My friend Alex told me this Chinese tale that he learned from his grandmother.  Alex said there was this couple who lived in a house and a mother who lived with them. The mother loved eating carp, but the nearest stream was 5 miles away. The water from the stream was so fresh the children always brought this water for their grandma to drink and for her to cook the carp in. Every morning at 5AM, they would go catch four or five carp and bring back buckets of water to cook for their mother and grandmother.  They did this every day for two or three years. Then one day, one of the rocks cracked in their yard and out came a stream of water and carp.  Alex said that the stream with the water and carp appeared in their yard because God was saying thank you for taking care of their elders and now they didn’t have to go far for the carp or forther water that was as sweet as that from the river.

Alex said that he heard this folktale from his grandmother who used to tell it to him when he was younger.  According to Alex the Chinese culture is very family oriented and that is illustrated in the folktale as the children go to great lengths to do something kind for their parents and to take care of them.  In the story the children are rewarded for the kindness and care towards their parents.  But Alex emphasized the point that the children did not know they would be rewarded for this, so they did it of their own accord, not because they had incentive behind it.

I think like many cultural folklore, the meaning and understanding of it reveals much about the morals, values, and beliefs of a the culture.  Like Alex said, this folktale exemplifies the dutifulness of the children to their parents which could be indicative of the great respect honor that is paid to elders in the Chinese culture.  It also demonstrates the religious side of the culture that obviously feels that God will “reward” those who are deserving accordingly.

Issun Boshi – Little One Inch

My friend Mikey told me this Japanese fairytale and said his mom used to tell it to him sometimes as a bed time story when he was a little kid.  The story is called Little One Inch, which translated into Japanese is Issun Boshi.  I asked Mikey to tell me the story and he said that there was a married couple with no children so one day they went to a shrine and prayed for a child of their own.  Then on their way home they heard a baby crying in the grass and found a small baby boy wrapped in a blanket.  They were so happy that their prayers had been answered they took the boy home and raised him as their son.  But the boy was very tiny, he was bout the size of a person’s thumb so they named him Little One Inch.  When Little One Inch grew older he told his parents he was very thankful for them but he wanted to go out in the world and make his own fortune.  His parents tried to tell him he was too little but Little One Inch eventually convinced them to let him go out into the world on his own.  To prepare him for his journey they gave him a rice bowl to use as a boat, a chopstick to use as a paddle and a needle to use as a sword.  So Little One Inch set off on his journey down the river in his rice bowl.  But his bowl was soon overturned by a frog in the river that hit it.  But Little One Inch was able to swim to shore and found himself in front a great castle.  Little One Inch went to the front of the castle and called out for someone.  A man servant came at first could not even see Little One Inch standing in front of him.  He was so surprised when he saw the boy he went to go get hid lord.  Little One Inch told the lord he came to seek his fortune and asked that he let him be a guard in his castle.  he said that he maybe little but he could fight fiercely with his sword.  The lord was very amused so he let Little One Inch stay in the castle and play with his daughter the princess.  Little One Inch and the Princess played everyday and became very good friends.  Then one day when they went to visit a nearby temple a demon appeared and tried to get the princess.  Little One Inch tried to attack the demon with his sword but the needle did not even penetrate the demon’s toes.  So Little One Inch climbed up the demon’s body onto his arm and waved his sword.  This made the demon angry so he opened his mouth and roared.  When the demon did this Little One Inch umped into the demon’s mouth and began to cut is tongue with his sword.  This hurt the demon so much he spit Little One Inch out and ran away also dropping his magic hammer in the process.  The princess picked up the hammer and said now we can make a wish, and she wished that  Little One Inch would grow taller.  She shook the magic hammer and Little One Inch began to grow until they were both the same height.  They were both very happy and so was the lord when her heard what happened.  The Princess and Little One Inch then got married and lived happily ever after.

Mikey said his mother and his grandmother used to tell him this fairytale sometimes when he was younger.  He says he’s not sure why he remembers this particular story, he just does.  I think he was probably told this story as a way of creating somewhat of a cultural identity and creating some ties to his Japanese heritage/descent.  Because is Japanese, Issei means first generation and usually means the generation of Japanese people born in Japan that perhaps immigrated to another country such as the United States.  The second generation is called Nissei, the third generation is Sansei, and the fourth generation is Yonsei.  Mikey is fourth generation in his family, as am I.  I know that because my parents are Sansei and I am Yonsei we partake in much less traditional Japanese customs compared to my grandmother and compared to how my grandmothers raised my parents.  Therefore, as the traditional Japanese customs and culture seems to be less and less with each generation I think these little pieces of Japanese folklore help create a sense of cultural identity and become increasingly significant and important.  This could explain why Mikey’s mom and grandma told him this fairytale and could also explain why he remembers this specific story; the strong cultural ties and meaning behind it.  This fairytale can be found among many other popular Japanese folktales in Florence Sadake’s book Japanese Children’s Favorite Stories on page 60.  These folktales are all translated and written in English.

