很久很久以前，在某一个地方……

昔ばなしシリーズ #1

by Aito Aoyagi, 青柳碧人, 吕灵芝 (Translator)

一寸法师的不在场证据：一寸法师打败恶鬼保护了公主。他靠打出小锤变大，心里却藏着一个计划……

花开死者的留言：老爷爷撒灰让樱花盛开。好心的他把城主的奖赏捐给了村里，反而遭人杀害……

鹤的反倒叙：村里的青年收留了无处可去的阿通。为了感谢他，阿通织了一匹布。青年得知那种布能卖高价，就让阿通再织更多……

密室龙宫：浦岛太郎救下一只海龟，被带到龙宫参加饮酒作乐的宴会。此时，伊势龙虾化身的伊势却被杀害了……

绝海鬼岛：桃太郎和他的伙伴上鬼岛打鬼，终获得胜利。可是，真正的战斗才刚刚开始……

Genres: Fiction, Mystery, Fantasy, Crime

181 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 1, 2019

About the author

青柳碧人

Reviews

[W.M. · Rating 4 out of 5]

噢哇這本真的厲害，初看非常好笑但真正看完實是毛骨悚然。同樣的故事切換視角之後反而能夠成為真正殘忍的鬼故事吧……倒也不是實質意義上的「鬼」，以民間故事做為基底而寫成的這些故事，各方面都有著日本萬物皆有靈的世界觀，所以不管是白鶴或海中生物，乃至於「鬼」，其實都映射出人類的模樣。
以短篇來說很精彩而且真的相當有趣，其中〈白鶴的倒敘〉手法出奇精彩，但我自己最喜歡的大概還是鬼島那一篇吧，真是細思極恐。

[Erika · Rating 4 out of 5]

ahahahahaha this book was waaay funnier than I was expecting!
If you grew up listening to old fairy tales (or folklores? I don't know what to call them) 一寸法師/花咲か爺さん/鶴の恩返し/浦島太郎/桃太郎, you'll have a great time reading these stories with a murder mystery twist.
Ever wonder what happened to the Issun-bōshi or "The Inch-High Samurai" after he got married to a princess?
Wanted to know what happened to the old man after he made the cherry flower blossom with his dog's ashes?
What was the whole crane thing about? (this story was amazing in 2 ways.)
Why was Urashima Tarō given that box that ages him, and why did he open it despite being told not to?
And what would Momotaro look like from oni's perspective? (I think I've seen this approach to the old folklore before, but not to this extent)

The title "Once upon a time, there was a corpse" was a well-constructed retelling of these old folklores, and I'm glad I've given this book a try. (I mean, that title, man.)

[MIKI · Rating 5 out of 5]

For Japanese readers, beloved traditional folktales have been turned into mysteries. A few years ago, it gained popularity and caught my attention, so I decided to listen to it as an audiobook. I tried listening to it with my children during summer vacation, and it was a lot of fun. I particularly enjoyed the perspective from the demon's point of view in the story of 'Momotaro'.

日本人にとって、馴染みの深い昔話がミステリーになった。何年か前に話題になり、気になっていたので、オーディオブックで聞いた。夏休み中の子どもと一緒に聞いてみたが、とても楽しかった。鬼目線の「桃太郎」が気に入った。

[Emi · Rating 4 out of 5]

日本昔ばなし殺人事件。おもしろかったけど、元になってる話とは別物と考えないといろいろ悲しくなってくる笑

[Miku · Rating 4 out of 5]

短編５部。前半は昔話の中でのアイテムがミステリーの鍵になっていたりして面白いが、後半は普通のミステリー。

[Qiu Wei · Rating 5 out of 5]

第三个故事满分呀

[Jocelyn · Rating 2 out of 5]

有点无厘头的故事。可能比较适合小学生。😑

[Asuka · Rating 5 out of 5]

メッチャ面白いかった！一寸法師、鶴の恩返し、浦島太郎、花咲か爺さんがオドロオドロしたミステリーに！ガチお勧めです

[Bunnie]

很有意思，比陈浩基的童话好。
凶手和被害者的双重叙诡加上时间错位，还有些伏线，和成人式类似，更精巧但也更好写。叙诡还是适合短篇。

[Samuel · Rating 5 out of 5]

(read in Japanese)
A sort of "twisted fairy tale" take on classic Japanese folklore. The basic premise of each of the stories is, "what would happen if a corpse was involved in a classic Japanese folk tale?" Very interesting and quite funny at times. It helps to have a background knowledge of the stories being referenced but it's not necessary to enjoy the book. 5 stories total, culminating in a retelling of the Momotaro tale from the perspective of the Oni! It starts out strong with a more straight forward tale of a detective into the dark side of the Issunboushi tale... or is it? I also loved the twisted take on the Tsuru no Ongaeshi story of the ever suffering Crane. Both sad and very darkly amusing. Poor Tsuu, I guess Cranes are very trusting creatures. That dastardly Yahei! Loved the ending.

The audio book on audible is also great.

[Xiaolink · Rating 4 out of 5]

好有趣的视角 推理小说本已经没啥新意和神话故事结合也是非常不错 很喜欢鹤的报恩

[Merrick]

唯一有趣的点是在神话故事里出现了杀人事件本身，推理部分几乎没什么看点……

[Dumbo · Rating 4 out of 5]

1.3最好看

[Ayn · Rating 3 out of 5]

閱後最喜歡白鶴的倒敘篇，還未回過神來便踏入了不可靠敘事者的佈局當中，值得反覆欣賞。

反而有點可惜遠海的鬼島篇，精心策畫的戲劇張力和層層堆疊出的孤島氣氛，以及寶物的驚喜登場，還是因為老鼠屎（BUG和動機）而壞了一鍋粥。