Genta legend

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- KAPPA - 河童 / 合羽　/ かっぱ /　カッパ - ABC-Index -
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- Genta and the Kappa 　源太様 と河童 -

Saga prefecture 佐賀県　
and
Hyoosube ひょうすべ Hyosube

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龍石の伝説
昔、源太様という町のリーダー的存在の人がおり、川内野川で馬を繋いで休憩していた。しかし、ふと馬の方を見ると、河童が馬を川に引きずり込もうとしていた。源太様は河童を捕え松の木に縛り付けた。その松のことを「源太松」と呼ぶ。命乞いをした河童を源太様は、河童が「龍石が朽ちようとも改心して悪行を二度と行わない」との誓文をたてると申したことと、何よりご自身の慈悲の深さからこの河童を許すことにした。その後河童を目撃するものは誰もおらず源太様が亡くなっても、龍石はその場を少しも動かず、この伝説をありありとしたものとしているのである。
- source : www.scs.kyushu-u.ac.jp


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HOW GENTA SUBDUED A KAPPA
Once upon a time in the village of Kawachino there lived a man named Genta. He was from a distinguished family in the village and was so wise and brave that he was greatly respected by the villagers. His house was large and stood near a river which flowed through the village. The river was at its deepest at the bend near his house, and the water looked dark and unfathomable, being over six meters deep.

One summer evening, Genta came back from his outing and told his servants as usual to hitch his horse to a shady tree near the river. After taking a short rest, Genta stepped out into the garden and looked at the tree. To his surprise, a kappa, the size of a 6-7 year old boy was dragging the horse by its hind legs into the river. The silent horse was resisting the pull with its forelegs while strangely enough, the servant as if in a trance, was helping the small kappa by pouring water into the cavity on the kappa's head. The more the servant poured, the more powerful the kappa became.

Although Genta became very angry watching this scene, he had the presence of mind to think of a plan. From the shed he fetched a strong rope made of hemp palm and snuck up to the kappa from behind. Neither the servant nor the kappa noticed Genta's actions. He quickly caught hold of the kappa and dragged him away from the river, tying him up with the rope.

All of a sudden, the servant came out of his trance and followed his master's direction to hang the kappa upside down from the pine tree in the garden. Genta glared at the wicked water imp and reprimanded him. "What an insolent fellow you are! You take so much pride in your bit of supernatural powers and even try to steal horses from humans. You are very sinful indeed. I shall kill you as a warning to all of your fellow kappa."

With the precious water drained from his cavity, the kappa lost all his magic powers. The more he struggled, the tighter the rope cut into his flesh, making the pain even harder to bear. At last the kappa began to cry in a strange, harsh voice "please forgive me for mercy's sake my lord," he implored. "I'll not fail to make up for this crime, so please let me go." In tears, the the kappa begged Genta over and over again.

A kind hearted man by nature, Genta felt pity for the ugly creature who was crying. "If you swear with all your heart, I'll forgive you," he said to the kappa "but first, you must confess your sins and make restitution."

"I confess to you that I've done many wrongs," the kappa said. "I regret my past actions very much. Your authority is astonishing, so I promise you that even if the Kawachino River should flow upstream, I won't pull the people from this village into the water. Never will I do anything wrong again. Please spare my life today. I also promise to make all my fellow kappa keep this oath forever."

After the kappa swore his oath, Genta forgave him, took him down from the pine tree and untied the ropes. Placing both hands to the ground, the teary blue-eyed kappa bowed to him again and again. Then he asked Genta if he could go home to the bottom of the river.

"All right," Genta said, "but before you go, turn yourself around three times and recite your oath each time." The kappa obediently turned around 3 times, each time reciting his oath loudly. Kneeling down, he praised Genta, then went away.

After that incident, no more was to be heard of kappa in the village. Years later, Genta passed away, leaving behind the legend of subduing the kappa. The pine tree from which Genta hung the kappa, remained long after his death. Eventually however, the old pine tree too withered and died.

Whether the mystical kappa does in fact exist is still unknown. There is a sake manufacturing place in Imari called ”Matsuura Ichishuzo” where, it is said that during restoration about 40 years ago, a small coffin was found between old boards containing a mummified kappa inside. The skeleton remains on display today for all who are interested in finding the truth.
- translated by Keiko Takada & Eriko Tsudo
- source : Mark Schumacher

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Genta and the Kappa
Once in the village of Kawachino, Saga prefecture there lived a wise and brave man named Genta. His house stood near a river which flowed through the village. The river was at its deepest at the bend near his house.

One summer evening Genta came home from a ride and told his servant to hitch his horse near a shady tree next to the river so that it could drink. A little while later he returned and was horrified to see a kappa trying to drag his horse into the river by its fore legs.

The horrid monster had a turtle’s shell and beak, a monkey’s face and the arms and legs of a frog His servant seemed to be under the monster’s spell and was pouring water into a depression on its head. The more water the servant poured in, the stronger the kappa became.

