Japanese Children's Favorite Stories Book 1 (2 page)

Peach Boy

Once upon a time there lived in Japan a kind old man and his wife. The old man was a woodcutter. He and his wife were very sad and lonely because they had no children.

One day the old man went into the mountains to cut firewood, and the old woman went to the river to wash clothes.

No sooner had the old woman begun her washing than she was very surprised to see a big peach floating down the river. It was the biggest peach she'd ever seen in all her life. She pulled the peach out of the river and decided to take it home and share it with the old man for their supper that night.

Late in the afternoon the old man came home, and the old woman said to him, "Look what a wonderful peach I've found for our supper." The old man said it was truly a beautiful peach. He was very hungry and said, "Let's divide it and eat it right away."

So the old woman brought a big knife from the kitchen and got ready to cut the peach in half. But just then a human voice called out from inside the peach. "Wait! Don't cut me!" cried the voice. Suddenly the peach split open, and a beautiful baby boy jumped out of the peach.

The old man and woman were astounded. But the baby said, "Don't be afraid. The God of Heaven saw how lonely you were without any children, so he sent me to be your son."

The old man and woman were very happy, and they took the baby to be their son. Since he was born from a peach, they named him Momotaro, which means Peach Boy. They loved Momotaro very much and raised him to be a fine boy.

When Momotaro was fifteen years old, he said to his mother and father, "You have always been very kind to me. Now I am grown and I must do something to help our land. In a distant part of the sea is an island named Ogre Island. Many wicked ogres live there, and they often come here and do bad things like carrying people away and stealing our things. So I'm going to go to Ogre Island to fight them and bring back the treasures that they've stolen. Please let me do this!"

Momotaro's mother and father were surprised to hear this, but they were also very proud of Momotaro for wanting to help other people. So they helped Momotaro get ready for his journey to Ogre Island. The old man gave him a sword and some armor, and the old woman fixed him a good lunch of millet dumplings. Then Momotaro began his journey, promising his parents that he would be home soon.

Momotaro went walking toward the sea. It was a long way. As he went along, he met a brown dog. The dog growled at Momotaro and was about to bite him, but then Momotaro gave him one of his dumplings. He told the dog that he was going to fight the ogres on Ogre Island. So the brown dog said he would go along too to help Momotaro.

Momotaro and the brown dog kept on walking and soon they met a monkey. The dog and the monkey started to have a fight. But Momotaro told the monkey that they were going to fight the ogres on Ogre Island. Then the monkey asked if he could go with them. So Momotaro gave the monkey a dumpling and let him join them.

Momotaro, the brown dog and the monkey kept on walking and soon they met a pheasant. The dog, the monkey and the pheasant were about to start fighting when Momotaro told the pheasant they were going to fight the ogres on Ogre Island. The pheasant asked if he could go too. So Momotaro gave the pheasant a dumpling and told him to come along with them.

So, with Momotaro as their general, the brown dog, the monkey and the pheasant, who usually hated each other, became good and faithful friends. They walked a long, long way, and finally reached the sea. There they built a boat and sailed across the sea to Ogre Island.

When they came within sight of the island, they could see that the ogres had a very strong fort there. And there were many, many ogres! Some of them were red, some were blue, and some were black.

First the pheasant flew over the walls of the fort and began to peck at the ogres' heads. The ogres tried to hit the pheasant with their clubs, but he was very quick and dodged their blows. While the ogres weren't looking, the monkey slipped into the fort and opened the gate. Then Momotaro and the brown dog rushed into the fort.

It was a terrible battle! The pheasant pecked at the heads of the wicked ogres, the monkey clawed at them with his nails, the brown dog bit them with his teeth, and Momotaro cut them with his sword.

At last the ogres were completely defeated. They bowed down before Momotaro and promised never to do wicked things again. Then they brought Momotaro all the treasure that they had stolen.

It was the most wonderful treasure you can imagine. There was gold and silver and many precious jewels. Momotaro and his three friends carried all of this back in their boat. Then they put the treasure in a cart and traveled throughout the land, returning to people all the treasure that the ogres had stolen.

Finally Momotaro returned to his own home. How happy his father and mother were to see him! They were very rich now with the remaining treasure that Momotaro had brought back, and they all lived together very, very happily.

