The Story of Donwan, the Goblin, Whose Nose Became Longer - 悠久城風の間　blog語り部のささやき

Life is troublesome. I wish I could simply sit in my nest and observe other people’s festivals, their dances, and their game of life. I was wondering if goblins, who are not really gods, and maybe, just maybe, you as well, felt this way. This would seem like an ideal cozy little paradise all of your own. However, this is actually a dangerous trap.

The people who read “The Goblin’s Straw Rain Cape and Sedge Hat of Invisibility” from Niigata’s Folk Tales Vol. 2 all shared their thoughts.

One of them stated, “The goblin was tricked by an old man and exchanged his straw rain cape and sedge hat of invisibility for the old man’s bamboo tube. The old man took the goblin’s straw rain cape and sedge hat of invisibility. Did the goblin simply give them up? Didn’t the goblin have any pride?”

Another commented, “The goblin must be surprisingly timid.”

One more wondered, “Did the goblin’s nose break off? What happened to his nose?”

Then, I interviewed the goblin. Here is his story.

I’m Donwan the goblin, living in the mountains of Echigo, donwan. I have wings. I can fly in the sky, free as a bird. I can fly anywhere. I can look over the land from the sky, donwan. It’s really fun. I really like festivals. I often fly all over the place, from east to south, to go see festivals such as the Nagaoka Fireworks of my hometown, festivals in Edo, and festivals in Kyoto, the capital, donwan. These festivals are so cheerful and lively. I go down to the villages and towns to enjoy feasts. Every treat is delicious. Of course, I behave myself because the people worship me as their guardian deity of the mountains, donwan.

However, when I’m sleeping in my goblin pine tree, my nesting place, some people say, “It’s a howling gale. The goblin must be roaring!”

I’m not snoring that loud, donwan.

When I turn in my sleep in my nest, some people say, “Oh, it’s an earthquake! The house is shaking! Trees will fall over. The goblin is shaking things up!”

Am I tossing and turning that much in my sleep? Dondon. Wanwan.

When I go down into a village, the children surround me and shout, “Oh, his face is so red. It’s the goblin. The goblin is here. Run away!”

My face is not red. I have fair skin. I’m a good-looking guy, donwan. I blush because I’m shy when women and children make a commotion. I have never attacked any women. I have never abducted any children to eat them, dodon, wan-wan.

The women, the kids, all the villagers are annoying and troublesome. They all blame me for whirlwinds, swaying trees, or missing children. “That’s the work of the goblin.” They blame all these bad things on me, dodon, wan-wan.

That’s why I wear my straw rain cape and sedge hat of invisibility. If I wear them, I’m invisible wherever I go. No one can see me. No matter how hard women try to find me, they won’t be able to. I don’t have to worry about being criticized or blamed by the villagers for every little thing. The kids don’t tease me. The women don’t chase me. I can relax, donwaaan.

One day, I was taking a nap in my goblin pine tree. The next thing I know, an old man was looking into a bamboo tube and shouting, “Look at that! Look at that! I can see them!

“What can you see?” I asked.

“Oh, festivals. I can see festivals. I can see people dancing. Look at them dancing!”

“What? Did you say you can see festivals? Well, let me take a look, too, donwan.”

“Wow, this is great! Amazing! How beautiful they are! The festival in Edo is gorgeous. The festival in Kyoto, the capital, is so elegant and refined.”

The old man continued to shout all by himself. He seemed not to hear me. I was wondering if I could see the festivals in Edo and Kyoto, the capital, from here just by looking into the bamboo tube. Is it possible to see the festival in Edo without flying to Edo? Is it possible to see the festival in Kyoto, the capital, without flying there? Could Edo and Kyoto, the capital, be inside the bamboo tube? Dodonwan.

Even the Great Goblin, my master, didn’t have such a precious device Donwan. Donwan. If I had that bamboo tube, I could relax and enjoy watching the festivals here in my goblin pine tree without being disturbed by villagers. Hmm, what a wonderful device.

“Hey, gramps. Let me borrow that bamboo tube.”

The old man refused right away.

If I could get my hands on that bamboo tube and watch festivals here in my nest, I wouldn’t need my straw rain cape and sedge hat of invisibility any longer. I finally persuaded the reluctant old man and traded my goblin straw rain cape and sedge hat of invisibility for his bamboo tube.

“Hee hee hee. Donwan. Donwan. Hee hee hee. Well, well. Let me take a look… What? That’s strange. I can’t see anything! What’s with this thing? Hmm. But that old man was really excited about seeing something in this tube. Is there a trick to it? Donwan.”

Licking my lips, I thoroughly examined the bamboo tube.

“I don’t understand, donwan.”

I sniffed it. Hmm. I stuck my nose into the bamboo tube. There was a subtle smell. Hmm. It smells suspicious.

I pushed my nose deeper into the bamboo tube. Hmmmm. Donwan. Where is this suspicious smell coming from?

Searching for the source of the smell, my nose wormed its way farther and farther into the bamboo tube, finally reaching the other end.

“Ugh, it stinks! Aargh, donwan, donwan!”

A stink bug was on the end of the bamboo tube. That stinker dropped a huge stink bomb on my nose!

“Aargh, donwan donwan, dodonwan!”

I was losing my mind because of the stench from the stink bug. I screamed. But the stink bug didn’t stop its stinking and made its way into my nostril.

“Ugh, I can’t breathe! It’s so ticklish! It’s so ticklish! Help me! I can’t take it anymore! Ah… ah… achoo! Dodonwaaan.”

