Spendor of Okinawa Bonus: A story from the Ryukyu Kingdom (Sunday: 25fe24)

The Golden Squash

 

Kudaka Island is a small island in the sea where the morning sun rises to the east of Shuri Castle. A long time ago, there was a beautiful young woman named Umichiru living on the island. 

(Shuri court attire:http://www.wonder-okinawa.jp/001/images/i_s02.jpg)

Because she was such a beautiful young woman, the king at Shuri fell in love with her and made her his queen. She was soon pregnant with his child, but at that very time, he had her sent away for some reason or other.

Whatever the facts, the reason claimed was that she broke wind in the presence of the king. Umichiru returned to Kudaka Island and soon bore a princely son.

 Umichiru named him Matsugane. He grew up a healthy child. But even at seven, he did not know who his father was. So one day, Matsugane asked his mother, “Mom, where is my father? Why doesn’t he ever come to see me?”

Surprised, his mother, not knowing how best to answer, just said curtly, “Oh, yes, him…” and looked down.

        

But Matsugane, determined to know, pleaded, “Mom, really, please tell me the truth.”

His mother, thus cornered, shrugged her shoulders and answered, “Matsukane, you’re just my only son. You haven’t got any father.” Then, without saying anything more, she just clammed up.

But, Matsugane would just never give up. From then on, he kept asking about his father to get any hint at all. But his mother, being his mother, kept her mouth shut just like a clam. 

Brooding, Matsukane would not eat his three meals and began losing weight. At that point, his mother had to give in and tell him. With her mind made up, Umichiru told him the whole truth about his father.

“Me? I’m the child of the king?” said the surprised Matsukane in a loud voice, looking intently at his mother. “But why have you kept it secret from me until now?” he asked suspiciously. 

Finally, his mother told him the story of why she was put out of the castle.

From then on, Matsukane prayed to God with all his heart, “Please, let me meet the king!”

Matsukane never stopped praying even for one day. One year passed, then two years. The months and days flowed by, and Matsukane became a fine young man of fifteen.

Then one day, Matsukane went to the sea shore and, as he was gazing across the sea toward Shuri, something bright and gleaming washed up near him. Surprisingly, it was a golden squash.

“This is something strange,” he thought. Then, an idea flashed instantly through his mind, “Could it have been given to me by God?” 

Matsukane went running home with the golden squash and showed it to his mother saying, “I’m taking this squash to the castle. I’m going to meet the king.”

The next day, Matsukane got into his sabani (long slim Okinawan boat) and crossed the sea headed for Shuri Castle.

 But even though Matsukane was dressed in his finest clothes, no matter how many times he tried, he could not gain entrance to the castle. The first day, the gatekeeper just swore at him. The second day, he even had water thrown at him. On the third day, Matsugane tried showing the golden squash to the gatekeeper. Quite surprised at the strange sight, the gatekeeper led Matsukane to the king.

Opening up his heart in expectation, the king asked, “Is the story about the golden squash true?”

“Of course,” said Matsugane, unwrapping the package in his hands and reverently offering the golden squash to the king. “My King, I’ve brought this from Kudaka Island and want to give it to you.”

“Well, it certainly is a golden squash! Really, where did you get it?” asked the king.

“My King, it was a gift given to me by God,” Matsugane replied.

Then the king questioned, “Is that so? But, Matsugane, do you have any way of getting more of these?” The king was dreaming of building a prosperous country with the sales of golden squash.

“I’ll tell you the way,” said Matsugane enthusiastically. “If you take out the seeds inside and sow them in a field, that will do the trick. But, the one who does the sowing must be a woman who has never passed wind.”

The king just laughed heartily at Matsugane’s extraordinary words and said, “That? You’re kidding me with that, aren’t you? There’s no such thing as a person who has never passed wind!”

Matsugane answered, “That’s right. There’s no such thing in this world as a person who has never passed wind. But my mother was chased out of this very castle for the crime of passing wind.

Shocked and with his face suddenly changing color, the king said, “Just before, you actually said you’re from Kudaka Island, right? By any chance, could your mother’s name be Umichiru?”

“Yes, My King, and so really, what exactly would my mother’s crime be?” said Matsugane, his voice trembling and his fists involuntarily clenching.

“What indeed? Please forgive me. I’ve done a great wrong,” said the king.

Thus, Matsugane corrected the king’s mistake and cleared up his mother’s heartache.

The king had Matsugane return home to Kudaka Island and then, at an appropriate time, called him and his mother back to Shuri together. 

There, they lived there happily with Umichiru as queen and Matsugane as prince.

It is said that later Matsugane, having earned the respect of the people, became a fine king in his own right.

          

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