will you go, then, to the fair lady's bower?"
"No," said Rai-Taro, "I am a man. Neither will I have my head shaved to
go and live with priests."
"What, then, do you choose the poor peasant? You will have a hard life
and scanty fare, Rai-Taro."
Rai-Taro said, "They have no children. Perhaps they will love me."
"Go, go in peace," said Rai-den Sama; "for you have chosen wisely."
"How shall I go, my father?" said Rai-Taro.
"Honourably," said his father, "as it befits a Prince of High Heaven."
Now the poor peasant man toiled in his rice-field, which was at the foot
of the mountain Hakusan, in the province of Ichizen. Day after day and
week after week the bright sun shone. The rice-field was dry, and young
rice was burnt up.
"Alack and alas!" cried the poor peasant man, "and what shall I do if my
rice-crop fails? May the dear gods have mercy on all poor people!"
With that he sat himself down on a stone at the rice-field's edge and
fell asleep for very weariness and sorrow.
When he woke the sky was black with clouds. It was but noonday, but it
grew as dark as night. The leaves of the trees shuddered together and
the birds ceased their singing.
"A storm, a storm!" cried the peasant. "Rai-den Sama goes abroad upon
his black horse, beating the great drum of the Thunder. We shall have
rain in plenty, thanks be."
Rain in plenty he had, sure enough, for it fell in torrents, with
blinding lightning and roaring thunder.
"Oh, Rai-den Sama," said the peasant, "saving your greatness, this is
even more than sufficient."
At this the bright lightning flashed anew and fell to the earth in a
ball of living fire, and the heavens cracked with a mighty peal of
thunder.
"Ai! Ai!" cried the poor peasant man. "Kwannon have mercy on a sinful
soul, for now the Thunder Dragon has me indeed." And he lay on the
ground and hid his face.
Howbeit the Thunder Dragon spared him. And soon he sat up and rubbed his
eyes. The ball of fire was gone, but a babe lay upon the wet earth; a
fine fresh boy with the rain upon his cheeks and his hair.
"Oh, Lady, Lady Kwannon," said the poor peasant man, "this is thy sweet
mercy." And he took the boy in his arms and carried him to his own home.
As he went the rain still fell, but the sun came out in the blue sky,
and every flower in the cooler air shone and lifted up its grateful
head.
The peasant came to his cottage door.
"Wife, wife," he called, "I have brought you something home."
"What may it be?" said his wife.
The man answered, "Rai-Taro, the little eldest son of the Thunder."
Rai-Taro grew up straight and strong, the tallest, gayest boy of all
that country-side. He was the delight of his foster-parents, and all the
neighbours loved him. When he was ten years old he worked in the
rice-fields like a man. He was the wonderful weather prophet.
"My father," he said, "let us do this and that, for we shall have fair
weather"; or he said, "My father, let us the rather do this or that, for
to-night there will be a storm," and whatever he had said, so, sure
enough, it came to pass. And he brought great good fortune to the poor
peasant man, and all his works prospered.
When Rai-Taro was eighteen years old all the neighbours were bidden to
his birthday feast. There was plenty of good _saké_, and the good folk
were merry enough; only Rai-Taro was silent and sad and sorry.
"What ails you, Rai-Taro?" said his foster-mother. "You who are wont to
be the gayest of the gay, why are you silent, sad and sorry?"
"It is because I must leave you," Rai-Taro said.
"Nay," said his foster-mother, "never leave us, Rai-Taro, my son. Why
would you leave us?"
"Mother, because I must," said Rai-Taro in tears.
"You have been our great good fortune; you have given us all things.
What have I given you? What have I given you, Rai-Taro, my son?"
Rai-Taro answered, "Three things have you taught me--to labour, to
suffer, and to love. I am more learned than the Immortals."
Then he went from them. And in the likeness of a white cloud he scaled
heaven's blue height till he gained his father's castle. And Rai-den
received him. The two of them stood upon the western rampart of the
Castle of Cloud and looked down to earth.
The foster-mother stood weeping bitterly, but her husband took her hand.
"My dear," he said, "it will not be for long. We grow old apace."
VII
THE BLACK BOWL
Long ago, in a part of the country not very remote from Kioto, the great
gay city, there dwelt an honest couple. In a lonely place was their
cottage, upon the outskirts of a deep wood of pine trees. Folks had it
that the wood was haunted. They said it was full of deceiving foxes;
they said that beneath the mossy ground the elves built their kitchens;
they said that long-nosed _Tengu_ had tea-parties in the forest thrice a
month, and that the fairies' children played at hide-and-seek there
every morning before seven. Over and above all this they didn't mind
saying that the honest couple were queer in their ways, that the woman
was a wise woman, and that the man was a warlock--which was as may be.
But sure it was that they did no harm to living soul, that they lived as
poor as poor, and that they had one fair daughter. She was as neat and
pretty as a princess, and her manners were very fine; but for all that
she worked as hard as a boy in the rice-fields, and within doors she was
the housewife indeed, for she washed and cooked and drew water. She
went barefoot in a grey homespun gown, and tied her back hair with a
tough wistaria tendril. Brown she was and thin, but the sweetest
beggar-maid that ever made shift with a bed of dry moss and no supper.
By-and-by the good man her father dies, and the wise woman her mother
sickens within the year, and soon she lies in a corner of the cottage
waiting for her end, with the maid near her crying bitter tears.
"Child," says the mother, "do you know you are as pretty as a princess?"
"Am I that?" says the maid, and goes on with her crying.
"Do you know that your manners are fine?" says the mother.
"Are they, then?" says the maid, and goes on with her crying.
"My own baby," says the mother, "could you stop your crying a minute and
listen to me?"
So the maid stopped crying and put her head close by her mother's on the
poor pillow.
"Now listen," says the mother, "and afterwards remember. It is a bad
thing for a poor girl to be pretty. If she is pretty and lonely and
innocent, none but the gods will help her. They will help you, my poor
child, and I have thought of a way besides. Fetch me the great black
rice-bowl from the shelf."
The girl fetched it.
"See, now, I put it on your head and all your beauty is hidden away."
"Alack, mother," said the poor child, "it is heavy."
"It will save you from what is heavier to bear," said the mother. "If
you love me, promise me that you will not move it till the time comes."
"I promise! I promise! But how shall I know when the time comes?"
"That you shall know.... And now help me outside, for the sweet morning
dawns and I've a fancy to see the fairies' children once again, as they
run in the forest."
So the child, having the black bowl upon her head, held her mother in
her arms in a grassy place near the great trees, and presently they saw
the fairies' children threading their way between the dark trunks as
they played at hide-and-seek. Their bright garments fluttered, and they
laughed lightly as they went. The mother smiled to see them; before
seven she died very sweetly as she smiled.
When her little store of rice was done, the maid with the wooden bowl
knew well enough that she must starve or go and find more. So first she
tended her father's and mother's graves and poured water for the dead,
as is meet, and recited many a holy text. Then she bound on her sandals,
kilted her grey skirts to show her scarlet petticoat, tied her household
gods in a blue printed handkerchief, and set out all alone to seek her
fortunes, the brave girl!