In Dango Koro Koro, a Niigata folk tale published in 2000, an honest old man goes to work in the mountains and starts eating a dumpling his wife made for him, but the dumpling rolls down into a hole. The Buddhist guardian deity residing in the hole, Jizo Bodhisattva, ended up eating the dumpling.
The honorable Jizo tells the old man that he would bestow good fortune on the old man in return for the dumpling. He tells the old man that demons are about to start gambling there.
The old man returns home with the money he gets from the demons and rejoices with his wife. That’s when the greedy old woman next door hears about it and urges her lazy old husband to do the same thing as the old man, their next-door neighbor.
The lazy old man rolled some dumplings into the hole, but he was too greedy and made a big mistake in his haste. The demons beat him up and he gets badly injured. It is said that the greedy old woman waiting for the money fell off the roof.
On another note, Koroko, the roly-poly bug, who often visits the lazy and greedy old man and woman, tells the following story.
I’m Koroko, a roly-poly bug. I was clinging to a pillar and looking into the living room of a lazy and greedy old couple. That’s when the greedy old woman ran into their house and exclaimed to her husband, the old man.
“Hey, hey, my dear. The old man and woman next door got a lot of money. They were both happily counting their money. I heard the old man next door had rolled a dumpling into a hole and let the honorable Jizo eat it. The honorable Jizo told the old man that he would bring him good fortune and gave the old man some demons’ money. You can’t simply stay like this. You, too, should ask for a blessing from the honorable Jizo and get a lot of money.”
“What? Get a lot of money? How can we get the honorable Jizo to give us a blessing?”
“Let the honorable Jizo have some dumplings.”
“Did you say dumplings? I’d rather eat the dumplings myself than let the honorable Jizo eat them.”
“If you eat the dumplings, no money will come out.”
“Let me eat the dumplings first.”
“It’s a waste to let you eat the dumplings.”
“Let me eat the dumplings. Let me eat them.”
Here we go again. The quarrels between the greedy old woman and the stubborn old man started up. The old man was yelling and screaming for the old woman to let him eat the dumplings. He is a greedy, noisy, and stubborn old man.
All right. I’ll shut him up. I’ll pop him a good one in the eye.
I jumped up and got him right in the face. Bam!
Got him! Right in the eye!
“Owwwww!” the old man cried out again.
“What’s the matter with you?” the old woman said, not feeling at all sorry for him.
The old man sobbed and said, “You punched me!”
“What are you talking about? You damned old man. You’re still half asleep. Hmmm. What’s this?”
It looks like the old woman found me curled up on the dirt floor.
“Dear, I found something nice. It’s a roly-poly bug. It would be a waste to make dumplings and let the honorable Jizo eat them. Roll this roly-poly bug into the hole and get a blessing from the honorable Jizo. That’s how you can get some money. Stop whining about how your eye hurts or itches! Hurry up and get going!”
She put me in his hand and kicked him out of the house. Whomp!
“What a greedy old hag!”
He had no choice but to go to the mountains.
Even after arriving there, he kept saying over and over, “I want to eat dumplings. I want to eat dumplings.” Then he looked at me in the palm of his hand and remembered the money the old woman had said he should get.
He wandered around saying, “Which hole, which hole? Which hole leads to the honorable Jizo?”
Since I felt sorry for the old man, I guided him along, telling him, “This way, this way. This is the way to the honorable Jizo.”
He must have heard me because he said, “Oh, oh.” and rolled me on the ground.
Since I’m Koroko, the roly-poly bug, I rolled along the ground and rolled into the hole. Rolling and rolling.
The old man chased after me saying, “Koroko, wait for me! Koroko, wait for me.”
The old man came up to the honorable Jizo and asked, “Honorable Jizo, have you seen a dumpling roll here?”
The honorable Jizo replied with an apathetic look, “No, I didn’t see any dumplings.”
“No, I know a dumpling must have rolled here. Honorable Jizo, you have poor eyesight. Even though it’s a tiny dumpling, you can easily find it if you look for it carefully. It’s a small dumpling, but it’s not just an ordinary dumpling. It’s an extremely nutritious dumpling. Please enjoy the dumpling and offer me some money.”
“What? You old man, you came here to get some money? If you need any money, ask the demons who show up here when it becomes night.”
“OK. I got it. Now, Honorable Jizo, look carefully for the dumpling and enjoy it if you find it.”
After hearing that, the honorable Jizo bent over to look for the dumpling. That’s when the old man jumped on the honorable Jizo’s back and climbed up into the attic.
