Page:Japanese Peasant Songs.djvu/66

By That Side Lane

This is the specialty of Kakui hamlet in Suye Mura and is sung on special occasions, such as the opening of the new school building some years ago. It is unusual in being a continuous song of thirteen seven-syllable lines all about one subject, a trip to an Inari shrine. (Inari is a popular deity who cures the sick and brings good fortune to his followers. The messenger of Inari is the fox, so he is sometimes erroneously referred to as a fox god.) A variant of this song is given in Gesammelte Werke der Welt Musik, Vol. 13, pp. 204–5. It is described as a folksong sung by children during the Yedo period.

61

Mukō yokocho no Oinarisan ni Issen agete Choito ogande Osen ga chaya Koshi wo kaketara Shibucha wo dash’ta Shibucha yoku yoku Yokome de mireba Kibi no dango ka Awa no dango ka Dango dango de Sonna kotja ikene.

By that side lane To Inari shrine— One sen was offered, Prayed for a moment, Then to the tea house. When I sat down, They offered bitter tea. Well, well at the tea I glanced askance: Was it corn cake? Was it millet cake? Cake, cake. No, that won’t do.[1]

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1. In the Yedo version the end of the song is somewhat different. The complete text in Gesammelte Werke der Welt Musik is: ​

   Mukō yokocho no Oinari san e Issen agete Zatto ogande Osen no chaya e Koshi wo kaketara Shibucha wo dashite Shibucha yoko yoko Yokome de mitara-ba Kome no dango ka Tsuchi no dango ka Odango dango Kono dango wo Inu ni yarō ka Neko ni yarō ka Tōto tonbi ni Sarawareta

   By that side lane To Inari shrine— One sen was offered, Prayed hurriedly, Then to the tea house. When I sat down, They offered bitter tea. Well, well at the tea I glanced askance Was it rice cake? Was it dirt cake? Cake, cake. This cake Shall I give to the dog? Shall I give to the cat? At last by a hawk It was snatched away.