Reading Notes: Japanese Fairy Tales (Ozaki), Part B

From this reading, I enjoyed the short story of "The Goblin of  Adachigahara." This story was about a human-eating goblin that lived near a small community. Everyone in the community knew the goblin was there, so they stayed away from that area at night. One night there was a priest that was wandering around and happened upon the goblin's house. Since the goblin was in the form of an old woman, he asked her to let him stay and she complied. Later, the goblin went out and warned the priest not to look in the back room. He did, of course, and found the room filled with bones of people the goblin had eaten. He fled from the house and outran the goblin so he was not eaten.

This story was short(er than some others) and I enjoyed it a lot.I think it's different than how I would expect the story to go, mostly because when a character does what they are told Not to do, I expect them to have consequences. This story is different because the priest looked in the back room, which he was told not to do, and instead of being eaten by the goblin, she escapes from her. I think that makes this less of a story about "do are you are told," and more of a story about "be diligent in prayer" maybe? Because the priest says he was able to escape the goblin because of his prayers to Buddha.

(Dwelling on pixabay)

Bibliography: "The Goblin of Adachigahra" from Japanese Fairy Tales by Yei Theodora Ozaki (1908). (Web Source)