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A folktale of Fukushima

Netaro of Hiba
Japanese French Vietnamese

This is a story from Hiba-gun in Hiroshima Prefecture. It is currently called Shobara City.

A long, long time ago, in ancient times, an old man and old woman lived in the village of Hiba with their son. From daybreak to sunset, their son slept all the time.

“What’s wrong with him?” said the old man. He’s not sick. He eats and sleeps, sleeps and eats. He never works, just sleeps. This is a problem, dear wife.”

“I know,” replied his wife in despair. “He is of a good age and needs to take a wife. But who would marry someone who sleeps all the time and never works?”

And the people of the village said, “What is wrong with him? That boy just eats and sleeps, eats and sleeps. We should call him Sleepyhead Netaro.” So no one called him by his real name, they called him Netaro instead.

One day, however, Netaro disappeared all day.

“Oh, dear. Our son has disappeared. Where is he? We’ve searched the whole village, but can’t find him.” As the old man and old woman grew distraught, Netaro returned late that evening.

“Oh, where were you?”

“Oh, I just had something to do. In Miyoshi.”
“In Miyoshi? Why did you go there?”

But no matter how long the old man and the old woman questioned their son, he wouldn’t tell them exactly.

It appeared that Netaro had found himself a young woman in Miyoshi.

But the young man was pensive. “I want to take my love as my wife, but we’re poor and she is wealthy. Not to mention that I am lazy and even if I asked for her hand in marriage, her parents are unlikely to say yes. But I really do want to marry her.”

Then as he slept, Netaro had an idea. “That’s it. I know. I will transform myself into the Tengu* of Miyoshi that people speak of.”

So, very soon after, Netaro caught a kite in the mountains. Then he bought a small paper lantern in Miyoshi. He crept into the garden of his girl’s house and climbed a pine tree. “Hey, Sir. Sir. Are you there, sir?” he shouted out.

“Oh, dear father. There is someone crying out “Sir, Sir, Sir.” Who is it? I’m frightened. Father, can you please see what is going on?”

The girl’s father opened the shutters and listened carefully. He could hear a voice from the top of the pine tree.

“Sir. Sir. It’s me. It’s me. Are you the master of this house?”

“That is right. I am the master. What do you want with me?”

“You are the master, huh? I am the Tengu that lives in the depths of the mountain. I have come here to tell you something important. Please put on your crested gown and come out.”

“Oh, dear. What is going on? Dear husband, a Tengu has come to our house and is asking us to wear a crested gown and leave the house. Let’s do it quickly, father. Do it quickly.”

“Dear wife, give me my crested gown. Quickly now, quickly.”

The husband and wife hurried to put on their crested gowns and they flew out into the garden.

“Mr. Tengu, sir. We have changed into our crested gowns.”

“The both of you?”

“That’s right. Our cherished daughter is inside the house. But what of it?”

“Now listen to me. You must make sure that your daughter marries Netaro. What do you think?”

“Oh, I know Netaro. We’ve heard rumors about him. He is lazy and never works…”

“Yes, but you must let her marry him. If you don’t, your sweet daughter will never marry at all. Do you want that?”

“I see. I see. Dear wife, if the Tengu says this, then we must do it.”

“That’s right, dear husband. We must do as the Tengu says and offer our daughter’s hand in marriage to Netaro.”

“Mr. Tengu, we will let our daughter marry Netaro.”

“Excellent. That’s perfect. Very well, you must hold the wedding ceremony on the first of next month. You must ensure that your daughter keeps this promise.”

Then Netaro lit the lantern that was tied to the leg of the kite.

“Very well, I’ll go home now,” said Netaro and let go of the kite.
So the kite spread its wings and flew off with the lantern attached to its leg and flew towards the distant mountains.

“Well, the Tengu told us to do this, so we should honor his words and offer our daughter as a bride.”

And then the happy day dawned. Miyoshi’s daughter left her parents and married Netaro. And she was such a beautiful bride that the villagers were surprised. And there was much bustle as they came to congratulate them.

“Netaro. You are such a lucky man. How, without any effort, did you manage to receive such a wonderful bride? We are totally amazed. But pay heed. You must look reality in the face and make sure that you work hard,” all the people in the village said to him when they met him. However nobody ever knew that Netaro had put effort into using all the wisdom he had to secure his bride.

But after Netaro married his love, he became a hardworking man. And because he worked hard, life became easier. And no one in the village ever called him Netaro again.



The End

*Long-nosed goblin

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