Taketori monogatari

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Princess Kaguya on the way to the Moon Palace

Taketori Monogatari ( Japanese 竹 取 物語 'The Story of the Bamboo Collector' ), also Kaguya-hime no Monogatari ( か ぐ や 姫 の 物語 , German "Story of Princess Kaguya") or Taketori no Okina no Monogatari ( 竹 取 翁 物語 ), is the oldest fairy-tale romantic story ( monogatari ) in Japan .

The author and the exact date of origin are unknown, but it is believed that it was written around 900. The story is about Princess Kaguya (Kaguya-hime) from the moon, who is found by a bamboo collector as a tiny foundling and grows into a radiantly beautiful woman in the truest sense of the word. Five aristocratic love adventurers try to free them, but all fail at a task that Kaguyahime gives each of the five. Even the emperor cannot achieve it. In the end, the beautiful Kaguyahime returns to a supernatural being transfigured as a princess in the Palace of the Moon and thus leaves this world.

overview

The text of the Taketori Monogatari is a mixture of Kanji and Kana , the Kanji-Kana-majiribun , and has influences from mainland China. The story begins with the phrase common for Monogatari, but also for fairy tales : “ima wa mukashi” (「今 は 昔」) - “once upon a time”. The Japanese text is divided into nine sections, resulting in a very logical and chronological structure. Kaguyahime's communication with the five applicants never takes place face-to-face in a dialogical manner - rather, she alternately exchanges a waka (poem).

action

The bamboo cutter takes Princess Kaguya home with him (drawing by Tosa Horomichi / Tosa Hirosumi, around 1650)

A childless bamboo collector named Sakaki no Miyatsuko notices a glowing bamboo one day while working in the forest, in which a tiny human three inches ( sun ) is hidden. He takes it home to tease it off with his wife. In the months that followed, the old bamboo cutter found a piece of gold here and there between the bamboo. The child grows up quickly, is radiantly beautiful, which is why the summoned Imbe no Akita by Mimurodo gives her the name “Nayotake no Kaguyahime” ( な よ 竹 の 赫 映 姫 Princess of Lights ).

As she grows up, she is widely known for her beauty, and many admirers set out to attract her. After a long wait, only five aristocratic love adventurers hold out. In order to find out how serious the applicants are and whether they have just a little depth of feeling, Kaguyahime gives everyone a task that they should solve: Prince Ishitsukuri ( 石作皇 子 , Ishitsukuri no miko , literally: "Prince Steinmetz") should find the stone bowl of the Buddha . Prince Kuramochi ( 車 持 皇子 , Kuramochi no miko , literally: "Prince wagon owner") carries it on, a branch from a legendary tree, whose roots are made of silver, whose trunk consists of gold and whose fruits are precious stones, from Mount Hōrai in the Eastern Sea bring to. Udaijin Abe no Mimuraji ( 阿 倍 御 主人 ) is said to have found a fur coat made from fire rat ( 火 鼠 , including, in the land of Morokoshi (i.e. China). Dainagon Ōtomo no Miyuki ( 大 伴 御 行 ) is commissioned to find the dragon jewel that is in a dragon's forehead and shimmers in five colors. Chūnagon Isonokami no Marotari ( 石 上 麻 呂 (足) ) has Kaguyahime to bring a shell for easy childbirth like the swallows possess.

The story of Prince Ishitsukuri

After Prince Ishitsukuri has pondered how he could find a stone bowl in India that only exists once, he decides not to even dare to travel. Instead, he lets Kaguyahime report that he has left for India, only to appear three years later with a profane black bowl from a mountain temple in Tōchi near Kaguyahime. Kaguyahime realizes that she did not receive the desired bowl and refuses any further solicitation by the prince.

The story of Prince Kuramochi

The cunning prince Kuramochi embarks under the eyes of his entourage to go in search of the mountain Hōrai. In truth, however, he secretly returns three days later and calls the best craftsmen to a secretly arranged hiding place so that they can make the required branch. After around 900 days the work is done and the prince brings the branch to Kaguyahime, so that his task appears to have been accomplished. So the old bamboo collector begins to prepare the bedchamber for the prince and Kaguyahime. In the meantime, the prince describes his adventurous search and its supposedly happy end in extravagance. As soon as the prince finishes his story, the craftsmen appear at the old bamboo collector to claim their wages for their work. The prince's dizziness is discovered and so he too fails, the goal within reach.

The story of Abe no Mimuraji

Abe no Mimuraji, who belongs to an influential family, asks Wang Hi in the country of Morokoshi to get him the fur of the fire rat and send it by ship. For this he sends his supposedly sincere servant Ono no Fusamori to deliver the request. Wang Hi sends the servant back with the answer that there is no such fur coat in Morokoshi and that he will try to get it in India. When the servant returns, however, he not only presents his master with the fur he had hoped for, but also an outstanding bill for 50 ounces of gold. Abe no Mimuraji, too, rushes to Kaguyahime at one foot and brings the fire rat's incombustible fur. The suspicious Kaguyahime then tests the fur in the fire and also exposes this fraud.

