According to legend, a hag never dies. A hag can live forever. She continues to live even though she has lost her youthfulness and has become hideous. She lives on shamelessly, wretchedly devouring whatever she can get her hands on.
I wonder if I might become such a hag without knowing it? I would hate that! However, I may already be halfway to becoming a hag.
The people who read “The Mackerel Monger and the Hag” from Niigata’s Folk Tales Vol. 2 shared their comments.
One of them stated, “What a glutton the hag was! She wolfed down all of the mackerel, completely devoured the ox, and even tried to eat the mackerel monger himself!”
Another commented, “The hag was originally a human, wasn’t she? I heard she was devoted to and worshipped the God of Fire.”
One more said, “Even though she has a voracious appetite, she does have a few charms,” and wondered, “What happened to her in the past?”
Then, I interviewed the hag who was once a celestial mother and who had attacked the mackerel monger.
It seems people call me a hag. I didn’t particularly want to become a hag. I wonder how many hundreds of years have passed since I descended to the land of Echigo. I was born in the celestial realm of Tenjuku, where we never get old, never get sick. One day, I happened to descend to the land of Echigo by sheer chance and I wasn’t able to return to Tenjuku. People get old here on earth, but I still continue to live on since I never get sick. In the realm of Tenjuku, I was known as a maiden with the beauty of the fragrance of flowers.
But now, my hair is a total mess, the corners of my mouth are up by my ears, and my eyes are googly, which scares everyone away. They all shout “Here comes a horrible hag!” Let them do what they want.
Anyway, I’m wondering when Kotaro will return home. (Please refer to “The Story of a Celestial Wife” from Niigata’s Folk Tales Vol. 2 and Pastiche No.7 “The Story of Celestial Mother, Kakka.”)
After Jisama, my old husband, died, only two of us, Kotaro and myself, were living together. Farming the field that Jisama left us, we enjoyed a happy life even though we were not rich.
Several years later, Kotaro grew up and left me, complaining that our small field was not large enough for us to harvest enough to eat. He said, “I want to become a mackerel monger.” He joined an old man who had come to our village with an ox carrying loads on its back.
“Kakka, mom. I’ll return home with some mackerel. Please wait for me.”
“OK, Kotaro. I’ll be waiting for you. Take care.”
“As you are my mother, I’ll never get sick.”
Oh, yes. That’s right. I was once a celestial being and I gave birth to Kotaro. He is as strong and healthy as me, so I’m sure he’ll never get sick. Waving to him, I saw him off.
Since then, I have been waiting for him to come back. As Kotaro is my dutiful son, I’m sure he’ll be back with a lot of mackerel.
Whenever there is an ox slowly plodding up the mountain pass, I usually go and take a look.
“Hey, hey, Kotaro. Is that you?”
Then, the ox lows, “Moo, moo.”
“Kotaro, is that you?”
When I call Kotaro’s name, the man traveling with the ox carrying loads on its back is always surprised to see me and runs away, leaving his ox behind. It’s definitely not Kotaro.
The ox with a huge load of salted mackerel on its back kept lowing, “Moo, moo.” There’s nothing else I can do but simply eat the mackerel it’s carrying and then move on to the ox itself.
So far, I have eaten a quite lot of mackerel as well as oxen. Then, I get hungry again.
It should be time for Kotaro to come home.
I kept waiting for Kotaro to come back every day, wondering if he would be back today or maybe tomorrow.
Finally, a young man leading an ox was climbing up the mountains. The ox plodded slowly up the mountainous path. The young man was desperately trying to goad the ox to climb up the path.
“Come on! Move faster!”
The young man whipped the ox’s rear with his cane. Snap, snap! The ox’s hooves sounded on the rocks. Clip-clop, clip-clop! (The sound of hooves in Japanese is expressed as kakka.)
Kakka, kakka, kakka…
“Wait! Did someone say Kakka? Kotaro? Is that you, Kotaro?”
“Oh, my goodness! Kotaro. Welcome back, welcome back! I’m here. Your Kakka is here.” I waved to Kotaro.
I thought Kotaro would jump right into my arms.
But, he didn’t.
“Hey!”
He pulled a mackerel from the load on the ox’s back and threw it to me.
“Oh, Kotaro. You brought salted mackerel for me.”
I was so grateful. Munch, munch. Munch, munch. I ate the salted mackerel. Just as I finished off the first one, another mackerel came flying at me. I ate that one up, too. Munch, munch. Munch, munch.
“This mackerel is so delicious, Kotaro.”
Soon after, more mackerel came flying my way, one after another.
“Oh, my, this is so good. The mackerel you brought me are so delightful, Kotaro.”
