The Girl, the Loach, and the Monkey

In the village of Katano, there lived a peasant with his wife. They had a daughter—a kind and cheerful girl.

One day, the girl's mother fell seriously ill and passed away. A year later, her father married an evil and unattractive neighbor.

The stepmother took an immediate dislike to her stepdaughter, constantly scolding her and forcing her to do the hardest work.

One summer day, the stepmother ordered the girl to weed a flooded rice field. As the girl approached the field, she saw a boy who had caught a loach with a net and was about to take it home.

"Why do you need that little fish?" the girl asked.

"I’ll feed it to my cat."

The girl felt sorry for the loach and pleaded:

"Give it to me."

"Look at you," the boy said angrily. "I didn’t catch this loach just to give it to you."

"Well, if you won’t give it to me, let’s trade," the girl offered. "I’ll give you a handful of beans, and you give me the loach."

"Deal," the boy said. "Give me the beans, and take the fish."

And so they traded.

The girl took the dying loach and released it into a stream. The loach came back to life, wiggled its whiskers, and sank to the bottom.

Soon, the stepmother sent the girl to weed the field again. As soon as the girl approached the stream, she saw the loach she had saved. It swam happily near the shore, jumping out of the water, diving, and reappearing on the surface. The girl tossed it a handful of rice and went on her way.

From then on, this became their routine. Every day, the girl would come to the stream and throw the loach half a handful of rice.

One day, the stepmother saw her stepdaughter throwing rice grains to the loach.

"You wretched girl!" she shouted. "I’ll show you how to waste rice on some ugly fish!"

And right there by the stream, she beat the girl so badly that she couldn’t stand up for a long time.

The loach saw it all. "That evil woman punished the girl because of me," it thought sadly, lying at the bottom of the stream. "Now I’ll never see her again."

How surprised the loach was when, a few days later, the girl came running to the stream at dawn, threw a few grains into the water, and said:

"Don’t be angry, but I don’t have any more. My stepmother now gives me only one handful for three days."

It seemed the stepmother had decided to starve the girl to death. But the girl gathered edible roots in the field and ate them at night when her stepmother was asleep.

Then the stepmother decided to get rid of her stepdaughter in another way. She knew that beyond the distant forest there was a deep pool, at the bottom of which lived a ferocious river dragon.

So the stepmother said in a sweet voice:

"Listen, my dear, I really love chrysanthemums. Beyond the distant forest, on the shore of the pool, there are beautiful flowers. All kinds of flowers grow there! I beg you, pick me a bouquet of red chrysanthemums. And on your way back, buy yourself a silk kimono. Here’s some money."

The obedient girl set off for the pool. Her path led through the forest. As she entered the forest, she saw a hunter. He was aiming his bow at a little monkey sitting at the top of a hinoki tree.

"Don’t kill it, don’t kill it!" the girl cried.

"What’s it to you?" the hunter said. "I’ll get money for the monkey’s pelt."

The girl quickly took out her money and handed it to the hunter.

"Here, take this, but don’t harm the poor monkey!"

"That’s more like it!" the hunter said, pleased, and went home.

The girl waved to the monkey and continued on her way to the pool.

From afar, she saw many flowers on the shore of the pool. Red chrysanthemums grew right by the water.

The ferocious dragon was just waiting for a human shadow to appear on the surface of the calm lake.

As the girl approached the pool, just a second more and her shadow would fall on the water. And then no one could save her from the dragon.

But as soon as the girl reached the pool, a school of loaches appeared on the surface of the water. They darted near the shore, slapped their tails on the water, stirred up the mud from the bottom, and clouded the water. The clear water turned so black that no shadow could be seen on the surface of the pool.

Unaware of the danger, the girl began leisurely picking chrysanthemums. By evening, she was already home.

When the stepmother saw that the girl had returned alive, she was beside herself with rage. So she decided to poison her stepdaughter.

A few days later, the stepmother baked some nigirimeshi (rice balls), put a grain of poison in each one, and said in a sweet voice:

"My dear daughter! I’ve fallen terribly ill. I don’t know if I’ll live to see the morning. You’re the only one who can save me. On the southern slope of the mountain, there are healing herbs. Gather a bunch and bring them to me."

Without wasting any time, the girl prepared to go to the mountains. As she tied her sash, the stepmother said:

"Your journey is long. I’ve baked you some nigirimeshi for the road. When you feel hungry, eat them."

The girl thanked her stepmother and set off for the mountains. By noon, she had gathered a bunch of healing herbs and hurried home. She was in such a rush that she didn’t even notice when she found herself in the same forest where she had recently saved the little monkey from the hunter. It was still a long way home, and the girl was very hungry. But she remembered her sick stepmother and thought, "I’ll eat when I get home, but now I must hurry. I’ll drink some water and run faster!" The girl approached a forest stream, bent down, and... saw her old friend—the loach. The loach opened its mouth wide and stared at the girl.

"You must be very hungry. What can I feed you?" the girl asked.

Then she remembered the nigirimeshi and threw them to the loach.

The rice balls sank calmly to the bottom, but the loach didn’t touch them. It just joyfully slapped its tail on the water and swam away.

After drinking from the stream, the girl suddenly felt sleepy. Her eyelids were so heavy. "I’ll rest for just a moment," she decided and sat under a tree. As soon as she leaned against the tree, she fell asleep.

The girl woke up to a pleasant ringing sound. She opened her eyes and saw yellow leaves falling from the tree under which she had slept. As they touched the ground, the leaves turned into gold coins and jingled.

Surprised, the girl looked up and noticed the little monkey in the tree. It was the monkey dropping the yellow leaves at the feet of its savior.

The girl picked up a few coins, waved cheerfully to the monkey, and went home.

When the stepmother saw the girl standing before her alive and unharmed, she turned pale with rage and asked:

"Did you eat the nigirimeshi?"

The girl remembered how her stepmother had beaten her for throwing rice grains to the loach. So she didn’t dare admit that she had fed the rice balls to the fish and said:

"Yes, I ate the nigirimeshi."

"And what happened after that?" the stepmother asked impatiently.

"Then I drank from the stream, sat under a tree, and fell asleep. When I woke up, the ground under the tree was covered with gold coins. I even took a few. Here they are..."

The stepmother grabbed the coins and thought to herself, "If you eat a poisoned rice ball and drink water from the forest stream, you’ll not only survive but also become rich."

The very next day, the evil woman baked a poisoned rice ball and went into the forest. When she reached the stream, she ate the rice ball, drank the water, sat under a tree, and fell asleep.

She slept so soundly that she never woke up again.

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The Girl, the Loach, and the Monkey

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