Japanese Children's Favorite Stories Book 1 (10 page)

The Graterul Statues

Once upon a time there lived a kind old couple in a village in Japan. They were very poor and spent every day weaving hats out of straw. Whenever they finished a number of hats, the old man would take them to the nearest town to sell.

One day the old man said to the old woman, "It will be New Year's Day in two days. How I wish we had some rice cakes to eat then! Even one or two little cakes would be enough. Without rice cakes we won't be able to celebrate the new year."

"Well, then," said the old woman, "after you've sold these hats we're making, buy some rice cakes for New Year's Day."

So early the next morning the old man took the five new hats that they had made and went to town to sell them. But when he got to town he was unable to sell a single hat. And to make things worse, it began to snow very heavily.

The old man felt very sad as he trudged wearily home with his hats. He was walking down a lonesome mountain trail when he suddenly came upon a row of six stone statues of Jizo, the protector of children, all covered in thick snow.

"My, my! Now isn't this a pity," said the old man. "These are only stone statues of Jizo, but even so, just think how cold they must be, standing here in the snow."

"I know what I'll do!" said the old man to himself. He unfastened the five new hats from his back and began tying them, one by one, onto the heads of the statues.

When he came to the last statue he suddenly realized that all the new hats had been used. "Oh, my!" he said, "I don't have enough hats." But then he remembered his own scarf. So he took it off his head and tied it on the head of the last statue. Then he went on his way home.

When he got home the old woman was waiting for him by the fire. She took one look at him and cried, 'You must be frozen half to death! Quick, come sit by the fire. What did you do with your scarf?"

The old man shook the snow out of his hair and came to the fire. He told the old woman how he had given all the new hats as well as his own scarf to the six Jizo statues. He also said he was sorry that he hadn't been able to bring home any rice cakes.

"That was a very kind thing you did for the statues," said the old woman. She was very proud of the old man and said, "It's better to do a kind thing like that than to have all the rice cakes in the world. We'll get along without any rice cakes for New Year's Day."

Since it was already late at night, the old man and woman soon went to bed.

Just before dawn, while they were still asleep, a very wonderful thing happened. Suddenly there was the sound of voices in the distance, singing:

"A kind old man walking in the snow,
Gave all his hats to the stone Jizo,
So we bring him gifts with a yo-heave-ho!"

The voices came nearer and nearer, and then the sound of footsteps could be heard in the snow.

The footsteps came right up to the house where the old man and woman were sleeping. And then all at once there was a great noise, as though something heavy had been put down just in front of the house.

The old couple jumped out of bed and ran to the door. When they opened it, what do you suppose they found?

Placed very neatly in front of the house was the biggest and most beautiful rice cake the old couple had ever seen.

"Whoever could have brought us such a wonderful gift?" they asked as they looked around them.

In the snow they saw some tracks leading away from their house. The snow was all tinted with the colors of dawn, and there in the distance, walking through the snow, were the six Jizo statues, still wearing the hats that the old man had given them.

The old man said, "It was the stone Jizo who brought this wonderful rice cake to us!"

The old woman said, "You did them a kind favor when you gave them your hats, so they've brought this rice cake to show their gratitude."

And so the old couple had a very wonderful New Year's Day celebration after all, because they had a wonderful rice cake to share.

The Bobtail Monkey

Once there was a monkey who was very young and foolish. He was always playing tricks and doing foolish and dangerous things. All the other monkeys kept telling him he ought to be more careful or someday he would get hurt, but he just wouldn't listen to them at all.

One day he was racing through the forest, climbing the highest trees and swinging from the longest vines, and he was so careless that he fell down out of the trees, right into a thorn bush. A long, sharp thorn went right through the tip of his tail.

"Ouch! Oh! Ouch!" he cried, holding his tail. "Oh, how it hurts!" And he began bawling very loudly, for you see the foolish monkey wasn't a brave monkey at all.

Just then a barber came walking by, carrying his razor with him. When the monkey saw him, he said, "Please, Mr Barber, help me cut this thorn out of my tail."

So the barber got out his razor and started to cut the thorn out. But remember, the foolish monkey wasn't very brave. So when he saw the razor getting near his tail, he yelled, "Oh, it's going to hurt!" And with these words he gave a big jump. The razor went through his tail, cutting the tip of it right off!