Little One Inch fits Propp’s 31 Funtions very nicely.  The story starts with a lack, as the married couple is without children or a child that they so desperately want.  Then the lack is fulfilled and the audience is introduced in the story’s hero, Little One Inch.  Little One Inch grows up and eventually decides he must go on a journey and venture out into the world, which is the departure from home in Propp’s functions.  Then of course the hero must meet obstacles along his journey, such as having is ice bowl boat over turned by the frog in the river and having to swim to shore.  Next in sequence is the meeting of the villain, which is the demon that Little One Inch and the Princess encounter in the nearby temple.  There is a struggle, which is the fight between Little One Inch and the demon.  Little One Inch had to be clever about in defeating a demon so much larger than himself in size.  Finally victory over the villain by the hero, who returns home or in this case to the castle and marries the girl or princess of the story.  It is very interesting to see how Propp’s functions can be followed by many folktales from many different cultures.

Annotation: Sadake, Florence.  Japanese Children’s Favorite Stories. Vermont: Tuttle Publishing:2003.

Momotaro (???)

My father said that when he was a little boy my grandmother sometimes would tell him bedtime stories.  His favorite story was a japanese fairytale called Momotaro.  In direct translation Momotaro literally means Peach Taro, Taro being a common name for a Japanese boy.  However Momotaro is often translated as Peach Boy.  I asked my father to tell me the story but he said he didn’t remember all the exact details of the fairytale.  He said the story starts off with an old couple living in rural Japan.  The couple desperately wanted to have children but couldn’t.  Then one day the old man found a giant peach in a thicket of grass near the edge of the river.  He brought it home to his wife and when she cut it open there was a small boy in it, and they named him Momotaro (Peach Boy).  My father said what was special about Momotaro was that he fought off demons.

My grandmother speaks fluent Japanese and English, however my father only knows English.  My grandmother used to tell him this story in English.  As a kid I remember hearing this story, but my mother read my the tale from a book of Japanese children’s stories.

Below is a version of the Momotaro from a book cited in the annotation.  This is the version I remember my mother reading to me from Japanese children’s story books:

Once upon a time there was an old man and his old wife living in the country in Japan. 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 some clothes.

No sooner had the old woman begun her washing than she was very surprised to see a big peach come 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 give it to the old man for his 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 found for your supper.” The old man said it was truly a beautiful peach. He was so hungry that he said: “Let’s divide it and eat it right away.”

So the old woman brought a big knife from the kitchen and was getting ready to cut the peach in half. But just then there was the sound of a human voice from inside the peach. “Wait! Don’t cut me!” said 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 fine boy.

When Momotaro was about fifteen years old, he went to his father and said: “Father, you have always been very kind to me. Now I am a big boy and I must do something to help my country. In a distant part of the sea there is an island named Ogre Island. Many wicked ogres live there, and they often come to our land and do bad things like carrying people away and stealing their things. So I’m going to go to Ogre Island and fight them and bring back the treasure which they have there. Please let me do this.”

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

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

Momotaro and the spotted dog kept on walking and soon they met a monkey. The spotted dog and the monkey started to have a fight. But Momotaro explained to the monkey that he and the spotted dog were going to fight the ogres on Ogre Island. Then the monkey asked if he couldn’t go with them. So Momotaro gave the monkey a dumpling and let the monkey come with them.

Momotaro and the spotted dog and the monkey kept on walking. Suddenly they met a pheasant. The spotted dog and the monkey and the pheasant were about to start fighting. But when the pheasant heard that Momotaro was going to fight the ogres on Ogre Island, he asked if he could go too. So Momotaro gave the pheasant a dumpling and told him to come along.

So, with Momotaro as their general, the spotted dog and the monkey and the pheasant, who usually hated each other, all became good friends and followed Momotaro faithfully. They walked a long, long way, and finally reached the sea. At the edge of the sea Momotaro built a boat. They all got in the boat and started across the sea toward 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 blue, and some black.

