The Love of a Silver Fox: Folk Tales from Seki CIty Read online

The Love of a Silver Fox:

  Folk Tales from Seki City

  The Love of a Silver Fox:

  Folk Tales From Seki City

  Copyright 2012 Darvin Babiuk

  For Masaichi Funato, without whom this volume could not have been completed.

  May he rest in peace.

  FOREWORD

  The collection of Seki City folktales called “The Love of a Silver Fox” became very popular in Seki when originally published in Japanese. Readership and popularity has since spread.

  This collection was created by local writers who have studied the legends, old tales and fairy tales about and relating to Seki. The writers wrote down the stories which have passed from generation to generation orally in Seki since long ago.

  This time, in order to help educate our children who live in an international society, a five-volume series of the “Love of Silver Fox” collection has been published in English…

  To make this five-volume series, Mr. Darvin Babiuk, who worked for Seki City Hall as an Assistant English Teacher (AET) from 1991-1994, tackled the problem of writing an English verstion that Japanese students of English could understand…

  To have this easy-to-understand English series close at hand, to use initially as a textbook, makes me very happy. Furthermore, I hope this series of Seik folktales can be spread throughout the world by having the series with us whenever we meet people of other countries.

  Finally, from my heart, I want to thank Mr. Darvin Babiuk, the writers of the Japanese version, the English version committee, and Seki’s teachers of English for their work in publishing this series.

  Seki City Board of Education Superintendant

  Masaichi Funato

  THE LOVE OF A SILVER FOX

  By Masako Kakuda

  Long, long ago there was a rice field near the village of Kitta in Japan. It was a thin, narrow field that lay at the foot of two mountains; Mt. Kannon and Mt. Asakura. This rice field was no ordinary rice field, though. It was so deep and so muddy that everyone called it the fukata, or Deep Field, and believed that if you ever fell into it, the mud would gobble you up like quicksand and you would die.

  One spring night, a young girl called Okinu was planting rice in the field. Planting rice is very hard work and she had been at it since dawn. Just a bit more, though, and she'd be done. She straightened up to rest a little and gasped. She had never seen a sky like that before.

  "Oh, how beautiful!" she said.

  Usually, the moon was just a simple white ball in the black sky. Tonight, shining high up over Mt. Kannon, was a huge, cream-colored, twinkling gondola surrounded by an amazing deep blue night sky, spread around it like ripples. She couldn't believe such a sight was just an accident. It had to mean something wonderful was about to happen.

  Hey, Okinu, what's the matter?" a voice boomed out from the side of the fukata. "Are you dreaming?"

  Guiltily, Okinu dropped her eyes from the sky. Standing just in front of the fukata was her friend, Oyae. No matter how many times she came to call on Okinu, she never went any farther than that. The fukata was just too scary.

  "I have to go to Seki to do some errands tomorrow," Oyae said. "Do you want to come with me?"

  "I guess so. You come with me when I go. But I have to ask my Mom."

  "Don't forget," called out Oyae. "I'll meet you here tomorrow afternoon." Then she turned and ran all the way home as fast as her feet would take her. She didn't like being so close to the fukata, especially late at night.

  Okinu decided it was time to go home, too. You couldn't just walk across a rice field like Okinu's though. If you stepped in the wrong place you might sink right from sight. All the way around the rice field was a path of three bamboo poles wired together and covered with grass that you could walk on. The fukata was long and narrow, but still too wide to reach all the way across, so Okinu used some more bamboo poles that she laid across the path like scaffolding so that she could go into the middle of the fukata and plant rice. Carefully, she began to cross the fukata on top of the bamboo poles.

  Suddenly, Okinu stopped. She'd just thought of something. If it rained tomorrow, the water in the Fukata would get even deeper and the rice seedlings might fall over. She'd have to plant them all over again. She remembered something her grandmother had taught her and put her hands together in front of the moon.

