A Thunderstorm, a Flea and a Louse

by Courtney Gentry

I was invited by my grandmother, Hisayo, to go tour Japan as a birthday present.  We would stay there for two weeks and enjoy the scenery in addition to learning about our ancestors’ history.  I was so thrilled!  This was my first time to leave the country.

My grandmother and I arrived in Japan after a very long flight.  We are going to stay at her younger sister’s house on the island of Hokkaido.  This was a very beautiful place-- totally different from what I’m used to in Oklahoma!  It is July, and it is very hot and humid here in Japan.  When we stepped outside, my skin became sweaty instantly. 

“Are you ready for our first tour?” my grandmother asked.  “Your great-aunt will take us to go see the Oirase Valley, and we’ll go hiking.  She’ll pick us up for lunch.  Make sure you bring some water.”

Great!  I couldn’t wait to go hiking and see the flora and fauna of Japan.  I checked my digital camera to make sure I brought extra batteries and grabbed a bottle of water.  I put them in my bag and walked out of my great-aunt’s house to see if Grandma Hisayo was ready to go.  They were already waiting for me.  My great-aunt drove us to Oirase Valley. 
When we arrived there, my breath was taken away.  I couldn’t believe how beautiful the place was…the bubbling stream with the lush greenery, gorgeous Japanese flowers like the cherry and plum blossoms and the clear sky with cirrus clouds.

Grandma Hisayo and I started out on the trail near the stream.  We would hike for about two hours and enjoy the scenery.  Since my grandmother was from Japan, she would be able to teach me about the different animals and plants here. 

After about an hour of trekking, the sky began to darken and the wind became cooler.  I saw flashes of blue and silver in the sky…a thunderstorm was heading our way.  Droplets of rain began to shower us.

“Let’s go wait in that cave until this storm passes by.  I have a story to tell you about thunderstorms!” Grandma Hisayo said.  I followed her until we reached a safe place in a small cave. 

I waited for her to begin the story. 

“There was once a beautiful Ainu woman who looked a lot like you.  She was around your age too, about twenty years old.  She was walking home from school when a thunderstorm began.  The two sons of a thunder-god were throwing bolts at one another and playing around.  They paused when they saw the woman walking down the road.  They were admiring her beauty.

One son said he wanted to be near her all the time, so he jokingly said that he would turn into a flea so he could cling onto her bosom.  His brother said that he would turn into a louse and do the same thing.   

Their father overhead their conversation and said that if that was what they wished for, he would turn one son into a flea and the other into a louse.  That’s why we have lice today! 

So, every time there is a thunderstorm, you will see that fleas jump all over the place!  They are descendants of the thunder-god.”

Grandma Hisayo smiled at me.  The raining stopped, so we resumed our hiking trip.  I wonder what story Grandma Hisayo will tell me next when we visit her brother’s farm tomorrow?

Join us for the next tour...click here to proceed to the second story!

I chose this story about the thunder-gods, flea and louse because those elements fit well with the hiking trip into nature.  The thunderstorm during the hiking trip gives an opportunity for the grandmother to tell her granddaughter a story about the Ainu folktale she learned.  I also thought that this story was so cool…who would have thought that a flea and a louse descended from a thunder-god?!

I didn’t change any of the characters from the original story, but I did change the plot a bit to make it more exciting.  I invented the scenes of a beautiful Ainu woman walking home from school and the thunder-god’s sons watching her.  That gave the very brief story more details based on my own imagination.