Les Deux Loupes
by Claudius Ferrand · from Fables et légendes du Japon
Adapted Version
Kiko was a kind tree-cutter. He had a big bump on his cheek. People saw his bump. They laughed at times. Kiko felt very sad because of his bump. He wished it would go away.
One night, Kiko was in the forest. A big storm came. Rain fell down. Kiko found a big tree. He hid inside the tree.
Kiko waited in the tree. He heard strange sounds. Funny little goblins came. They had beast heads. One had a fox head. One more had a bear head. They had human bodies. They ate and drank. Then they danced. They danced a happy, silly dance.
Kiko loved to dance. He loved the music. He could not stop his feet. Kiko came out of the tree. He danced with the goblins. He danced very well. The goblins liked his dancing. They clapped for Kiko.
The Goblin Chief was happy. He came to Kiko. "You dance well," he said. "Come back next month." Chief touched Kiko's big bump. Poof! The bump was gone. The chief put it in his pocket. It was a promise.
Kiko was so happy! His big bump was gone. He ran home fast. He told his wife. He told his friends. All were happy for Kiko.
A Carpenter lived nearby. He had a big bump too. It was on his other cheek. He heard Kiko's story. He wanted his bump gone. He wanted it gone like Kiko's. He asked Kiko about the goblins.
The Carpenter went to the forest. He found the big tree. He hid inside. He waited for the funny goblins. He waited for a long time.
The goblins came. They ate and drank. Then they danced. The Carpenter came out. He jumped into the dance. "I am Kiko!" he shouted. He wanted his bump gone.
The goblins looked at him. They asked him to dance. The Carpenter tried to dance. But he danced very badly. He was not good at dancing. The goblins did not like it.
The Goblin Chief was not happy. "You do not dance well," he said. "You cannot come back here." Chief took a thing out. He gave the "pledge" back.
The chief put Kiko's old bump. He put it on the Carpenter's other cheek. Now the Carpenter had two bumps. One on each cheek.
The Carpenter went home. He was very sad. He had two big bumps now. One bump was on each cheek. He wished he had not gone.
It is good to be yourself. Do not try to be someone else. Do not pretend to have skills.
Original Story
Les deux loupes
Il était une fois un bûcheron, du nom de Kikorisuké. Il portait à la joue droite une énorme loupe. Cette infirmité l'affligeait beaucoup; car, chaque fois qu'on le voyait passer, les voisins riaient… surtout les jeunes.
Le bûcheron avait à la joue droite une énorme loupe.
Un soir, il achevait de couper du bois dans la forêt. Tout à coup, un violent orage éclata, accompagné de fulgurants éclairs et de sourds grondements de tonnerre. Le bûcheron se réfugia dans un tronc d'arbre et attendit. Vers minuit, les nuages se dissipèrent, le ciel s'ouvrit et laissa passer les étoiles. Kikorisuké se disposa à partir.
Une ronde folle s'organise.
Subitement un bruit étrange l'arrête. C'est comme un mélange confus de voix et de cris qui n'ont rien d'humain. Cela approche, grossit. Le bûcheron a peur: il se blottit dans sa cachette. Bientôt, il voit déboucher d'un sentier une multitude d'êtres fantastiques. Chacun a une tête d'animal; tous ont un corps d'homme, avec des pieds de chèvre et une queue de singe. Ils se massent justement devant l'arbre dans le tronc duquel le bûcheron est caché. Ils déposent leurs lanternes et leur panier, s'assoient sur l'herbe, et commencent un repas.
Kikorisuké comprend que ce sont les lutins, les lutins des bois… Il tremble de tous ses membres, et retient sa respiration. Quand ils ont fini de manger et de boire, ils se lèvent. Les musiciens prennent leurs instruments; shamisen, koto, flûtes, tambours et tam-tams se mettent à l'unisson. Puis une ronde folle s'organise. La danse est d'abord calme et lente. Mais la musique accélère ses notes et les danseurs s'animent. Bientôt, c'est un vacarme cadencé, des cris perçants, des chants sauvages.
Le bûcheron s'est calmé peu à peu. Cette danse et cette musique l'intéressent: car il aime beaucoup la musique et la danse. Instinctivement il bat la mesure de la tête et des mains. Enfin, n'y tenant plus, emporté par le rythme, il sort de sa cachette, se jette au milieu des lutins, et se met à danser avec eux.
