Reading Notes: Japanese Mythology B

Source: The Faery Robe from Romance of Old Japan by E.W. Champney and F. Champney

I chose this section because I really enjoyed its poetic structure. I thought that it was simple and very pretty. The imagery was lovely to see. I like things with fairies and mystical creatures! I thought that it was going to end differently. Honestly, I thought that it would've been a love story instead of this, but that's okay. I don't know the Japanese word for fairy. That might be something to check into!

A fisherman says somethings about nature that I didn't really understand, but it was nice imagery. He thought that he heard a roar off of the shores somewhere. He thinks that he must have mistaken the sounds of nature for something else and carries on with his day. Then a fairy comes out of thin air, covered in feathery, white robes and a dulcimer. She is playing a pretty song by the sea. It sounds enchanting.

She lays her robe down and jumps into the waters below. The fisherman sees her robe and wants to take it for himself, thinking it will be sold for a great deal of money. The fairy comes back and asks for her robe back or she will not be able to fly again. At least that's how I interpreted the line. He says that he will not and she can walk instead. They argue back and forth and he's being kind of mean, demanding she dance for him.

She yells at him again and he is overcome by shame and gives the robe back. Her wings are colored like rainbows. She danced in the moonlight and played her dulcimer again. The fisherman watched, lovingly this time. I think he should have done this the first time. The poem ends about how it began with the fisherman hearing something and her disappearing from where she came from.

Tennin (Wikimedia Commons)

Reading Notes: Japanese Mythology A

Source: The Eight-Forked Serpent of Koshi from Romance of Old Japan by E.W. Champney and F. Champney

I really enjoy learning about Japan a lot in general, but its mythology is especially interesting. I took two years of it as a language and absolutely loved it, but I never had time to take the literature courses due to scheduling and work issues. It's nice to get to read a little bit of it here! We discussed Shinto some, but I don't know much about the religion. I'm enjoying the language here. I like the mix of prose and poetry, though I like the poetry a little bit more!

Susa-no-wo sees a chopstick floating down the river and decides that this must be a sign of people living nearby. He sets out to go look for them. He comes across two old people and a pretty woman, who is getting "caressed" and cried over. He asks why they are crying. The old woman says that they are crying for their eight daughters who were taken by the serpent. This is their last daughter. They don't want to see her taken away.

They then go on to describe the monster of Koshi. "Eyes as red as a ripe mountain cherry, a noisome blood-inflamed body, armed with eight fearsome heads and eight forked tails. Moreover its back is all overgrown with firs, cedars, and pines, and it trails its tortuous coils over eight valleys and as many mountains." Sounds pretty scary. I doubt ole' Susa-no-wo will have an issue with this. He agrees to slay the serpent. He boasts about his lineage first.

The girl turns into a comb and he puts it into his hair. I don't understand this, but that's okay. Her and her parents are deities, so I guess that makes sense they can do things like that. No, it says Susa-no-wo did this? Okay, I guess. He had the woman make sake of eightfold strength and a lot of it. He used logs to build doors at which he placed vats of the sake. The serpent drank the sake and got drunk, making the job easy for Susa-no-wo.

He sliced the monster into a thousand fragments and he was no more. The sword "kushanagi" was brought to heaven after he found it hidden in its tail. Kushinada transformed back into a person and the two got married!

Susa-no-o and the Serpent (Wikimedia Commons)