Japanese Children's Favorite Stories Book 2 Read online

  When he reached his house, he put all the things down on the kitchen floor and then just stood there thinking about what had happened to him. The more he thought about it, the funnier it seemed to him. He began to laugh a little, at first just a few chuckles, but soon he was rolling on the floor with laughter. When he could finally talk through his laughter, he said: "I'm a pretty good eel-catcher—that I am!" And laughed all the way through the wonderful feast he had that night.

  What do you think? Don't you agree that Saburo was a pretty good eel catcher?

  Kintaro's Adventures

  Once there was a woodcutter and his wife living at the foot of a wild mountain called Ashigara. This woodcutter had once been a noble warrior and had lived in splendor in Kyoto, which was then the capital of Japan, but his enemies had become so strong that he finally had to flee with his wife into the mountains in order to save his life.

  Soon after they came to live in the mountains the woodcutter's wife gave birth to a healthy, lively baby boy. The woodcutter was so happy that he named the baby Kintaro, which means "Golden Boy," saying that his baby son was more precious than all the gold there was in Kyoto. His mother took one of her favorite jewels and hung it about the baby's neck. The jewel was made of a piece of red coral. Then she prayed: "Please help this baby boy to grow up to be a good man, a strong and healthy and fine man."

  A few weeks after Kintaro was born, his father went far into the mountains one day to cut wood. His mother put the baby Kintaro in his crib to sleep while she went down to the mountain stream to wash some clothes. Suddenly, as she washed, she heard Kintaro crying loudly. "What can be the matter?" she said. And when she turned to look toward the cabin, she saw a terrible thing.

  A huge bear suddenly came running out of the cabin, carrying the crying baby in his arms. Holding the baby tightly, but gently, the bear went running with it toward the mountains.

  "Help! Help!" Kintaro's mother screamed with all her might. And she went running straight toward the bear.

  When the bear saw the angry mother come running toward him, he turned and jumped down a steep cliff, still holding Kintaro in his arms, and then went running down the valley toward the distant mountains.

  "Help! Help!" the mother cried again. "Kintaro has been stolen."

  Just then Kintaro's father returned. Seeing what was happening, he picked up his broad ax and went running after the bear. As he ran he kept shouting out for help and other woodcutters and farmers along the way joined in the chase, running after the bear with axes and sickles and clubs.

  The bear ran faster and faster, and finally he reached a deep, deep ravine with a rushing river in it. The only way across the ravine was a long, narrow log. The bear ran nimbly across this log; then he stopped and picked the log up and threw it down in the river.

  Then the people who were running after the bear couldn't get across. They stood screaming on one side of the ravine, and the bear walked calmly on to his home, carrying Kintaro with him.

  The bear's house was a cave deep in the mountain. There in the cave the mother bear was crying because her baby cub had died right after he was born. Father Bear came into the cave and said: "Look! I've brought a baby back for you."

  "Oh! What a darling!" Mother Bear said, taking Kintaro happily into her arms. She was so happy to have a baby to love again, and she took very, very good care of Kintaro, so that day by day he grew bigger and stronger.

  Father Bear was the King of the Forest. All the animals of the forest came often to the cave with presents of berries, fruits, nuts, and honey. Each time, Father Bear would bring Kintaro out to show him to the other animals. He would say very proudly: "Look! Isn't he a handsome healthy boy! Someday this boy will take my place as King of the Forest."

  Thus Mother and Father Bear cherished their new son. Mother Bear fed Kintaro on bear's milk, and Father Bear taught him how to wrestle. By the time he was five, Kintaro could beat all the other animals at wrestling. He won easily from the monkey, and the fox, and the badger.

  They all liked him so much that they helped and taught him everything that they could do.

  After a few months of hard practice Kintaro learned from Uncle Deer how to make great leaps across the ground. And he could climb any steep cliff as easily as the mountain goat, leap wide rivers, run as fast as the rabbit, swim like the otter, and even see in the dark like an owl.

  When Kintaro was about eight years old, Father Bear, the King of the Forest, became very sick. Kintaro was very worried and went all over the forest to gather food and berries for Father Bear. But nothing did any good and Father Bear got sicker and sicker.

  One day when Kintaro was at home in the cave taking care of Father Bear, a fierce, ugly wolf stuck his head in the entrance. He had come with many of his friends and servants. He glared in at the poor, sick bear and said: "Hey! You've become old and weak! You're no good any more. From now on I'm going to be king of this forest. Come, tell everyone that I'm their new king!"

  The sick bear raised his head and looked at the wolf. "A mean thing like you can never become king," he said.

  "All right, then," said the wolf. "I'll wrestle you, and if I win, then you'll have to admit that I'm the new king."

  Father Bear got out of bed, ready to wrestle the wolf. But Kintaro said: "You're too sick, Father Bear. Please let me wrestle the wolf in your place."

  "No, no," said Father Bear. "I'm still King and I can still whip such an insolent wolf."

  So the bear and the wolf started wrestling. The bear quickly caught the wolf in his strong arms and lifted him high over his head. "Now!" roared the bear, "how do you like this. If you don't give up, I'll throw you into the bottom of the ravine."

  But just then the wolf's friends and servants all jumped into the fight too. They forced the bear to the ground and he couldn't get up, no matter how much strength he had.

  "Oh, you cowards," cried Kintaro. And he jumped into the fight too. Letting fly with his fists, he beat up one wolf after another, until they all went running away into the forest, with their leader running the fastest of all.

  "Thank you very much for saving me, Kintaro," said Father Bear. "You did very well. From today on, I make you King of the Forest. You must rule all the other animals justly and wisely and protect them from the wolves." And with these words Father Bear rolled over and died.

  Thus Kintaro became King of the Forest.

