~*The legend of the hagoromo*~
The legend versions
legend v.1
long ago, a fisherman
was passing by the seashore, there he saw many beautiful tennyos
[celestial maidens] bathing in the sea.
Near by, on a
pine tree there hung the most beautiful robe he had ever seen.
He knew it belonged to the tennyos, but quietly took it home.
The tennyo
whose hagoromo he stole could not return back to heaven without
it. She went to ask the fisherman for her hagoromo back, but he
pretended he knew nothing
about it
She stayed and married the fisherman, and gave birth to many children.
Many years after, she found out that the fisherman had lied to
her and after getting her harogomo
back, she returned to the sky leaving behind her children and
husband.
(I added a little quote
that also has to do with the legend. See below.) There are many
more versions of this legend, probably more than 60 versions on
Japan (wow, that's a lot!) and since many countries believe in
celestial beings (angels) there must be similar stories around
the globe, so that would be a ton of stories to a same concept.
I'll try to get more versions and put them on so we can all have
a broader view of the legend that inspired Yu Watase to create
Ayashi no Ceres.
"Now I have landed at the pine-wood of Mio and am viewing
the beauty of the shore. Suddenly there is music in the sky,
a rain of flowers, unearthly fragrance wafted on all sides.
These are no
common things; nor is this beautiful cloak that hangs upon the
pine-tree. I come near to it. It is marvelous in form and fragrance.
This surely is no common dress.
I will take it
back with me and show it to the people of my home. It shall be
a treasure in my house."
--From Hagoromo,
translated by Arther Waley
in The No Plays
of Japan (Charles E. Tuttle Co. 1976)
legend v.2
In the village
of Mio there lived a fisherman named Hakuryo. One day, Hakuryo
was enjoying the view of the beach when he saw a beautiful feathered
robe called a harogomo draped on a limb of a pine tree.
No one was around,
so he decided to take the beautiful hagoromo home as a treasure.
Then a tennyo, a celestial being or heavenly maiden, appeared
and told him that the feathered robe was hers.
She begged him
to return it to her. Hakuryo, however, had no intention in giving
it back to her. She pleaded with the fisherman and told him that
without her robe, she could not return to the heavens, and she
began to cry.
Hakuryo then
began to feel sorry for her and told her that if she danced the
dance of the heavens for him, then he would return it to her.
So she danced for him and then was able to return to the heavens.
(*weep*)What a sweet
story! She danced the dance of the heavens for him! Yeah I know
she only did it to get her robe back, but I still think it was
sweet and also because the fisherman in this version was a nice
fellow and was moved by her tears. He could have changed his mind,
but he did'nt (not like some other fisherman we know!)
legend v.3
Once upon a time,
there was a young man named Yumihito who lived in what is now
known as Higashikawa.
One day he went hunting as requested by his father. He didn't
really want to because he had had his bow stolen and he because
he though he was no good at it, so while walking along the mountain
road he came upon a hot spring near a small waterfall. He was
tired and decided to bathe in it.
Then he heard
a young woman crying nearby. He approached her and asked her why
she was crying and she told him that she was an angel and that
she could'nt return to the sky because her robe had been stolen
by some bandit and as he listened to her he felt sorry her and
decided to get her robe back.
First, he cut
trunks of wood and grape vines and took them to the bandit's hideout.
When he got there the bandits were eating and drinking and having
a great time, then he placed the trunks of the trees on the backs
of horses and bound them with the grapevines. This done, he turned
loose the horses and as they ran off the bandits thought that
the tree trunks were men on horseback and they chased after them.
Yumihito took
this oportunity and grabbed the robe and his bow. She thanked
him for his wisdom and his courage, and danced for him an angel's
dance in her robe. When she finished, the waterfall that once
was small had changed into a large waterfall in the shape of her
robe. she said goodbye and flew up into the sky.......
(This page will be updated
as soon as I recieve another version. Hope it's very soon!)
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