The Coming of the Lady Kaguya
Long ago there lived an old bamboo-cutter by the name of Sanugi no
Miyakko. One day, while he was busy with his hatchet in a grove of
bamboos, he suddenly perceived a miraculous light, and on closer
inspection discovered in the heart of a reed a very small creature of
exquisite beauty. He gently picked up the tiny girl, only about four
inches in height, and carried her home to his wife. So delicate was
this little maiden that she had to be reared in a basket.
Now it happened that the Bamboo-cutter continued to set about his
business, and night and day, as he cut down the reeds, he found gold,
and, once poor, he now amassed a considerable fortune.
The child, after she had been but three months with these simple
country folk, suddenly grew in stature to that of a full-grown maid;
and in order that she should be in keeping with such a pleasing,
if surprising, event, her hair, hitherto allowed to flow in long
tresses about her shoulders, was now fastened in a knot on her head.
In due season the Bamboo-cutter named the girl the Lady Kaguya, or
"Precious-Slender-Bamboo-of-the-Field-of-Autumn." When she had been
named a great feast was held, in which all the neighbours participated.
The Wooing of the "Precious-Slender-Bamboo-of-the-Field-of-Autumn"
"When a woman is somewhat fairer than the crowd
of women how greatly do men long to gaze upon her
beauty!"--_Taketori_.
Now the Lady Kaguya was of all women the most beautiful, and
immediately after the feast the fame of her beauty spread throughout
the land. Would-be lovers gathered around the fence and lingered in
the porch with the hope of at least getting a glimpse of this lovely
maiden. Night and day these forlorn suitors waited, but in vain. Those
who were of humble origin gradually began to recognise that their
love-making was useless. But five wealthy suitors still persisted, and
would not relax their efforts. They were Prince Ishizukuri and Prince
Kuramochi, the Sadaijin Dainagon Abe no Miushi, the Chiunagon Otomo no
Miyuki, and Morotada, the Lord of Iso. These ardent lovers bore "the
ice and snow of winter and the thunderous heats of midsummer with equal
fortitude." When these lords finally asked the Bamboo-cutter to bestow
his daughter upon one of them, the old man politely explained that the
maiden was not really his daughter, and as that was so she could not be
compelled to obey his own wishes in the matter.
At last the lords returned to their mansions, but still continued
to make their supplications more persistently than ever. Even the
kindly Bamboo-cutter began to remonstrate with the Lady Kaguya, and to
point out that it was becoming for so handsome a maid to marry, and
that among the five noble suitors she could surely make a very good
match. To this the wise Kaguya replied: "Not so fair am I that I may
be certain of a man's faith, and were I to mate with one whose heart
proved fickle what a miserable fate were mine! Noble lords, without
doubt, are these of whom thou speakest, but I would not wed a man whose
heart should be all untried and unknown."
It was finally arranged that Kaguya should marry the suitor who proved
himself the most worthy. This news brought momentary hope to the five
great lords, and when night came they assembled before the house where
the maiden dwelt "with flute music and with singing, with chanting to
accompaniments and piping, with cadenced tap and clap of fan." Only the
Bamboo-cutter went out to thank the lords for their serenading. When he
had come into the house again, Kaguya thus set forth her plan to test
the suitors:
"In Tenjiku (Northern India) is a beggar's bowl of stone, which of old
the Buddha himself bore, in quest whereof let Prince Ishizukuri depart
and bring me the same. And on the mountain Horai, that towers over the
Eastern ocean, grows a tree with roots of silver and trunk of gold and
fruitage of pure white jade, and I bid Prince Kuramochi fare thither
and break off and bring me a branch thereof. Again, in the land of
Morokoshi men fashion fur-robes of the pelt of the Flame-proof Rat,
and I pray the Dainagon to find me one such. Then of the Chiunagon
I require the rainbow-hued jewel that hides its sparkle deep in
the dragon's head; and from the hands of the Lord Iso would I fain
receive the cowry-shell that the swallow brings hither over the broad
sea-plain."
The Begging-bowl of the Lord Buddha
The Prince Ishizukuri, after pondering over the matter of going to
distant Tenjiku in search of the Lord Buddha's begging-bowl, came to
the conclusion that such a proceeding would be futile. He decided,
therefore, to counterfeit the bowl in question. He laid his plans
cunningly, and took good care that the Lady Kaguya was informed that he
had actually undertaken the journey. As a matter of fact this artful
suitor hid in Yamato for three years, and after that time discovered in
a hill-monastery in Tochi a bowl of extreme age resting upon an altar
of Binzuru (the Succourer in Sickness). This bowl he took away with
him, and wrapped it in brocade, and attached to the gift an artificial
branch of blossom.