The story of Ōtomo no Miyuki

The Dainagon calls all its subjects together and dispatches them, no matter what the cost, to find a dragon from which to snatch the shimmering jewel. The servants do not really know how to solve this impossible task of their master, and scatter to the winds. When no progress can be seen for a year, Ōtomo sets out on a ship himself to kill a dragon. He gets caught in a violent storm that nearly kills him, and he returns to Akashi Beach, sick. Once there, the feeling creeps up on him that a dragon has conjured up the storm. With the prospect of winning the jewel the wrath of a dragon that brings only misery and grief, he gives up his attempt to solve Kaguyahime's task.

The story of Isonokami no Marotari

In order to obtain the mussel with ease, Isonokami has his servants build swallow nests and watch the swallows lay eggs. The large number of servants frightened the swallows, so that, following Kuratsumaro's advice, he only allowed one nest to be observed. At the end, impatiently, he lets himself be pulled in a basket under the ceiling of the pantry to grab the shell he needs. When it seems to succeed, he is so impetuous that he falls out of the basket and falls onto a bronze cauldron. He is disappointed to find that he has grabbed a pile of swallow droppings instead of the mussel. A few days later he dies as a result of his injuries.

Princess Kaguya leaves for the moon (drawing by Tosa Horomichi / Tosa Hirosumi, around 1650)

The Emperor's wooing and Kaguyahime's homecoming

After the five nobles failed, the emperor was also interested in Kaguyahime. He sends a messenger to fathom the fascination that emanates from her and to learn more about her fabulous beauty. After Kaguyahime refuses to face the messenger, he arranges a chance meeting with the old bamboo collector during a hunt. Kaguyahime is surprised by the emperor in the forest, but refuses him. When the emperor tries to get hold of it, it shuts off its glow and becomes a shadow. The emperor complies, returns to the palace without having achieved anything, and begins a three-year correspondence with Kaguyahime.

So the time goes by until Kaguyahime gazes sorrowfully at the moon in the full moonlight of the 15th day in the 7th month. Less than a month later, she revealed to the bamboo collector and his wife that she was “a person from the capital of the moon” ( 月 の 都 , Tsuki no miyako ) and that the time had come to return. It is inevitable that immortal beings pick her up and bring her home to the Moon Palace. The emperor, who hears of this, sends Takano no Ōkuni with 2,000 men to prevent their return. The plan fails and Kaguyahime disappears in a cloud car back to the moon palace. She leaves her earthly parents as well as the emperor with a letter and a potion that confers immortality. The bamboo collector and his wife died a short time later in grief over the loss of their child.

The emperor sends Tsuki no Iwakasa with a large retinue of warriors as well as the drink and the letter to a mountain that is close to heaven. The imperial messenger was given the task of carrying both to the mountain and burning them there.

“And since then this mountain has been called Mount Fuji (because that means 'rich in warriors', but it also means immortality). It is said that that smoke still rises into the clouds. "

- Naumann : The magic bowl, p. 71

variants

There are different versions of the legend of the moon princess. The story is common in much of Asia, but also in Scotland and Ireland. Several variants are explained below, which are not always part of the story.

Reason for the moon princess to appear on earth

Different reasons are given why Kaguya is sent to earth. Most of the time she has done something or committed a crime, in other versions she is brought to safety on earth because of a war on the moon. She then has to go back to the moon because the war is over.

The admirers

The names of the suitors are not always as stated. In some stories, too, they have to wait a long time to receive the tasks. You are then the most patient. The types of failure in the orders are also described differently. According to some versions, the first admirer returns with a false bowl of the Buddha, according to others he finds nothing and does not return out of pride. The others usually come around trying to complete the tasks.

Parents' reward

According to some versions of the story, parents are given a holy robe, hagoromo, as thanks on departure .

reception

literature

  • Takada Takafumi ( 高田 崇 史 , * 1958) used the material for a series of detective novels under the title QED Taketori Densetsu ( QED 竹 取 伝 説 )

Film and music

Use in popular culture

  • In the 2nd film for the anime and manga Inu Yasha , Inu Yasha - The Castle Beyond the Looking Glass , Princess Kaguya is borrowed from this Japanese fairy tale.
  • She plays a leading role in the series Sailor Moon and in the second film Snow Princess Kaguya .
  • In the PlayStation 2 and Wii game Ōkami , she appears as a supporting character ( non-player character ).
  • In the PC dōjin game Touhou by Team Shanghai Alice, she plays a main role as the boss, together with modifications of the 5 impossible tasks.
  • Based on the story, the manga and animated film series The Queen of a Thousand Years was created , the original title of which is Shin Taketori Monogatari: Sen-nen joō (German: "The new story of the bamboo cutter: The Queen of a Thousand Years").
  • The manga and anime series Ayashi no Ceres tells a continuation of the story by having the main characters appear as rebirths of characters or elements that carry the story.
  • In the manga series Princess Sakura by Arina Tanemura , Kaguya is said to be the grandmother of the main character.
  • In the manga and anime series Naruto and Naruto Shippūden by Masashi Kishimoto , Kaguya Ōtsutsuki is the first person who can control the energy chakra and is also the boss of the plot.

