The Adventures of Kintaro, the Golden Boy

Long ago, in the city of Kyoto, there lived a brave soldier named Kintoki. He fell in love with a beautiful lady and married her. Not long after their wedding, through the ill will of some of his friends, he fell into disgrace at the imperial court and lost his position. This misfortune weighed so heavily on his mind that he soon fell ill and died, leaving his young wife alone in the world. Fearing her husband's enemies, she fled to the Ashigara Mountains as soon as he was gone. There, in the lonely forests where only woodcutters ever came, she gave birth to a little boy. She named him Kintaro, which means the Golden Boy. The most remarkable thing about this child was his great strength. As he grew older, he became stronger and stronger, so that by the time he was eight years old, he could cut down trees as quickly as the woodcutters.

His mother gave him a large axe, and he would go into the forest to help the woodcutters, who called him the Wonder Child and his mother the Old Nurse of the Mountains, for they did not know her high rank. Another favorite pastime of Kintaro was to smash rocks and stones. You can imagine how strong he was!

Unlike other boys, Kintaro grew up all alone in the mountain wilderness. Having no human companions, he made friends with all the animals and learned to understand them and speak their strange language. By degrees, they all became quite tame and looked upon Kintaro as their master, and he used them as his servants and messengers. His special retainers were the bear, the deer, the monkey, and the hare.

The bear often brought her cubs for Kintaro to romp with, and when she came to take them home, Kintaro would ride on her back to her cave. He was very fond of the deer too, and would often put his arms around the creature's neck to show that its long horns did not frighten him. Great was the fun they all had together.

One day, as usual, Kintaro went up into the mountains, followed by the bear, the deer, the monkey, and the hare. After walking for some time over rough roads and through hills and valleys, they suddenly came out upon a wide, grassy plain covered with pretty wildflowers.

Here was indeed a fine place where they could all have a good romp together. The deer rubbed his horns against a tree for pleasure, the monkey scratched his back, the hare smoothed his long ears, and the bear gave a grunt of satisfaction.

Kintaro said, "This is a good place for a game. What do you all say to a wrestling match?"

The bear, being the biggest and the oldest, answered for the others: "That will be great fun. I am the strongest animal, so I will make the wrestling platform." So she set to work eagerly, digging up the earth and patting it into shape.

"All right," said Kintaro, "I will watch while you all wrestle with each other. I will give a prize to the one who wins each round."

"What fun! We will all try to get the prize," said the bear.

The deer, the monkey, and the hare set to work to help the bear raise the platform. When it was finished, Kintaro cried out, "Now begin! The monkey and the hare shall open the sports, and the deer shall be umpire. Now, Mr. Deer, you are to be umpire!"

"He, he!" answered the deer. "I will be umpire. Now, Mr. Monkey and Mr. Hare, if you are both ready, please step out and take your places on the platform."

So the monkey and the hare both hopped out nimbly to the wrestling platform. The deer, as umpire, stood between them and called out, "Red-back! Red-back!" (this to the monkey, who has a red back in Japan). "Are you ready?" Then he turned to the hare: "Long-ears! Long-ears! Are you ready?"

Both little wrestlers faced each other while the deer raised a leaf as a signal. When he dropped the leaf, the monkey and the hare rushed at each other, crying "Yoisho, yoisho!"

While they wrestled, the deer called out encouragement or warnings as they pushed each other near the edge of the platform and were in danger of falling off.

"Red-back! Red-back! Stand your ground!" called the deer.

"Long-ears! Long-ears! Be strong! Don't let the monkey beat you!" grunted the bear.

Encouraged by their friends, the monkey and the hare tried their hardest. At last, the hare gained an advantage. The monkey seemed to trip, and the hare gave him a good push, sending him flying off the platform.

The poor monkey sat up rubbing his back, his face very long, and screamed angrily, "Oh! Oh! How my back hurts!"

Seeing the monkey on the ground, the deer raised his leaf and said, "This round is finished. The hare has won."

Kintaro then opened his lunch box and took out a rice dumpling, giving it to the hare. "Here is your prize, and you have earned it well!"