The Magic Teakettle

There was once an old priest who was very fond of drinking tea. He always made the tea himself and was very fussy about the utensils he used. One day in an old secondhand shop he discovered a beautiful iron kettle used for boiling water for tea. It was a very old and rusty kettle, but the old priest could see its beauty beneath the rust. So he bought it and took it back to his temple. He polished the kettle until all the rust was gone, and then he called together his two young pupils, who lived with him in the temple.

"Just look at what a fine kettle I bought today," he said to them. "Now I'll boil some water with it and make us all some delicious tea."

So he put the kettle over a charcoal fire, and they all sat around waiting for the water to boil. The kettle started getting hotter and hotter, and then suddenly a very strange thing happened—the kettle grew the head of a badger, and a bushy badger tail, and four little badger feet!

"Ouch! It's hot!" cried the kettle. "I'm burning, I'm burning!" And with these words the kettle jumped off the fire and began running around the room on its badger feet.

The old priest was very surprised, but he didn't want to lose his kettle. "Quick! Quick!" he said to his two pupils, "Don't let it get away! Catch it!"

One pupil grabbed a broom and the other a pair of fire tongs. And away the two of them went, chasing after the kettle. When they finally caught it, the badger head and the bushy badger tail and the four little badger feet disappeared, and it became an ordinary kettle again.

"This is most strange," said the old priest. "This must be a bewitched teakettle! Now, we don't want anything like this around the temple. We must get rid of it."

Just then a junk dealer came by the temple. The old priest took the teakettle out to him and said, "Here's an old iron kettle I'd like to sell, Mr Junkman. Just give me whatever you think it's worth."

The junk dealer weighed the kettle with his scale and then bought it from the old priest for a very low price. He went home whistling, pleased at having found such a bargain.

That night the junk dealer went to sleep and all the house was very quiet. Suddenly a voice called out, "Mr Junkman! Oh, Mr Junkman!"

The junk dealer opened his eyes. "Who's that calling me?" he said, lighting a lamp.

And there he saw the kettle, standing by his pillow, with a badger's head, and a bushy badger tail, and four little badger feet. The junk dealer said with surprise, "Aren't you the kettle I bought from the old priest today?"

"Yes, it's me," said the kettle. "But I'm not an ordinary kettle. I'm really a badger in disguise and my name is Bumbuku, which means 'good luck.' That old priest put me over a fire and burned me, so I ran away from him. But if you treat me kindly and feed me well and never put me over a fire, I'll stay with you and help you make your fortune."

"Why, this is very strange," said the junk dealer. "How can you help me make my fortune?"

"I can do all sorts of wonderful tricks," said the kettle, waving his bushy badger tail. "All you have to do is to put me in a show and sell tickets to the people who will come to see me perform."

The junk dealer thought this was a splendid idea. The very next day he built a little theater in his yard and put up a sign that said, "Bumbuku, The Magic Teakettle of Good Luck, and His Extraordinary Tricks!"

Every day more and more people came to see Bumbuku. The junk dealer would sell tickets and when the theater was full he would go inside and start beating a big drum. Bumbuku would come out and dance and do all sorts of acrobatics. The trick that pleased people most was when Bumbuku walked across a tightrope carrying a paper parasol in one hand and a fan in the other. People found this most wonderful and would cheer and cheer for Bumbuku. And after every show the junk dealer would give Bumbuku delicious rice cakes to eat.

The junk dealer sold so many tickets that he finally became a rich man. One day he said to Bumbuku, "You must be very tired of doing these tricks every day. I have all the money I need. Why don't I take you back to the temple, where you will be able to live quietly?"

"Well," said Bumbuku, "I am getting a little tired and wouldn't mind spending my time quietly in a temple. But that old priest might put me on the fire again, and he might never give me delicious rice cakes."

"Just leave everything to me," said the junk dealer.

The next morning, the junk dealer took Bumbuku back to the temple. There he explained to the old priest everything that had happened and told him about the good fortune that Bumbuku had brought. When he had finished, the junk dealer asked, "So will you please let Bumbuku live here quietly, always feeding him rice cakes and never putting him over the fire?"

"Indeed I will," said the old priest. "He shall have the place of honor in our treasure house. Bumbuku is truly a magic kettle of good luck, and I'd never have put him over the fire if I'd known!"

So the old priest called for his two pupils and together they placed Bumbuku on a wooden stand. Then they carried Bumbuku to the temple treasure house and placed some rice cakes beside him.

It is said that Bumbuku is still there in the treasure house of the temple today, where he is very happy. He is given delicious rice cakes to eat every day, and never, ever put over a fire. He is peaceful and happy.