Myth-Folklore Unit: Japanese Fairy Tales (Lang)
The Envious Neighbour
I
liked this story. In a way, it kind of reminded me of the story The Ungrateful Man that was a part of the West African Folktales unit. Both of the antagonists in these stories were jealous of the protagonists in the story. Even though the old couple in The Envious Neighbor and the hunter in The Ungrateful Man were nothing but nice to their opposites, the neighbor and the man still betrayed them. I was shocked when the neighbor killed the old couple’s dog. I thought that he would try to steal the dog but I never thought he would actually harm the dog. In the end, the neighbor got what he deserved and the old couple came out on top.
The Cat's Elopement
It seems like the characters in Japanese folklore/fairytales
love their animals. The man and woman in this story are really attached to
their cat just like the old couple was attached to their dog. Pets or animals
in general must be important to the Japanese culture.
I love that this story is a love story about two cats. It
was cute that the cats had human qualities and that the story was told through
their eyes (kind of like the Disney movie The Aristocats). The part about the
serpent always trying to get to the princess confused me a little. Why didn’t the
princess’s servants kill the serpent instead of just shooing him away? I was
glad that Gon and Koma found each other in the end and got to live with the
princess and her prince. It was a happy ending for both the humans and the
cats. I wonder what happened to Gon and Koma’s original owners?
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