The Boy Who Drew Cats and Other Japanese Fairy Tales

by Lafcadio Hearn, Bob Blaisdell

A talking tea kettle, a monstrous goblin-spider that lives in a haunted temple, miniature soldiers that plague a lazy young bride, and other fanciful creatures abound in this captivating collection of eleven Japanese fairy tales.
Youngsters are transported to an exotic, faraway world of samurai warriors, rice fields, humble cottages, and a magical spring in five tales excellently translated and adapted by noted writer and linguist Lafcadio Hearn: "The Fountain of Youth," "Chin-Chin Kobakama," "The Goblin-Spider," "The Old Woman Who Lost Her Dumplings," and the title story. Six additional stories — in versions by Grace James, Basil Hall Chamberlain, and other authorities on Japanese folklore — include "The Tea-Kettle," "The Wooden Bowl," "My Lord Bag-o'-Rice," "The Hare of Inaba," "The Silly Jelly-Fish," and "The Matsuyama Mirror."

Genres: Fiction, Fantasy, Japan, Childrens, Short Stories, Fairy Tales, Japanese Literature

64 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 1998

About the author

Greek-born American writer Lafcadio Hearn spent 15 years in Japan; people note his collections of stories and essays, including Kokoro (1896), under pen name Koizumi Yakumo.

Rosa Cassimati (Ρόζα Αντωνίου Κασιμάτη in Greek), a Greek woman, bore Patrick Lafcadio Hearn (Πατρίκιος Λευκάδιος Χερν in Greek or 小泉八雲 in Japanese), a son, to Charles Hearn, an army doctor from Ireland. After making remarkable works in America as a journalist, he went to Japan in 1890 as a journey report writer of a magazine. He arrived in Yokohama, but because of a dissatisfaction with the contract, he quickly quit the job. He afterward moved to Matsué as an English teacher of Shimané prefectural middle school. In Matsué, he got acquainted with Nishida Sentarô, a colleague teacher and his lifelong friend, and married Koizumi Setsu, a daughter of a samurai.
In 1891, he moved to Kumamoto and taught at the fifth high school for three years. Kanô Jigorô, the president of the school of that time, spread judo to the world.

Hearn worked as a journalist in Kôbé and afterward in 1896 got Japanese citizenship and a new name, Koizumi Yakumo. He took this name from "Kojiki," a Japanese ancient myth, which roughly translates as "the place where the clouds are born". On that year, he moved to Tôkyô and began to teach at the Imperial University of Tôkyô. He got respect of students, many of whom made a remarkable literary career. In addition, he wrote much reports of Japan and published in America. So many people read his works as an introduction of Japan. He quit the Imperial University in 1903 and began to teach at Waseda University on the year next. Nevertheless, after only a half year, he died of angina pectoris.

Reviews

[☘Misericordia☘ ⚡ϟ⚡⛈⚡☁ ❇️❤❣ · Rating 5 out of 5]

A bride reborn,
A samurai daredevil monk,
Suiciding osidori ducks,
Diplomacy arts,
Earless blind musician,
a ghost's love letter,
all the people who give their life for another (be it a tree or a young girl)...

all the very invocating wonders of fantasy and folk tales molded to LH's style. Wow!

[Eirini Proikaki · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5*

[Michail Drakomathioulakis · Rating 5 out of 5]

English follows:

Ο Λευκάδιος Χερν (Lafcadio Hearn) είναι αναμφίβολα ένας μεγάλος δημιουργός και το έργο του, καθαρά Ιαπωνικό καίτοι όχι Ιαπωνικής καταγωγής ο ίδιος, αποτελεί πρόσκλησι προς τον Δυτικό κόσμο για ν' ανακαλύψη την εξαίσια αυτή Χώρα του Ανατέλλοντος Ηλίου, την ιδιαίτερη κουλτούρα της και τον πολιτισμό της. Έτι περισσότερο, δεδομένης της Ιρλανδοελληνικής καταγωγής του, η πρόσκλησι αυτή απευθύνεται τρόπον τινά ιδιαίτερα στους Έλληνες, με τη συστηματική μελέτη του έργου του τις τελευταίες δεκαετίες και στην Ελλάδα να αποτελή γεγονός.

