(A) Serpent-bodied Hachiro

The serpent-bodied Hachiro, who lived in Lake Towada, fought and lost against the Nankobo in Mt. Hakkoda, and intended to make the Nanakura stream in the lower reaches of the Yoneshiro River an entire lake and make the bottom of it his home. Still, if that happened, the locals would be so annoyed that the god of Nanakura used countless mice to bite through its banks. As a result, the lake dried up and Hachiro had no choice but to move to Lake Hachirogata. (Koho Yamakata)

(B) One-eyed Fish

Numayama, Kawadoi Village, Nishi-Mmurayama County, Yamagata Prefecture, has the largest number of swamps in the prefecture. It might be the best in Japan. Anyone who hears that there are 48 swamps in this small neighborhood can't help but be surprised. Because there are many swamps, the water in the natural swamps is also beautiful, and villagers install gutters and use the water to drink and make rice fields. They live entirely by virtue of the swamp, so to speak. Deep in the mountains, there is a hamlet called Ashinumata where there are only eight houses. More than a kilometer to the southwest from here, on a mountain, is a swamp called Oo Swamp (big swamp). On an autumn day, it is the largest swamp in the village that you can not make three laps. There is a small shrine here. It is said that the genius of the swamp is enshrined. The genius is said to be a dragon god, and some people believe that he is a sericulture god.

hamlet（名）集落

sericulture（名）養蚕

This swamp is beautiful, so clear, so pure that there is not a single cloud. If the leaves fall and float on the surface of the water on an autumn day, the next day it seems to have been cleaned up. They say it makes a sound like sweeping a broom from there on a clear, quiet night. Because, it is said, the genius of the swamp is a goddess.

Once upon a time, this swamp was so beautiful that other swamp geniuses wanted it and came every night to take it away. The enemy was horrifically fierce. Because she is a woman, she is no match. There, about three miles to the southeast lived a bold and dependable hunter named Togoro. The genius of Oo Swamp thought she had no choice but to rely on him, and one day she turned into a woman and visited his house and said. In fact, she is a genius of Oo Swamp, but as he knows, the swamp is so beautiful that other swamp geniuses want it and come every night to take her home. When she heard him say that the enemy was fierce and that she had no chance of winning as usual because she was a woman, she expected his courage and came to ask for help, Togoro, who prided himself on being a righteous man, asked, "I understand everything. If I can do it with my own strength, I will try very hard. But what on earth should I do?". "There's nothing to worry about. Just shoot him with an arrow with an iron arrowhead," she said. But when she heard him say what time the enemy was coming, and if there was any indication of it, she said: "At the hour of Ox in the night, the enemy comes from the Ox-Tiger (northeast) with high sound waves and plumes of water smoke. You can shoot at the waves as a mark". "Then tomorrow night will be all right. Let's go and wait." When the appointment was made, the woman fluttered out of sight.

horrifically（副）恐ろしく

fierce（形）獰猛な

dependable（形）信頼できる

righteous（形）正義の

arrowhead（名）矢じり

indication（名）兆候

plume（名）水柱、水煙

flutter（動）ぱたぱたと揺れる

Togoro thought there was something strange about him, but now that he had made his promise, he decided to go there anyway, so he took the arrow and the bow with the iron arrowhead which he had prepared in advance and went out to the bank of Oo Swamp the next night, and hid in a thicket of reeds under the shade of a pine tree, waiting to see when the guy would come. Late in the evening, at the hour of the Ox, there came, as expected, from the northeast, with a high wave, a plume of water smoke, and a roaring and terrible noise. He thought it was time to shoot an arrow through the waves and it stuck in the monster's eye without coming off. The monster made a sound like thunder and fled from the spot, and went to Naga Swamp, a slender, two-kilometer-long swamp about a mile and a half below, to wash his eyes.

thicket（名）繁み

reed（名）葦

The blood from his eye turned the swamp into a sea of vermilion. The carp and crucian carp that drank the water seemed to have been poisoned, and all of them had only one eye. It is still said that the fish in this Naga Swamp have one eye. (Kikumatsu Sugano in Motodera-Koji, Sendai City)

Note: There is also a small swamp called Nikata's Swamp in my hometown of Akumi County, Yamagata Prefecture, and the fish living there are also one-eyed, and the genius of the swamp is said to be a horse. People in the neighboring villages have great faith, and it is said that adding water from the swamp heals the miso and sake that have lost their taste and that pouring it on a poor silkworm immediately restores them to good health while pouring it on the roof prevents them from catching fire. (Kentaro Kaneuchi)

Itayama Pond is in the mountains three to four miles from Taninooku, Ugawa Village, Kariwa County, Echigo Province. Locals say various things, such as that no leaves fall on this pond no matter how much wind blows, that those who are liked by the genius of the pond will naturally fall and sink, and that it will rain when they pray for rain. And, interestingly, they once lent trays in this pond.

Long ago, at Fuse Tokubee's house in On'nadani, the dragon in this pond appeared in his dream and said, "Lend me your sword because I will fight against the dragon of Lake Nojiri in Shinano Province. If you accept, put it on the roof." He immediately agreed and put it out, and before he knew it, it was gone. As proof that the dragon of Itayama fought with this sword, Lake Nojiri was red with blood. The sword was eventually placed on the roof again, but when he took it and looked at it, he found that the blade was a little chipped. I was told that the Fuse family still keeps the sword in their possession and never serves it except on certain days. (Nakanishi Toshinori)

blade（名）刃

chip（動）細かく砕ける

(D) Gamo Pond

The story is from Matsunoyama Village, Higashi-Kubiki County, Echigo Province.

It is said that the dragon of Gamo Pond fell in love with the female dragon of Nonomi Pond and asked the dragon of Hanage Pond to be his matchmaker, but she would not accept it, so the dragon of Gamo Pond became angry, borrowed a sword from the Nakatani family in Mizunashi and the Takasawa family in Kamata, and asked a man living in the mountain to kill the dragon of Nonomi Pond. The sword is still kept in the possession of the Takasawa family in Kamata, and it is said that the sword is never shown to people except during the New Year and Bon holidays. (Nakanishi Toshinori)

matchmaker（名）仲人