  "Silver fox, silver fox," she called. "Come and protect the rice at the foot of Mt. Kannon." She repeated the spell in the exact same way her grandmother had taught her, then once again just to make sure. "Protect our rice, and I'll give you anything you want," she ended, adding her own little part.

  Suddenly, Okinu stopped and began to shiver. Because now she remembered what else her grandmother had told her about the spell.

  "Okinu, if you ever recite that charm when the moon is more beautiful than you can remember, you can bet your life that the silver fox will appear. His job is to help the goddess that lives in Mt. Kannon and if she hears your prayer when the moon is like that, she'll send him to help you for sure."

  Okinu looked up at the moon again. It was shining differently than she'd ever seen it, with a great, silvery colour and she began to get a little nervous. She narrowed her eyes into dark slits, so that only the pupils were showing, and shot them around the Fukata. What a fool she was! Of course, there was no fox. It was only an old wife’s tale.

  Fifteen, and full of mischief, Okinu narrowed her shoulders and stuck out her tongue.

  "Mr. Fox, Mr. Fox, come out, come out wherever you are. I know you're not there."

  But she was still a little afraid, so she said it in a whisper and hurried along the bamboo path out of the Fukata. She walked a little bit, then turned back; walked a little bit more, then turned back again.

  On the fifth time she turned around, a young man suddenly appeared from the foot of Mt. Kannon and started walking toward her on the bamboo footpath. Okinu was so astonished she stopped in her tracks. All she could do was stare at the young man with her mouth open in wonder. No one ever came into the fukata. It was too dangerous. Only someone from a poor family like hers would dare go in. She rubbed her eyes and looked again, but he was still there at the far end of the field. She couldn't make him out clearly, but he looked tall and slim. Okinu's heart began to beat faster. He was so handsome!

  Halfway to Okinu, his legs suddenly slipped on the bamboo and he fell head first into the fukata. Forgetting about everything else, Okinu ran along the bamboo until she was at his side. The more he struggled, the faster he sank into the mud. He began to whine and bark like a dog between breaths in the mud. "Kyuun, kyuun."

  Quickly, Okinu snatched up one of the bamboo poles from the bamboo scaffolding and held it out to him. "Grab this," she ordered.

  Standing between him and the great big moon in the wonderful night sky, Okinu had never looked lovelier. Smeared with mud, the young man gratefully grabbed hold of the bamboo stick.

  "Don't let go," warned Okinu. She pulled and pulled until she had worked him up out of the ooze and dragged him up onto the bamboo footpath, where he lay gasping and fighting for air. He didn't look very handsome now. His head hung down against his chest and his hair was all slicked back with mud on his head. Muddy drops of water were running all over his face.

  "Unnnnh . . . " was all he could say, over and over. "Unnnh . . . "

  Okinu wiped his neck with the back of her hand and took command. "Look how dirty you are," she scolded. "We have to march you right down to the river and clean you up."

  The young man got up and meekly followed her. Enjoying playing the boss, Okinu turned around from time to time to mak
e sure that he was still following. Every time she did, he bowed to her and looked like he wanted to say something, but he didn't. He must still have been in shock from falling in the mud.

  Okinu looked at him slyly through the sides of her eyes. He was nothing at all like the farm boys she knew. He walked with dignity and grace, instead of plodding along. He was probably from a good family, maybe even nobility. He certainly wasn't the kind of person you should boss around and give orders to. Okinu began to be ashamed of the way she had ordered him around.

  But he didn't complain. Meekly, he followed Okinu out of the Fukata to the foot of Mt. Asakura, where a small stream flowed out of the ground. That was what made the fukata so dangerous; the water seeped out under the mud in the fukata, making it as deep and treacherous as quicksand.

  "Umm, we're here," stuttered Okinu. "Your hands . . . you can wash . . . I mean . . . " Suddenly, she found it difficult to speak. Her tongue was all tangled, tied in knots and confused.

  The young boy had two rings on his left hand and before Okinu knew what he was doing, he grabbed her left hand and slipped one of them onto her ring finger. A strange power flowed out from the ring and Okinu fainted, as if she had been struck by lightning.