Genta quickly formed a plan. He saw that the kappa was very intent on its wicked work so he snuck up behind it and tossed a hemp rope around it. He tied it up as fast as he could and hung it upside down from a pine tree. The liquid flowed out of the creatures head and its spell over the servant was broken.

Genta threatened to kill the kappa but it begged for mercy and promised never to harm a living soul again even if the Kawachino River flowed backwards. Genta made the kappa turn around and recite his oath three times before letting him go. He never bothered humans or their animals again.
- source : Richard Freeman

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. - hyoozu no kami, Hyōzu 兵主神 Hyozu no Kami
- Deity of Wind and Weapons - .

. Matsubara Kappa Sha 松原河童社 Matsubara Kappa Shrine .

Hyoosube 兵主部 Hyosube, Matsubara Kappa Shrine
佐賀県佐賀市松原2-10-45 from Saga, Kyushu




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Hyosube
This nasty fellow is a cousin of the much-beloved Kappa, a slightly mischievous river spirit, however, Hyosube is much crueler. Those who cross one of these foul little wretches often find themselves sorry for it. Like the kappa, he lives in rivers most of the time; but he likes to venture in to towns to, among other things, take baths in people’s houses. His body is covered in thick hair, which invariably gets left all over the bathroom, in the tub, and every he’s been.

There are a few stories of people who had unfortunate run-ins with a hyosube.
In one story, a woman caught a hyosube who was trashing her eggplant garden. The hyosube got angry and destroyed all of the eggplants, and afterwards the woman turned purple and soon died.
In another story, a man who went to take a morning bath found hairs and a horrible smell all over his bathroom, so he made sure to empty all the hot water after his bath that night. In retaliation, the hyosube killed his horse.



In a third story, another man found his bathroom befouled by a hyosube and threw the dirty hairs and water out the window. Some of the hairs landed on his horse, which promptly died. (These stories were translated from the Japanese Wikipedia page on hyosube, as the English page just redirects to the page for kappa.)
- source : MatthewMeyer.net


- reference -

- quote
佐賀市松原の兵主部（ひょうすべ）を祀った松原神社の脇を流れる松原川には、河童の家族の像が置かれている。
深い緑色の水をたたえた松原川には河童伝説があるが、内容は松原神社の兵主部（ひょうすべ）像に書かれている物と同じ物のようだ。

『江戸時代の頃、河童が悪さし、松原川で子供がよく溺れていた。それに怒った鍋島藩主鍋島直茂が河童を捕まえて斬首しようとした。河童は斬首刑の直前に殿様に懇願し「これからは子供達を護りますからどうか元の人形に戻してください。」と頼み、以来子供達を水難より護り続けている』

というような内容。
松原川に伝わる河童が「河童」なのか「兵主部」なのかは資料などで調べたわけではないのではっきりとした事は分からないが、いずれにしても地元の人々に今も愛されている事は間違いないようだ。

「母さんカッパ」338才 Mother Kappa 338 years old
母さんは歩道の石の上で
気持ちよさそうにいつもお昼寝です
カッパの世界では子供を生むたびに
人間に近づくそうです

「父さんカッパ」342才 Father Kappa 342 years old
流木の影から
道行く人をこっそり覗いている
まだ人に馴れることができずにいる
父さんカッパです

「長男カッパ　河太郎」312才 Eldest Son Kappataro
このカッパと握手すれば
アーチ橋中央から水が噴き出します
水が出るパワーは　長老からの伝授で
佐賀の人たちへのお礼の印です
子供達と大の仲よしです

「次男カッパ　ワンパッ君」303才 Second Son
橋から出て来る水や清らかな川を泳ぐ魚たちを
橋の上によじ登ってみている
佐賀の子供たちと同じ気持ちを持ったカッパです

「長女カッパ　みどりちゃん」308才 Eldest Daughter
湧き水が大好きな女の子のカッパです
きれい好きでここから離れようとはしません

長男の「河太郎」と握手をすると、次男のワンパッ君が身を乗り出している石橋の真ん中より、結構な勢いで水が噴き出してくるので驚かされる。
沢山の人と毎日握手しているせいで、彼の右手はすっかり色が変わってしまっていた。

また母さんカッパの立て札に書かれている
『カッパの世界では子供を生むたびに人間に近づくそうです』
というのは初耳だが、どうやらこれらの河童像は松原川の伝承に基づいたものではなく、オリジナルの河童一家のようだ。
どことなく芥川龍之介の「河童」を思い出してしまうのは、その名前や年齢のせいだろうか。
- source and more photos : www.geocities.jp/sakuragaoka


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Hyoosube ひょうすべ Hyosube は、
日本の妖怪の一種。佐賀県や宮崎県をはじめとする九州地方に伝承されている。



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