Japanese Tales (The Pantheon Fairy Tale and Folklore Library)

Japanese Tales (The Pantheon Fairy Tale and Folklore Library)

Royall Tyler

Language: English

Pages: 400

ISBN: 0375714510

Format: PDF / Kindle (mobi) / ePub


Here are two hundred and twenty dazzling tales from medieval Japan, tales that welcome us into a fabulous, faraway world populated by saints and scoundrels, ghosts and magical healers, and a vast assortment of deities and demons. Stories of miracles, visions of hell, jokes, fables, and legends, these tales reflect the Japanese worldview during a classic period in Japanese civilization. Masterfully edited and translated by the acclaimed translator of The Tale of Genji, these stories ably balance the lyrical and the dramatic, the ribald and the profound, offering a window into a long-vanished though perennially fascinating culture.

Part of the Pantheon Fairy Tale and Folklore Library

The Saké Handbook

Popular Hits of the Showa Era: A Novel

A Modern History of Japan: From Tokugawa Times to the Present

Welcome to the NHK

Nation and Nationalism in Japan

The Perfumed Sleeve (Sano Ichiro, Book 9)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

center of Buddhism was now Japan. So old, complex, and sophisticated a religion is hard to summarize, even for the limited purpose of introducing these stories. Perhaps it is best to begin with some basic terms. This book is full of Buddhist “monks,’’ with a few “priests” scattered here and there. Some were saintly, some frivolous, some worldly and rich. The religious or quasi-religious population was large, as in medieval Europe, and many monks who appear in these stories were sons of great

no Tadayuki of nos. 162 and 165. O f course, all dates in this book have been converted to the modern Western calendar. People’s names, then as now in Japan, were written with the surname first, but they were a little different in other ways from their modern counterparts. For example, the full name of the regent in no. 47 is Fujiwara no Tadazane. “ Fujiwara” is his family or clan name; "no ” is a particle like the French de or the German von; and “Tadazane” is his personal name. In other

at the holy man, then paint his portrait while he and Kazan talked. As the painter worked, the mountain rumbled and shook — in response, as the astonished Kazan immediately realized. Kazan confessed his plan to Shoku and revered him even more after that. Now, the painter had neglected to put in a few moles on Shoku’s face. One tremor, which almost made him drop his brush, shook several drops of ink off onto the portrait. To everyone’? amazement they corresponded precisely to the moles. The

They chased the dog away. “W ell, I ’m sure you feel fine now ,” said Takatoki, speaking quite consciously to the god. “I think I ’ll be going. Thank you very much lor having had me to play for you! I promise you music at your shrine, too. ” Saemon no J o lay unconscious till late afternoon while Takatoki, very upset over what had happened, took his two sisters to the Fukutenjin Shrine and went on playing the of the god. koto and biwa with them, for the pleasure J A P A N E S E T

the missed opportunity, brought Heichu to the last pitch of despair. "W ell, let the day d a w n !” his mind ran on. "I don’t care, I’m going to sleep right here, and if they come in and find me, so much the better! ” But as dawn actually approached and he heard the household waking up, he decided that discretion was the better part of valor and sneaked quickly off while it was still dark. Forever after, Heichu longed to hear some rumor about Jiju that would really put him off her, but since he

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