Ceux-ci, tout surpris, s'arrêtent et le regardent. Lui, danse toujours, et il danse très bien, presqu'aussi bien qu'eux. Les lutins émerveillés applaudissent; puis, quand il s'est arrêté, ils le félicitent chaudement, le font asseoir au milieu d'eux et lui servent à manger et à boire. Jamais il n'avait de sa vie fait un aussi bon repas.
Sur ces entrefaites, l'aurore entr'ouvrit doucement ses portes, et du fond de l'Orient se précipita une douce et pâle lumière. Les lutins se disposèrent à partir, car les lutins n'aiment pas la lumière. Le chef de la troupe s'approcha du bûcheron et lui dit:
– Tu danses admirablement bien. Tu nous as grandement amusés. Il faudra revenir. Reviens le mois prochain, au soir du sanglier. Comme gage de ta promesse, j'emporte ceci.
Et, d'un coup de main habile, si habile que le bûcheron ne sentit rien, il lui enleva l'énorme loupe qu'il portait à la joue droite et la mit dans sa poche. Quand ils furent partis, Kikorisuké se demanda d'abord s'il n'avait pas fait un rêve. Il se passa la main sur la joue droite et s'assura que la loupe n'y était plus. Alors, fou de bonheur, il courut à son village, pour vite raconter la chose à sa chère femme.
Au village, ce fut un événement. On parla partout de l'aventure. Les amis du bûcheron vinrent le féliciter.
Or, dans le village voisin, habitait un menuisier qui portait, lui, une grosse loupe à la joue gauche. Ayant entendu raconter l'histoire de Kikorisuké et appris comment ce dernier avait été débarrassé de sa loupe, il résolut d'essayer à son tour du même moyen. Il alla donc trouver le bûcheron, s'informa exactement du soir et de l'endroit où les lutins se réunissaient, et au jour dit, se rendit seul à la forêt. Le menuisier, caché dans le tronc d'arbre, attend avec anxiété l'arrivée des lutins. Ceux-ci arrivent, en effet, se mettent à table, puis commencent à danser. Tout à coup le chef de la troupe s'écrie à haute voix:
– Le bûcheron de l'autre jour n'est-il pas encore arrivé?
Le pauvre menuisier revint tout triste à son village.
– Me voilà! répond le menuisier en se jetant au milieu des lutins. Ceux-ci tout heureux lui font de profonds saluts, et l'invitent à danser. Malheureusement le menuisier n'avait jamais appris la danse. Il essaye, mais il danse très mal. Les lutins murmurent. Puis le chef l'arrêtant, lui dit d'une voix sévère:
– Tu ne danses pas bien aujourd'hui. Je ne veux plus que tu reviennes. Je te rends ton gage.
Et, ce disant, il applique sur la joue droite du malheureux menuisier l'énorme loupe que, le mois dernier, il avait prise au bûcheron.
Et voilà comment le pauvre menuisier revint tout triste à son village, portant deux loupes au lieu d'une, une loupe à chaque joue.
Morale: si vous ne savez pas danser, n'allez jamais dans la forêt, le soir où les lutins se réunissent.
Story DNA
Moral
If you don't know how to dance, never go into the forest on the evening when the goblins gather.
Plot Summary
Kikorisuké, a woodcutter ridiculed for a large growth on his cheek, hides from a storm and encounters dancing forest goblins. He joins their dance with great skill, delighting them, and the goblin chief magically removes his growth as a pledge for his return. A greedy carpenter with a similar growth hears of Kikorisuké's fortune and attempts to replicate the experience, but he dances poorly. Displeased, the goblin chief places Kikorisuké's original growth onto the carpenter's other cheek, leaving him with two growths and a harsh lesson about imitation.
Themes
Emotional Arc
suffering to triumph for one, anticipation to despair for another
Writing Style
Narrative Elements
Cultural Context
This story is a variant of the 'Tale of the Man with the Wen' (or 'Tumor'), a widely disseminated folktale (ATU 503) found in Japan, China, Korea, and Europe, often involving spirits or demons removing/adding a growth based on a character's actions.
Plot Beats (13)
- Kikorisuké, a woodcutter, is mocked for a large growth on his right cheek.
- Caught in a storm, he hides in a hollow tree in the forest.
- He observes a group of fantastical goblins with animal heads and human bodies having a feast and then dancing wildly.
- Unable to resist, Kikorisuké emerges and joins their dance, impressing the goblins with his skill.