  When she came to, the young boy was gazing at her intently. He had such a regal, handsome face and the way the moonlight was streaming in through the trees on Mt. Kannon like that, it almost looked like it was lit up like silver.

  "Aah, I see you woke up," he said, speaking for the first time. "I was a little worried." But it was a strange voice, kind of a mumble, like he still had mud in his mouth from falling in the fukata and was coming from a long way off. Okinu stared up at him in wonder.

  "Hey, are you okay?" he asked again in the odd voice. Okinu looked close to fainting again. Her heart was beating wildly and she had lost all power to think clearly. This was just too strange!

  Okinu jumped to her feet with a start. "Yes! Yes, I'm fine."

  Then, she saw the ring on the young man's finger.

  "Oh, what a beautiful stone!"

  She followed the handsome young man's eyes to her own hand and gave out a shout. The same blue jewel as the youth's was on her own hand!

  "These are magic rings," the young man told her. "As long as you wear it on your hand, you will have special powers. You'll be able to understand everything I say and feel." The prince stopped and dropped down to one knee. "Okinu, I've been looking for someone like you for a long time. You're a wonderful girl with a kind heart. Will you marry me?"

  Okinu's head began to swim. His words were like beautiful music and with the ring on her finger she was able to read his heart as well. She knew that he loved her. Quickly, she nodded her assent before he could change his mind.

  It was almost too good to be true. "This isn't a joke, is it?" she asked, narrowing her eyes. "Did Oyae put you up to it?"

  "It's no joke," assured the prince. "I promise to look after your rice and when it ripens this fall, I'll come back and we'll get married."

  Okinu could only stare up in wonder at the dazzling young man. "But who are you?" she asked. No one like that lived around here.

  "You'll see in the Fall," he told her. "I'll tell you everything then. And I promise that the rice in your field will be okay. But you have to promise not to say anything about this to anyone." Then, before Okinu even had time ask anything else, he was gone.

  Smiling, she held up the blue stone on her finger to the moonlight. At the centre of the gem was a milky white crescent like the new moon. With the light of the moon shining on it, the precious stone gave off pure, clear colours; one second indigo, then purple, then sky-blue. And right in the middle of it was the flickering, creamy, crescent. It was more beautiful than Okinu could describe.

  Okinu began to worry. If anyone saw such a ring, they'd want to know where it came from and she had promised the young man to keep it a secret. Well, there was simple answer to that. She took out her handkerchief and wrapped it around the ring on her finger like a bandage so that no one could see it. Smiling, she skipped all the way home.

  Okinu was a good girl who kept her promises. She never said anything to anyone about the ring, not even her parents. And the next afternoon, she met her friend Oyae in front of the Fukata just like she said she would. The sight of it set her heart to beating wildly all over again. Arm in arm, they started out for Seki on the narrow, mountain path through the forest.

  Between Kitta and Seki were a string of small, steep hills that snaked up and down Mt. Asakura and Mt. Kannon. But no matter how steep the hills got, Okinu's feet seemed to glide right up them. She was so happy that she felt her heart might burst. With one hand, she covered the bandage hiding the ring on her hand, and with the other she pulled the sweating Oyae up the hill.

  "Aren't you tired?" complained Oyae, on what must have been the hundredth hill. "Can't we stop and rest for a bit?"

  She plopped right down in the middle of the path, wiping the sweat from her forehead with sleeve of her kimono and refused to go any farther until she had caught her breath. But Okinu was too excited to sit quietly and couldn't keep her feet still.

  "Sit down!" complained Oyae. "And keep still! What's with you anyway?"

  Pouting, Okinu sat. She was so happy she had to tell someone or she would burst. Maybe it was okay to show Oyae the ring if she didn't say anything about how she got it. Oyae was her best friend, after all.

  "Oyae," she said slowly, knowing she was breaking a promise, which is a very bad thing to do. "I have a secret. A great big, wonderful secret. I'll tell you, but you have to promise not to tell anyone."