Now the monkey got up looking very cross, and as they say in Japan, "his stomach stood up," for he felt he had not been fairly beaten. So he said to Kintaro and the others, "I have not been fairly beaten. My foot slipped. Please give me another chance, and let me wrestle the hare again."

Kintaro consented, and the hare and the monkey began to wrestle again. As everyone knows, the monkey is cunning by nature, and he decided to get the best of the hare this time. He thought the best way would be to grab the hare's long ear. He soon managed to do so. The hare was thrown off guard by the pain of having his ear pulled so hard, and the monkey seized his chance, caught hold of the hare's leg, and sent him sprawling. The monkey was now the victor and received a rice dumpling from Kintaro, which pleased him so much that he forgot his sore back.

The deer then came up and asked the hare if he felt ready for another round, suggesting a match with him. The hare agreed, and they both stood up to wrestle, with the bear as umpire.

The deer with long horns and the hare with long ears—it must have been an amusing sight to those who watched this strange match. Suddenly, the deer went down on one knee, and the bear, holding up a leaf, declared him beaten. In this way, sometimes one, sometimes the other, conquering, the little party amused themselves until they were tired.

At last, Kintaro got up and said, "That is enough for today. What a nice place we have found for wrestling. Let us come again tomorrow. Now we must go home. Come along!" So Kintaro led the way, and the animals followed.

After walking some distance, they came out on the banks of a river flowing through a valley. Kintaro and his four furry friends stood and looked for a way to cross. There was no bridge. The river rushed "don, don" on its way. All the animals looked serious, wondering how they would get across and reach home that evening.

Kintaro said, "Wait a moment. I will make a good bridge for you all in a few minutes."

The bear, the deer, the monkey, and the hare looked at him to see what he would do.

Kintaro went from tree to tree along the riverbank, stopping in front of a very large tree growing at the water's edge. He took hold of the trunk and pulled with all his might, once, twice, three times! At the third pull, such was Kintaro's strength that the roots gave way, and with a great crack, the tree fell across the stream, forming an excellent bridge.

"There," said Kintaro, "what do you think of my bridge? It is quite safe, so follow me." He stepped across first, and the four animals followed. Never had they seen anyone so strong. They all exclaimed, "How strong he is! How strong he is!"

While all this was happening, a woodcutter, who happened to be standing on a rock overlooking the stream, had seen everything. He watched with great surprise Kintaro and his animal companions. He rubbed his eyes to make sure he was not dreaming when he saw this boy pull up a tree by its roots and throw it across the stream to make a bridge.

The woodcutter marveled and said to himself, "This is no ordinary child. Whose son can he be? I must find out before this day is over."

He hastened after the strange party and crossed the bridge behind them. Kintaro, knowing nothing of this, little guessed that he was being followed. On reaching the other side, he and the animals parted ways, they to their dens in the woods, and he to his mother who was waiting for him.

As soon as he entered the cottage, which stood like a matchbox in the heart of the pine woods, he greeted his mother and said, "Mother, here I am!"

"Oh, Kimbo!" said his mother with a bright smile, glad to see her boy safe after the long day. "How late you are today! I feared something had happened. Where have you been?"

"I took my four friends—the bear, the deer, the monkey, and the hare—up into the hills, and made them have a wrestling match to see which was the strongest. We all enjoyed it, and we are going to the same place tomorrow for another match."

"Now tell me, who is the strongest of all?" asked his mother, pretending not to know.

"Oh, mother," said Kintaro, "don't you know that I am the strongest? There was no need for me to wrestle with any of them."

"But who is strongest after you?"

"The bear comes next," answered Kintaro.

"And after the bear?"

"It is hard to say, for the deer, the monkey, and the hare all seem equally strong," said Kintaro.

Suddenly, they were startled by a voice from outside: "Listen to me, little boy! Next time you go, take this old man with you to the wrestling match. He would like to join in too!"

It was the old woodcutter who had followed Kintaro from the river. He slipped off his clogs and entered the cottage. The mother and son were both taken by surprise. They looked at the stranger, whom they had never seen before.

"Who are you?" they both exclaimed.

The woodcutter laughed and said, "It doesn't matter yet who I am, but let us see who has the strongest arm—this boy or myself."