Στο βιβλίο αυτό ο Χερν συγκεντρώνει μια σειρά Ιαπωνικών μύθων και παραμυθιών, που δείχνουν ανάγλυφα την απλότητα, την παιδικότητα (ας μην παρεξηγηθή η λέξι, δεν το λέω προσβλητικά) και τη γόνιμη φαντασία του Ιαπωνικού λαού. Ιδιαίτερο ενδιαφέρον έχει η ιστορία "Ουράσιμα", η οποία εμφανίζεται σ' ακόμη ένα βιβλίο του Χερν που κυκλοφορεί στα Ελληνικά, "Το όνειρο μιας καλοκαιρινής ημέρας..."(The Dream of a Summer Day...). Δεν θα πω περισσότερα όμως, διαβάστε το βιβλίο, απολαύστε τους μύθους και νιώστε γιατί ο Χερν θεωρείται απ' τους Ιάπωνες ένας απ' τους εθνικούς τους ποιητές!

Lafcadio Hearn is without doubt a great author and his work, pure Japanese although he wasn't of Japanese origin, consists an invitation to the Western world for discovering this wonderful Land of the Rising Sun, its particular culture and civilisation. Furthermore, given his Irish-Greek origin, this invitation is somehow particularly addressed to Greeks; the systematic study of his work during the last decades in Greece is a fact.

In this book, Hearn collects a series of Japanese myths and fairytales, which eloquently demonstrate the simplicity, the childness (please, don't misunderstand me, I'm not using the word in an offensive way), and the fertile imagination of the Japanese people. Particularly interesting is the story "Urashima", which also appears in an other book by Hearn that has been translated into Greek, "The Dream of a Summer Day...". I won't say more, though, read the book, enjoy the myths, and feel why Hearn is consider by the Japanese as one of their national poets!

[Laren]

Highly influenced my nightmares as a child...

[Alexa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Los relatos me gustaron porque eran cortos y de fácil lectura, no obstante la narración no logra sumergirme del todo en la atmósfera como lo hubiera deseado.

[Fiona · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sehr süsses und schönes Buch!

[Alberto Jacobo Baruqui · Rating 5 out of 5]

Un cuento fantástico que nos lleva con Joji por sus dificultades para romper la barrera invisible de lo que esperan de él para lograr realizarse como uno de los mas grandes artistas del Japón.
Aka Koizumi Yakumi ( Lafcadio Hearn) nació en Grecia y trabajó como periodista en EEUU para una revista. Posteriormente fué enviado al Japón para un trabajo y renuncia abruptamente tras haber conocido al pueblo de Yokohama y a su gente, quienes finalmente le dan la ciudadanía cambiando su nombre en honor a un mito. AJB

[Netanella · Rating 4 out of 5]

Japanese fairy tales as told by an Irish-Greek ex-pat about one hundred years ago. Yes, this was a nice little book to start the new year's selection of reading. Of all the stories, I enjoyed "The Old Woman and the Lost Dumplings" the best. Very nicely done.

[Gwyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting stories from Japan. Loved the book as a youth. My oldest brother and his wife gave it to me. Read it again just a couple of years ago. It still held my interest as in the past.

[Tara · Rating 5 out of 5]

We had this storybook when I was a child. We loved it and were fascinated by the stories and read them over and over. Seems like some of the tales were a little scary if I remember right.

[Cynthia · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a newer version of my beloved Purple Hardbound book my grandmother gave me!

[José Javier Navas Pedregosa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Leyendo en 24symbols

[Aurora · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really liked this little book! Interesting stories and a beautiful layout. 5 stars!

[Helin Puksand · Rating 5 out of 5]

Imeliste piltidega raamat, selle eest ka 5 tärni. Mõistulugu võib lapsele üksi lugedes ehk mõistmatuks jääda, seega lugegem koos ja vaadakem pilte. :)

[Angie Boyter · Rating 3 out of 5]

i jnew this was a children's book and was not expecting a lot of sophisticated storytelling, but I was disappointed just the same. The stories often had a nice fanciful setup but did little with it.

[M · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ilusate illustratsioonidega kummaline raamat. Soovitaks kasside fännidele. Lugu iseeneses oli minu jaoks kahjuks pettumust tekitav. Liiga lihtsakoeline, sisutu, mõtteta. Mitte midagi ei andnud see lugu juurde, aga ära ka otseselt ei võtnud.

[Katerina Koltsida · Rating 5 out of 5]

Καταπληκτικές ιαπωνικές ιστορίες!!!

