I.

Long ago a young woodcutter called Kaminagahiko (which means long-haired boy) lived at the base of Katsuragiyama in the country of Yamato. He had the soft face of a girl, and had received his name because his hair was also as long as a girl's.

Kaminagahiko played a flute very well, and when he went up the mountain to cut wood he would often sit down and play, enjoying the sound by himself. And at those times, strangely enough, even the birds and animals and the trees and shrubs could sense the charm of his flute. When Kaminagahiko played the grasses would wave, the trees would sway, and the birds and animals would gather around and sit still, listening.

One day Kaminagahiko was again sitting against the root of a large tree, intently playing his flute, when a one-legged giant wearing large numbers of blue gems suddenly appeared before him.

"You play that flute pretty well. For years I've been in a cave up in the mountain, dreaming of the age of the gods. But since you began to come here to cut wood, I've been charmed by the sound of your flute, and I've enjoyed it every day. And so today I will reward you for taking the trouble to come here. Anything you want will be fine."

"I like dogs-- could I have a dog?"

The giant laughed.

"If all you want is a dog, you can't be a very greedy man. But I admire that too, and I'll give you a wonderful dog unlike any other. I am the one-legged god of Katsuragiyama!"

The giant gave a loud whistle, and a white dog came running through the leaves from deep in the forest. The giant pointed at the dog.

"His name is Sniff; he can sniff out anything, no matter how far away it is. But you must take very good care of him for me." Then the form of the giant faded into a mist and disappeared.

Kaminagahiko was overjoyed, and returned to the village with the white dog. The next day he again went to the mountain and was intently playing his flute when a one-armed giant with a black gem hung around his neck appeared from somewhere.

"I understand my big brother, the one-legged god, gave you a dog yesterday, I've come to give you a reward today. Don't be shy-- you can have anything you want. I am the one-armed god of Katsuragiyama."

Kaminagahiko said he'd like another dog as nice as Sniff, so the giant whistled and a black dog came.

"This dog is called Fly, and if anyone sits on his back he can fly a hundred miles or a thousand miles through the air. My little brother will probably give you something tomorrow."

Then the giant disappeared, just like his brother had.

The next day a one-eyed giant wearing a red gem came down through the air before Kaminagahiko even started to play his flute.

"I'm the one-eyed god of Katsuragiyama. I understand my brothers gave you rewards, so I'll give you a fine dog just as good as Sniff or Fly."

Once again a whistle rang through the forest, and a spotted dog with protruding fangs came running up.

"This is Bite. She can kill any opponent, even the most terrible demon, with a single bite. These dogs we have given you will go to wherever you are, no matter how far it is, when you play your flute. But they won't go if you don't play. Don't forget that."

Then the one-eyed god blew away like the wind through the leaves of the forest.

II.

Four or five days later Kaminagahiko was walking with his three dogs, playing his flute, when he came to a fork in the road near the base of Katsuragiyama. On both the left and right forks he saw two young samurai armed with bows and arrows approaching slowly on horseback. When Kaminagahiko saw them he stuck his flute through his sash and bowed politely.

"Hello, sirs. Where is it you are going?"

"Both daughters of the great lord of Asuka were stolen away by some demon last night, and no one knows where they are."

"The lord is most worried, and has said he will give a rich reward to whoever can find his daughters. And so we have come looking for them."

The two samurai looked down on the girlish woodcutter as though he were a complete fool, and hurried on their way.

Kaminagahiko felt he had heard some good news, and quickly patted the white dog's head.

"Sniff! Sniff! Sniff out where the daughters have gone!"

The white dog thrust his nose into the wind a few times, then froze into a point and replied that the older daughter was the captive of the Clam-eater that lives in a cave up on Ikomayama. (This Clam-eater is the monstrous villain that raised the eight-headed serpent long ago.) The woodcutter picked up the white dog and the spotted dog, one under each arm, and shouted at the black dog as he straddled its back.

"Fly! Fly! Fly to the Clam-eater that lives in a cave up on Ikomayama!"

Before he finished speaking, there was a terrible wind blowing from under his feet; the black dog sailed into the air like a leaf in that wind and they began to truly fly toward the distant blue peak of Ikomayama.

III.

As Kaminagahiko looked around Ikomayama, he saw there was in fact a big cave about halfway down the mountain. In that cave a beautiful girl with a golden comb in her hair was weeping bitterly.

"Miss! Miss! I have come for you, so do not worry. Please get ready to return to your father."

