“OKIKURUMI WAS A MIGHTY FISHERMAN”
Day after day she went to the aid of the suffering people. But they saw her not, for Okikurumi had commanded them to refrain from gazing upon the face of his wife.
At last, however, one man grew curious. He wished to see this forbidden being. “She is either the most beautiful person in the world or else she is so ugly that her husband feels shame to have her seen of other men,” he said to himself. “In any case I will find out.”
Thus he spoke, being of an evil nature and all unmindful of the benefits of Okikurumi. When Tureshi came to the window, therefore, he lay in wait, while Kusa-Hitari[30] sang in the night. Catching Tureshi by the hand he drew her into the house, and gazed upon her lovely face. For she was the most beautiful of women, her husband’s joy and pride. Then, she in great alarm fled from the Ainu to her husband’s side, crying out to Okikurumi, “My lord, I have obeyed you, but send me not again to these ungrateful people who disobey your commands. Their wretched lives are not worth the saving.”
Okikurumi was full of wrath and he declared that, henceforth and forever, the men of the Ainu should find food for their own women, since Tureshi could not go to them without insult.
Then were the men of the Ainu very sad, and many of them died and their chief men mourned.
So they took an inao[31] and set it up upon the sea shore. Its staff was straight and slender, and its curls and tassels floated free in the gentle breeze. By this they meant to worship the spirit of the sea and implore him to bring them good fortune.
Then the sea spirit, who loved not Okikurumi, was pleased with the inao and sent them many fish.
But again there came a famine to the land of the Ainu, and it was worse than any that had gone before. The children hungered, and the mothers wept, and the old men set up an inao; but all was of no avail. At last they sought a wise man, and he gave them good counsel, saying, “Gather together all the crumbs which are left in the village, millet and rice malt, and make a little cup of wine.” This they did.
“Pour it into six cups of lacquer,” he said, and this they did. And the scent of the saké rose upward, even unto heaven, and it was good.