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who with his three companions, a dog ("inu"),
a monkey ("saru"), and a pheasant ("kiji")
defeated the monsters of evil and brought
peace and happiness to his land.
there lived a friendly people who loved to sing
and dance and dress their children in colorful
robes and ribbons and sashes at festival time.
Nature had given these people lush green
islands to live on, from the island of the "snow
country" in the north to the warm and
sunny island in the south.
Yes, nature had been good to them,
placing
wonderful mountains throughout their
land,
with tall, strong pine trees and trees
that
bore
fruit and trees that wore the
delicate
pink and
white cherry blossoms in the
Springtime. Nature
had
given them cool, sparkling rivers and
rain
and sun to help their crops
grow but it had also
given them storms
and
typhoons, earthquakes
and even tidal
waves to
test their spirit and
make them
strong.
The people worked hard and became strong
and
were able to manage the trials and tests
that
nature had put them through but it
was
the
evil and unnatural forces that
caused
them
pain and grief.
On one of the nearby
islands,
Oni ga Shima
("monster island"), there
dwelt
a
tribe of
monsters ("oni") whose pleasure
seemed to
come from causing pain and suffering to
others,
Whenever they felt bored or just
plain mischievous,
the monsters left
their
island and descended upon
the
unsuspecting
villagers, hurting them, stealing
from
them
and even carrying their beloved
children
away
to monster island where they
became
slaves.
It was all because of the evil
oni
that
the
friendly
people in this beautiful
land could
not
enjoy
real happiness.
One day, and old
woman
("Obaasan") from
the village went down to
the
river to wash
clothes when she saw a
giant
peach floating
down stream."My, what a
wonderful peach
that is," she thought, "
I'll
take it home to
Ojiisan (old man) and
we
will eat it."
Ojiisan were getting ready to cut it open, the
peach split in two and out jumped
a healthy little boy!
they had a little boy to love and they named
him Momotaro ("peach boy").
There was
happiness in
the house and with the
love and
kindness of
Obaasan and Ojiisan,
Momotaro grew
and
became strong.
One day Momotaro
said
to Obaasan and Ojiisan, "It is time for me to
go to
Oni ga Shima to do battle with the
evil
ones and to
punish them for the
unhappiness
they have caused.
Obaasan prepared his
clothes
and made "kibi
dango" (rice balls) for
Momotaro to eat on his
journey; luckily,
she
made
more kibi dango than
Momotaro would need
and
this turned out to be a
good thing
because he
would have to share it.
"Gambate,
kiyotsukete!"
("good luck and be
careful") they called
to
him as he disappeared
down the
path.
Momo
Taro had not gone very far when he
met a
dog
who called to him, "Woof, woof. Who
are
you
and where are you going?" "I am
Momotaro
and
I am going to fight the evil ones."
The
dog
replied,"If you
give me some of your kibi
dango, I will
go
with you to Oni ga Shima. I am
strong and I will help you fight the evil
oni."
the dog and happy also to have a friend to
help him fight the evil monsters.
As they
continued
their journey, Momotaro and
his new
companion soon came upon a monkey
and a
pheasant who decided to join them
on
their
mission of good.
the monkey and the pheasant boarded a boat
which would take them to the island of the evil
monsters, Oni ga Shima.
The
sea
was
rough that day but the four
comrades were
determined in their
mission to rid their
land
of evil.
ahead!" "Kya, kya, take down the sail!" the
monkey screeched. "Kaen. kaen," chirped
the pheasant. "I'll fly over the island and
see what the monsters are doing."
by the pheasant who said, "The monsters are
asleep, now is a good time to attack!" "Let's go!"
yelled Momotaro as they broke through the gate.
In an
instant, the monsters arose and rushed to
the attack. "I am Momotaro and I have come
to
punish you and your
leader. Where is he?"
"Here I am," said the
biggest and meanest looking
monster. "A
puny
little fellow like you cannot
defeat,
me,
I
will crush you!" growled the
monster.
"Kill
them all!" he shouted
to his oni
tribesmen.
"How do you like this?" he barked as he
sank his teeth into the monster's leg.
"Ouch, ouch!" cried the red monster as
he hobbled away screaming in pain. "Kack,
kack,"cried the monkey, jumping on the blue
monster's neck, scratching and kicking him.
flew into the face of the monster chief. "I'll
claw your eyes! " Oh, no, no!" pleaded
the monster, "Please not my eyes!"
Momotaro now grabbed the monster
chief's arm and began striking
him with his steel fan.
to his knees and pleaded for mercy and
forgiveness. "Oh, Momotaro, please don't
hurt me. I will do whatever you say, only
please don't hurt me." "Good!" said Momotaro.
"From this day onward, you will stay on your
island and leave the good people alone!" I will,
I will, I promise," replied the monster.
"Alright" said Momotaro and he called to his
companions, "Come, let's load their stolen
treasure into the cart and return it to
the people it rightfully belongs to!"
"Banzai, banzai" ("hurray, hurray") screeched the
monkey. "Kaen, kaen" answered the pheasant.
"I'm so happy!"
From that time on, the
friendly villagers lived
happily. They
sang
and danced and dressed their
beloved
children
in colorful robes and ribbons to
celebrate
this new festival, the festival of
Momotaro's
victory over the evil
oni on Oni ga
Shima!
~NEXT~
