The Evil One and the Rat (Fairy Tale)

"The Creation and the Rats" is a compelling myth that delves into the origins of creation and conflict in a serene, yet dynamic world fashioned by the Spirit of Creation...

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When the Spirit of Creation had finished his work, he came down from Heaven and gazed upon what he had done.

He saw the mountains gleaming pure against the blue, the rivers winding silvery to the sea, the rice fields lying warm and moist in the valleys--and it was good. He gazed upon the trees waving in the wind, the iris fields and the lotus ponds, the cherry blooms and the plum blossoms, and he smiled well pleased.

Then the Evil One appeared to him and with a hateful voice said, “Do not flatter yourself that you have done all well in this world. Indeed you have not. There are many things which are neither pretty nor useful. See how ugly this thistle is, and of what use is the bramble? Had I made things I would have done much better.”

Then the Spirit of Creation was very angry. He thought a thing of wrath and created a rat. It was large and fierce, and it quickly jumped into the mouth of the Evil One and bit out his tongue. Then was the Evil One in great rage and he uttered horrid cries and danced an evil dance upon the grass. He thought to himself, “Since the rats are here, they shall be made to be a torment to the earth,” and he made them increase greatly until they overran the Land of the Ainu.

The Evil One and the Rat

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At this the people were very unhappy. “Oh, Creating Spirit,” they cried, “take away these pests, for they eat our grain and our rice, they gnaw our huts, they frighten our children. Destroy them, oh kind Creating Spirit.”

But the Spirit shook his head. “Not so,” he said, “I may not destroy that which I have once made. But I will create another thing which shall war with the rats, and so you shall be helped in your distress.”

He created straightway cats and the cats warred greatly upon the rats so that they grew less. Then were the people pleased and rejoiced, but an old man said to them, “Speak not evil of the rats, nor of anything which the Creating Spirit has made. It must be that the Creating Spirit is displeased when his works are spoken ill of, for he punished the Evil One for so doing. Besides, everything created is of some use. Even the rat bit off the tongue of the Evil One.”

This story is part of "Japanese Folk Stories and Fairy Tales" by Mary F. Nixon-Roulet. Read all the stories from this enchanting collection HERE!

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