Week 9 Reading: Japanese Fairy Tales (Ozaki), Part B

"The Ogre of Rashomon" Excerpt from Japanese Fairy Tales (1905) by Yei Theodora Ozaki. Source.

Illustration from Japanese Fairy Tales (1905) by Yei Theodora Ozaki

At the Rashomon gate of Kyoto, an Ogre is said to kidnap people and eat them. The people live terrified. Nearby is a general Raiko who once defeated many ogres. His knights hear about the ogre of Rashomon and are offended because their master was said to have made the ogres extinct. One knight named Watanabe volunteers to check on the gate, just in case. He comes across the ogre and cuts one arm off. Watanabe is worried that the still alive ogre will return for his arm. One night, his old nursemaid visits and asks to see the ogre's arm. Watanabe agrees and the nursemaid reveals herself to actually be the ogre, who runs off his the arm. The ogre escapes but never attacks again from fear of Watanabe.

Retelling Ideas:

What if the ogre is actually very nice and brings people to magical restaurants humans need an escort too. A traveler hears about the ogre taking people out to eat, but without knowing the context, assumes the ogre kills people then eats them. Watanabe sees the ogre and attacks blindly. Later Watanabe and the Ogre become allies to end Human-Ogre racism.