The Story of the Three Genjias
Once upon a time in a certain place there lived three men who all had the same name -- Genjia. One was the tribal chief, the second a carpenter, and the third the chief's steward.

Genjia the carpenter was married to an exceptionally beautiful woman. Genjia the steward fancied her and dreamt day and night of having her for himself. But she was a very upright woman and would not let him get anywhere near her. Finally, he was driven to find some way of killing the carpenter in order to attain his end.

After a while, the father of Genjia the chief died. The steward saw in this a golden opportunity for eliminating the carpenter. Every day he secretly studied the calligraphy of the Buddhist scriptures and succeeded in reproducing the old-fashioned and esoteric style in which they were written. He then wrote a document in this style and handed it to the chief, saying, "Master, here is a document I came across the other day. I cannot understand a word of it and have brought it here specially for you to decipher."

Genjia the chief was baffled by the writing and passed it on to his secretary in charge of documents. After reading it, the secretary said, "This document claims to be from the old chief. In it he says that he has ascended to heaven and is now serving as an official there, but he doesn't have an official mansion. He asks you, Master, to send him a carpenter -- the most skilled you have -- to direct the construction of such a mansion."

Genjia the chief thought constantly of his father and was most concerned to hear that he had nowhere to lay his head in heaven. He sent for Genjia the carpenter, showed him the document and ordered him to go to heaven at once.

Genjia the carpenter was greatly startled. He dared not refuse, however, and could only plead for time, "How could I disobey your order, Master! But I need some time to prepare. Please allow me seven days. After that time, please hold a Twig Burning Ceremony in the hemp field behind my house to send me off. Then I'll be able to ascend to heaven to build the mansion for the old chief."

Genjia the chief considered this request reasonable and willingly agreed.

When Genjia the carpenter left, he went round making a few investigations. He wanted to find out where the chief had got this idea. He eventually discovered that it had originated in a classical document found by Genjia the steward. He put two and two together and concluded that it must be a sinister plot against him hatched by the steward.

He went home and consulted with his wife. "The most absurd thing has happened. The chief wants me to go and build a mansion in heaven. He must have been tricked into it by Genjia the steward. I did not dare refuse, but asked him to hold a Twig Burning Ceremony behind our house before I go. It would be no use trying to disobey him now. There is only one way for me to get out of this alive. The two of us must dig a tunnel under cover of night leading from the field to our bedroom, and then you can hide me there later. In a year's time I will find some way to get even."

The wife was shocked by this tale. Hatred for the steward filled the very marrow of her bones. She was willing to do anything to save her husband. So every day when night fell, the two of them dug the tunnel in secret. On the seventh day it was completed. They sealed the entrance with a slab of stone and scattered soil on it, so that people wouldn't notice it.

The eighth day came, the day for the carpenter to ascend to heaven. At the head of a retinue of elders and stewards and with a great din of bugles and drums, the chief came to send him off. They made a pile of faggots in the hemp field and asked Genjia the carpenter to sling his tool-kit over his shoulder and carry his bag in one hand. They made him stand in the middle, lit the faggots and watched the smoke rise, "carrying him up to heaven".

Genjia the steward was afraid that as soon as the faggots were lit, the carpenter would spoil everything by crying out in terror. "Come on !" he shouted to the crowd. "Blow your bugles and beat your drums! Laugh and cheer! Genjia the carpenter is on his way to heaven to build a mansion for our old chief. Isn't that a wonderful thing!"

The chief came over to have a look. Genjia the steward pointed gleefully to the rising smoke and said, "Master, you see, there goes his horse. Genjia the carpenter is on his way to heaven."

The chief was delighted.

The moment the faggots were lit and the smoke began rising into the sky, Genjia the carpenter raised the slab and escaped through the tunnel back to his own bedroom.

He confined himself to his house for a whole year. His wife went to great lengths to find milk, butter and other nutritious food for him; and as he did no work, by the end of that year he was plumper and fairer-skinned than ever.

