Reading Notes: Japanese Mythology, Part B - The Jewel of Heart's Desire: The Quest
Notes:
Empress Jingu and her men return from their journey to the Land of Morning Calm (which I guess is Korea?) dejected because they have lost the Jewel of Heart's Desire. The Empress had entrusted the jewel to her Prime Minister, Takeuchi, and is angry with him for having lost it. I don't agree with this part because it was Benten who stole the gem from the ship, and what was Takeuchi supposed to have done against a literal dragon's daughter? But I digress. The Empress says she will not grant Takeuchi an audience until he recovers the gem. Disgraced, Takeuchi climbs to the top of a cliff and decides to take his own life.
Before he can do that, Tamatori, a fisher-maid who seems to have a crush on Takeuchi but refuses to act on it because of their difference in station, intervenes. She had been following him, and when she sees him take out his swords, she runs to him and begs him to stop. Takeuchi tells her what's happened, and it seems like Tamatori decides to get the gem back for him, which they can see glowing in the sea below. It's brave of her, and probably foolish, because really it should have been Takeuchi who dove into the ocean to recover the gem. But obviously Tamatori does it, because she's a better swimmer. The gem is in Benten's palace, and as Tamatori tries to take it, she sets all of the sea creatures on the fisher-maid. It's some quick thinking for Tamatori to stab herself with Takeuchi's sword and bury the gem in the wound; she knows that dragons will not touch corpses, so the gem is safe.
Takeuchi sees Tamatori's dead body float up to his feet, and is filled with remorse. He has her placed on a kind of platform and taken to the capital "in all honour." People from all over the land come to pay their respects, and the Empress posthumuously makes Tamatori a princess. Tamatori had been unable to marry Takeuchi in life because he was nobility and she was not; there are rumors that they were secretly wedded, but I don't know if that means in life or in death, for Tamatori, at least. The Empress is happy to have the gem and elevates Takeuchi to the regency.
It's a kind of love story, I guess. Tamatori literally sacrifices herself so that Takeuchi can get his honor back and therefore not have to end his own life. It's brave and incredibly selfless of her, and I do have to admire her willingness to sacrifice for someone she loved.
Story Source: Romance of Old Japan, Part I: Mythology and Legend by E. W. Champney and F. Champney (1917)
Empress Jingu and her men return from their journey to the Land of Morning Calm (which I guess is Korea?) dejected because they have lost the Jewel of Heart's Desire. The Empress had entrusted the jewel to her Prime Minister, Takeuchi, and is angry with him for having lost it. I don't agree with this part because it was Benten who stole the gem from the ship, and what was Takeuchi supposed to have done against a literal dragon's daughter? But I digress. The Empress says she will not grant Takeuchi an audience until he recovers the gem. Disgraced, Takeuchi climbs to the top of a cliff and decides to take his own life.
Before he can do that, Tamatori, a fisher-maid who seems to have a crush on Takeuchi but refuses to act on it because of their difference in station, intervenes. She had been following him, and when she sees him take out his swords, she runs to him and begs him to stop. Takeuchi tells her what's happened, and it seems like Tamatori decides to get the gem back for him, which they can see glowing in the sea below. It's brave of her, and probably foolish, because really it should have been Takeuchi who dove into the ocean to recover the gem. But obviously Tamatori does it, because she's a better swimmer. The gem is in Benten's palace, and as Tamatori tries to take it, she sets all of the sea creatures on the fisher-maid. It's some quick thinking for Tamatori to stab herself with Takeuchi's sword and bury the gem in the wound; she knows that dragons will not touch corpses, so the gem is safe.
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TAMAKATZURA TAMATORI ATTACKED BY THE OCTOPUS (Source: Utagawa Kuniyoshi) |
Takeuchi sees Tamatori's dead body float up to his feet, and is filled with remorse. He has her placed on a kind of platform and taken to the capital "in all honour." People from all over the land come to pay their respects, and the Empress posthumuously makes Tamatori a princess. Tamatori had been unable to marry Takeuchi in life because he was nobility and she was not; there are rumors that they were secretly wedded, but I don't know if that means in life or in death, for Tamatori, at least. The Empress is happy to have the gem and elevates Takeuchi to the regency.
It's a kind of love story, I guess. Tamatori literally sacrifices herself so that Takeuchi can get his honor back and therefore not have to end his own life. It's brave and incredibly selfless of her, and I do have to admire her willingness to sacrifice for someone she loved.
Story Source: Romance of Old Japan, Part I: Mythology and Legend by E. W. Champney and F. Champney (1917)
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