Yūshi kego 遊子戯語

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Commentary by Satō Satoru　

Posted March 22, 2018
Original unedited text in Japanese follows

Yūshi kego, published on New Year’s Day, 1803 (Kyōwa 3), includes a preface by Sakuragawa Jihinari, a well-known writer of popular fiction including kibyōshi (黄表紙) and hanashibon (咄本) and an important rakugo storyteller. [1] The postscript is by the kyōka poetOshi no Tsuyondō (押強人). The colophon notes that Jihinari is “an author of otoshibanashi [“falling discourse,” another term for rakugo] from the Eastern capital [Edo]” (東都落咄作者), a hint that this title is a collection of such tales drawn from traditional folktales and proverbs. The subjects are taken from well-known tales such as “Shitakiri suzume” 舌切雀 (The tongue-cut sparrow), “Kachikachiyama” かちかち山 (Mount Kachikachi), “Sarukani gassen” 猿蟹合戦 (Battle of the monkey and the crabs), “Suzume hyaku made odori wasurezu” 雀百まで踊り忘れず (Sparrows not forgetting how to dance until they are one hundred), and “Bunbuku chagama” 分福茶釜 (The magic teapot). However, these stories are reworked in a kabuki mode with the result that they deviate significantly from the original versions, and ultimately Yūshi kego only appropriates the “world” of the original stories. For example, in “Sarukani gassen” a monkey watches “Heike crabs” (Heikegani 平家蟹) circling close to a hollow in a large tree and declares that he will side with the Taira (Heike) clan because his face and bottom are red (the illustration pp. 20–21 on the website is monochrome). [2] Searching the hollow he discovers an object wrapped in a purple silk cloth. He opens it with great delight in the hope that it will contain the skull of the opposing Genji clan commander Minamoto Yoritomo (源頼朝), only to find that there are grilled rice balls inside. This demonstrates that the tales in Yūshi kegohave little or no connection with the source texts.

There are eight illustrations (all but one double-page) in Yūshi kego. Four are by Utagawa Toyohiro (pp. 6–7, 8–9, 12–13, and 16–17 on the website): an old seaweed encrusted turtle with sacred gems (hōju 宝珠) on its back; a woman doing laundry in the river while a man cuts the grass; Hanasakaji (the old man who made withered trees bloom); and women in a long pleasure boat (chokibune 猪牙舟) made to look like a vessel that transports soil. Another four images are by Utagawa Toyokuni: a crab and a monkey dressed in kimono holding a grilled rice ball and crabs; a sparrow's inn; a man being tossed in the air by women sweeping away the soot to welcome the New Year; and an assemblage of auspicious treasures. The preface notes that Jihinari was a close friend of Toyohiro and Toyokuni. Each image has a strong connection to the main text and is accompanied by verse composed by poets close to Jihinari. They would have chosen which folktales to compose poems about through the drawing of lots (saguridai 探題). Kyōka are included with the illustrations such that this book possesses characteristics of a kyōka ehon 狂歌絵, or “kyōka illustrated book.” Except for the image of the turtle at the beginning of the book, each illustration has two kyōka verses, presented as if they are part of a kyōka competition (kyōka awase 狂歌合).

The decorative cover of Pulverer copy was most likely added by a European collector at some point; there is also a copy of this rare book in the National Diet Library.

書名　遊子戯語
執筆者佐藤悟

享和三年正月に山田屋三四郎から刊行された絵本である。[1]桜川慈悲成の序文と狂歌師である押強人の跋文がある。挿絵には狂歌が記され、狂歌絵本という性格もある。作者の慈悲成は黄表紙や咄本の作者として知られ、落語家としても重要な存在であった。本書の刊記にも「東都落咄作者」と自らも記すように、この絵本は日本の昔話や諺を題材とした落咄集である。題材とされたのは「舌切雀」「かちかち山」「猿蟹合戦」「雀百まで踊り忘れず」「分福茶釜」である。内容は古くからある昔話等を歌舞伎仕立てにしたもので、原話を遠く離れて、後日譚など、いわゆる「世界」だけを借りたものとなっている。たとえば「猿蟹合戦」は平家蟹が大木のうろを取り巻くのを見た猿が、[2] 猿は顔と尻が赤いので平家に心を寄せると独白し、うろを探すと紫の袱紗に包まれたものがあり、源頼朝の髑髏と喜んで開けると焼飯（握り飯）が出てきたといったような内容で、各話の連続性はない。挿絵は歌川豊広画の宝珠を乗せた蓑亀、川で洗濯をする女性と柴刈をする男、花咲爺、土舟に見立てた猪牙舟に乗る女性の４図と歌川豊国画の焼飯（握り飯）を持つ猿と蟹、雀のお宿、煤掃きで胴上げされる年男、宝尽の４図から成り、本文と関連が強い。また各図には慈悲成の親しい狂歌師が昔話を探題とした狂歌を寄せ、冒頭の蓑亀図以外は二種の狂歌が記され、狂歌合の体裁をとっている。序文には慈悲成と豊広・豊国が親しかったことを記す。

Copies in other collections:
National Diet Library, Tokyo
Tokyo National Museum

[1] In folktales, the term yūshi carried the nuance of “child,” while kego connotes the comic and the joking. The colophon lists the publisher as Sanrindō Sanshirō (山林堂三四郎板), which is the name for the firm of Yamadaya Sanshirō (山田屋三四郎).

[2] “Heike crabs” are so called because the patterns on their shells resemble human faces; legend states that these are reincarnations of the Heike warriors defeated at the Battle of Dannoura in 1185. The color of their banners was red, while those of their opponents, the Minamoto, are white. The monkey’s red face and shoulders are indicators that it is a supporter of the red-bannered Heike house.