EC Reading: Japanese Fairy Tales, Part A
Bibliography
"My Lord Bag of Rice" from Japanese Fairy Tales by Yei Theodora Ozaki, Read it here
This reading section was full of great adventure stories, although my favorite was "My Lord Bag of Rice" because I liked how adventurous and fun the story felt even though it was told very efficiently and succinctly. I also thought the humorous title of the story helped it from being too bland or just another story about a generic hero.
The story explains how a man named Fujiwara Hidesato came to be known as a great warrior called My Lord Bag of Rice. It begins with Hidesato purposefully searching out adventure by walking around with a bow and arrow and two swords. Unsurprisingly, he manages to find adventure pretty quickly when his path is blocked by a huge dragon resting on a bridge.
Hidesato decides that he's not going to let a dragon stop him, so he just walks over the dragon without even looking backwards after he steps off its back. Suddenly, the dragon transforms into a strange looking man, who introduces himself to Hidesato as the Dragon King. The Dragon King said that he was impressed by Hidesato's bravery, and so the Dragon King requested that Hidesato kill a giant centipede that has been killing the Dragon King's family and eventually will kill the Dragon King.
Hidesato agrees to kill the giant centipede, since after all he did set out in search of adventure. The Dragon King takes Hidesato back to his palace, since that is where the giant centipede shows up every night to eat a member of the Dragon King's family. At the palace, the Dragon King treats Hidesato to a huge feast, and Hidesato is in awe at the amazing food and the beautiful palace the king lives in.
Later that night, the centipede shows up, and is so huge that it's footsteps shake the ground and it's eyes look like two giant balls of fire. Hidesato shoots the centipede in the middle of its head with an arrow, but it simply bounces off. Hidesato tries again, but the arrow just bounces off. Finally, with his last arrow, Hidesato remembers that spit can kill a centipede, so he licks his last arrow and shoots it at the centipede's head. The arrow strikes true and the centipede dies.
The king is so grateful that he throws a big party and insists on giving Hidesato some gifts when he leaves. Among the gifts was a bag of rice, which Hidesato took back to his home. The bag of rice never runs out no matter how much rice Hidesato eats, and so from then on he became known as My Lord Bag of Rice for both his bravery and his bottomless bag of rice.
"My Lord Bag of Rice" from Japanese Fairy Tales by Yei Theodora Ozaki, Read it here
This reading section was full of great adventure stories, although my favorite was "My Lord Bag of Rice" because I liked how adventurous and fun the story felt even though it was told very efficiently and succinctly. I also thought the humorous title of the story helped it from being too bland or just another story about a generic hero.
The story explains how a man named Fujiwara Hidesato came to be known as a great warrior called My Lord Bag of Rice. It begins with Hidesato purposefully searching out adventure by walking around with a bow and arrow and two swords. Unsurprisingly, he manages to find adventure pretty quickly when his path is blocked by a huge dragon resting on a bridge.
Hidesato decides that he's not going to let a dragon stop him, so he just walks over the dragon without even looking backwards after he steps off its back. Suddenly, the dragon transforms into a strange looking man, who introduces himself to Hidesato as the Dragon King. The Dragon King said that he was impressed by Hidesato's bravery, and so the Dragon King requested that Hidesato kill a giant centipede that has been killing the Dragon King's family and eventually will kill the Dragon King.
Hidesato agrees to kill the giant centipede, since after all he did set out in search of adventure. The Dragon King takes Hidesato back to his palace, since that is where the giant centipede shows up every night to eat a member of the Dragon King's family. At the palace, the Dragon King treats Hidesato to a huge feast, and Hidesato is in awe at the amazing food and the beautiful palace the king lives in.
Later that night, the centipede shows up, and is so huge that it's footsteps shake the ground and it's eyes look like two giant balls of fire. Hidesato shoots the centipede in the middle of its head with an arrow, but it simply bounces off. Hidesato tries again, but the arrow just bounces off. Finally, with his last arrow, Hidesato remembers that spit can kill a centipede, so he licks his last arrow and shoots it at the centipede's head. The arrow strikes true and the centipede dies.
The king is so grateful that he throws a big party and insists on giving Hidesato some gifts when he leaves. Among the gifts was a bag of rice, which Hidesato took back to his home. The bag of rice never runs out no matter how much rice Hidesato eats, and so from then on he became known as My Lord Bag of Rice for both his bravery and his bottomless bag of rice.
I would eat fried rice for dinner every night if I had a bottomless bag of rice.
(Image source: Pixabay)
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