  Oyae looked at her expectantly. There was nothing better than a secret between friends. "What is it?" she asked.

  "It has to be a secret," Okinu warned.

  "I know, I know," whined Oyae. "I promise. It's a secret. Tell me already."

  Slowly, Okinu held out her hand in front of Oyae and unwound the bandage from around the ring on her finger.

  "Oh!" Oyae gasped. "It's beautiful!" The ring was like something from a dream and she knew immediately she would do anything, even lie, to get it.

 

  "Do you think it might be okay if I put it on my finger?" Oyae asked. "Just for a little while?"

  Okinu didn't feel very good about it, but Oyae was her best friend. Reluctantly, she took the ring off her finger and held it out to her.

  "Just for a bit," she said, biting her lip.

  "I know. I'll give it right back."

  Oyae reached out to take the ring.

  "Oops!" she said, pretending it slipped from fingers and tucking it into the sleeves of her kimono. "I dropped it!"

  Frantically, Okinu dropped to her knees and began to search the twigs on the path for the ring. Nothing! Maybe it had rolled down the path. Calling for Oyae to help her, she searched desperately all the way down the mountain, her eyes never leaving the ground, looking for anything that sparkled at all. Only once she got as far as Kannon Temple did Okinu look up. Oyae was gone, having escaped down a fork in the path and running to Seki like her life depended on it.

  The temple had a small, wooden porch in front of it, and Okinu sat down on it, dejected, not knowing what to do next. She knew she wanted the ring back, but she couldn't remember why. The second she had taken it off, the magic spell was broken and the love for the handsome young man had left her heart. She would never be able to know the silver fox's love again.

  "I've looked everywhere." she moaned. "Where is it?" She was almost ready to burst into tears when a low groan came from behind the temple.

  "Unnh . . . " The sound tore right at her heart. Somebody was in pain. "Unnnh . . . "

  "Who is it?" demanded Okinu, jumping up from the porch and running behind the temple. There was a young farm boy lying there, a blood, red handkerchief wound around his thigh.

  "What happened?" Okinu asked.

  The young boy twisted his face in pain. "I slipped and cut it on the root of a tree," he said. H
e tried to move, but all he could do was cry out in pain.

  Okinu had to help him, but how? She ran up the path one way, and then down it the other looking for help, but she was alone. "Help!" she yelled out in desperation. "Someone help us!" Her voice echoed up and down the mountain, but there was no one there. Okinu sat down again and was ready to cry when the silver fox leaped out from the trees at her feet. Okinu was surprised, but not too surprised, because she knew that the fox's job is to protect and help the goddess in Mt. Kannon. Why, hadn't she called on it to appear only last night? And whenever the moon was shining in that special, silvery way, it could turn into a human and even talk before it turned back into a fox again.

  Okinu knew that, but what she forgot was the promise she had made to the fox in the Fukata. The minute she took the ring off her finger, she lost all her powers and memories of the promise they'd made to each other. The silver fox didn't know that, however. He though Okinu still had the ring on her finger and was waiting to marry him in the Fall. Until then, he would help her in any way he could.

  It tilted its head in a quizzical way, made a strange sound, and bounded off into the trees.

  "Oooh . . . " moaned the young man again behind the temple.

  Okinu reached out to wipe some the sweat from his forehead. He was hot. If she didn't cool him off soon, he would burn up.

  Okinu could see a small stream down below. "Wait here," she told the boy. "I'll go and wet my handkerchief." On the way back, she came to a sudden stop. "Hey! What's that?"

  Her eyes lit up and she ran the rest of the way back to the temple. There were ten beautiful leaves lying on the porch where she'd been sitting.

  "I know this leaf," she said. "It's a kind of medicine. My Grandma used it to make my father better when was sick. But what are they doing here? The goddess must have asked the silver fox to bring them here to help me."

  Quickly, Okinu knelt down and put her hands together. "Thank you, thank you," she prayed. "With your help, I know he will get well."