What a huge sneeze! My loud sneeze reached high into the sky. My sneeze surprised the cat, Tora Nyago. The cat was blown far away, crying “nyago nyago.” (Please see “A Pastiche of Niigata’s Folk Tales No. 1 “Tora Nyago Tells Her Story.”)

Thanks to this sneeze, my nose finally popped out of the bamboo tube. The stink bug also flew away somewhere.

Whew! Thank God. What a relief! Donwan.

Huh? What? My nose! Oh my goodness! My nose was stretched out into the shape of the bamboo tube. It’s so much longer now. The long nose of a handsome fellow became much longer. Donwan.

Then, I looked again into the bamboo tube. What’s going on with this bamboo tube? Looking into it, I saw something. Yes, I saw something. Dodonwan, wan. A few minutes ago, I wasn’t able to see anything at all, because the stink bug was in the way. Since the stink bug flew away, I was finally able to see. Donwan.

Huh? What’s this? All I can see are my pine tree with my nest and cedar trees. That’s strange. How can I see the beautiful and great towns of Edo and Kyoto, the capital?

Is there some kind of trick to it? Donwan. I have no idea. I should ask the old man about it. I tried to find him while peering into the bamboo tube, donwan.

Arriving in a town, I saw people making a commotion about something.

“A face is lying on the ground.”

“What? That’s complete nonsense!”

“It’s a live face without a body or arms or legs.”

What? That’s ridiculous! Just a face is lying on the ground? Donwan, wan. Oh, I know. The old man must be wearing only the straw rain cape of invisibility and forgot to put on the sedge hat of invisibility That’s why only his face is visible. That face must be that old man’s face. Okay, I’ll go to him and ask him about the trick to use this bamboo tube. Dodonwan.

“Where is it? Where’s the face? Donwan.”

“It’s behind the liquor store.”

A huge crowd of townspeople rushed to go see it.

“Out of the way! Out of the way! I want to go see it.”

A girl who was babysitting rushed to the liquor store with a baby strapped to her back. The baby seemed so heavy and the girl couldn’t run very fast. The baby leaned back and cried, “Waah, waah!”

“Oh, this is perfect. Let’s put the baby here.”

The girl suddenly hung the baby carrier on my nose. Donwan. Free of her burden, she ran quickly to the liquor store.

“Hey, hey! Wait a second! I’m not some hook on a post! Don’t hang this baby on my nose! Donwaaan.”

The babysitter was already out of sight. I wanted to catch the babysitter, but I couldn’t fly because such a big baby was hanging off my nose. I’m not a stork.

“Waah, waah!” The baby was crying harder and harder.

“Oh, my dear. Calm down. Settle down. Dodonwan, wan.”

There was nothing to do but just swing my nose. The baby gently swayed back and forth, calmed down, and fell asleep. The babysitter returned. The girl said that the face lying on the ground suddenly disappeared.

Well, the old man must have put on the sedge hat of invisibility. Damn, I missed the old man again, donwan.

Since there was nothing else to do, I fiddled with the bamboo tube again but I still could not see Edo or Kyoto, the capital. Donwan.

After a while, I decided to ask the babysitter about it. “Hey, girl. Could you take a look in this bamboo tube? How can I see the great town of Edo or Kyoto, the capital? I can see a little bit of something nearby, but I want to see festivals in faraway towns. Donwan.”

“Mr. Goblin, what are you talking about? This is just a bamboo tube. Since its nodes were removed, you can see things nearby if you look through it, but there’s no way you can see the great town of Edo or Kyoto, the capital.”

“What? So, this is just a bamboo tube?”

“Yes, that’s right. It’s just a bamboo tube.”

“Whaaat? It’s just a bamboo tube? Dodonwan. Was I, a goblin, tricked by an old man?”

“You can see the things around you better without looking through the bamboo tube.”

“Dammit! That goddamned old man took my straw rain cape and sedge hat of invisibility. Dodonwaaaan. I have to get them back somehow.”

Just then, the old man came streaking through the town, buck naked.

“Oh, my god! You can see everything!” The girl blushed at the sight and screamed.

“Hey, old man! What did you do with the straw rain cape and sedge hat of invisibility?”

“My old lady burned them.”

“What? She burned that goblin treasure to ash? Dodonwaaan.”

The townspeople were laughing at the naked old man running through the town.

The babysitter also laughed out loud and said, “Mr. Goblin, whatever the case, you did a good job of getting the baby to fall asleep. You are good at babysitting.”

“Oh, no. I’m not really… Donwaaan.” I may have blushed.

“Mr. Goblin, please help me with babysitting from now on.”

Smiling happily, the girl hung the baby on my nose again. The baby immediately began sleeping soundly. I was happy, too. My long nose is more useful than I thought. I made friends with the girl. Donwan.

Since then, the goblin stopped sleeping his days away in the goblin pine tree. He often visited towns and villages and enjoyed spending time with the people by babysitting and playing with children. Any baby, hanging and swaying from the goblin’s nose in a basket, slept easily and soundly. Young children also really enjoyed swinging and playing on the goblin’s nose.

The End

October 2020

On a peaceful day even though the deities are all out of town

Written by Yoko Tate

Translated and Recited by Masako HayakawaIllustrated by Makiko Lockhart

May 11,2022 recording

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bVKhjTvA3oY

日本語版 朗読　楯よう子

パスティーシュ第3弾「天狗どんわんの語り」

朗読動画収録　2020年11月2日

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fQBK2SeV1Es

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