Meanwhile, Genjia the steward tried a thousand and one ways of seducing the carpenter's wife, and she tried a thousand and one ways of avoiding him. He failed completely to attain his goal.

While Genjia the carpenter was hiding at home, he diligently practiced the calligraphy of the Buddhist scriptures. He prepared a document written in the authentic style and kept it on his person. On the first anniversary of his "ascent to heaven" he went and stood on the very spot where he was supposed to have been burned, the same tool-kit on his shoulder and the same bag in his hand. He called out, "How is everybody? I've just got back from heaven."

His wife was the first to come out. She pretended to be extremely surprised and hurried over to report the news to the chief.

The chief was very happy when he heard that Genjia the carpenter was back. He gave him a hero's welcome with bugles and drums, and invited him to stay in his mansion. He wanted to find out how his father was faring in heaven.

On meeting the chief, Genjia the carpenter said in a very serious tone of voice, "When I was constructing the official mansion in heaven, the old chief treated me with exceptional kindness, just as you always do, Master. That's why I'm in such good shape! The mansion is finished, and what a magnificent building it is -- ten times the size of an earthly mansion! Only one thing is lacking: a steward. The old chief misses his old steward dearly. He very much wants the steward to go up to heaven and manage things for him. After a period of time he can come back." This said, he promptly produced the document and showed it to the chief, adding that it was the old chief who had asked him to bring it down.

Genjia the chief read the document and was totally convinced by the whole story. Presently he sent for Genjia the steward and asked him to go and work for the old chief in his newly-built mansion in heaven.

When Genjia the steward saw Genjia the carpenter standing there and looking so well after his "ascent to heaven," and when he heard the vivid description of heaven given by the carpenter, he just didn't know what to think. "Perhaps I really possess some sort of magic power", he thought to himself. "It was my idea for him to go to heaven, and he actually seems to have done so! Perhaps it really is possible to fly to heaven, and the old chief really does have a new mansion there!"

He followed the carpenter's example and asked for seven days to get ready, and a Twig Burning Ceremony to be held in the hemp field behind his house to send him off to heaven. He thought that since Genjia the carpenter could come back, he could too. On the eighth day, as on the previous occasion, Genjia the steward stood in the middle of the faggots with a box on his shoulder and a bag in his hand. As on the previous occasion, there was a great din of bugles and drums, and the chief gave the order to light the faggots and send him off to heaven.

But the outcome this time was somewhat different. One difference was that after everything was over, a pile of charred bones was found among the ashes. Another difference was that the steward never came back. He stayed on in heaven forever to help the old chief run his mansion.
 
 

Plop
Many, many years ago there were six rabbits who lived on the shore of a lake, in a forest. One fine day, a big ripe fruit on one of the biggest trees fell down into the lake, making a loud "plop!" when it hit the water. The rabbits were terrified, not knowing what this noise could be, and at once made off as fast as their four legs could carry them.

A fox saw them fleeing and called out, "Why are you flying?"

The rabbits said, "Plop is coming!"

When the fox heard this, he immediately started to flee with them. Next they ran into a monkey, who queried, "Why are you in such a hurry?"

"Plop is coming!" replied the fox. So the monkey also joined in their flight.

Thus the news spread from mouth to mouth until a deer, a pig, a buffalo, a rhinoceros, an elephant, a black bear, a brown bear, a leopard, a tiger, and a lion were all running away, helter-skelter.

They had no thought at all, except to fly. The faster they ran, the more frightened they became.

At the foot of the hill there lived a lion with a great long mane. When he caught sight of the other lion running, he roared to him, "Brother, you have claws and teeth, and you are the strongest of all animals. Why are you running like mad?"

"Plop is coming!" the running lion panted.

"Who's Plop? Where is he?" the lion with the long mane demanded.

"Well, I don't really know," he faltered.

"Why make such a fuss then?" the long-maned lion went on. "Let's find out what it is first. Who told you about it?"

"The tiger told me."

