Schippeitaro

SCHIPPEITARO

It was the custom in old times that as soon as a Japanese boy reached

manhood he should leave his home and roam through the land in search of

adventures. Sometimes he would meet with a young man bent on the same

business as himself, and then they would fight in a friendly manner,

merely to prove which was the stronger, but on other occasions the

enemy would turn out to be a robber, who had become the terror of the

neighbourhood, and then the battle was in deadly earnest.

One day a youth started off from his native village, resolved never

to come back till he had done some great deed that would make his name

famous. But adventures did not seem very plentiful just then, and he

wandered about for a long time without meeting either with fierce giants

or distressed damsels. At last he saw in the distance a wild mountain,

half covered with a dense forest, and thinking that this promised well

at once took the road that led to it. The difficulties he met with--huge

rocks to be climbed, deep rivers to be crossed, and thorny tracts to be

avoided--only served to make his heart beat quicker, for he was really

brave all through, and not merely when he could not help himself, like a

great many people. But in spite of all his efforts he could not find his

way out of the forest, and he began to think he should have to pass the

night there. Once more he strained his eyes to see if there was no place

in which he could take shelter, and this time he caught sight of a small

chapel in a little clearing. He hastened quickly towards it, and curling

himself up in a warm corner soon fell asleep.

Not a sound was heard through the whole forest for some hours, but at

midnight there suddenly arose such a clamour that the young man, tired

as he was, started broad awake in an instant. Peeping cautiously between

the wooden pillars of the chapel, he saw a troop of hideous cats,

dancing furiously, making the night horrible with their yells. The

full moon lighted up the weird scene, and the young warrior gazed

with astonishment, taking great care to keep still, lest he should be

discovered. After some time he thought that in the midst of all their

shrieks he could make out the words, ‘Do not tell Schippeitaro! Keep it

hidden and secret! Do not tell Schippeitaro!’ Then, the midnight

hour having passed, they all vanished, and the youth was left alone.

Exhausted by all that had been going on round him, he flung himself on

the ground and slept till the sun rose.

The moment he woke he felt very hungry, and began to think how he could

get something to eat. So he got up and walked on, and before he had gone

very far was lucky enough to find a little side-path, where he could

trace men’s footsteps. He followed the track, and by-and-by came on some

scattered huts, beyond which lay a village. Delighted at this discovery,

he was about to hasten to the village when he heard a woman’s voice

weeping and lamenting, and calling on the men to take pity on her and

help her. The sound of her distress made him forget he was hungry, and

he strode into the hut to find out for himself what was wrong. But

the men whom he asked only shook their heads and told him it was not a

matter in which he could give any help, for all this sorrow was caused

by the Spirit of the Mountain, to whom every year they were bound to

furnish a maiden for him to eat.

‘To-morrow night,’ said they, ‘the horrible creature will come for his

dinner, and the cries you have heard were uttered by the girl before

you, upon whom the lot has fallen.’

And when the young man asked if the girl was carried off straight from

her home, they answered no, but that a large cask was set in the forest

chapel, and into this she was fastened.

As he listened to this story, the young man was filled with a great

longing to rescue the maiden from her dreadful fate. The mention of the

chapel set him thinking of the scene of the previous night, and he

went over all the details again in his mind. ‘Who is Schippeitaro?’ he

suddenly asked; ‘can any of you tell me?’

‘Schippeitaro is the great dog that belongs to the overseer of our

prince,’ said they; ‘and he lives not far away.’ And they began to laugh

at the question, which seemed to them so odd and useless.

The young man did not laugh with them, but instead left the hut and went

straight to the owner of the dog, whom he begged to lend him the animal

just for one night. Schippeitaro’s master was not at all willing to

give him in charge to a man of whom he knew nothing, but in the end

he consented, and the youth led the dog away, promising faithfully to

return him next day to his master. He next hurried to the hut where

the maiden lived, and entreated her parents to shut her up safely in a

closet, after which he took Schippeitaro to the cask, and fastened him

into it. In the evening he knew that the cask would be placed in the

chapel, so he hid himself there and waited.

