The Japanese Story Project: “A Single Straw”
Translation by Kunimasa Nerome
Edited by Jenny Auld
Today is Japanese Culture Day, so in celebration, please enjoy this story excerpt from Legible’s Japanese Story Project, originally posted on September third.
“A Single Straw,” sometimes known as “The Straw Millionaire,” is the story of a poor young man who pleads with the Goddess of Mercy to save him from starvation. The goddess, Kannon (known in Chinese as Guan Yin), advises him in a dream to cherish the very first thing he touches upon leaving the monastery. The next day, as he passes through the monastery gates, he trips and falls, and his hand accidentally brushes against a straw on the ground. The young man obediently picks it up and takes it with him — to his great benefit.
The tale follows the adventures of the young man as his sincerity, quick wits, and empathy help him to trade the straw for better and better items. Eventually, he trades his way up to a farmhouse and rice fields. He settles down and lives a good life, blessed and happy at last.
Legible’s new translation by Kunimasa Nerome follows the early 20th century retelling of this traditional Buddhist tale by literary critic and playwright Masao Kusuyama. Kusuyama simply titled the story “Ippon no Wara,” literally “A Single Straw.” Nerome’s English title, “The Grace of a Single Straw,” recovers some nuance from the traditional name “Warashibe Chōja,” which denotes not exactly a “millionaire” in material or class terms but rather a man who has been blessed.
The following excerpt picks up the story as the young man travels on foot away from the temple along the monastery road, having already managed to trade his straw for some oranges. He next encounters a traveling party heading towards the temple.
***
[This lady] was of an even higher status than the previous one; she was accompanied by a retinue of numerous samurai and servants. As their journey had been very long, one of the lady’s maids had become too exhausted to walk. The colour had drained from her face and she began to stumble.
“I cannot take another step,” she gasped. “I need some water!” Saying this, the maid suddenly collapsed in the road.
The samurai were startled, and they immediately started looking for some water. However, they could see no wells or streams anywhere. It was at this moment that they passed by the young man.
“Excuse me,” the samurai asked him, “Can you tell us where we might find some water nearby?”
The young man considered a moment. “I’m afraid there are no streams in this area. Are you alright?”
The samurai explained that a lady’s maid had fainted in the road.
“Oh, I am sorry to hear that! If it helps, please give these ripe oranges to her.” The young man unwrapped the three oranges and gave them to the samurai.
Everyone was delighted. They quickly peeled the oranges and had the maid drink the juice. She soon regained her full consciousness and began to feel better.
She looked around. “What happened to me?”
The other servants told her about the young man who had given them the oranges.
“So, if this person had not passed by us, I might have died in this field!” the maid exclaimed. She promptly unpacked three bolts of fine white cloth.
“I wish I could do more to thank you, but as we are in the middle of our journey, this good cloth is the best token of my appreciation I can provide.”
She handed the bolts of cloth to the young man.
“Well well!” thought the young man, joyfully. “Three oranges have now become three bolts of fine cloth!”
The young man rolled the bolts of cloth into a bundle, slung it over his shoulder, and continued down the road.
***
The very next day, the young man was walking down the road as usual.
Around midday, he saw a stately figure approaching on horseback, accompanied by a few companions. They carried themselves in a noble fashion, and their horses’ hooves rang out smartly on the road, poka poka.
The young man thought to himself: “That impressive man in the middle has such a beautiful horse! It must be what people call sen-ryō-ba.*”
Just as the young man was thinking these things, the horse collapsed before their very eyes. The owner and his companions hastened to try and give the animal some water. They removed the saddle and caressed the horse’s face and neck. But alas, none of their efforts could revive the poor animal.
The horse’s owner, who was a military officer, stood up slowly, his face full of sorrow. His companions went to borrow a working horse from a nearby farm, and they led it back to the general. With heavy hearts, they removed the shoes from the dead horse.
As sad as they were, they had a practical matter to consider: even the finest horse is worth nothing after it dies. They could neither carry nor abandon the deceased horse, so they decided that one of the companions would stay behind to settle the matter.
The young man observed all of these events and thought to himself, “Yesterday, a single straw turned into three oranges. Then, the oranges became three bolts of fabric. Perhaps now the fabric will turn into a horse!”
He approached the companion who had remained behind.
“If you don’t mind my asking, what happened to your horse? It seems to have been a very fine animal.”
The man replied, “Indeed, this horse was imported at great expense from the region of Mutsu. We were approached by a great many people on our journey who wanted to buy the horse at any cost, but the general would not give up his steed. However, it just died so suddenly, and now it is nothing but trouble! I thought of taking it to a tanner to have it skinned, and selling it, but since we are in the middle of our journey, that won’t be possible. Neither can we leave it in the street like this.”
The young man replied, “Oh, that is really too bad. Can you give the horse to me, and I will take care of it instead? In exchange, I will give you this.” He unpacked one of the bolts of fine white cloth.
The companion was delighted at the prospect of trading a troublesome dead horse for a roll of good fabric, and he quickly agreed to the deal. He also thought, “If this young man changes his mind and realizes that trading the fabric for a horse’s corpse was a bad idea, he might come back to retrieve the fabric. That would be most inconvenient!”
So he ran from the scene quickly, without looking back once.
***
The young man watched the companion’s progress down the road until he could no longer see him. Then he washed his hands with spring water, shut his eyes, and put his hands together to pray once again to the Goddess of Mercy.
“Please bring this horse back to life.”
The very next moment, the horse — which had indeed been completely dead — opened its eyes and started trying to get up. The young man was overjoyed. He ran to the horse’s side and gently helped it to stand. He gave it some food and water. Presently, the horse had fully recovered and was able to walk without any trouble.
The young man went into the closest town and traded another roll of cloth for a bridle, reins, and horseshoes. Having made the horse ready, he climbed up on its back and continued down the road at last. At the end of the day, he had reached the region of Uji. There, he traded the last roll of cloth for a place to stay for the night.
The next day, the young man woke up early in the morning, got his horse ready, and departed.
Poka, poka, sounded the horse’s hooves on the road.
***
*A “thousand-ryō horse,” i.e. a horse of great value. The ryō is a unit of currency from the pre-Meiji era.
***
Kunimasa Nerome ( 根路銘 国真 ) was born and raised in Okinawa (沖縄), Japan. He is in his fourth year of study in political science at The University of Victoria in British Columbia, Canada. He loves bicycles, raccoons, and ramen, not necessarily in that order.
Jenny Auld was born in Vancouver, Canada. She has an honours degree in linguistics from UBC, with a specialization in the history and structure of the English language. She has written and edited for various publications, and is also an exhibiting artist, with three solo shows at Art Sui Gallery in Taipei, Taiwan. She likes ginger milk tea, riding her bike, and watching way too many Korean dramas.