The inquisitive lion with the long mane asked the tiger, who said that the leopard had told him, so the lion turned to the leopard, and the leopard answered that he had heard it from the brown bear. The question was passed on to the brown bear, who said he had heard it from the black bear. In this way, the black bear, the elephant, the rhinoceros, the buffalo, the pig, and the deer were all asked, one by one, and each of them said he was told by someone else.

Finally it came down to the fox's testimony, and he said, "The rabbits told me."

Then the lion went up to the rabbits, who squeaked in chorus, "All six of us heard this terrible plop with our own ears. Come with us, we'll show you where we heard him."

They led him to the forest, and pointing at it, they told the lion, "The terrible plop is there."

Just at this moment another big fruit fell from the tree and dropped into the water with a deep "plop!"

The lion sneered.

"Now, look, all of you!" he said. "You've all seen what that plop is. It's only the sound of a fruit dropping into the water. What is so terrifying about that? You almost ran your legs off!"

They breathed a sigh of relief. The panic was all for naught.
 

The Man with the Goiter
A long time ago, in a lonely country among the mountains, there lived a man with a big goiter on his neck, and he owned a cow. One day the cow wandered away. The man went out to find her, but had to go so far from home that he could not get back that night. Looking around he found two caves, one big one and one little one, and decided to spend the night in the little one.

As he went in and sat down cross-legged on the ground, he began talking the affair over with himself, saying, "My cow is lost and I can not find her, and I have nothing to eat. I am far away from home and can't get back, and I have to stay out here, and I am very much afraid."

Now the big cave was the place where all the ghosts met, but in the small cave only one ghost had his home. This ghost went over to the big cave to the assembly of ghosts and told them there was a man in his cave. They told him to go back and bring him over to them and they would eat him, but he pleaded with them and said, "Please don't kill the man, for I am his landlord, and it wouldn't be good for me if you did so." He told them, too, that the man had a big goiter on his throat.

Then they said to him, "Go and cut that goiter off his neck and bring it over here, and we will eat that."

"All right, that will do," he said, and slipped back into his own cave. He cut the goiter off and took it to them, but when they saw it they said it was too big, it wasn't fit to eat, and they left it in the cave. When the man wakened in the morning he had no goiter and was pleased as could be. He soon found his cow and started down the mountain.

When he got home without his goiter, another man who had one came and asked him how he got rid of his. He told of all of his adventures and the mysterious disappearance of the thing. The other man thought he would do the same and get rid of his. He drove his cow up on the mountain and then went to find her, hid in a cave and talked to himself about the cow that was lost, saying that he could not find her and that he would have to stay there all night. The ghosts assembled again in the big cave, and the one who dwelt in the small cave told them again he had a guest, and they of course wanted to eat him. But he begged them not to, saying that he would cut off the goiter and bring that over.

"Pouf, who wants to eat goiter?" We have already got one we don't like. Take that and stick it on the back of his neck."

When the man wakened in the morning he thought something nice had happened to him, but when he felt his neck there was his goiter just the same. Then the back of his neck felt queer and he put his hand there and found the other one. Then he was very angry and took his cow and went home and never came out again where people could see him.
 
 

The Hare and the Merchant
A hare once invited his winged neighbors -- the delicate thrush, the singing golden oriole, and the thick-headed crow -- to his home. They sang and drank wine, and chatted away happily. Suddenly the hare hit upon an idea, and said, "We are having a very good time today, but we're still not having the utmost pleasure. Let us play a trick on someone, shall we?"

"All right!" everyone answered in unison.

The hare said to the crow, "In front of the yak-hair tent at the bottom of the hill sit two merchants, one fat and one thin. They are rapacity itself and come every year to our grasslands to rake in money. See how hard they are working at this very moment with their abacus, trying to find ways to get even more money. Brother Crow, would you dare to settle on the head of the fat merchant?"

The crow thought this would be easy and answered, "Why, of course! It's nothing."