As Kaminagahiko spoke, the three dogs pulled at the girl's sleeves and urged her to quickly get ready.

But the girl continued to weep, and pointed to the back of the cave.

"The Clam-eater who carried me here was drinking wine, and just went to sleep. When he wakes he will catch us immediately. And when that happens you and I will both lose our lives."

"I am not the least afraid of the well-known Clam-eater. And I'll prove it by easily subduing him now."

Kaminagahiko laughed as he said this. Then he patted the spotted dog's back and spoke to it in a brave voice.

"Bite! Bite! Kill the Clam-eater in the back of this cave in one bite!"

The spotted dog immediately bared her fangs and dashed back into the cave roaring like thunder. In a moment she returned with the bloody head of the Clam-eater in her jaws, and walked out of the cave wagging her tail.

But then, strangely, a gust of wind blew up from the cloud-filled valley below and a gentle voice was heard.

"Thank you, Kaminagahiko. I will not forget this kindness. I am Komahime of Ikomayama, who has been tormented by the Clam-eater."

But the girl did not mention her joy at having her life saved. She looked at Kaminagahiko with a worried expression.

"You have saved my life, but I wonder what my little sister is faced with right now."

Kaminagahiko patted the white dog.

"Sniff! Sniff! Where is the other young lady?"

The white dog poked his nose up at his master's face and said that the younger sister was the captive of the Earth-spider that lived in a cave in Kasagiyama. This Earth-spider was the tiny villain that Emperor Jimmu had punished long ago. So once again Kaminagahiko grabbed a dog under each arm, and together with the girl he straddled the black dog.

"Fly! Fly! Fly to the cave of the Earth-spider in Kasagiyama!"

As Kaminagahiko spoke the black dog leaped into the air and sped like an arrow toward Kasagiyama, which rose into blue clouds in the distance.

IV.

The Earth-spider, with his evil cunning, saw Kaminagahiko coming before he arrived at Kasagiyama, and he was waiting with a smile in front of his cave.

"Well, well, Kaminagahiko! You've really gone out of your way! Please come in. It's nothing special, but I've fixed you some fresh deer liver and some baby bear to eat."

"No. I've come for the young lady you carried away. Return her immediately, or I'll kill you as I killed the Clam-eater!"

The Earth-spider stepped back a little, but continued to speak.

"Oh, if you want her back, how can I refuse anything you say? The young lady is sitting alone at the back of the cave. Please don't hesitate to go in and get her."

Kaminagahiko led the older sister and the three dogs into the cave, where a girl with a silver comb was crying sadly.

She was surprised that someone had come and quickly looked up. When she saw her sister's face, both cried out "sister!" and they rushed to each other. Kaminagahiko cried in sympathy as he watched the pair. But the dogs raised their hackles and barked wildly at the Earth-spider. Kaminagahiko turned to look, and saw that the crafty Earth-spider had just rolled a huge stone up to seal off the mouth of the cave. He heard the Earth-spider clap its hands and laugh.

"So there, Kaminagahiko! Shut up like this you will all starve to death in less than a month! You must admire my strategem!"

Even Kaminagahiko was upset at first that he had been so completely taken in, but luckily he remembered the flute hanging at his side. When he would play his flute the birds and animals, and even the trees and shrubs would forget themselves in its sound; perhaps the crafty Earth-spider would also be moved. So Kaminagahiko took courage and, patting his howling dogs, calmly began to play the flute.

And the melody was so absorbing that the villainous Earth-spider did forget himself. First he turned an ear toward the entrance and then, entranced, he moved up and pushed the stone back inch by inch. Soon the opening was large enough for a person to pass through.

"Bite! Bite! Bite the Earth-spider at the cave entrance!"

The Earth-spider was terrified by Kaminagahiko's voice and turned to escape, but there was no time. Bite was out of the cave in a flash and killed the Earth-spider with no effort.

But then, strangely, a gust of wind blew up from the cloud-filled valley below and a gentle voice was heard.

"Thank you, Kaminagahiko. I will not forget this kindness. I am Kasahime of Kasagiyama, who has been tormented by the Earth-spider."

V.

Then Kaminagahiko got on the black dog with the two girls and the other two dogs, and flew straight from the peak of Kasagiyama to the town where the great lord of Asuka lived. As they flew through the air the two girls, for some reason, pulled the gold and silver combs from their own hair and quietly stuck them in Kaminagahiko's long hair. He seemed not to notice. He simply urged the black dog to make every effort, and watched as they rushed over the beautiful plains of Yamato.