Trivia

The quasi- parthenogenetically generated mouse Kaguya and the asteroid Kaguyahime (7991) were named after the princess from history. The Japanese lunar probe was also given the name Kaguya .

literature

  • Hisako Matsubara : This-sidedness and transcendence in the Taketori-Monogatari . Doctoral thesis, University of Bochum 1970

Translations and retelling

  • Frederick Victor Dickins: Primitive & Mediaeval Japanese Texts . Translated into English with Introductions Notes and Glossaries. Clarendon Press, Oxford 1906, pp. 314–379 ( digitized in the Internet Archive - annotated, English translation of the Man'yōshū and the Taketori Monogatari).
  • Hanns Maria Lux : The girl from the bamboo forest. A strange story from ancient Japan. Ensslin & Laiblin Verlag, Reutlingen 1954 (free retelling without claim to text accuracy, in places with abbreviations or embellishments)
  • Hisako Matsubara : The story of the bamboo collector and the girl Kaguya . Langewiesche-Brandt publishing house, Ebenhausen near Munich 1968 ( review from December 12, 1969 )
  • Nelly Naumann , Wolfram Naumann: The magic bowl. Tales of the life of Japanese women, monks, masters and servants. 1st edition. Deutscher Taschenbuch Verlag (dtv), Munich 1990, ISBN 3-423-11296-4 , The story of the bamboo collector, p. 45–70 (translation from Japanese).
  • Gerhard Staufenbiel: The story of the bamboo collector . In: How the God of Thunder once fell into the well. Japanese fairy tales and myths, retold to read aloud or read yourself . tredition, 2010, ISBN 978-3-86850-627-3 , p. 45–52 ( limited preview in Google Book Search - this is a retelling and does not claim to be accurate in the text).

Web links

Commons : Taketori Monogatari  - collection of images, videos and audio files
Wikisource: 竹 取 物語  - Sources and full texts (Japanese)

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ 竹 取 物語 . In: デ ジ タ ル 版 日本人 名 大 辞典 + Plus at kotobank.jp. Retrieved June 12, 2012 (Japanese).
  2. ↑ a b Shūichi Katō : A History of Japanese Literature . tape 1 . Kodansha, Tokyo 1981, ISBN 4-7700-0973-9 , pp. 121 .
  3. ↑ Taketori monogatari. University of Virginia Library, 2001, accessed June 14, 2012 (「名 を ば 讃 岐 造 麿 と な む い ひ け る.」).
  4. ↑ Nelly and Wolfram Naumann: The magic bowl . S. 45 (Naumann indicates Sakaki no Miyatsuko.).
  5. ↑ Karl Florenz : History of the Japanese literature . CF Amelangs Verlag, Leipzig 1909, p. 162 (Florence indicates Sanugi no Miyatsuko Maro.).
  6. ↑ Taketori monogatari. University of Virginia Library, 2001, accessed June 14, 2012 (「名 を ば 三室 戸 齋 部 秋田 を 呼 び て つ け さ す。 秋田 、 、 な よ 竹 の 赫 映 映 姫 と つ け つ.」).
  7. ↑ Nelly and Wolfram Naumann: The magic bowl . S. 45 .
  8. ↑ Karl Florenz: History of the Japanese literature . S. 162 (Florence translates as: "Miss Leuchteglanz".).
  9. ↑ Karl Florenz: History of the Japanese literature . S. 162 (Florence states "Abe Miushi".).
  10. ↑ Karl Florenz: History of the Japanese literature . S. 162 (Florence states "Isonokami no Marotaka".).
  11. ↑ Nelly and Wolfram Naumann: The magic bowl . S. 46 + 48 .
  12. ↑ Taketori monogatari. University of Virginia Library, 2001, accessed June 14, 2012 (「心 確 な る を 選 び て 、 小野 房 守 と い ふ 人 を 附 け て 遣 は す.」).
  13. ↑ Nelly and Wolfram Naumann: The magic bowl . S. 56-59 .
  14. ↑ Taketori monogatari. University of Virginia Library, 2001, accessed 14 June 2012 Google ( 「くらつ麿申すやう,「燕は子産まむとする時は,尾をさゝげて,七度廻りてなむ,産み落すめる.」( Kuratsumaro said when the swallows give birth, they raise their tails, turn seven times and give birth).).
  15. ↑ Nelly and Wolfram Naumann: The magic bowl . S. 64 .
  16. ↑ Taketori monogatari. University of Virginia Library, 2001, accessed June 14, 2012 (「そ の よ し 承 り て 、 兵士 ど も 數 多 具 し て 山 へ 登 り け る よ り り な む 、 そ の 山 を ば ふ じ の る だ。 け け づ と。 け 名 づ づ と。 け 名 づ づ と。 未 づ づ と。 け 名 づ づ と。 け 名 づ と け 名 づの 中 へ 立 ち 昇 る と ぞ い ひ 傳 へ た る.」. The name is based on the reading of fushi 不死 (" immortal ") and fuji 富士 (" rich in warriors ").).
  17. ↑ Karl Florenz: History of the Japanese literature . CF Amelangs Verlag, Leipzig 1909, p. 161 .