At midnight, when the full moon appeared above the top of the mountain,

the cats again filled the chapel and shrieked and yelled and danced

as before. But this time they had in their midst a huge black cat who

seemed to be their king, and whom the young man guessed to be the Spirit

of the Mountain. The monster looked eagerly about him, and his eyes

sparkled with joy when he saw the cask. He bounded high into the air

with delight and uttered cries of pleasure; then he drew near and undid

the bolts.

But instead of fastening his teeth in the neck of a beautiful maiden,

Schippeitaro’s teeth were fastened in HIM, and the youth ran up and cut

off his head with his sword. The other cats were so astonished at the

turn things had taken that they forgot to run away, and the young man

and Schippeitaro between them killed several more before they thought of

escaping.

At sunrise the brave dog was taken back to his master, and from that

time the mountain girls were safe, and every year a feast was held in

memory of the young warrior and the dog Schippeitaro.

(Japanische Marchen.)

THE THREE PRINCES AND THEIR BEASTS (LITHUANIAN FAIRY TALE)

Once on a time there were three princes, who had a step-sister. One day

they all set out hunting together. When they had gone some way through a

thick wood they came on a great grey wolf with three cubs. Just as they

were going to shoot, the wolf spoke and said, ‘Do not shoot me, and I

will give each of you one of my young ones. It will be a faithful friend

to you.’

So the princes went on their way, and a little wolf followed each of

them.

Soon after they came on a lioness with three cubs. And she too begged

them not to shoot her, and she would give each of them a cub. And so it

happened with a fox, a hare, a boar, and a bear, till each prince had

quite a following of young beasts padding along behind him.

Towards evening they came to a clearing in the wood, where three birches

grew at the crossing of three roads. The eldest prince took an arrow,

and shot it into the trunk of one of the birch trees. Turning to his

brothers he said:

‘Let each of us mark one of these trees before we part on different

ways. When any one of us comes back to this place, he must walk round

the trees of the other two, and if he sees blood flowing from the mark

in the tree he will know that that brother is dead, but if milk flows he

will know that his brother is alive.’

So each of the princes did as the eldest brother had said, and when

the three birches were marked by their arrows they turned to their

step-sister and asked her with which of them she meant to live.

‘With the eldest,’ she answered. Then the brothers separated from each

other, and each of them set out down a different road, followed by their

beasts. And the step-sister went with the eldest prince.

After they had gone a little way along the road they came into a forest,

and in one of the deepest glades they suddenly found themselves opposite

a castle in which there lived a band of robbers. The prince walked up to

the door and knocked. The moment it was opened the beasts rushed in, and

each seized on a robber, killed him, and dragged the body down to

the cellar. Now, one of the robbers was not really killed, only badly

wounded, but he lay quite still and pretended to be dead like the

others. Then the prince and his step-sister entered the castle and took

up their abode in it.

The next morning the prince went out hunting. Before leaving he told his

step-sister that she might go into every room in the house except into

the cave where the dead robbers lay. But as soon as his back was turned

she forgot what he had said, and having wandered through all the other

rooms she went down to the cellar and opened the door. As soon as she

looked in the robber who had only pretended to be dead sat up and said

to her:

‘Don’t be afraid. Do what I tell you, and I will be your friend.

If you marry me you will be much happier with me than with your brother.

But you must first go into the sitting-room and look in the cupboard.

There you will find three bottles. In one of them there is a healing

ointment which you must put on my chin to heal the wound; then if I

drink the contents of the second bottle it will make me well, and the

third bottle will make me stronger than I ever was before. Then, when

your brother comes back from the wood with his beasts you must go to him

and say, “Brother, you are very strong. If I were to fasten your thumbs

behind your back with a stout silk cord, could you wrench yourself

free?” And when you see that he cannot do it, call me.’

When the brother came home, the step-sister did as the robber had told

her, and fastened her brother’s thumbs behind his back. But with one

wrench he set himself free, and said to her, ‘Sister, that cord is not

strong enough for me.’

The next day he went back to the wood with his beasts, and the robber

told her that she must take a much stouter cord to bind his thumbs with.

But again he freed himself, though not so easily as the first time, and

he said to his sister:

‘Even that cord is not strong enough.’