[Reelika Kullerkan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Väga mõtlik raamat. Peaks innustama last (täiskasvanutki) jääma iseenda tee valikule kindlaks. Paljude ilusate/mõtlike/kassirohkete piltidega.

[Bodi · Rating 5 out of 5]

My edition is the illustrated hardcover which was published by MacMillan in 1963. There is no ISBN (a fact which doesn't surprise me), nor is there a Library of Congress number printed in it (a fact which *did* surprise me, at least a little bit). I received the book, a battered second hand copy, from a friend of my parents when I was 7 or so, as a Christmas gift. I recall having the impression that she had chosen the book especially for me, and as I rather looked up to her, I thanked her profusely, in spite of the fact that I was initially quite underwhelmed ...

The truth be told, the stories disturbed me. Not just the tales, but also Manabu Saito's accompanying illustrations.

Even so, I found myself going back to the book and re-reading it, frequently. I think my initial motivation stemmed from my admiration of the woman who had given it to me, but before long, I was looking at it just to refresh the images, both illustrated and described, in my mind.

You know how some books haunt your thoughts, long after you've read them? This was one such book for me.

About five years ago, I went searching for this book online, as I thought my copy had been lost in the chaos of moving. I was shocked to see the prices sellers had set for it, and for copies which were as battered and careworn (or worse!) as mine.

I was much relieved when my copy turned up.

[Sandra · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dice el editor que en esta recopilación de cuentos “se han utilizado las versiones de los cuentos recogidos en Japanese fairy tales y en The boy who drew cats”. En total, veintisiete cuentos y uno de ellos, Urashima, en dos versiones diferentes. Lo interesante es que solo los siete primeros relatos son adaptaciones de Lafcadio Hearn. El resto, de autoría incierta. La pregunta que todo el mundo debería hacerse es por qué entonces el autor es Lafcadio Hearn si sólo adaptó una minoría de cuentos. Hasta el “y otros” habría estado mejor. Sin embargo, como la edición es elegante y regalaban una postal con la imagen de la portada, no voy a quejarme mucho. (Por cierto, no se sabe en qué fecha se hizo la fotografía pero está claro que se trata de la puerta (torii) del santuario Itsukushima cerca de Hiroshima.)

Los cuentos de Hearn son muy breves, están ilustrados y tienen todos los elementos folclóricos de la cultura japonesa: el mar, los pescadores, el budismo, los samurais, las mujeres que no sabían lo que es un espejo, los árboles, las criaturas extrañas y Momotaro (el niño al que unos padres ancianos encontraron flotando en un río dentro de un melocotón). Mi favorito es el cuento del pescador Urashima, que un día se casó con la hija del Rey Dragón del Mar y cuando quiso volver a tierra descubrió que nada era como él creía…

[Vanessa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Colección de historias cortas, tan cortas que en un libro de no más de 130 páginas se recogen cerca de 27 relatos, por lo que la extensiones no superaban el par de páginas y además de eso cada relato tenía una pequeña ilustración en blanco negro. En el prólogo del libro se explica que propiamente son siete relatos las adaptaciones propiamente del autor del libro, mientras que los demás no se saben de donde provienen. También se repite una historia, o mejor dicho el concepto de una, ya que son dos versiones diferentes (Urashima) y debo reconocer que era la más interesante.

Las historias abarca varios elementos culturales del Japón, algunas involucraban youkai (criaturas del folklore japonés), otras sobre la vida en el campo, y otros aún más mitológicos. Una de las historias que el libro trae es también la muy conocida llamada Momotaro.

Si te gusta conocer un poco de folklore de Japón, este libro te puede atraer.

Puntaje Final: 2,5 estrellas

[Woodrós · Rating 3 out of 5]

I adored some of these Japanese fairy tales and was mildly irked by a quirk of translation on the first one and the textually-inaccurate illustrations, which is how I settled on a 3 or 3.5 star rating.

I'm a huge fan of fairy tales, and these did not disappoint. I could see using these in class, especially if studying Japanese history as well or fairy tales in general. With this edition, it would be fun to have students look for the differences between the text and the images on a second reading. (There were quite a few.)

Great for a short read aloud, too. Since there are a number of fairy tales, you could read one or all or some, depending on preference.

[Pamela Mancilla · Rating 2 out of 5]

Tengo la impresión de que se pierden elementos importantes con la traducción al español.
Algunos relatos dan un poquito de "miedo".