I was thankful and wolfed down all the mackerel. When I looked up after I finished the mackerel, I saw the ox come flying at me.
“Kotaro, you have grown so strong! You can even throw an ox to me. What a dutiful son you have become!”
I ripped into the ox’s belly with my teeth and devoured it. The ox was also delicious. It was quite filling.
“Well, I’m full now.”
I suddenly realized that Kotaro had disappeared.
“Kotaro, Kotaro. Where did you go? Where are you?”
It’s been such a long while. Maybe he’s feeling shy? Yes, that’s right. That’s just like him. Ha, ha, ha.
“Kotaro.” I gently called out his name. “What’s the matter, Kotaro?”
Oh, yes. That’s right. When he was little, we used to play hide and seek.
“OK, Kotaro. I’m it. Here I come.”
I ran around and looked for Kotaro.
“My little Kotaro, where are you? Mommy will find you.”
Before I knew it, the moon was out. I was at the edge of a pond. I saw Kotaro floating on the water of the pond.
“Oh, Kotaro. This is where you were. I found you, Kotaro.”
I jumped into the pond and gathered him up into my arms.
“What?”
Kotaro, who was supposed to be in my arms, disappeared.
“Kotaro, where are you?”
I went to the bottom of the pond, where I found a huge snake.
“Mr. Huge Snake, has Kotaro been here?”
“No, he’s not here.”
“I thought I had him, but he disappeared from my arms. I wonder where he has gone.”
“Hag, Kotaro must have entered your heart. That’s why you cannot see him.”
“Oh, is that so?”
I got out of the pond and went home.
“Oh, it’s cold! Well, why don’t I toast some pounded rice cakes?”
I put some rice cakes on a grill at the edge of the fire pit.
What a pity! Kotaro finally came home, but then disappeared. Why did he disappear? The huge snake said that Kotaro entered my heart. Is he in my heart? At that time, I was hugging Kotaro. Well, maybe… maybe… Hmm…
My mouth was open wide because I was so pleased to see Kotaro. I may have swallowed Kotaro in spite of myself. I hope not. If so, Kotaro must be in my belly now.
Kotaro… Kotaro… Hmm… Hmm…
I seemed to have fallen asleep while I was warming my backside with the fire.
Then I woke up.
“Well, well. Are the pounded rice cakes ready?” I looked at the grill in the fire pit.
“Whoa! What? The rice cakes are all gone. Who took them?”
“Kotaro, Kotaro.”
I heard a voice from somewhere.
“Hmm. Did Kotaro do that? If it was Kotaro, I cannot blame him. Did he appear and eat the rice cakes? Is that possible?”
Then I hung a pot on the hearth pothook and warmed sweet sake in it. I seemed to have fallen asleep while warming myself up with the fire and thinking about Kotaro.
I woke up and wondered, “Well, is the sweet sake warm now?”
I found the pot empty and nothing was left.
“Who did this? Who drank my sweet sake?”
“Kotaro, Kotaro.”
Again, I heard a faint voice.
“Hmm. Was it Kotaro? If so, I don’t mind. Kotaro must have come out and drunk all the sweet sake. I know that he really loves sweet sake.”
I wonder if Kotaro shows up when I fall asleep. That’s weird. Hmm, why don’t I go to sleep earlier this evening?
“Well, which is better, a stone storage box or a wooden storage box? I wonder which one is better?”
After I said this, I heard a faint voice saying, “The wooden storage box. The wooden storage box.”
Kotaro is saying he prefers the wooden storage box, so that’s what I’ll choose.
I got into the wooden storage box. After a while, my body warmed up.
“Well, Kotaro. Are you hiding in my heart or in my belly? Kakka, your mom, cannot see you. You don’t have to hide yourself. You can come out now.”
And then I fell asleep.
In the Niigata folktale, the mackerel monger was hiding in the loft and came down and poured boiling water over the wooden storage box, and the hag died due to serious burns. The mackerel monger, whose mackerel and ox were eaten by the hag, was able to get his revenge. It’s a happy ending to the story!
But, if this hag was a former celestial being, she wouldn’t die just because boiling water was poured on her. If she really had perished, this interview would not have been possible. When did the hag wake up again? You’ll have to wait for the next story!
The End
In February 2021,
when earthquakes come upon us as if they are our recollections
Written by Yoko Tate
Translated and Recited by Masako Hayakawa
Illustrated by Makiko Lockhart
March 2023 recording
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xuio99UycvY
日本語版
朗読 楯よう子
「天下りかっかー鬼婆になっての語り」
朗読動画収録 2021年3月16日
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=06ztUUOYyA8
ブログ
パスティーシュ第10弾
越後の地でいつまでも生き続ける「天下りかっかー鬼婆になっての語り」
