The Story of Nyako, the Monster Calico Cat - 悠久城風の間　blog語り部のささやき

According to Getting Rid of a Monster Cat, a Niigata folk tale published in the year 2000, an old woman was very troubled because her old calico cat began attacking and eating chickens throughout the entire village. She discussed the problem with her son and they decided that the only way to get rid of the cat was by throwing it into a river.
Upon hearing that, the calico cat ate the old woman, disguised itself as her, and entered her house. Noticing what happened, her son gathered all of the villagers and they eliminated the monster cat.
That is what the folk tale describes. However, I wonder if it is true that the calico cat died with its blood splattered all over the buckwheat field.

I am Nyako, the calico cat. I have lived in Yosaku’s house since I was born, meow.
When I was a kitten, I was afraid of mice, meow. The mice ran around so quickly, but as I grew, I became able to chase them and snatch them up in my mouth, meow, meow.
When I showed the old woman in the house the mice I had caught, she was so happy, meow. I did my best to catch mice. Catching mice became so interesting, meow, meow.
I got faster and faster. I caught more and more mice and ate them, meow, meow.
All the mice in Yosaku’s house were gone now, meow.
The old woman gave me buckwheat dumplings, meow. They weren’t tasty at all, meow. I got so hungry, meow. I wanted to eat more delicious food, meow, meow.
As I was sleeping, I heard “Coco-coco, coco-coco, cock-a-doodle-doo,” at dawn. (The sound coco means “here” in Japanese.)
So noisy, meow. Where’s the punk who’s disturbing my morning sleep?
Someone is saying, “Coco-coco, coco-coco (here, here, here, here).”
What? Where, where?
Since that punk was saying “here,” I went and looked, meow. It was coming from the chicken coop. It’s this rooster, meow.
Cock-a-doodle-doo.
Hey, rooster. I’m not going to let you disturb my morning sleep every morning. Mornings are for sleeping in peace. Meow, meow, meo---w!
Even though I warned the rooster, it didn’t listen to me.

“Coco-coco, coco-coco-coco-coco.”
Shut up! Meo---w! I glared at it, but still…
“Coco-coco, coco-coco.”
So, you don’t want to listen to me, huh? If that’s the case, I think I’m hungry for some chicken, meow.
The rooster flapped its wings and ran off with its two skinny legs. Luckily, it was slower than a mouse, meow.
I’m going to eat you, I’m going to eat you!
It said “Kekko, kekko.” (In Japanese, the sound kekko can mean “That’s fine.”) So, I ate it.
It was so much larger and tastier than a mouse, meow.
I ate and ate, meow. I got so full, meow. It was so delicious that I wanted to eat more and more chickens, meow.
I caught more and more of the chickens at Yosaku’s place, meow. I ate and ate, meow. I finished them all. Oh, so delicious!
Well, now I will be able to sleep in peace tomorrow morning.
I was sound asleep. What a good sleep.
Even as morning arrived, I was still sleeping peacefully…
“Coco-coco, coco-coco, cock-a-doodle-doo.”

“Coco-coco, coco-coco, cock-a-doodle-doo.”
What’s this? Someone’s waking me up again. You should sleep quietly in the morning, meow, meow. Where’s the punk who’s disturbing my morning sleep?
Yesterday, I ate all the chickens at Yosaku’s place. Where is this coming from?
“Coco-coco-coco, coco-coco-coco.”
Some other punk was saying “Here, here.” So, I went and looked. The noise was coming from the next house. That punk was crowing from the next-door neighbor’s chicken coop.
Shut up! Keep quiet! Meo---w!
I glared at them but they totally ignored me.
“Coco-coco, coco-coco.”
I said, “If you don’t shut it, I’ll eat you.”
They came back with, “Kekko, kekko (That’s fine, that’s fine).”
Oh, so that’s how it is?
Since that’s what they wanted, I ate them. I ate and ate, one after another, until I got full.

Then, every day, I caught the chickens at the next house, and then the next house after that, one after another, meow. I got full, and then I got hungry for chicken, over and over, meow.
After eating so much chicken, I got smarter. I came up with an idea. If I ate the chickens the night before, there would be no chickens to wake me up the following morning. I would be able to sleep in peace in the morning!
I decided to eat them the night before. I hunted chickens in the village every night, meow.

One day, I heard the old woman talking with her son, Yosaku, meow.
“Since our calico cat keeps eating chickens, I’m sure it’s turning into a monster cat. We have to throw it into a river as soon as possible.”
The old woman is scary! I began to hate her, meow. I started to want to eat the old woman, meow. She was old and walked with a cane, which was like having three legs, much slower than a chicken, meow. She glared at me without even saying “Kekko.”
I ate the old woman, meow. It took me three days to finish eating her because she was so much bigger than a chicken, meow. It would have been nice if she had tasted good, but she was nothing but skin and bones. She wasn’t even the least bit tasty.
What the hell? She’s still moving inside my stomach!
Ugh, I was in pain. Ugh, ugh. Meow, meow. I got a stomachache.
As I was squirming around, the skin of my hands and feet started crawling.
What’s the matter with me? The skin of my neck and face also started crawling.
What, what? Why? Meo----w!
When I screamed, the old woman and I became one and she took control of me. I transformed into the old woman, meow-oww-oww!
Well, I’ve transformed into an old woman, meow. The old woman, with me in her belly, easily walked back home, meow, meow-oww.
“Yosaku, I’m back.”
“Oh, mother. You must be tired.”
“No, not at all. For some reason, I’m suddenly feeling energetic.”
“Come to think of it, you’re taller and bigger. You’ve regained your youth. What happened to you?”
“I had a feast back at my parents’ house.”
“Oh, that’s good.”
“By the way, I haven’t seen Nyako, our calico cat lately.”
“Well, before you left, you told me to spread some yams around the outside of our house just in case something happens while you’re away. So, I grated a lot of yams and spread them around. I guess it was after that our calico cat disappeared.”
Yes, that’s right, yams! I realized what I should do. I should have the old woman eat some yam.
I shouted out loud from inside her body, “Yams are good for your health. Maybe I should eat some yams, too.”
Yosaku brought a bowl full of grated yams. “Here, Mom, have as much as you want.”
The old woman was confused and hesitated, but I stretched out my hand from inside her body, grabbed the bowl of yams, and poured everything into her mouth all at once.
“Yikes, it’s itchy!” the old woman screamed. “Itch…itch...itchyyy! Itchyyy!”
Her hands, mouth, and throat all got very itchy.
Itch…itch...itchyyy. Cough, cough, cough.
The old woman spit me out.
“Meow.”
Yosaku saw me and said, “Oh, Nyako, the calico cat. You were here?”
Since I was covered in grated yams and felt itchy all over my body, I ran off toward a river, completely ignoring Yosaku. I jumped into the river. Ker-splash!
The river washed off the grated yams that were covering me. Whew!
However, when I tried to get to the riverbank, the current was too strong. I was swept farther and farther away.
Bobbing along, meow, meow, meow.
Bobbing along, meow, meow, meow.
I thought I had beaten and eaten the old woman, but in the end, she got rid of me in the river, meow, meow, meow.