"If you dare, we can have the greatest fun," continued the hare. "But remember this: When you settle on his head the first time, the fat merchant will say, 'Oh, what bad luck! A crow settles on my head. Drive him away quickly!' You should fly away when the thin merchant comes near you, and then come back and settle on the fat one's head a second time. The thin merchant will surely try to hit you with the abacus. This time you should fly right away. You'll see, we will have the most amusing jape."

They all came out to see the fun, and the crow flew off and settled on the fat merchant's head. The merchant screwed up his face and shouted, "Oh, what bad luck to have a crow settle on my head! Assistant, drive him away!"

The thin merchant raised his account book and drove the crow away. The crow cawed and circled above the bald head of the fat merchant. The fat merchant, his brows knitted, went over and sat beside the thin merchant and started to work intently on his abacus again.

Within a few moments the crow flew back and settled on the bald head for the second time. The merchant shouted again, "Oh what bad luck! There's a crow settling on my head again. Are you blind, assistant? Why don't you hit him? Beat him to death!"

Fluster by the fat merchant's anger, the thin one raised the abacus and hit at the crow. But instead of hitting him, for the crow had flown away, the blow fell right on the bald head. Blood flowed at once.

The birds, who had been watching the fun, roared with laughter and almost fell off the trees they were sitting on, and the hare had to roll in the grass for merriment. When the crow came back, they all went back to the hare's home and went on with their singing and drinking.

The two greedy merchants couldn't go on with their work on the abacus. In fact, a whole month passed before the fat merchant's wound was healed.
 
 

The Rabbit's Revenge
Long, long ago a rabbit and a lion were neighbors. The lion was very proud, and was fond of boasting about his strength. And though they were such close neighbors, the lion looked down upon the rabbit, and used to bully and frighten her. Finally the rabbit could stand it no longer and wanted to get her own back. 

One day she went to the lion and said, "Good day, respected elder brother. Imagine it, I met an animal over there who looked exactly like you, and he said to me, 'Is there anyone in the world who dare stand up to me? If there is, let him come and have a duel with me. If there is no one, all of you have to submit to my rule and be my servants!' Oh, he was an intolerable braggart! He is so puffed up with pride that his eyes can't even light on anyone!" 

"Oho," the lion said. "Didn't you mention me to him?" 

"Yes, indeed," the rabbit replied. "But it would have been better if I hadn't. When I described how strong you were, he just sneered and said dreadfully rude things. He even went so far as to say that he wouldn't take you for his attendant!" 

The lion flew into a rage and roared, "Where is he? Where is he?" 

So the rabbit took the lion behind a hill and, not going too near herself, pointed to a deep well from a distance, and said, "He is down there, in the well." 

The lion hastened to the well and glared angrily into it. Yes, there was his rival -- as the rabbit said, the image of himself -- who even glared back at him angrily. The lion roared, and his enemy roared back. The lion became so furious that his hair stood on end. So did his enemy's in the well. The lion showed his teeth and lashed out with his paws to scare his rival -- and his enemy in the well retaliated! In a fit of anger the lion sprang into the air with all his might and then flung himself at the enemy in the well. The result was that the proud lion was instantly drowned. 
 
 

The Blue Jackal
In times long past there was a very greedy jackal, which used to roam in the forest, and even in places uninhabited by men. At length he made his way into the house of a dyer, and fell into an indigo vat. After he had escaped he lay down to sleep on a neighboring dunghill. Having tossed about thereon, so that his body became ever so unshapely, he jumped into the water. When he had come out, and had been exposed to the rays of the sun, he acquired the color of cyanite.

When the other jackals saw him, they dispersed and stood afar off, and asked, "Who are you? Where do you come from?"

He replied, "My name is Sataga, and I have been appointed king of the four-footed beasts by Sakra, the king of the gods."

The jackals considered that, as his body was of a color never before seen, this must be true, and they made all the four-footed beast acquainted with the fact. 

