Grandpa was grateful
this woman had come over to help him entertain his grandchildren.
He was beginning to think the baby was never going to be here.
The children were behaving themselves quite well, considering they'd
been sitting in the hospital for hours.
"Are you waiting for a baby too?" he asked the African lady.
"Yes, my son is expecting twins. He married a tiny little Japanese girl, and we thought she was going to pop holding both those babies in her," she explained with her accent.
Grandpa laughed. He noticed the children getting excited, and he was worried that the mention of Japan would send them off into fantasies of samurai warriors and Pokemon. The lady must have read his mind. She turned again to the children.
"Would you all like to hear a story from Japan?" she asked. The kids were ecstatic.
"Oh, you really don't have to do that. We don't want to bother you, what with your own family here and all," Grandpa said. The kids groaned and sighed.
She shrugged. "We don't have any kids here at the hospital, so I don't have anyone else to entertain. This will be my eleventh grandbaby. We've learned not to bring the young tykes to the waiting room after an incident with a wheelchair and a stairwell."
Grandpa laughed again. This woman was very generous to come and tell his grandchildren stories. He wasn't surprised that she had a big family; she had a wonderful way with the kids. The second to youngest child, who never said much, was begging her to start the story. Grandpa found himself anxious for her to start the next story as well.
In the beginning, heaven and the earth were one. The eternal ruler arose as a single reed, and watched over the whole of everything. The female God, Izanami, and the male God, Izanagi came next.
The two of them stood in heaven and they stirred the ocean with a long spear that was covered with jewels. The ocean water spun and bubbled up and formed the first island, where the man and woman made their home. Izanami walked to the east, and Izanagi walked to the west. When they met face to face, they married and lived as husband and wife.
Their first child was not healthy, so they sent him out in the ocean in a boat. He became the god of fisherman. Izanami gave birth to the islands of Japan. Finally, she gave birth to all the gods that would rule the world and protect the earth. There were gods of the sea and gods of the land. There were gods of the birds and gods of the animals. There were gods of the sky and the wind. But when Izanami gave birth to the god of fire, she was badly burned and she died.
Her husband Izanagi was furious with the god of fire. He cut him up and set out to search for his beloved wife. He went down to the Land of Gloom and called out for her.
She answered his calls, but she told him he was too late. "I have already eaten the food of this land," she told him. She wanted to come back, so she told him to wait while she asked permission from the spirits of the underworld. She warned him not to look at her.
Izanami left, and Izanagi waited for her. After awhile, he got tired of waiting. He used a tooth from his comb and made a torch to light his way. He found Izanami, but she was rotting and her body was covered in maggots. She was giving birth to the gods of thunder.
Izanagi was disgusted. Izanami scolded him, and commanded the spirits of the Land of Gloom to kill him. The spirits chased Izanagi, but he escaped. He through his hat on the ground. The hat turned into grapes, and the spirits stopped to eat them. He ran further, and he through down his comb. The comb turned into bamboo shoots, and the spirits stopped to eat again.
Izanami had almost caught up with Izanagi by the time he reached the pass between the land of the dead and the land of the living. Izanagi blocked the pass with a huge boulder so that Izanami could not get through. He made a permanent barrier between life and death.
Izanami shouted after him, "Every day, I will kill a thousand people and bring them to the Land of Gloom!"
Izanagi shouted back, "Every day I will cause one thousand five hundred babies to be born in the land of the living!"
To this day, Izanami rules the Land of Gloom, and Izanagi rules the land of the living.
Author's Note:
I added the dialogue between the lady and Grandpa at the beginning. I need to use the hospital setting as my frametale, so I tried to set that up. I tried to remind the reader that the family is waiting for a baby. I tried to paraphrase the story I found. I'm not really familiar with the Japanese story of creation, so I don't know which elements are very important. I didn't want to leave anything out, so I chose to retell the same story in my own words.
Creation Myths: Japanese
Sara Miller
email
Storybook Project
"Are you waiting for a baby too?" he asked the African lady.
"Yes, my son is expecting twins. He married a tiny little Japanese girl, and we thought she was going to pop holding both those babies in her," she explained with her accent.
Grandpa laughed. He noticed the children getting excited, and he was worried that the mention of Japan would send them off into fantasies of samurai warriors and Pokemon. The lady must have read his mind. She turned again to the children.
"Would you all like to hear a story from Japan?" she asked. The kids were ecstatic.
"Oh, you really don't have to do that. We don't want to bother you, what with your own family here and all," Grandpa said. The kids groaned and sighed.
She shrugged. "We don't have any kids here at the hospital, so I don't have anyone else to entertain. This will be my eleventh grandbaby. We've learned not to bring the young tykes to the waiting room after an incident with a wheelchair and a stairwell."
Grandpa laughed again. This woman was very generous to come and tell his grandchildren stories. He wasn't surprised that she had a big family; she had a wonderful way with the kids. The second to youngest child, who never said much, was begging her to start the story. Grandpa found himself anxious for her to start the next story as well.
In the beginning, heaven and the earth were one. The eternal ruler arose as a single reed, and watched over the whole of everything. The female God, Izanami, and the male God, Izanagi came next.
The two of them stood in heaven and they stirred the ocean with a long spear that was covered with jewels. The ocean water spun and bubbled up and formed the first island, where the man and woman made their home. Izanami walked to the east, and Izanagi walked to the west. When they met face to face, they married and lived as husband and wife.
Their first child was not healthy, so they sent him out in the ocean in a boat. He became the god of fisherman. Izanami gave birth to the islands of Japan. Finally, she gave birth to all the gods that would rule the world and protect the earth. There were gods of the sea and gods of the land. There were gods of the birds and gods of the animals. There were gods of the sky and the wind. But when Izanami gave birth to the god of fire, she was badly burned and she died.
Her husband Izanagi was furious with the god of fire. He cut him up and set out to search for his beloved wife. He went down to the Land of Gloom and called out for her.
She answered his calls, but she told him he was too late. "I have already eaten the food of this land," she told him. She wanted to come back, so she told him to wait while she asked permission from the spirits of the underworld. She warned him not to look at her.
Izanami left, and Izanagi waited for her. After awhile, he got tired of waiting. He used a tooth from his comb and made a torch to light his way. He found Izanami, but she was rotting and her body was covered in maggots. She was giving birth to the gods of thunder.
Izanagi was disgusted. Izanami scolded him, and commanded the spirits of the Land of Gloom to kill him. The spirits chased Izanagi, but he escaped. He through his hat on the ground. The hat turned into grapes, and the spirits stopped to eat them. He ran further, and he through down his comb. The comb turned into bamboo shoots, and the spirits stopped to eat again.
Izanami had almost caught up with Izanagi by the time he reached the pass between the land of the dead and the land of the living. Izanagi blocked the pass with a huge boulder so that Izanami could not get through. He made a permanent barrier between life and death.
Izanami shouted after him, "Every day, I will kill a thousand people and bring them to the Land of Gloom!"
Izanagi shouted back, "Every day I will cause one thousand five hundred babies to be born in the land of the living!"
To this day, Izanami rules the Land of Gloom, and Izanagi rules the land of the living.
Author's Note:
I added the dialogue between the lady and Grandpa at the beginning. I need to use the hospital setting as my frametale, so I tried to set that up. I tried to remind the reader that the family is waiting for a baby. I tried to paraphrase the story I found. I'm not really familiar with the Japanese story of creation, so I don't know which elements are very important. I didn't want to leave anything out, so I chose to retell the same story in my own words.
Creation Myths: Japanese
Sara Miller
Storybook Project