First the pheasant flew over the walls of the fort and began to peck at the ogres’ heads. They all tried to hit the pheasant with their clubs, but he was very quick and dodged all their blows. And while the ogres weren’t looking, the monkey slipped up and opened the gate of the fort. Then Momotaro and the spotted dog rushed into the fort and started fighting the ogres too.

It was a terrible battle! The pheasant pecked at the heads and eyes of the wicked ogres. And the monkey clawed at them. And the spotted dog bit them. And Momotaro cut them with his sword. At last the ogres were completely defeated. They all bowed down low before Momotaro and promised never to do wicked things again. Then they brought Momotaro all the treasure they had stored in the fort.

It was the most wonderful treasure you can imagine. There was much gold and silver and many precious jewels. There was an invisible coat and hat, and a hammer that made a piece of gold every time you hit it on the ground, and many other wonderful things. Momotaro and his three helpers carried all this in their boat back to the land. Then they made a cart and put all the treasure in the cart and pulled it back to Momotaro’s house.

How happy the old man and woman were when they saw their son return safely from Ogre Island! They were very rich now with all the treasure that Momotaro had brought, and they all lived together very, very happily.

Annotation: Sakade, Florence. Japanese Children’s Favorite Stories. Toyko: Charles E. Tuttle Company: 1958.

Momotaro is a Japanese folktale but is seems to follow Propp’s sequence fairly well and contains many of Propp’s 31 functions.  For example,  the story starts with a lack of something.  The old couple lacks a child/children, but then they find Momotaro in a peach.  Then their son or rather the hero of the hero of the story grows up and leaves home (departure) on a quest to defeat the demons on Ogre Island (villainy).  Momotaro meets some obstacles along the way (i.e. the dog and the other animals) but cleverly gets them to join and help him on his quest.  Then there is the struggle which is the fight between the ogres and Momotaro and his friends.  Finally Momotaro earns his victory over the villainous ogres and returns home a hero with riches.  It is interesting to see Propp’s Functions can be applied to folklore from many different cultures.

Ijapa Ati Aja

Ijapa ati Aja lo si oko oloko lati lo ji isu.  Aja mu isu ni won ba.  Ijapa se ojukokoro, o di apere ti okun.  Ko wa le gbe. O wa bere si korin si aja bayi:

Aja duro ra mi leru, Ferekufe

Bi O ba duro ra mi leru, Ferekufe

Ma Kigbe oloku a gbo, Ferekufe

A gbe wa de A gba wa ni isu, Ferekufe

The Tortoise and the Dog

The tortoise and the dog went to a farm to steal some yams.  The dog took a few yams while the tortoise took a basket full.  The dog left, but the tortoise could not carry his load.  He began to singing out loud for help thusly:

Dog, wait! Help me carry my load, Ferekufe

If you don’t wait to help me, Ferekufe

I will shout and the farmer will hear me, Ferekufe

He will capture us and take our yams, Ferekufe

Abiola learned this story when she was around eight years old.  When she went from Lagos city to visit her grandmother in the village.  At night in her grandmother’s compound, elders would sit the children down in a communal area and tell stories to them.  The stories were usually told in a call and return format.  This particular story has a refrain which is repeated throughout which the listeners can repeat.  The line “Ferekufe” holds no actual meaning other than to add a rhythm to the telling.

This story features the most popular character in Nigerian tales.  Ijapa is the tortoise.  He is the conniver in most Nigerian trickster tales.  The tortoise is always shown as conniving, greedy, and deceitful.  In this particular tale, the tortoise and his friend the dog decide to steal yams from a neighboring farmer.  The dog takes only as many yams as he can carry away, but the greedy tortoise takes a basket so full of yams that he can barely drag the basket behind him.  The word used to describe the tortoise’s greed “ojukokoro” literally translates to ant eyes.  It is an expression that denotes that ants often carry loads many times their size.  It is similar to the English saying that someone’s eyes are bigger than his or her stomach.

Abiola states that the story teaches on not to be greedy because even as the tortoise threatens his friend the dog that he will scream if the dog does not help him, one should be able to recognize that even if the tortoise attempts to call attention to the dog, he will only get himself caught first.  She says that one should take away from the story

that he/she cannot blackmail others to solve problems that one has created for him/herself.

Another version of this story can be found in a book compiled with Nigerian tales.

Annotation: Owomoyela, Oyekan. Yoruba Trikster Tales. University of Nebraska P, 1997. 83-86.