The Children and the Wind Spirit

Peach Boy

The Rolling Rice Ball

The Sparrow with the Split Tongue

The Sparrow with the split tongue

shita kiri suzume

Long long ago there lived and old man and an old woman in a land far away. One day, as the old lady was seasoning her rice with seaweed, a sparrow swooped down and licked the seaweed topping. It was not just any sparrow, but the cute sparrow that the old man loved and spoiled.

“Little sparrows who lick this old lady’s rice toppings are enemies!” the old lady cried out angrily. The old lady grabbed the sparrow and got hold of the little sparrow’s tongue. She was so angry that she cut the sparrow’s tongue. The little sparrow cried out in pain and flew away.

“Wife! What have you done to the cute little sparrow?” asked the old man.

“I don’t know about cute little sparrows, but a bad little sparrow came and licked my precious seaweed rice topping. I taught him a lesson by cutting his tongue!”

“You have done a terrible deed!” cried the old man. “You acted very badly just to take revenge!” The old man was very worried about his favourite little sparrow. He put on his red vest and took out his can and went to find the home of the little sparrow’s family.

As the old man walked along, searching for the sparrow’s family, he came upon a man washing his horse. “Pardon me, sir,” the old man said, “have you seen a sparrow with a split tongue pass by this way?” The man was annoyed that the old man interrupted his work of washing the horse. He told the old man, “If you drink three big drinks of the water I’ve used to wash this horse, then I’ll tell you whether I’ve seen a sparrow with a split tongue.”

Gulp Gulp Gulp. The old man drank the dirty water three times.

“Very well,” the man said, “the little sparrow went that way.” The old man went on his away again. After some time, the old man came upon a man washing a cow. “Pardon me , sir,” the old man said, “but have you seen a sparrow with a split tongut pass by this way?” The man washing the cow was also annoyed that the old man had interruped his work. “If you take three big drinks of the water I’ve used to wash this cow, then I’ll tell you whether I’ve seen a sparrow with a split tongue.

Gulp Gulp Gulp. The old man drank the dirty water three times. The man washing the cow pointed in the direction of the bamboo grove and said, “The little sparrow went that way.”

The old man wandered into the bamboo grove and finally found the home of the cute little sparrow’s family.

“Parents of the cute little sparrow? My wife has cut the tongue of your little sparrow. I am here to apologize for the terrible deed,” the old man said humbly.

“Old man, you have nothing to apologize for,” the parents of the little sparrow said. “You have always been kind to our little sparrow and treated him with great kindness.”

The little sparrow was delighted to see the old man. He brought a golden bowl and silver chopsticks to the old man and brought him many delicious foods.

“Old man, we want to give you a chest full of gifts to thank you for travelling so far to see us,” the sparrow’s parents said. “Would you like a large chest or a small chest of gifts?”

“I am an old man with little strength,” the old man said, “so it would be better for me to take a small, light chest.” And so the old man was given a small, light chest of gifts.

“Do not open the chest along the way,” the little sparrow with the split tongue said. “Wait until you have returned home.” The old man took heed of the little sparrow’s words. He carried the chest home without opening it. When he finally returned home, he opened the chest and found a big surprise! The chest was filled with gold coins!

“Husband, you have done a noble deed,” the old lady said as she looked at the chest filled to the brim with gold. “I will also go to visit the family of the little sparrow and apologize for my behaviour!” And so the old lady followed the path travelled by the old man and came upon the home of the family of the little sparrow.

The family of the little sparrow was delighted that the old lady had come to call on them. After presenting the old lady with a delicious meal, the little sparrow’s parents said, “Old lady, we would like to give you a chest of gifts to thank you for coming to see us. Would you prefer a large chest or a small chest?” they asked.

The old lady replied, “I am a strong old lady. A big, heavy chest would be just right for me.”

The old lady received a large, heavy chest. She heaved the heavy load onto her back and headed for home. “This is a very heavy chest, indeed,” the old lady said as she struggled her way home. “I wonder what is inside? I must check!” The old lady had soon forgotten the warning of the little sparrow. The little sparrow had told her before she left that she mustn’t open the chest until she had returned safely home. “What could be inside this heavy chest?” she thought instead. In the middle of the mountain path, the old lady could not resist any longer. She set the chest down and opened the lid.

“Yikes!” the old lady cried out. A snake sprang from the chest! But that’s not all! The chest burst open with goblins, snakes, cow dung and monsters. Frightening creatures of every type sprang out of the big chest. The old lady was so surprised that she fell over backwards and landed squarely on her bottom!

There are a few points in this story that I found surprising. First of all, I found the ending to be a bit anti-climatic. Being used to western fairytales and Aesop fables where the moral of the story is spelled out in black and white, I found this ending uncomfortable because I felt a desperate need to end some sort of moralizing phrase at the end. Of course, the moral of the story is evident-be kind to others and don't be greedy, but still the story feels somehow incomplete to me because we don't hear the old lady saying that she has learned her lesson.

The second point I found a bit strange was the old man being forced to drink the dirty water used to wash the cow and the horse. I actually added in an explanation of why he was made to drink this water (having interrupted and annoyed the men at work). This was not actually explicit in the original Japanese story. Though the reason seems to have been perfectly clear to Japanese readers, I personally was unable to find the reason by myself.

A third point that is unusual by western standards is the mention of cow dung. There seems to be a taboo in English concerning the mention of human or animal excrement. This taboo doesn't exist to the same extent in Japanese and you will also find mention of cow dung in another tale, The Monkey and the Crab. I have heard one explanation for the presence of excrement in traditional Japanese tales: Japanese fairytales don't have the same level of horror found in western fairytales where young children often risk being eaten and beautiful women risk being murdered. Excrement is a substitute for portraying awfulness in Japanese stories that are not as violent as their western counterparts. Indeed I can see the logic in this explanation, as I would certainly feel horrified to have cow dung spring out of a chest and land on me!