This story took place at the time when the river Kashigoye flowed into the sea passing through a marsh called the Marsh of Terrible Dragons.
There was a reason that this marsh was given this name. This particular marsh had five dragons and every year these five dragons came forward and snatched and ate the maidens of the village.
There were no humans that could stop these terrible dragons. So the people of the villages prayed to Goddess Benten Sama. Benten Sama was the Goddess of mothers and she bestowed love and beauty on those who prayed to her. Benten Sama had many sons like Daikuko who gave wealth to people, Hatei who was full of mirth, and Ebisu who was the god of fishermen.
Benten Sama loved Ebisu the most among all her sons and because of this Benten Sama also loved all the fishermen.
At this time, O Ume San was the daughter of the headman of a village and she sought blessings from the Goddess for her lover. O Ume San’s lover was a fisherman.
O Ume San prayed to the Goddess. “Goddess of Mercy, please send your blessings to my father because he does not consent to my union with Hakuga who is a fisher man of the village. My father says that he will agree to my marriage only when there are no more terrible dragons in the marshland. I pray to you to soften my father's heart and also so that your son Ebiso may bestow his favour upon Hakugo.”
Adapted from Japanese Folktales
No comments:
Post a Comment