When the monkey saw this, he became very angry. "Just look what you've done to my tail!" he said. 'You must put my tail back on for me, or else you'll have to give me your razor."

Of course the barber couldn't put the monkey's tail back on, so instead he gave the monkey his razor. Then the foolish monkey went walking away through the forest, carrying the razor with him. He looked very silly with a bobbed tail, but he was so proud of the razor that he didn't even think about his tail.

Presently the monkey came to an old woman who was gathering firewood in the forest. Some of the firewood was too long and she was trying to break it into short pieces to carry home. The monkey watched her for a while. He wanted very much to show someone his beautiful razor, and this seemed like a good chance. So he said, "Look, Granny, I have a wonderful razor, and it's very sharp. You can borrow it if you like to cut your firewood."

The old woman was very pleased. "Thank you very much, Mr Monkey," she said, and began cutting the wood with the monkey's razor.

Now, a razor is not meant for cutting wood, and very soon the monkey's razor became full of notches and scratches.

When the monkey saw this, he became very angry. "Just look what you've done to my razor!" he said. "You must give it back to me just the way it was before, or else you'll have to give me your firewood."

Of course the old woman couldn't repair the razor, so instead she gave the monkey some of her firewood. Then the foolish monkey went walking away through the forest, carrying the firewood with him. He looked very silly with a bobbed tail, but he was so proud of the firewood that he didn't even think about his tail.

Presently the monkey saw a baker baking biscuits. Now, the monkey loved biscuits more than anything else and wanted to eat some very badly. So he said, "Look, Aunty, I have some wonderful firewood which is nice and dry. You may borrow it to bake your biscuits."

The baker was very pleased, because the wood she was using was green and wouldn't burn well. "Thank you very much, Mr Monkey," she said. She took the monkey's firewood and put it on the fire.

Now, dry firewood burns very quickly, and the fire burned very brightly. The monkey stood watching until all the biscuits were baked. Oh, how good they smelled. He stood there licking his lips. Finally the baker began to take the biscuits off the fire. By now all the firewood had been burned to ashes.

When the monkey saw this, he became very angry. "Just look what you've done to my firewood!" he said. 'You must give it back to me the way it was before, or else you'll just have to give me some of those biscuits that you've baked."

"But how can I give the firewood back?" asked the baker. 'You saw it burn up in the fire."

"I can't help that ' said the monkey. "You must give it back, or else give me the biscuits."

Of course the baker couldn't change the ashes back into firewood, so instead she gave the monkey some of the biscuits, piping hot from the oven. Then the foolish monkey went walking away through the forest, nibbling on the delicious biscuits. He looked very silly with a bobbed tail, but he was so busy eating that he didn't even think about his tail.

Presently the monkey saw an old man who was carrying a beautiful gong made of brass. Now wouldn't it be wonderful, the monkey told himself, to have a gong like that, so everyone can listen to me. He still had quite a few biscuits left, so he said, "Look, Grandpa, I have some delicious biscuits here. I'll trade them for that old gong of yours." And he gave the old man one of the biscuits to try.

The old man ate the biscuit. It was so delicious that he very much wanted some more. "All right," he said, "you take the gong and I'll take the biscuits."

Then the foolish monkey took the gong and climbed to the top of the highest tree in the forest, way up where the branches were thin and bent. He looked very silly with a bobbed tail, but he was so proud of himself and his brass gong that he didn't even think about his tail.

He began beating the gong very hard and singing so loudly that all the monkeys in the forest heard him. This is what he sang:

"I'm a handsome little monkey,
The smartest in the land;
With my fine brass gong,
I'm the leader of the band.
Bong! Bong! B-O-N-G!

I had a pretty tail,
Which I traded for a razor,
Which I traded for some wood,
Which I traded for some biscuits,
Which I traded for a gong—
A fine brass gong.
Bong! Bong! B-O-N-G!"

How the foolish monkey sang, looking very silly as he waved his bobbed tail in the air where all the other monkeys could see it. But on the last "Bong!" he hit the gong so hard that he fell out of the tree, all the way to the ground, right into another thorn bush!

How all the other monkeys laughed as they pulled the thorns out of him! After that they always called him Bobtail Bong-bong, and never again did he forget about his tail.