When the Lady Kaguya looked upon the bowl she found inside a scroll
containing the following:
"Over seas, over hills
hath thy servant fared, and weary
and wayworn he perisheth:
O what tears hath cost this bowl of
stone,
what floods of streaming tears!"
But when the Lady Kaguya perceived that no light shone from the vessel
she at once knew that it had never belonged to the Lord Buddha. She
accordingly sent back the bowl with the following verse:
"Of the hanging dewdrop
not even the passing sheen
dwells herein:
On the Hill of Darkness, the Hill
of Ogura,
what couldest thou hope to find?"
The Prince, having thrown away the bowl, sought to turn the above
remonstrance into a compliment to the lady who wrote it.
"Nay, on the Hill of Brightness
what splendour
will not pale?
Would that away from the light
of thy beauty
the sheen of yonder Bowl might
prove me true!"
It was a prettily turned compliment by a suitor who was an utter
humbug. This latest poetical sally availed nothing, and the Prince
sadly departed.
The Jewel-bearing Branch of Mount Horai
Prince Kuramochi, like his predecessor, was equally wily, and made it
generally known that he was setting out on a journey to the land of
Tsukushi in quest of the Jewel-bearing Branch. What he actually did
was to employ six men of the Uchimaro family, celebrated craftsmen,
and secure for them a dwelling hidden from the haunts of men, where
he himself abode, for the purpose of instructing the craftsmen as to
how they were to make a Jewel-bearing Branch identical with the one
described by the Lady Kaguya.
When the Jewel-bearing Branch was finished, he set out to wait upon the
Lady Kaguya, who read the following verse attached to the gift:
"Though it were at the peril
of my very life,
without the Jewel-laden Branch
in my hands never again
would I have dared to return!"
The Lady Kaguya looked sadly upon this glittering branch, and listened
without interest to the Prince's purely imaginative story of his
adventures. The Prince dwelt upon the terrors of the sea, of strange
monsters, of acute hunger, of disease, which were their trials upon the
ocean. Then this incorrigible story-teller went on to describe how they
came to a high mountain rising out of the sea, where they were greeted
by a woman bearing a silver vessel which she filled with water. On the
mountain were wonderful flowers and trees, and a stream "rainbow-hued,
yellow as gold, white as silver, blue as precious _ruri_ (lapis
lazuli); and the stream was spanned by bridges built up of divers gems,
and by it grew trees laden with dazzling jewels, and from one of these
I broke off the branch which I venture now to offer to the Lady Kaguya."
No doubt the Lady Kaguya would have been forced to believe this
ingenious tale had not at that very moment the six craftsmen appeared
on the scene, and by loudly demanding payment for the ready-made
Jewel-Branch, exposed the treachery of the Prince, who made a hasty
retreat. The Lady Kaguya herself rewarded the craftsmen, happy, no
doubt, to escape so easily.
The Flameproof Fur-Robe
The Sadaijin (Left Great Minister) Abe no Miushi commissioned a
merchant, by the name of Wokei, to obtain for him a fur-robe made from
the Flame-proof Rat, and when the merchant's ship had returned from
the land of Morokoshi it bore a fur-robe, which the sanguine Sadaijin
imagined to be the very object of his desire. The Fur-Robe rested in
a casket, and the Sadaijin, believing in the honesty of the merchant,
described it as being "of a sea-green colour, the hairs tipped with
shining gold, a treasure indeed of incomparable loveliness, more to be
admired for its pure excellence than even for its virtue in resisting
the flame of fire."
The Sadaijin, assured of success in his wooing, gaily set out to
present his gift to the Lady Kaguya, offering in addition the following
verse:
"Endless are the fires of love
that consume me, yet unconsumed
is the Robe of Fur:
dry at last are my sleeves,
for shall I not see her face this day!"
At last the Sadaijin was able to present his gift to the Lady Kaguya.
