Wednesday, September 9, 2015

Week 6: Reading Diary B

This week is Japanese Mythology.

The Labors of Yamato- The Grotto of Love

  • Yamato was bored and left his wife a long time. 
  • Yamato searched for a mermaid he longed for and saw a grotto in the ocean with emerald light. He swam to the cave as a voice called his name. 
  • He found his siren deep within the cave. He begged for her love and she said that he must face death to be with her. She told him to go and get the golden apple of immortality and they could be together forever. Of course, he agreed. 
  • A man named Jofuku went to the tree of youth and lived there in paradise. 
  • He returned home and now the siren asked Yamato to bring her the apple. 
  • Yamato returned home asking if anyone knew where this island was and no one knew. 
  • He was then informed of a giant raging boar destroying the land. 
  • He brought a band of warriors that were slain. 
  • Yamato cut of the boar's tail (it's only weakness) and it ran off the cliff blinded by pain and was killed. 
  • Yamato joined a group of warriors and they invited them on a deer hunt. 
  • While Yamato was sleeping he heard the crackle of fire and got up and saw that the field he was sleeping in was ablaze. 
  • Thousands of scared dear were rushing through the field trampling his men. 
  • His wife Tacibana ran through the flames and gave him a fire-drill and he created a counter-fire to create a path out of the field. This fire then consumed the treacherous warrirors. 
  • He was headed home with his wife and he heard the song of the siren again. 
  • He looked at wife burnt from the flame and told her to go home and heal because she looked hideous. (typical jerk)
  • He went to the grotto and cut the siren's guardian dragon with the sacred sword (Susa-wo-no). She then fed him and gave him a sleep potion. She stole the sacred sword for her father Susa-wo-no. Plot twist!!
  • While roaming the forest he encountered the Goddess of Mercy and Love, Kwannon, and she told him he would find the sacred sword on a magic stag.
  • He found the stag, followed it into a lake, and killed it with the sword in the lake.
The Labors of Yamato- The Dragon
  • Yamato realized he had been tricked and missed his wife. 
  •  He decided he had to visit the sorceress to kill her. 
  • He was captured, but Tacibana's love saved him.
  • He awoke and realized she was gone. Went to a town and found it was attacked by a dragon and found his castle pillaged by the dragon. He could not find her.
  • He found her and was then attacked by the dragon form of Susa-no-wo.
  • He stabbed the dragon in the throat and killed it. They lived happily after that.
  • One day they went to sea to go to war. Yamato said that Susa-wo-no was no threat since he defeated him on land. That angered the god of the ocean and he sent them into a terrible storm. 
  • Tacibana sacrificed herself to the siren Benten and Yamato jumped in after her, but she was dead.

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