The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter

This is a translation of an old Japanese tale. The translation has been done by Kawabata Yasunari & Donald Keene.

It is an interesting story of a young, beautiful girl-Kaguya-Hime setting unachievable tasks for five of her suitors. Their failure automatically excludes them from the race to marry her. The emperor also gets interested and tries unsuccessfully to abduct her. Finally, it ends with the young girl returning to her kingdom in the moon leaving behind her parents (who had brought her up). It is known that she is on earth as a punishment for some misdeeds done on the moon.

What is interesting in the story, are the 5 tasks and how failure in these tasks leads to the origin of certain words. I feel that the fact that these words have a corresponding origin in English is a bit far-fetched.

1^st task:

To obtain the stone begging bowl of Buddha from India (this begging bowl is supposed to emit light). It goes without saying that an imitation is exposed and the bowl is thrown away. The suitor, however, is still diligent in his pursuit of Kaguya-hime. So, people have ever since spoken of surprise at a shameless action as “bowled over”

2^nd task:

To obtain a branch of a tree that grows on a mountain called Horai. This mountain exists in the eastern sea. The tree supposedly has roots of silver, a trunk of gold and bears fruits that are of pearl. Well, another imitation gets caught (the craftsmen betray the owner). People begin to speak of someone as being “stone hearted” if he astonishes others by trying to pass off genuine as a false stone.

3^rd task

To bring a robe made of fur of Chinese fire-rats (this supposedly does not burn in fire). Another imitation-another embarrassment. The word here is “abeyance”. When a plan is not carried out it falls into abeyance.

4^th task

To bring a jewel that shines five colors and is found on a dragon’s neck. The suitor here makes a sincere attempt at obtaining something like this. It ends in a failure. He ends up with eyes that look like plums and a engorged stomach. People speak of any ill-starred venture as being “plumb foolish”

5^th task:

To obtain the easy delivery charms of a swallow (that aids in easy delivery of eggs). This venture ends in the death of the suitor. This rather touched Kaguya-hime. So, something slightly pleasurable has been said to have a modicum of charm.

Unbeaten Tracks in Japan - Isabella L Bird

This book is a compilation of a set of letters that were written by Isabella to her sister. Isabella was one of the first woman adventurers. Check her out. Seems a very interesting personality.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isabella_Bird

This book is an account of her travels in Japan in the closing years of the 19th century. This was the era of the Meiji Restoration. This book captures the emotions, the beliefs (through Ito, her guide), the perceptions that Japanese have towards Foreigners at large. This book is also a perception of Japan through the eyes of the foreigner. What i respect about this book is the fact that she has brought out both the good and the bad about Japan. She is equivocal about this country. She attests to certain good elements that i have come to see in Japan such as the safety for women, the prevalent politeness in the society, the congenial behavior of the people, the fairness in their transactions, their accomodative nature and the generally observed industriousness in the people.

She has managed to explore territories in Japan, like the northern part where even regular officials from Tokyo were not requent travellers, that too, at a time when there was minimum information available about those regions. She talks about the inherent lack of information even in areas villages hardly a few kilometres from one another.

Some points that amazed me were the efficiency of the newly introduced railway system that operated in Yokohama & Tokyo and the very well organized cargo system comprising of mules/horses with rates fixed and adhered to by the traders/transporters.

Her travels start with landing in Yokohama. She then takes the train to Tokyo and lands in Shinagawa. God!! this gives me goosebumps as i have travelled in this route quite often and i presently stay in Shinagawa. She has gone into detail of almost every aspect of her trip for e.g: how people are dressed, the food they eat, customs, the description of nature, the ainos and quite a lot more.

This book is full of information for a Nihongophile. There was this section on Nikko and its temples. I was in Nikko last week and was kind of filled with deja-vu looking at the same places which were described by Isabella more than a century ago.

She spent time from May 21st till Dec 18th in Japan. Keep wondering how she was managing her finances. Moreover, she was doing this travel when she was 49. Quite amazing. I wonder how healthy will i be at that age.

Now.. keeping aside all the ga-ga, the only thing i found a bit boring is that after sometime, it kind of gets repetitive till some new experience comes up. The section on nature was getting repetitive till it took a different turn with the floods, the volcanoes and the landslides. Similarly, the section on the people in different villages seemed to be falling in a pattern till she reached the Ainos(who according to her are very european in their features)

It is a good book. A recommended read for anyone who is visiting japan and would like to spend sometime here.