The lions thought, "If someone is exalted above us and made the king of the beasts, we must go and carry this news to the chief of our band." So they told the news to the maned chief of their band, who dwelt in a certain hill district. He ordered the other beasts to go forth and find out whether any animal had seen this chieftain of the four-footed. So they betook themselves to where the jackal was, and made inquiries. And they perceived the jackal, like unto nothing ever seen before, surrounded by all the four-footed creatures except the lions. Then they returned to their chief and told him what they had seen. and he, when he had listened to them, betook himself, surrounded by the band of lions, to where the jackal was. The jackal, surrounded by many quadrupeds, rode along on an elephant, with the lions around him, and then the tigers and other quadrupeds. The jackals formed a circle round him at a greater distance.

Now the jackal's mother dwelt in a certain mountain ravine. Her son sent a jackal to her, and invited her to come, now that he had obtained the sovereign power. 

She asked what was the nature of his surroundings.

The messenger replied, "The inner circle is formed of lions, tigers, and elephants, but the outer of jackals."

She said, "So much for things not following their proper order." She also said in verse: 

I live here comfortably in the mountain ravine, 
and amid cool waters enjoy my good fortune.
So long as he utters no jackal's cry, 
the elephant will let him retain his prosperity.

The messenger jackal said to the jackals, "This king of the four-footed is only another jackal. I have seen his mother who dwells in such a such a mountain ravine."

They replied, "In that case we will test him and see whether he is a jackal or not."

Now it is according to the nature of things that jackals, if they hear a jackal howl without howling themselves, lose their hair. So the jackal, when he heard the other jackals lift up their voices, said to himself, "If I utter no cry, my hair will certainly fall off. But if I get off the elephant and then begin to howl, he will kill me. So I will lift up my voice where I am."

So soon as, sitting on the elephant, he began to lift up his voice, the elephant perceived that it was a jackal that was riding on his back, so he flung him off and trampled him underfoot.

A deity uttered this verse: 
He who keeps at a distance 
those who should be near,
and brings near those 
who should be at a distance,
will be cast down, 
as the jackal was by the elephant. 
 

The Boastful Tortoise
Once there were two egrets and a little tortoise who lived by a lake and became fast friends. They played together all day long, sunning themselves on the sand and swimming in the lake. They were very happy and would never be parted for a single day.

But that year there was a drought. In the whole five months from March till August, not a single drop of rain fell! All the rivers were dried up, and the land cracked into fissures. Of course the little lake could not escape the same fate. Day by day the water became less and less. The three friends did not know what to do, and sighed all day.

One day the two egrets took to the air to see how things were, and came back in the evening saying, "Brother Tortoise, everyone is moving to the Heavenly Lake, even the moles. I think we had better move too. If we stay here we shall die of hunger and thirst."

The tortoise shut his little eyes, as small as green beans, and wept. "Oh, you can fly or hurry as fast as you want, and get to the Heavenly Lake. But I can neither fly nor walk fast. Within three days men will be able to pick up my empty shell! I would never have thought that you would leave me behind, when we have been friends for so long."

The tortoise wept so pitiably that the egrets, unable to hold their own tears back, did not have the heart to leave him behind. So they decided to stay back themselves for the time being. Perhaps, after all, the rain would come in a few days!

But the weather promised no change. Clear stars dotted the sky at night, and the sun beat down mercilessly by day. The little lake was nearly dry. The egrets said again they thought they must go. The tortoise knew that he could not insist on staying any longer, so he pleaded with them, saying, "We have been friends for so long! Can't you think of a way to take me along?"

They put their heads together. After some time the egrets said, "Brother Tortoise, we have a plan, but we are not sure whether it will work...."

The tortoise couldn't wait for them to finish but interrupted eagerly, "What is it? What is it?"

"We'll hold two ends of a stick in our beaks, and you can hang on to the middle. Then we can fly, carrying you between us. What do you think of the idea?"

The little tortoise was so happy that he nearly hopped. "Yes, yes! That's a fine idea! Let's start at once!"

The egrets were very pleased, too, but they had to give him a warning. "You must be very careful not to open your mouth on the way."