[lola Franco · Rating 4 out of 5]

i guess all fairy tales are dark.

[Pashi]

Matsuyama Mirror had me tearing up, 素敵.

[Saranya ⋆☕︎ ˖ [hiatus] · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love this!

[Delanie Dooms · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Boy Who Drew Cats and Other Japanese Fairy Tales contains only five fairy tales written by Hearn himself. The rest are by his co-authors, all of which I have not read. In the original volume, Japanese Fairy Tales (1918), there are only four stories by Hearn; Dover added the "The Fountain of Youth".

Each story is unique in it's own way, partaking of fun themes and ideas, and almost universally rather more darksome in mood. I will review each individually.

"Chin-Chin Kobakama" -- This story is about a "lazy" woman who hides toothpicks under her living matt. These toothpicks come up at night and haunt her as little soldiers. The moral of the story, more-or-less, is the idea that we ought to be clean or our messes shall come back to bite us. Appended to the end is another story, following the same formula, but this time about plum pits. Hearn, like usual, writes fantastically. Our narrative is clearly geared toward children, with simplified language and a clear message (indeed, the description of Japanese children seems incorporated into that message), and the story is fun and nice. That Hearn decides to give the woman a backstory--that, she is not lazy by prefiguration, but rather via the use of servants--is heartwarming.

"The Goblin-Spider" -- In Japan, goblin-spiders have always existed. Hearn gives a tale about one, in which a warrior is tricked by a goblin-spider into getting close to him. The warrior is able to wound the spider despite the trick, and the villages goes and kills the beast later. This one is pretty cut-and-dry. However one must ask whether there is meaning in the idea that the spider pretends to be a priest--why that is the choice our narrator makes.

"The Old Woman Who Lost Her Dumplings" -- A strange old woman who likes making rice dumplings more than anything loses a dumpling down a hole, falls herself into this hole, is warned by a statue not to continue on the road she is going (in search of the lost dumpling), and is finally kidnapped by Oni. They force her to cook (with a magic paddle that duplicates rice infinitely), but she escapes by tricking the Oni into drinking an entire river and spitting it all back up again (via her humorous facial expressions). She keeps the paddle, makes her dumplings, and becomes very rich by selling them. What can one say about this narrative? Is it fun? Yes. That is all.

"The Boy Who Drew Cats" -- There once was a boy. He was too artistic in nature to be a farmer, so his family sends him to a temple to train up to be a priest; however, he draws too many cats everywhere--on the walls, on temple paper--and is kicked out. He is given to understand he might be an artist one day, and that he ought to make sure to avoid large places but not small ones. Not knowing what to do, he decides to go to an enormous temple to become an acolyte there. Regretfully, he is unaware that a goblin has taken up residence at this temple, but luckily for him these goblins never find him. Instead, when he gets to the temple, he has an urge to draw cats again, does so, remembers the warning previously mentioned, sleeps in a cupboard, and--when waking--finds the goblin slain by his cat pictures!! One cannot help but love this story. There is not a point in the story when our boy protagonist is given to understand that his peculiar obsession is evil or wrong, that he ought to conform, etc., etc., and instead our story-writer decides to affirm his desires even to the point that it saves his life. He becomes a famous artist of his time.

"The Fountain of Youth" -- This is a classic story in which a man finds the fountain of youth. His wife, very old like himself, thinks she must drink from it, too, because he cannot love her as she is. When she does so, she drinks just a bit too much, transforms into a baby, and--voila!--all good is too good to be true. This one is not as polished as the others. And such a forboding ending: "He [the husband] took up the child [his wife] in his arms. It looked at him in a sad wondering way. He carried it home,-murmuring to it,-thinking strange melancholy thoughts."

[Virginia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tradicional e interesante, El niño que dibujaba gatos es una antología de cuentos del país nipón. Estos cuentos (llamados “de cabecera”) tenían la misión de entretener y advertir a los niños sobre ciertos peligros, la mayoría de ellos de origen sobrenatural, que podrían encontrase en su camino. Son, por tanto, lecturas cortas y muy ligeras, algunas con un toque moralista, pero que no resultan pesadas ni aburridas.