The third day, on his return from the wood he consented to have his

strength tested for the last time. So she took a very strong cord of

silk, which she had prepared by the robber’s advice, and this time,

though the prince pulled and tugged with all his might, he could not

break the cord. So he called to her and said: ‘Sister, this time the

cord is so strong I cannot break it. Come and unfasten it for me.’

But instead of coming she called to the robber, who rushed into the room

brandishing a knife, with which he prepared to attack the prince.

But the prince spoke and said:

‘Have patience for one minute. I would like before I die to blow three

blasts on my hunting horn--one in this room, one on the stairs, and one

in the courtyard.’

So the robber consented, and the prince blew the horn. At the first

blast, the fox, which was asleep in the cage in the courtyard, awoke,

and knew that his master needed help. So he awoke the wolf by flicking

him across the eyes with his brush. Then they awoke the lion, who sprang

against the door of the cage with might and main, so that it fell in

splinters on the ground, and the beasts were free. Rushing through the

court to their master’s aid, the fox gnawed the cord in two that bound

the prince’s thumbs behind his back, and the lion flung himself on the

robber, and when he had killed him and torn him in pieces each of the

beasts carried off a bone.

Then the prince turned to the step-sister and said:

‘I will not kill you, but I will leave you here to repent.’ And he

fastened her with a chain to the wall, and put a great bowl in front of

her and said, ‘I will not see you again till you have filled this bowl

with your tears.’

So saying, he called his beasts, and set out on his travels. When he had

gone a little way he came to an inn. Everyone in the inn seemed so sad

that he asked them what was the matter.

‘Ah,’ replied they, ‘to-day our king’s daughter is to die. She is to be

handed over to a dreadful nine-headed dragon.’

Then the prince said: ‘Why should she die? I am very strong, I will save

her.’

And he set out to the sea-shore, where the dragon was to meet the

princess. And as he waited with his beasts round him a great procession

came along, accompanying the unfortunate princess: and when the shore

was reached all the people left her, and returned sadly to their houses.

But the prince remained, and soon he saw a movement in the water a long

way off. As it came nearer, he knew what it was, for skimming swiftly

along the waters came a monster dragon with nine heads. Then the prince

took counsel with his beasts, and as the dragon approached the shore

the fox drew his brush through the water and blinded the dragon by

scattering the salt water in his eyes, while the bear and the lion threw

up more water with their paws, so that the monster was bewildered and

could see nothing. Then the prince rushed forward with his sword and

killed the dragon, and the beasts tore the body in pieces.

Then the princess turned to the prince and thanked him for delivering

her from the dragon, and she said to him:

‘Step into this carriage with me, and we will drive back to my father’s

palace.’ And she gave him a ring and half of her handkerchief. But on

the way back the coachman and footman spoke to one another and said:

‘Why should we drive this stranger back to the palace? Let us kill him,

and then we can say to the king that we slew the dragon and saved the

princess, and one of us shall marry her.’

So they killed the prince, and left him dead on the roadside. And the

faithful beasts came round the dead body and wept, and wondered what

they should do. Then suddenly the wolf had an idea, and he started off

into the wood, where he found an ox, which he straightway killed. Then

he called the fox, and told him to mount guard over the dead ox, and if

a bird came past and tried to peck at the flesh he was to catch it and

bring it to the lion. Soon after a crow flew past, and began to peck

at the dead ox. In a moment the fox had caught it and brought it to the

lion. Then the lion said to the crow:

‘We will not kill you if you will promise to fly to the town where there

are three wells of healing and to bring back water from them in your

beak to make this dead man alive.’

So the crow flew away, and she filled her beak at the well of healing,

the well of strength, and the well of swiftness, and she flew back to

the dead prince and dropped the water from her beak upon his lips, and

he was healed, and could sit up and walk.

Then he set out for the town, accompanied by his faithful beasts.

And when they reached the king’s palace they found that preparations

for a great feast were being made, for the princess was to marry the

coachman.

So the prince walked into the palace, and went straight up to the

coachman and said: ‘What token have you got that you killed the dragon

and won the hand of the princess? I have her token here--this ring and

half her handkerchief.’