- The goblin chief, pleased, removes Kikorisuké's growth as a 'pledge' for his return next month.
- Kikorisuké returns home overjoyed, free of his growth, and shares his story.
- A carpenter from a neighboring village, who also has a growth, hears the story and decides to try the same method.
- The carpenter goes to the same spot in the forest and hides, waiting for the goblins.
- When the goblins arrive and begin to dance, the carpenter reveals himself, claiming to be the woodcutter.
- The goblins invite him to dance, but the carpenter dances very poorly.
- Displeased, the goblin chief tells the carpenter he is not welcome back and returns his 'pledge'.
- The chief places Kikorisuké's original growth onto the carpenter's left cheek.
- The carpenter returns to his village with two growths, one on each cheek, worse off than before.
Characters
Kikorisuké
A Japanese woodcutter of average height and sturdy build, accustomed to physical labor. His most distinguishing feature is an enormous growth (loupe) on his right cheek, which causes him significant distress and makes him an object of ridicule.
Attire: Practical, durable clothing suitable for a Japanese woodcutter of the period. He would wear a simple, dark blue or grey cotton kimono or a work jacket (hanten) over a loincloth or simple trousers, perhaps with straw sandals (zori) or tabi socks and geta for walking in the village.
Wants: To live a normal life free from ridicule and the burden of his physical deformity. He also seeks simple pleasures like music and dance.
Flaw: His sensitivity to public opinion and the shame associated with his physical appearance.
Transforms from a ridiculed and self-conscious man to a joyful and celebrated individual, free from his physical burden, by embracing his natural talents.
Sensitive (afflicted by ridicule), music-loving, spontaneous (joins the lutins' dance), joyful (after his loupe is removed), honest (tells his wife and villagers).
The Lutin Chief
A fantastical creature with the head of an animal (specific animal not defined, but likely something wild like a boar or fox, given the 'soir du sanglier' reference), a human-like body, goat feet, and a monkey's tail. He is likely slightly larger or more imposing than the other lutins, signifying his leadership.
Attire: Simple, rustic attire, possibly made of leaves, bark, or rough woven fabric, in earthy tones. Perhaps adorned with natural elements like feathers or bones, reflecting his wild nature. No specific human clothing is mentioned, but it would be minimal to allow for agile dancing.
Wants: To enjoy music and dance with his troupe, to maintain the traditions of the lutins, and to reward genuine talent while punishing deceit or lack of effort.
Flaw: Perhaps a strict adherence to their own rules and traditions, and a dislike for incompetence.
Remains consistent as a powerful, discerning leader, acting as an agent of change for the human characters.
Observant, appreciative of talent, fair but stern, playful, magical.
The Carpenter
A Japanese carpenter of average height and build, similar to Kikorisuké but perhaps slightly less robust from less outdoor work. He also bears a large growth (loupe), specifically on his left cheek, which is his most prominent feature.
Attire: Practical, sturdy clothing suitable for a Japanese carpenter. He would wear a dark, possibly indigo-dyed, cotton kimono or a work jacket (hanten) over simple trousers, perhaps with tabi socks and geta or straw sandals.
Wants: To get rid of his own physical deformity (loupe) through a shortcut, without putting in any genuine effort or talent, driven by envy of Kikorisuké's success.
Flaw: His laziness, lack of talent, deceitfulness, and envy, which lead to his downfall.
Starts with one loupe and ends with two, serving as a cautionary tale against envy and deceit. He learns nothing but suffers a worse fate.
Envious, greedy, lazy (unwilling to learn to dance), deceitful (pretends to be Kikorisuké), opportunistic, foolish.
Locations
Japanese Forest Clearing
A clearing within a dense Japanese forest, likely featuring tall cedar or cypress trees, with a soft, mossy ground. The air is humid, and the sounds of cicadas or other forest creatures might be present. The clearing is large enough for a group to gather and dance.
Mood: Mysterious, initially frightening, then joyful and magical
Kikorisuké hides from the goblins, then joins their dance and loses his wen. Later, the carpenter attempts the same and gains a second wen.
Kikorisuké's Japanese Village
A traditional Japanese village, likely nestled in a valley or near a river, with wooden houses featuring tiled or thatched roofs. The village is a place of community and gossip, where news travels quickly.
Mood: Joyful, gossipy, communal
Kikorisuké returns home, free of his wen, and shares his incredible story, becoming a local celebrity.