Denny in the News

  The Monk with His Ear Cut Off  A long time ago, there was a temple called Godou Temple in Naha. A Buddhist monk by the name of  Zashu Kurogane was the priest of the temple. Zashu read the sutras with a voice that would carry throughout the temple and, best of all, his preaching was excellent. Moreover, he was tall and so handsome that even  people in the street would turn their heads to stare at him. (A go board during play:Wikipedia)  Because of Zashu’s reputation, an endless number of pilgrims visited his temple. But Zashu was using his talent for hypnotic spells to do unthinkable things to his parishioners, like skimming money from them and even doing awful things to their beautiful daughters. So, gradually, his parishioners began to turn away from the temple, saying, “Whenever I go to that temple, my money gets stolen” and “That Zashu, he puts young women to sleep and takes advantage of them!” This rumor spread from mouth to mouth and, in no time at all, r...

The Monster Eel   There is a big pond in Nakazato Village on Kume Island. A long time ago, an eel as fat as a water urn lived in the pond. Because this so-called monster eel would even eat up people, nobody ever went near the pond. (An Okinawan water urn) One hot summer day, a young man named Taruu was alone plodding along a mountain path, thinking, “Ah! I’ve done it again. I might as well be dead.”  Taruu was a likable young man, but short-tempered. That day he had gone at it over some trivial thing with the boss he was apprenticed to and ended up running off from the shop. “I’ve got no place to go. What’ll I do now?” thought Taruu, trying to come up with a good way to get his job back, as he walked along. But he ended up getting lost. Both tired and hungry, Taruu curled up in the trunk of a tree and soon was snoring away fast asleep. When he opened his eyes, from somewhere or other, Taruu heard the faint cries of a cow. When he spread open a nearby bush and peered through, t...

  The Mysterious Old Traveler   Once upon a time on New Year’s Eve, an old man, a poor old traveler from the look of him, knocked at the gate of the richest man in a certain village, asking, “I’m a traveler. Would it be okay if I stayed here just for tonight?” The rich man, with a look of scorn, replied, “What? A beggar like you in my house on New Year’s Eve? That’s a bad omen!” and was about to chase him away. “In that case, how about just letting me stay in the shelter of the eaves of the house?” pleaded the old traveler. But the master of the house had his men scatter salt and throw it at the old traveler to ward off evil, and then they went quickly back inside the house. (An Ukama : an altar of 3 stones with offerings to the Ryukyuan hearth god)            The old traveler went away plodding down the cold night road. A little way down the road, there was a house full of cracks in the walls. When the old traveler asked for...

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.  ...

The Giant Serpent’s Sacrificial Maiden   A long time ago in a certain village, there was a pond where a fearsome giant serpent lived. The pond was dense with vegetation and its surroundings were dark even in the daytime. Not one of the villagers ever went near the pond. (Jifa are long pointed hairpins of gold, silver, or steel, useful also for self defense.) When the night became dark, the giant serpent would ravage the rice paddies and fields of the village and attack goats, pigs, cows or any other farm animal it happened upon. For fear of it, the villagers could harvest nothing from their paddies and fields. “If things remain like this, we’ll just have to accept starving to death,” said one villager and another replied, “Before that, we’re more likely to get eaten up.” The frightened villagers made offerings at the pond and prayed that the giant serpent would stop its rampage. But even so, the serpent just kept attacking the village. At that point, they decided that had no choic...