The greedy old man grinned and said, “Hee-hee. If I wait here for the demons, I’m sure they will bring some money.”
The honorable Jizo was looking for me, a little roly-poly bug, for a while. However, it must have been hard for him to find me because I’m so tiny. Besides, I probably wouldn’t taste as good as the dumplings made by the hard-working woman, the old man’s next-door neighbor. I quietly climbed up a pillar and went up to the attic. The greedy old man had already fallen fast asleep.
When night fell, a tepid wind blew. Red, blue, and mottled demons appeared out of nowhere. The greedy old man was asleep the whole time. His snoring was getting louder and louder. Gree, gree. Greedy, greedy. Gree, gree.
The demons looked at each other and said, “Hey, what is that sound?”
“I think it’s the sound of the wind.”
A red demon went out to look, but the wind wasn’t blowing.
“The honorable Jizo is groaning.”
A blue demon went to look and found the honorable Jizo quietly resting with his eyes closed.
Overhead, the old man’s snoring echoed louder and louder,“gree,gree, greedy, greedy,” showing no signs of ceasing.
Gree, gree. Greedy, greedy. Greedy, greedy.
“It’s a creepy night, isn’t it?”
The demons were all frightened by the greedy old man’s snoring.
This made me want to mess around with the demons.
OK, I’ll pop one in the eye.
Oomph!
I was like a bullet and hit the face of the mottled demon. Pow!
Yes, another bull’s-eye.
“Ow, ow! Waaah, waaah!” The mottled demon began crying in a pitiful voice.
“It hurts. I’m scared. Waaah, waaah!” He wouldn’t stop crying.
In the end, the chief demon told his underlings, “Let’s forget about gambling today.”
The demons left disappointedly.
Cock-a-doodle-doo, cock-a-doodle-doo.
The first rooster crowed.
The greedy old man was still fast asleep, snoring loudly.
Gree, gree. Greedy, greedy. Gree, gree.
Cock-a-doodle-doo, cock-a-doodle-doo.
The second and third roosters crowed.
Finally, the old man woke up. He yawned and said, “I guess it’s time for the demons to show up now. Hee hee hee.”
What? Are you talking in your sleep? While you were sleeping, they were already long gone, back to their lair.
The greedy old man is also a greedy sleeper. He slept a lot.
All of a sudden, a cheerful voice came from outside. “Good morning!”
“Oh, the demons are here, the demons are here, bringing some money.”
The greedy old man rushed outside.
“What? You’re my next-door neighbor, the old man. Aren’t the demons bringing some money?”
“Good morning, my next-door neighbor. I brought some dumplings to the honorable Jizo in return for the blessing he gave me the other day. Honorable Jizo. I am grateful for your gifts.”
The hard-working old man offered a whole bunch of dumplings to the honorable Jizo.
The honorable Jizo replied, “Oh, it’s good to see you again. Your dumplings were very delicious. Hey, greedy old man, why don’t you join me in enjoying these dumplings?”
“Oh, they look delicious. They are dumplings, real dumplings. Munch, munch.”
The greedy old man went crazy and gobbled them up in no time.
“Delicious, delicious.”
The honorable Jizo also said, “Delicious. Delicious.”
The honorable Jizo and the greedy old man enjoyed devouring the
real dumplings.
“These dumplings are delicious. These dumplings that the hard-working old woman prepared are so delicious, aren’t they? They are so delicious that my cheeks might fall off. Take some to share them with your wife.” The honorable Jizo suggested to the greedy old man.
The greedy old man couldn’t get any money from the demons, but he
enjoyed the delicious dumplings and got some souvenirs to take back home to his wife.
Since I am Koroko, the roly-poly bug, not a dumpling, I’m glad the honorable Jizo didn’t eat me.
Greedy old woman, help yourself to some real delicious dumplings.
The End
November 2021
with news of the first snowfall
Written by Yoko Tate
Translated and Recited by Masako Hayakawa
January 2025 recording
日本語版 朗読 楯よう子
「ダンゴムシころ子の語り」
朗読動画収録 2022年7月20日
種本 「団子ころころ」
新潟のむかし話 心をうたれてじーんとする話
朗読動画収録 2020年3月15日
ブログ 「転がる団子 押し込む団子」
令和２年弥生 夜が明けると４月
https://yuukyuujyou.hatenablog.com/entry/2020/03/31/124516
令和からの紙芝居と語り 悠久城風の間
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