"Of course not. I'll keep it tight shut, even if someone tries to pry it open with a knife."

So they had their last dinner, a specially sumptuous one, and early next morning said good-bye to their home. The egrets held the two ends of the stick, and the tortoise gripped the middle in his jaws. They flew and flew and flew, over dark forests, glittering snow-covered mountains, temples with golden tiles, and vast grasslands.

Down on the earth, some people, painfully trying to irrigate their fields, pointed to them and said, "Look, what a clever tortoise! He holds the stick in his jaws and lets the egrets carry him." The egrets went on as if they had heard nothing, but the tortoise glowed with pride. Everyone was praising him, ha, ha!

They flew on and on. Children, herding cattle on the mountain, shouted at them, "Look, how clever the egrets are! They carry the tortoise to the very sky." 

The egrets paid no attention to it but concentrated on flying, but the tortoise felt very hurt. "Stupid fools! Saying that it was the egrets who carried me! Why, to all intents it was I who thought out this plan! I must let them know which of us is the cleverer."

So with all his might he began to shout at them, "Hi...."

But as soon as he opened his mouth, he fell head downward and tail up, straight towards a big black stone.
 

The Tiger and the Frog
Once upon a time, in the days when the world was young and all animals understood each other's languages, an old, old tiger named Tsuden went out hunting for some food. As he was creeping quietly along the banks of a stream a frog saw him and was badly scared. He thought, "This tiger is coming to eat me up." 

He climbed up on a little bunch of sod, and when the tiger came near, called out, "Hello, where are you going?"

The tiger answered, "I am going up into the forest to hunt something to eat. I haven't had any food for two or three days, and I am very weak and hungry. I guess I'll eat you up. You're awfully small, but I can't find anything else. Who are you, anyway?"

The frog replied, swelling up as big as he could, "I am the king of frogs. I can jump any distance and can do anything. Here's a river. Let's see who can jump across."

The tiger answered, "All right," and as he crouched ready to jump, the frog slipped up and got hold of the end of his tail with his mouth, and when the tiger jumped, he was thrown away up the bank across the river. After Tsuden got across, he turned around and looked and looked into the river for the frog. But as the tiger turned, the frog let loose of his tail and said, "What are you looking for, old tiger, down there?"

The tiger whirled quickly, very much surprised to see the frog away up the bank behind him.

Said the frog, "Now I beat you in that test, let's try another. Suppose we both vomit."

The tiger being empty could only throw up a little water, but the frog spit up some tiger hair. 

The tiger, much astonished, asked, "How do you happen to be able to do that?"

The frog replied, "Oh, yesterday I killed a tiger and ate him, and these are just a few of the hairs that aren't yet digested."

The tiger began to think to himself, "He must be very strong. Yesterday he killed and ate a tiger, and now he has jumped farther than I did over the river. Guess I'd better slip away before he eats me." Then he sidled away a little piece, quickly turned, and began to run away as fast as he could, up the mountain.

He met a fox coming down who asked, "What's the matter? Why are you running away so fast?"

"Say," the old tiger said, "I met the king of all the frogs, who is very strong. Why, he has been eating tigers, and he jumped across the river and landed farther up the bank than I did."

The fox laughed at him and said, "What, are you running away from that little frog? He is nothing at all. I am only a little fox, but I could put my foot on him and kill him."

The tiger answered, "I know what this frog can do, but if you think you can kill him, I'll go back with you. I am afraid you will get frightened and run away, however, so we must tie our tails together."

So they tied their tails fast in a lot of knots and went down to see the frog, who still sat on his piece of sod, looking as important as he could. He saw them coming and called out to the fox, "You're a great fox. You haven't paid your toll to the king today, nor brought any meat either. Is that a dog you've got tied to your tail, and are you bringing him for my dinner?"

Then the tiger was frightened, for he thought the fox was taking him to the king to be eaten. So he turned and ran and ran as fast as he could go, dragging the poor fox with him, and if they are not dead, they are still running today.