Thus she addressed the Bamboo-cutter, who always seems to have been
conveniently on the scene at such times: "If this Robe be thrown amid
the flames and be not burnt up, I shall know it is in very truth the
Flame-proof Robe, and may no longer refuse this lord's suit." A fire
was lighted, and the Robe thrown into the flames, where it perished
immediately. "When the Sadaijin saw this his face grew green as
grass, and he stood there astonished." But the Lady Kaguya discreetly
rejoiced, and returned the casket with the following verse:
"Without a vestige even left
thus to burn utterly away,
had I dreamt it of this Robe of Fur.
Alas the pretty thing! far otherwise
would I have dealt with it."
The Jewel in the Dragon's Head
The Chiunagon Otomo no Miyuki assembled his household and informed his
retainers that he desired them to bring him the Jewel in the Dragon's
head.
After some demur they pretended to set off on this quest. In the
meantime the Chiunagon was so sure of his servants' success that he had
his house lavishly adorned throughout with exquisite lacquer-work, in
gold and silver. Every room was hung with brocade, the panels rich with
pictures, and over the roof were silken cloths.
Weary of waiting, the Chiunagon after a time journeyed to Naniwa and
questioned the inhabitants if any of his servants had taken boat in
quest of the Dragon. The Chiunagon learnt that none of his men had
come to Naniwa, and, considerably displeased at the news, he himself
embarked with a helmsman.
Now it happened that the Thunder God was angry and the sea ran high.
After many days the storm grew so severe and the boat was so near
sinking that the helmsman ventured to remark: "The howling of the wind
and the raging of the waves and the mighty roar of the thunder are
signs of the wrath of the God whom my lord offends, who would slay the
Dragon of the deep, for through the Dragon is the storm raised, and
well it were if my lord offered a prayer."
As the Chiunagon had been seized with "a terrible sickness," it is
not surprising to find that he readily took the helmsman's advice.
He prayed no less than a thousand times, enlarging on his folly in
attempting to slay the Dragon, and solemnly vowed that he would leave
the Ruler of the deep in peace.
The thunder ceased and the clouds dispersed, but the wind was as fierce
and strong as ever. The helmsman, however, told his master that it was
a fair wind and blew towards their own land.
At last they reached the strand of Akashi, in Harima. But the
Chiunagon, still ill and mightily frightened, vowed that they had
been driven upon a savage shore, and lay full length in the boat,
panting heavily, and refusing to rise when the governor of the district
presented himself.
When the Chiunagon at last realised that they had not been blown upon
some savage shore he consented to land. No wonder the governor smiled
when he saw "the wretched appearance of the discomfited lord, chilled
to the very bone, with swollen belly and eyes lustreless as sloes."
At length the Chiunagon was carried in a litter to his own home. When
he had arrived his cunning servants humbly told their master how they
had failed in the quest. Thus the Chiunagon greeted them: "Ye have done
well to return empty-handed. Yonder Dragon, assuredly, has kinship
with the Thunder God, and whoever shall lay hands on him to take the
jewel that gleams in his head shall find himself in peril. Myself am
sore spent with toil and hardship, and no guerdon have I won. A thief
of men's souls and a destroyer of their bodies is the Lady Kaguya,
nor ever will I seek her abode again, nor ever bend ye your steps
thitherward."
We are told, in conclusion, that when the women of his household heard
of their lord's adventure "they laughed till their sides were sore,
while the silken cloths he had caused to be drawn over the roof of his
mansion were carried away, thread by thread, by the crows to line their
nests with."
The Royal Hunt[1]
Now the fame of the Lady Kaguya's beauty reached the court, and the
Mikado, anxious to gaze upon her, sent one of his palace ladies,
Fusago, to go and see the Bamboo-cutter's daughter, and to report to
his Majesty of her excellences.
However, when Fusago reached the Bamboo-cutter's house the Lady Kaguya
refused to see her. So the palace lady returned to court and reported
the matter to the Mikado. His Majesty, not a little displeased, sent
for the Bamboo-cutter, and made him bring the Lady Kaguya to court that
he might see her, adding: "A hat of nobility, perchance, shall be her
father's reward."
The old Bamboo-cutter was an admirable soul, and mildly discountenanced
his daughter's extraordinary behaviour. Although he loved court favours
and probably hankered after so distinguished a hat, it must be said of
him that he was first of all true to his duty as a father.
When, on returning to his home, he discussed the matter with the Lady
Kaguya, she informed the old man that if she were compelled to go to
court it would certainly cause her death, adding: "The price of my
father's hat of nobility will be the destruction of his child."