Then Kintaro, who had lived all his life in the forest, answered the old man without ceremony, "We will try if you wish, but you must not be angry whoever is beaten."

So they each put out their right arm and graspped each other's hands. For a long time, they wrestled in this way, each trying to bend the other's arm. But the old man was very strong, and the strange pair were evenly matched. At last, the old man stopped and declared it a draw.

"You are, indeed, a very strong child. There are few men who can match the strength of my right arm!" said the woodcutter. "I saw you first on the riverbank a few hours ago, when you pulled up that large tree to make a bridge. Hardly believing my eyes, I followed you home. Your strength of arm has just proven what I saw. When you are full grown, you will surely be the strongest man in all Japan. It is a pity that you are hidden away in these wild mountains."

Then he turned to Kintaro's mother. "And you, mother, have you no thought of taking your child to the Capital, of teaching him to carry a sword as befits a samurai?"

"You are very kind to take so much interest in my son," replied the mother. "But he is as you see, wild and uneducated, and I fear it would be difficult. Because of his great strength as an infant, I hid him away in this unknown part of the country, for he hurt everyone who came near him. I have often wished that I could one day see my boy a knight wearing two swords, but as we have no influential friend to introduce us at the Capital, I fear my hope will never come true."

"You need not worry about that. To tell you the truth, I am no woodcutter! I am one of the great generals of Japan. My name is Sadamitsu, and I am a vassal of the powerful Lord Minamoto-no-Raiko. He ordered me to travel the country and look for boys who show promise of remarkable strength, so that they may be trained as soldiers. I thought I could best do this by disguising myself as a woodcutter. By good fortune, I have come across your son. Now, if you truly wish him to be a samurai, I will take him and present him to Lord Raiko as a candidate for his service. What say you?"

As the kind general unfolded his plan, the mother's heart was filled with joy. She saw that here was a wonderful chance for her lifelong wish to come true—seeing Kintaro become a samurai before she died.

Bowing her head to the ground, she replied, "I will entrust my son to you if you truly mean what you say."

Kintaro had been sitting by his mother's side, listening. When she finished, he exclaimed, "Oh, joy! Joy! I am to go with the general, and one day I will be a samurai!"

And so Kintaro's fate was decided. The general planned to leave for the Capital immediately, taking Kintaro with him. It need hardly be said that Yama-uba was sad to part with her boy, for he was all she had left. But she hid her grief with a brave face, as they say in Japan. She knew it was for his good to leave her now, and she must not discourage him just as he was setting out. Kintaro promised never to forget her and said that as soon as he was a knight, he would build her a home and take care of her in her old age.

All the animals he had tamed—the bear, the deer, the monkey, and the hare—came to ask if they might accompany him as usual. When they learned he was going away for good, they followed him to the foot of the mountain to say goodbye.

"Kimbo," said his mother, "mind and be a good boy."

"Mr. Kintaro," said the faithful animals, "we wish you good health on your travels."

Then they all climbed a tree to see him off, and from that height they watched him and his shadow gradually grow smaller and smaller until he was lost to sight.

General Sadamitsu went on his way rejoicing at having so unexpectedly found such a prodigy as Kintaro.

Upon arriving at their destination, the general took Kintaro to his lord, Minamoto-no-Raiko, and told him all about Kintaro and how he had found him.

Lord Raiko was delighted with the story, and having Kintaro brought before him, made him one of his vassals at once.

Lord Raiko's army was famous for its band called "The Four Braves." These warriors were chosen by him from among the bravest and strongest of his soldiers, and this small, well-picked band was distinguished throughout all Japan for its dauntless courage.

When Kintaro grew up, his master made him the Chief of the Four Braves. He was by far the strongest of them all. Soon after, news reached the city that a cannibal monster had taken up his abode nearby, and the people were stricken with fear. Lord Raiko ordered Kintaro to the rescue. He immediately set off, delighted at the prospect of testing his sword.

Surprising the monster in its den, he made short work of cutting off its great head, which he carried back in triumph to his master.

Kintaro now rose to be the greatest hero of his country, and great were the power, honor, and wealth that came to him. He kept his promise and built a comfortable home for his old mother, who lived happily with him in the Capital to the end of her days.

Is this not the story of a great hero?