Si os gusta Japón, sus costumbres y leyendas, seguro que alguna vez habréis escuchado hablar de Lafcadio Hearn, autor de esta recopilación. Hearn se dedicó a recopilar historias que la tradición oral japonesa mantenía vivas en los pueblos y ciudades. Las reescribió y las recogió en varios volúmenes de cuentos que sirvieron para que occidente tuviera conocimiento, por primera vez, de la literatura tradicional oral japonesa. En esta edición Hearn es el autor directo de los siete primeros cuentos. El resto, según el editor, no se puede afirmar que hayan sido escritos por su pluma.

Desde el punto de vista literario, Lafcadio Hearn me parece un escritor notable que posee un estilo sencillo pero muy elegante, con una prosa dinámica y bien desarrollada, un lenguaje de gran belleza lírica y unas descripciones bastante someras y poco explicativas. Los personajes son un mundo aparte. Al ser historias diversas hay poco elementos en común. En general, los cuentos están protagonizados por hombres o niños, que tienen un encuentro con lo extraño, en forma de monstruos, fantasmas o demonios. La mayoría de las veces, su audacia, sabiduría o buen corazón los salvará. Otras veces, serán ellos los artífices de su desgracia, o incluso los ejecutores de la venganza.

Como he dicho al principio, El niño que dibujaba gatos es un conjunto de cuentos japoneses equivalentes a los “cuentos de hadas” occidentales. Todos ellos tiene temas muy diferentes. Así que a lo largo de estos 23 cuentos tenemos dibujos salvadores, fuentes de la eterna juventud, hombres pez muy agradecidos, lecciones terroríficas a mujeres vagas, duendes horribles, mundos sumergidos, mujeres que burlan a Onis (demonio en japonés), peces estúpidos, liebres sabias, espejos mágicos, valerosos guerreros, serpientes monstruosas, perros valientes, niños surgidos de un melocotón, teteras curiosas, amores complicados, etc. Cada uno de los relatos se integra dentro del imaginario de una parte de la cultura japonesa, consiguiendo mostrar un rico tapiz de la mitología del país del sol naciente.

En suma, El niño que dibujaba gatos es una colección de cuentos amables y agradables que nos acercan un poco más a ese Japón que mantiene sus tradiciones milenarias. Y es que los cuentos son el primer acercamiento que de niños tenemos con nuestra herencia cultural. Y, quizás, por eso sea tan importante conocerlos para poder apreciar apropiadamente el acervo cultural que incluso hoy en día se mantiene y ha configurado la sociedad nipona tal y como es.

[Eveli Nõgu · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Poiss, kes joonistas kasse" tuli meie koju väga õigel ajal. Mu 10a tütrel on tekkinud suur huvi Jaapani vastu ja läbi jaapani muinasjutu on hea edasi anda nende kultuurile nii omast mõtteviisi. Lisaks filosoofilisele loole on raamatu suureks plussiks võrratud illustratsioonid, mis on inspireeritud Jaapani kultuurist.
📚 Lugu räägib poisist, kes esmapilgul tundub, et nagu ei sobikski midagi asjalikku tegema - tema ainult joonistaks kasse. Seetõttu saab ta igasugu solgutamise osaliseks ja suundub lõpuks laia ilma oma kohta otsima. Kas kasside joonistamisest võib ka mingit kasu olla, see selgub raamatu käigus.
🌕 Illustratsioonid on siin raamatus väärt eraldi tähelepanu. Sügavate toonidega pildid on täis maagiat ja salapära. Minu lemmikuks motiiviks oli kuupaiste, kuid lapsed otsisid igal lehel peidetud kassikujutisi. Siin on ka palju Jaapani kultuurile omaseid detaile - sirmid, laternad, väravad, kimono, munk jne.
🐱 Jutustuse pani kirja 1897. aastal ja tutvustas Euroopas Lafcadio Hearn, kes andnud suure panuse Euroopas Jaapani kultuuri tutvustamisele. Ma ei olnud tema tegevusega varem kursis, kuid nüüd lastega koos muid jaapaniteemalisi tekste lugedes, ilmub tema nimi ikka ja jälle välja. Ka raamatu illustraator Anita Kreituse on suur Jaapani kultuuri austaja.

[Nick Brown · Rating 3 out of 5]

I picked this up to read to my daughter, looking for short stories that might appeal to both of us. The stories are an interesting look into Japanese folklore. The setting and characters are uniquely Japanese yet the morals and structure is familiar. The writing itself is awkward and stilted. I think the age of the translations and the quality of translations themselves lower my rating. However these are old enough that they are all in the public domain so if you're curious these can be found online.