The Bamboo-cutter was deeply affected by these words, and once more
set out on a journey to the court, where he humbly made known his
daughter's decision.
The Mikado, not to be denied even by an extraordinarily beautiful
woman, hit on the ingenious plan of ordering a Royal Hunt, so arranged
that he might unexpectedly arrive at the Bamboo-cutter's dwelling, and
perchance see the lady who could set at defiance the desires of an
emperor.
On the day appointed for the Royal Hunt, therefore, the Mikado entered
the Bamboo-cutter's house. He had no sooner done so than he was
surprised to see in the room in which he stood a wonderful light, and
in the light none other than the Lady Kaguya.
His Majesty advanced and touched the maiden's sleeve, whereupon she hid
her face, but not before the Mikado had caught a glimpse of her beauty.
Amazed by her extreme loveliness, and taking no notice of her protests,
he ordered a palace litter to be brought; but on its arrival the Lady
Kaguya suddenly vanished. The Emperor, perceiving that he was dealing
with no mortal maid, exclaimed: "It shall be as thou desirest, maiden;
but 'tis prayed that thou resume thy form, that once more thy beauty
may be seen."
So the Lady Kaguya resumed her fair form again. As his Majesty was
about to be borne away he composed the following verse:
"Mournful the return
of the Royal Hunt,
and full of sorrow the brooding
heart;
for she resists and stays behind,
the Lady Kaguya!"
The Lady Kaguya thus made answer:
"Under the roof o'ergrown with
hopbine
long were the years
she passed.
How may she dare to look upon
The Palace of Precious Jade?"
The Celestial Robe of Feathers
In the third year after the Royal Hunt, and in the spring-time, the
Lady Kaguya continually gazed at the moon. On the seventh month, when
the moon was full, the Lady Kaguya's sorrow increased so that her
weeping distressed the maidens who served her. At last they came to the
Bamboo-cutter, and said: "Long has the Lady Kaguya watched the moon,
waxing in melancholy with the waxing thereof, and her woe now passes
all measure, and sorely she weeps and wails; wherefore we counsel thee
to speak with her."
When the Bamboo-cutter communed with his daughter, he requested that
she should tell him the cause of her sorrow, and was informed that the
sight of the moon caused her to reflect upon the wretchedness of the
world.
During the eighth month the Lady Kaguya explained to her maids that
she was no ordinary mortal, but that her birthplace was the Capital of
Moonland, and that the time was now at hand when she was destined to
leave the world and return to her old home.
Not only was the Bamboo-cutter heart-broken at this sorrowful news, but
the Mikado also was considerably troubled when he heard of the proposed
departure of the Lady Kaguya. His Majesty was informed that at the next
full moon a company would be sent down from that shining orb to take
this beautiful lady away, whereupon he determined to put a check upon
this celestial invasion. He ordered that a guard of soldiers should be
stationed about the Bamboo-cutter's house, armed and prepared, if need
be, to shoot their arrows upon those Moonfolk, who would fain take the
beautiful Lady Kaguya away.
The old Bamboo-cutter naturally thought that with such a guard to
protect his daughter the invasion from the moon would prove utterly
futile. The Lady Kaguya attempted to correct the old man's ideas on the
subject, saying: "Ye cannot prevail over the folk of yonder land, nor
will your artillery harm them nor your defences avail against them,
for every door will fly open at their approach, nor may your valour
help, for be ye never so stout-hearted, when the Moonfolk come vain
will be your struggle with them." These remarks made the Bamboo-cutter
exceedingly angry. He asserted that his nails would turn into
talons--in short, that he would completely annihilate such impudent
visitors from the moon.
[Illustration: The Moonfolk demand the Lady Kaguya.--76]
Now while the royal guard was stationed about the Bamboo-cutter's
house, on the roof and in every direction, the night wore away. At the
hour of the Rat[2] a great glory, exceeding the splendour of the moon
and stars, shone around. While the light still continued a strange
cloud approached, bearing upon it a company of Moonfolk. The cloud
slowly descended until it came near to the ground, and the Moonfolk
assembled themselves in order. When the royal guard perceived them
every soldier grew afraid at the strange spectacle; but at length some
of their number summoned up sufficient courage to bend their bows and
send their arrows flying; but all their shafts went astray.