  She picked up the herbs and hurried behind the temple to nurse the sick boy back to health. She was so busy, she never even had time to thank the silver fox sitting off to the side, with a sad, lonely expression on his face.

  That night, when she came back, she found the lock on the temple door open and knew that the goddess had told the fox to do it so the boy could rest more comfortably inside.

  "Thank you, goddess, thank you," she prayed again. "Please help him get well."

  For ten days, Okinu returned to nurse the young boy, each time telling her parents she had to go help a young girl. If they knew it was a boy, they never would have let her go. She was much too young. His name was Shinsuke, and by the time his legs healed well enough to go back to Seki they had begun to think of themselves as husband and wife and made plans to marry. Without the ring, Okinu completely forgot the promise she had made to marry the handsome young man who gave her the ring in the fukata. But the fox didn't, believing in the ring's power. He kept bringing Okinu the medicinal herbs by day and watching over the rice in the fukata by night.

  Before they knew it, it was September and time for their wedding. The day before, a huge storm blew up and broke most of the heavy ears of rice in the fukata. But everyone at Okinu's house was too busy preparing for her wedding to try and save the stalks broken in the storm. Only the handsome young man with the magic, blue ring slaved away, running up and down the bamboo scaffolding to try and save the rice. He had promised Okinu he would protect her rice if she would marry him. He had no idea Okinu had forgotten and was about to marry Shinsuke.

  Oyae and everyone else who passed by the fukata that day tilted their heads in wonder at the stranger trying so hard to save Okinu's rice while she was getting ready to marry another man. But Oyae didn't worry about it too long. The strange powers in the stolen blue ring on her hand were making her act funny. She had an unexplained feeling of love in her heart, but she didn't know for who. It was making her restless and unable to work.

  That night, the great, silver moon came out and acting together with the ring's magic powers began to pull on Oyae's heart. Her chest began to thump with no reason and she broke into a sweat without knowing why.

  She grabbed one of the big, straw hats used to work in the fields and with her heart leading the way, ran as fast as she could to the fukata. Something was pulling her there. The second she saw the handsome young man saving the fallen rice in the fukata, she knew what it was. She was in love. Even though she had always been too afraid to enter the frightful fukata, she began to hurry across the grass footpath to the young man. But even with the moon so bright, she'd never been on that path before and her legs slipped out from under her.

  "Aah, help me!" she cried.

  The young man heard the scream and looked up from the rice. The straw hat was covering Oyae's face, but she looked like Okinu. Who else would be out in that rice field so late at night? And the voice sounded like Okinu's, too. He dropped everything and ran to help her.

  Oyae was holding on to the bamboo as tight as she could, but after the storm there was more water in the fukata than usual. And, in September the water was cold. She was starting to go numb.

  "Help me!" she cried again.

  The cold was spreading so quickly into her hands and feet that she let go of the bamboo and started to sink into the ooze.

  She fought to keep from sinking in the mud, but it was no use.

  By the time the young man got there, all that was left was her stained, muddy face under the straw hat and one hand sticking up from the mud; a hand wearing the magic, blue ring.

  "Okinu. My Okinu," the sad cry tore from his chest.

  But his voice was distant and it sounded like his mouth was full of mud. Oyae didn't understand what he said. Anyway, her ears were full of mud. But even as she sank deeper and deeper into the thick mud of the fukata, a happy feeling spread through her and warmed her bones. With the magic, blue stone on her left ring finger, she could die happily, knowing how much he loved her.

  As Oyae sank completely from sight, the silver fox let out an unearthly scream and ran from the fukata to Mt. Kannon. He never, ever took human form again. Later that night, the only thing left of Oyae was the sight of her straw hat caught up in the ears of rice by its chin strap, swaying like a dance in the night breeze.

  No one knows who started it, but from that night on, the fukata was known as the Hat Field and no one ever feared it again.

  ***THE END***

  THE MASK COUPLE

  By Masako Kakuda