  And what had been happening back at Kintaro's real home all this time? His parents searched for Kintaro for a long time, but they could never find him and finally gave him up for lost. A little while later, a girl baby was born to them. They named the baby Misuzu, and one day, when she was just six years old, her mother called her to her side and gave her a jewel of white coral to hang around her neck.

  "Listen to me very carefully," said her mother, "and I'll tell you something you must never forget. Before you were born, you had a brother named Kintaro, but he was stolen away by the bears."

  "A brother!" said Misuzu. "Oh, how I should like to meet him."

  "Perhaps you shall someday," said her mother. "If he is still alive, he should be wearing a coral jewel around his neck. It is just like yours, except red instead of white, and that way you'll be able to recognize him if you should ever see him."

  One day a few days later, Misuzu went up on the mountain to pick some berries. But she couldn't find any good ones and kept walking and walking until at last she was far into the forest where she had never been before. All at once she saw a beautiful waterfall. And there in the pool at the bottom of the falls she saw a boy about eight years old playing with a bear and a monkey and some other animals. She looked and looked, and suddenly she saw the boy was wearing a red coral jewel around his neck.

  "Oh, it's my brother—it's Kintaro!" she cried. So she began shouting down to the boy: "Kintaro! Kintaro!"

  Kintaro, now King of the Forest, was surprised to hear a human voice. It was a sound he couldn't remember ever having heard before. And he looked up toward
the top of the cliff where Misuzu was. But he couldn't understand human speech and so could only look up at her, wondering what she was saying.

  Then, all of a sudden, something made a rustling sound behind Misuzu. Just as she looked around, a wolf jumped out and grabbed her.

  "Help! Help!" she cried, as the wolf started to carry her away.

  "Oh, how terrible!" cried the monkey to Kintaro. "That's the little girl who lives at the foot of the mountains. We must save her from the wolf!"

  So Kintaro and the monkey and all the other animals climbed quickly up the cliff and began running after the wolf.

  The wolf, still carrying little Misuzu, ran across a log bridge over a deep ravine and was rushing away into the mountains.

  "Stop! Stop!" they yelled after him.

  The monkey reached the log bridge first and started to run across it. But just then the wolf grabbed a hornets' nest from a tree and threw it at the monkey. Hundreds of buzzing hornets flew at the poor monkey, and he was so surprised that he slipped right off the log and tumbled down into the rushing river, head over heels.

  "Help! Help!" the monkey cried. He was a bad swimmer and was being swept away by the rushing torrent.

  Kintaro didn't know what to do. Should he keep running after the wolf who was running away with the little girl, or should he stop and save the monkey? Finally he said to himself: "I'll save the monkey first, because he's my good friend, and then I'll save the little girl."

  He dived quickly into the stream and went swimming as fast as he could after the poor monkey. It was a terrible struggle, but Kintaro finally caught hold of the monkey and barely managed to pull him out

  onto a bank.

  When they climbed out of the ravine, they couldn't see the wolf and the little girl anywhere. "What a shame!" said Kintaro. "In a minute we could have saved her." So he walked sadly back along the log bridge, and there he found a white coral necklace.

  "The little girl must have dropped it," he said to the monkey. "Look, it's just like mine except that it's white instead of red."

  "Oh," said the monkey, "that little girl must be your sister. She had a necklace just like yours, and she looked very much like you."

  This made Kintaro want to save the girl all the more. So he called a big eagle, and told him: "Fly away and see if you can find the little girl."

  The eagle flew up high into the sky and went whirling away. Presently he returned and told Kintaro: "The wolves have a castle over beyond the third mountain. They've locked the little girl in a tower at the top of the castle."

  "All right then," said Kintaro, "let's go save her."

  So Kintaro started for the wolves' castle. The bear and the wild boar and the lion and the monkey and all the other animals of the forest went with him. The eagle flew in front of them, showing them the way.

  Suddenly the great eagle came flying to Kintaro and said: "Quick! Quick! There's a forest fire and if we don't put it out right away, all the trees will be burned down."

  Kintaro hurried over to the general of the wolves and said to him: "Quick! If we don't put out this forest fire, all the forest will be destroyed. You must come and help us."

  "All right," said the wolf general. "Everybody follow me to the river, where we'll all wet our bodies."

  So they all went to the river and jumped in. When their fur was completely wet, they climbed out of the river and ran and rolled on the grass in the path of the fire. By thus wetting the grass they hoped to keep the fire from spreading.

  When the animals were wetting the grass some woodcutters came running up from the lowlands. The leader of the woodcutters was Kintaro's father. He and the other woodcutters cut down the trees in the path of the fire, and thus at last the forest fire was put out. Kintaro and his followers, and the wolves as well, breathed great sighs of relief. Just then Misuzu came running out of the wolves' castle.

  "Father! How glad I am that you've come! That little boy there is my brother, Kintaro. Look! Isn't he wearing a red coral necklace just like my white one? He's become the King of the Forest. Let's hurry over and talk to him."

  Misuzu led her father over to where Kintaro was. But Kintaro couldn't understand human speech. So by gestures Misuzu persuaded Kintaro to come home with them. It was now ten years since Kintaro had been kidnapped from his home by the bear. But Misuzu gave him lessons every day, and soon he learned how to talk.

  So, now, whenever Kintaro and his father go to work cutting trees in the forest, Misuzu comes and brings them tea while they rest. Just today she brought them their tea there and found all Kintaro's friends waiting to drink tea and eat rice-dumplings with them. There was the monkey, and the deer, and the wolves, and many more.

  When they saw her coming, they all cried out: "Oh, goody!" and then they began a feast, there in the beautiful forest where the autumn leaves were turning scarlet.

  - Retold by Genichi Kume