On the cloud there rested a canopied car, resplendent with curtains of
finest woollen fabric, and from out the car a mighty voice sounded,
saying: "Come thou forth, Miyakko Maro!"
The Bamboo-cutter tottered forth to obey the summons, and received for
his pains an address from the chief of the Moonfolk commencing with,
"Thou fool," and ending up with a command that the Lady Kaguya should
be given up without further delay.
The car floated upward upon the cloud till it hovered over the roof.
Once again the same mighty voice shouted: "Ho there, Kaguya! How long
wouldst thou tarry in this sorry place?"
Immediately the outer door of the storehouse and the inner lattice-work
were opened by the power of the Moonfolk, and revealed the Lady Kaguya
and her women gathered about her.
The Lady Kaguya, before taking her departure, greeted the prostrate
Bamboo-cutter and gave him a scroll bearing these words: "Had I been
born in this land, never should I have quitted it until the time came
for my father to suffer no sorrow for his child; but now, on the
contrary, must I pass beyond the boundaries of this world, though
sorely against my will. My silken mantle I leave behind me as a
memorial, and when the moon lights up the night let my father gaze upon
it. Now my eyes must take their last look and I must mount to yonder
sky, whence I fain would fall, meteorwise, to earth."
Now the Moonfolk had brought with them, in a coffer, a Celestial
Feather Robe and a few drops of the Elixir of Life. One of them said
to the Lady Kaguya: "Taste, I pray you, of this Elixir, for soiled has
your spirit become with the grossnesses of this filthy world."
The Lady Kaguya, after tasting the Elixir, was about to wrap up some
in the mantle she was leaving behind for the benefit of the old
Bamboo-cutter, who had loved her so well, when one of the Moonfolk
prevented her, and attempted to throw over her shoulders the Celestial
Robe, when the Lady Kaguya exclaimed: "Have patience yet awhile; who
dons yonder robe changes his heart, and I have still somewhat to say
ere I depart." Then she proceeded to write the following to the Mikado:
"Your Majesty deigned to send a host to protect your
servant, but it was not to be, and now is the misery
at hand of departing with those who have come to bear
her away with them. Not permitted was it to her to
serve your Majesty, and despite her will was it that
she yielded not obedience to the Royal command, and
wrung with grief is her heart thereat, and perchance
your Majesty may have thought the Royal will was
not understood, and was opposed by her, and so will
she appear to your Majesty lacking in good manners,
which she would not your Majesty deemed her to be,
and therefore humbly she lays this writing at the
Royal Feet. And now must she don the Feather Robe and
mournfully bid her lord farewell."
Having delivered this scroll into the hands of the captain of the
host, together with a bamboo joint containing the Elixir, the Feather
Robe was thrown over her, and in a moment all memory of her earthly
existence departed.
Then the Lady Kaguya entered the car, surrounded by the company of
Moonfolk, and the cloud rapidly rose skyward till it was lost to sight.
The sorrow of the Bamboo-cutter and of the Mikado knew no bounds.
The latter held a Grand Council, and inquired which was the highest
mountain in the land. One of the councillors answered: "In Suruga
stands a mountain, not remote from the capital, that towers highest
towards heaven among all the mountains of the land." Whereupon his
Majesty composed the following verse:
"Never more to see her!
Tears of grief overwhelm me,
and as for me,
with the Elixir of Life
what have I to do?"
Then the scroll, which the Lady Kaguya had written, together with the
Elixir, was given to Tsuki no Iwakasa. These he was commanded to take
to the summit of the highest mountain in Suruga, and, standing upon the
highest peak, to burn the scroll and the Elixir of Life.
So Tsuki no Iwakasa heard humbly the Royal command, and took with him a
company of warriors, and climbed the mountain and did as he was bidden.
And it was from that time forth that the name of Fuji (_Fuji-yama_,
'Never Dying') was given to yonder mountain, and men say that the smoke
of that burning still curls from its high peak to mingle with the
clouds of heaven.
[Footnote 1: The Fifth Quest, that of Lord Iso, is omitted. The story
is trivial and of no particular interest. Suffice it to say that Lord
Iso's search for the cowry-shell was in vain.]
[Footnote 2: Midnight until two in the morning. "Years, days, and
hours," writes Professor B. H. Chamberlain, "were all accounted as
belonging to one of the signs of the zodiac."]