As they flew over the fork in the road where this adventure had begun, Kaminagahiko looked down and saw the two samurai riding quickly back to town from wherever they had been. When he saw them, Kaminagahiko was overcome by the desire to tell them of his exploits. He told the black dog to fly down to the fork.

The two samurai felt they had looked everywhere and were dejectedly returning with no idea where their lord's daughters were, when suddenly both girls dropped out of the sky with that girlish woodcutter on the back of a stout dog. The samurai were surprised, of course. Kaminagahiko got off the dog and again bowed politely.

"Sirs! After we parted I flew straight to Ikomayama and Kasagiyama, and I was able to assist these two young ladies."

The two samurai, having been shown up by this lowly woodcutter, could only be envious, jealous and angry. But they pretended to be very pleased, and continued to praise Kaminagahiko's deeds. And they carefully asked about the details, including the origin of the three dogs and the strange power of the flute stuck in his sash. As Kaminagahiko talked on, they secretly took the precious flute, then quickly jumped on the black dog's back and shouted instructions as they grabbed the two girls and the other two dogs.

"Fly! Fly! Fly to the town of the great lord of Asuka."

Stunned, Kaminagahiko leaped at them, but the black dog, with its tail wagging and the two samurai on its back, had already flown off with a rush of wind and was barely visible off in the blue sky.

Seeing himself left alone, with only the two horses the samurai had been riding, Kaminagahiko fell on his face in the middle of the road, and lay there crying.

But soon he heard a quiet wind blowing from the peak of Ikomayama, and a voice that whispered, "Kaminagahiko! Kaminagahiko! I am Komahime of Ikomayama." And at the same time he seemed to hear a quiet wind blowing from the peak of Kasagiyama and a voice that whispered, "Kaminagahiko! Kaminagahiko! I am Kasahime of Kasagiyama." Then both voices spoke at once.

"We will follow after the two samurai and take back your flute. You have no need to worry."

As they spoke the wind began to howl, and then blew wildly off in the direction the black dog had flown. But a moment later the same quiet voices could be heard from the air above the fork in the road.

"Those samurai have already appeared before the lord of Asuka with the two young ladies, and have received great rewards. Well then, quickly play your flute and call the three dogs to you. In the meantime we will dress you properly for the trip."

As these words formed in his mind, Kaminagahiko saw first his flute, and then the golden armor, the silver helmet, peacock-fletched arrows and sandalwood bow of a great general descending before his eyes and sparkling in the bright sun like raindrops or hailstones.

VI.

Soon Kaminagahiko, looking like a god with the sandalwood bow and peacock-fletched arrows on his back, was sitting on the back of the black dog and holding the white and spotted dogs at his sides as he flew through the air toward the mansion of the great lord of Asuka. The two young samurai were in a panic when he arrived. Even the great lord was surprised, and stared in amazement at the dignified figure of Kaminagahiko.

Kaminagahiko removed his helmet and bowed politely to the lord.

"I am the one they call Kaminagahiko, and I live at the foot of Katsuragiyama in this country. I am the one that saved your two daughters-- the samurai standing here never moved a finger to subdue the Clam-eater or the Earth-spider."

When the two samurai, who had just given themselves the credit for everything Kaminagahiko had done, heard this they immediately turned pale and both started talking at once.

"This fellow is telling unimaginable lies! We cut off the Clam-eater's head, and we're the ones that saw through the Earth-spider's plot!"

The great lord, standing in the middle, didn't know who to believe. He looked carefully at the samurai and Kaminagahiko, then turned to his daughters.

"I can only listen to what you all tell me. Who really did save you?"

Both girls ran to their father and embraced him.

"Kaminagahiko is the one who saved us! As proof we put our combs in his long, flowing hair. Look and see!"

When the great lord looked, he of course saw the gold comb and the silver comb sparkling beautifully on Kaminagahiko's head. At that point there was nothing the samurai could do but throw themselves at the feet of the great lord of Asuka.

"We are indeed schemers; it was Kaminagahiko who saved your daughters but we tried to take the credit for what he had done. We make this confession and beg that you spare our lives."

There is no need to describe what happened after that. Kaminagahiko became the son-in-law of the great lord of Asuka. The two young samurai fled from the mansion chased by the three dogs. But because this all happened so long ago, it is not known now which of the girls became Kaminagahiko's bride.

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