And when the king saw these tokens he knew that the prince was speaking

the truth. So the coachman was bound in chains and thrown into prison,

and the prince was married to the princess and rewarded with half the

kingdom.

One day, soon after his marriage, the prince was walking through the

woods in the evening, followed by his faithful beasts. Darkness came on,

and he lost his way, and wandered about among the trees looking for the

path that would lead him back to the palace. As he walked he saw the

light of a fire, and making his way to it he found an old woman raking

sticks and dried leaves together, and burning them in a glade of the

wood.

As he was very tired, and the night was very dark, the prince determined

not to wander further. So he asked the old woman if he might spend the

night beside her fire.

‘Of course you may,’ she answered. ‘But I am afraid of your beasts. Let

me hit them with my rod, and then I shall not be afraid of them.’

‘Very well,’ said the prince, ‘I don’t mind’; and she stretched out her

rod and hit the beasts, and in one moment they were turned into stone,

and so was the prince.

Now soon after this the prince’s youngest brother came to the

cross-roads with the three birches, where the brothers had parted from

each other when they set out on their wanderings. Remembering what they

had agreed to do, he walked round the two trees, and when he saw that

blood oozed from the cut in the eldest prince’s tree he knew that his

brother must be dead. So he set out, followed by his beasts, and came to

the town over which his brother had ruled, and where the princess he

had married lived. And when he came into the town all the people were in

great sorrow because their prince had disappeared.

But when they saw his youngest brother, and the beasts following him,

they thought it was their own prince, and they rejoiced greatly, and

told him how they had sought him everywhere. Then they led him to the

king, and he too thought that it was his son-in-law. But the princess

knew that he was not her husband, and she begged him to go out into the

woods with his beasts, and to look for his brother till he found him.

So the youngest prince set out to look for his brother, and he too lost

his way in the wood and night overtook him. Then he came to the clearing

among the trees, where the fire was burning and where the old woman was

raking sticks and leaves into the flames. And he asked her if he might

spend the night beside her fire, as it was too late and too dark to go

back to the town.

And she answered: ‘Certainly you may. But I am afraid of your beasts.

May I give them a stroke with my rod, then I shall not be afraid of

them.’

And he said she might, for he did not know that she was a witch. So she

stretched out her rod, and in a moment the beasts and their master were

turned into stone.

It happened soon after that the second brother returned from his

wanderings and came to the cross-roads where the three birches grew. As

he went round the trees he saw that blood poured from the cuts in the

bark of two of the trees. Then he wept and said:

‘Alas! both my brothers are dead.’ And he too set out towards the town

in which his brother had ruled, and his faithful beasts followed him.

When he entered the town, all the people thought it was their own prince

come back to them, and they gathered round him, as they had gathered

round his youngest brother, and asked him where he had been and why

he had not returned. And they led him to the king’s palace, but the

princess knew that he was not her husband. So when they were alone

together she besought him to go and seek for his brother and bring him

home. Calling his beasts round him, he set out and wandered through the

woods. And he put his ear down to the earth, to listen if he could hear

the sound of his brother’s beasts. And it seemed to him as if he heard a

faint sound far off, but he did not know from what direction it came. So

he blew on his hunting horn and listened again. And again he heard the

sound, and this time it seemed to come from the direction of a fire

burning in the wood. So he went towards the fire, and there the old

woman was raking sticks and leaves into the embers. And he asked her

if he might spend the night beside her fire. But she told him she was

afraid of his beasts, and he must first allow her to give each of them a

stroke with her rod.

But he answered her:

‘Certainly not. I am their master, and no one shall strike them but

I myself. Give me the rod’; and he touched the fox with it, and in a

moment it was turned into stone. Then he knew that the old woman was a

witch, and he turned to her and said:

‘Unless you restore my brothers and their beasts back to life at once,

my lion will tear you in pieces.’

Then the witch was terrified, and taking a young oak tree she burnt

it into white ashes, and sprinkled the ashes on the stones that stood

around. And in a moment the two princes stood before their brother, and

their beasts stood round them.

Then the three princes set off together to the town. And the king did

not know which was his son-in-law, but the princess knew which was her

husband, and there were great rejoicings throughout the land.