LITTLE PEACHLING.
A Japanese Folk-lore Story.
AT the foot of the Golden Dragon Hill,
Ages ago, in a snug little house
With a roof of dark-brown, velvety thatch,
There lived an old woodman and his spouse.
One morning his bill-hook the old man took:
"To the mountain, to cut me a fagot, I'll
hie,
While you, O Koyo, the linen can wash
In the river which rushes and gurgles by."
Oh! the merry old man to the mountain hied,
Past young rice-fields in the morning sun,
Toward the dark fir-trees on the mountain side,
Standing forth in its silence, every one.
From wild camellias and white plum-trees,
In his twinkling old eyes the spider-webs
swung;
And he merrily brushed by the green bam-
boos,
With his bill-hook over his shoulder hung.
And a uguisu sang in a tall cherry-tree
As the smiling old wife to the river-side
went:
"Oh, red is the sun!" she cheerily sang,
As she patiently over her washing bent.
"Oh, red is the sun! and the rice-fields green—
Now what is that in the river I see?
It's the rosiest peach in the whole of Japan;
And it's coming a-floating, a-floating to me.
"Now, here is a feast for my darling old man,
Oh, the great Shogun not a finer can get!
Some stewed lily-bulbs, and this beautiful peach,
When he comes home from work, before
him I'll set."
Soon down from the mountain the old man
came,
And fast on his back his fagot was bound.
"Oh! hasten you, husband," his loving wife
cried,
And taste this beautiful peach that I found."
But just as he took it the peach split in
twain,
And a fat little baby with raven-black hair
Was cradled right in the heart of the peach,
And lay a-twinkling and blinking there.
"Oh! you brave little boy, you shall be our
own son;
And Momotaro shall have for a name,
Or Little Peachling, since out of a peach,
You dear little fellow, this morning you
came."
Oh! the rice-fields blossomed for twenty years,
While the gurgling old river amongst them
ran;
Oh! for twenty years grew the slim bamboo,
And Little Peachling was grown to a man.
"Some millet-dumplings pray make for me,"
To his good foster-mother he said one
day,
"And off to the ogres' castle I'll go,
And the whole of their treasure will bring
away.
"As thick in the ogres' treasure-vaults
The jewels are lying as sea-shore sands;
With blue snow-gates on the mountain-top,
The ogres' castle all proudly stands—
"With blue snow-gates that are stronger than
steel;
But I will enter, and bring to you
The wealth from the ogres' treasure-vaults,
Hung over with pearls, like flowers with
dew."
"I have made you the dumplings," his good
mother said,
"But I fear lest the ogres should do you
a harm."
But the little Peachling danced gayly away,
With the millet-dumplings under his arm.
A dog leapt out of a cluster of pines:
"And what have you there, Little Peachling,
pray?"
"The best millet-dumplings in all Japan,
And I'm to the ogres' castle away."
"For one of your dumplings with you I'll go,
And the ogres' castle will help subdue."
[Original]
"Well, you can bark at the castle-gate;
So here is a dumpling, friend dog, for you."
An ape swung down from a roadside tree:
"Kia, kia, what have you, I say?"
"The best millet-dumplings in all Japan,
And I'm to the ogres' castle away."
"One of your dumplings pray give to me,
And the ogres' castle I'll help subdue."
"Well, you can climb o'er the castle-gate;
So here is a dumpling, friend ape, for you."
"Ken, ken=," cried a pheasant, "and what have
you there,
Little Peachling, tucked in your girdle, I
pray?"
"The best millet-dumplings in all Japan,
And I'm to the ogres' castle away."
"For one of your dumplings with you I'll go,
And the ogres' castle will help subdue,"
"Well, you can fly o'er the castle-gate;
So here is a dumpling, friend pheasant, for
you.
Oh, the castle stood high on the mountain-
top,
And over its turrets a hurricane blew;
But up to its terrible blue snow-gates
Little Peachling marched with his retinue.
Then the ogres swarmed out on the castle-
towers,
The drums beat loud, and the trumpets
brayed,
And magical arrows came rustling around—
But our brave little rônin was not afraid.
For his pheasant flew over the castle-wall,
And his ape undid the castle-gate;
And brave Little Peachling, his dog at heel,
Into the castle then marched in state.
His little dog snapped at the ogres' heels;
His pheasant picked at their round green
eyes;
And his ape tweaked away at the ogres' locks,
As only an ape can do when he tries.
And the little rônin, around him he laid,
With his muramasa so thick and fast,
That the king of the ogres was prisoner
made;
And the ogres' castle was taken at last.
Oh, measures of pearls and wedges of gold!
Oh, the jars of musk and the coral-bars,
Amber and emeralds, tortoise-shells,
And diamonds shining like strings of stars!
Gold-brocade coats, and wonderful gems
That regulated the green sea-tide!
It's always the loveliest things in the world
Which the treasure-castles of ogres hide.
With the treasures, the dog, the pheasant and
ape,
Little Peachling home to his parents ran;
And the old woodman and his loving wife
Were the happiest couple in all Japan.