Spendor of Okinawa Bonus: A story from the Ryukyu Kingdom (Sunday: 21ja24)

The Jug from the Dragon Kingdom

A long time ago, there was an able-bodied young fisherman named Masaria living on Miyako Island. One night as usual, Masaria went out fishing in his sabani (small slim Okinawan boat). 

As he was fishing, suddenly his fishing pole bent like a bow and his line reeled out with tremendous force. With his heart pounding, Masaria dug in his heels and skillfully reeled in the line. The catch he landed was a manta ray, so lily white that it seemed transparent.

(A Ryukuan: Awamori (Saki) Jug)

Masaria had never before seen a ray so beautiful. With his heart thumping, he gently tried to stroke the ray. As soon as he touched it, the ray turned in a flash into a beautiful maiden. Masaria was stupefied, but, with his heart stolen by such a beautiful maiden, he passed the night with her as if in a dream.

      

After that experience, every day Masaria’s mind was totally taken up by thoughts of the maiden. But the sea maiden did not show herself again and by and by a year flowed past. Masaria’s thoughts of the maiden gradually faded as he once more put himself into his work.

       

Then one day, while Masaria was out at sea fishing, a boy’s head unexpectedly popped up between the waves. Stunned at the sight, Masaria was even more surprised to hear the child call, “Daddy, Daddy!” Now, Masaria had no children at all. And yet, there was no one else around for the boy to be talking to, nothing but the deep sea. So, Masaria said to the boy, half hidden in the waves, “Who the devil are you? I haven’t got any kids. Why are you calling me daddy?”

        

With that, the boy swam swishing around the sabani and answered, “My mother appears like a white ray. But in fact, she’s  the Royal Princess of  the Dragon Kingdom (the undersea world).” Although Masaria was completely taken aback, fond memories of his time with the maiden welled up in his mind and he asked, “Really and truly, are you my son?”

Just then, thrown by the force of a wave, the boy ended up smack on the deck in front of Masaria.  The lad  pleaded, “Daddy, please come with me to the Dragon Kingdom. Mommy is waiting for us.” That said, the boy grabbed the hand of the hesitant Masaria and pulled him forcefully into the sea. As you might guess, just by holding the boy’s hand, Masaria could go deep down into the sea.

A moment later, a red coral gate appeared. As they passed through the gate, pearl-studded streets led to a palace beyond. Maidens were lined up along both sides of the street all in uniformed in elegant gowns to welcome them. The palace itself was completely covered with gleaming gold and its halls were decorated with variously colored flower-like coral and pearls.

“Masaria, welcome and please make yourself at home. I’ve wanted so much to see you again,” said the Royal Princess joyfully as she led Masaria to his seat for the banquet. The Princess, wearing a gown glistening with the colors of a rainbow, was indeed the same woman Masaria had met that time on the sea.

Pleasant music was being played in the Dragon Palace and there were gorgeous dances, round after round. One after another, wondrous food and drinks were laid out as the banquet went on and on.

“What a lucky fisherman I am, being here in this country!” thought Masaria as each day passed like a dream in the Dragon Kingdom. But, after three days and three nights of banqueting, Masaria began, as was his nature, to feel homesick for his earthly life.

Seeing a good chance, Masaria announced his departure to the Royal Princess, “Really, you’ve given me some wonderful memories, but it’s more or less time for me to go home.” The Royal Princess, surprised at Masaria’s totally unexpected words, replied, “Masaria, I beg you, please find it in your heart to stay here with me and our child forever,” her face struggling to hold back tears about to gush out at any moment.

But, Masaria had made up his mind to go home no matter what. So, the Royal Princess brought out a blue gleaming jug and announced his parting to all, “This sapphire jug is the Dragon Kingdom’s greatest treasure. There’s a mysterious sake in the jug. Please drink it with reverence. It’s my parting gift to you.” Seen off by the Royal Princess and their son, along with her maidens, Masaria left the Dragon Kingdom behind.

When Masaria returned home, the villagers, who thought he had died at sea, were shocked off their feet. But Masaria was even more shocked. Although he was in the Dragon Kingdom for only three days and three nights, three years and three months had gone by during the same time on earth.

Masaria told the villagers the story of the Dragon Kingdom. Then he politely shared around with the villagers the sake from the sapphire jug he had been reverently carrying. 

Mysteriously, old men had their youth returned, the sick became healthy, and the young felt power fill their bodies. Moreover, no matter how much sake was drunk from the jug, it kept gushing out like water from a spring.

Masaria’s heart was filled with gratitude to the Royal Princess. The villagers also were delighted that, from then on, they would never have to worry about sickness again. 

In no time at all, the sapphire jug was renowned throughout the island. So, from early morning, people came running up to Masaria’s house from all over the island wanting a share of the sake. Rich people especially were willing to pay any price for a drink of the sake. So, Masaria became the richest man on the island.

But, getting rich completely changed Masaria’s personality. One day, a man came running in asking, “There’s a man in the street about to die. Please give me some sake for him.” Masaria just coldly chased him off saying, “What’s that to me? Get your foul body  out of here.” 

Masaria even started to hate the sight of other people’s faces. Moreover, he began thinking of the sapphire jug as a troublesome piece of old junk and even considered breaking it into pieces.

Then, in a bad mood one day, Masaria took the sapphire jug in his hands, went out to the garden, and threw the sapphire jug with all his might, aiming it against a big rock in the garden.

But then, what do you suppose happened? The sapphire jug, that left his hands with such force, floated softly into the air and then changed into a white bird. The white bird flew spiraling high into the sky and then slowly made  one turn in the sky over Masaria’s house. The house, palatial from Masaria’s riches, suddenly disappeared in ruins. 

Masaria, instantly understanding the gravity of trying to destroy the precious gift of the Princess, shrugged his shoulders in regret for what he had done. But it was too late.

Note on pronunciation: Okinawan consonants sound much the same as their alphabetical counterparts in English. Vowels follow the sounds of the a,e,i,o,u of Italian or Spanish. Doubling means that the vowel is lengthened, not repeated.

Story: compiled and written in Japanese by Kyoko Ishikawa. English translation by William A. O’Donnell (odomnail@rocketmail.com), edited by Thomas Marsh.