Hey there! Welcome to "Fairy Tale and Folktale Fridays," a new feature on my blog where I discuss about some fairy tales and folktales I have read throughout the years.
The Boy Who Drew Cats
Type: Folktale
Country of Origin: Japan
Main Character Hero or Heroine: Hero
Recommend?: Yes!
The story starts off with a young boy who has the gifted talent to draw cats, but unfortunately, this proves useless to his family and they decided to send him off to a scholar to help him get some more education. Before the parents left the boy in the scholar's care, the mother warns the boy:
"Avoid large places, keep to small."
As time went by, the scholar was impressed with the boy's talents, but he also thought that the boy drawing cats all the time was unacceptable and did not bring much to the boy's education. One night, the boy remembered his mother's words and he decided to go to sleep in a small box for the night. The next morning, the scholar's house was torn to shreds as it turns out that a rat demon was ravishing the land and the boy happened to be safe from the carnage as he was sleeping inside a small box at the time. Unfortunately, because the scholar's home was destroyed, the boy had to find another place to live and he goes to several other people's homes for shelter, but it turned out the rat demon attacked any place that the boy happened to stay at, while the boy continues to be safe due to remembering his mother's warnings about staying in small places. Later on, the boy finds an abandoned house and he decides to stay for the night and while he was there, he started drawing cats on the walls and went inside a small box to rest. Suddenly, the house started shaking violently as a mysterious force entered the house and....
I really loved this story as I was always interested in Japanese horror stories and this particular story happens to be one of the most frightening and creative stories I had ever heard! I really loved the fact that the boy's talents in drawing cats saves him from the demon's rampage as it shows that even though most of the people he had interacted with dismissed his talents, he still went on to pursue his talents in drawing despite what everyone else has said about his talents.
1. What is your most distinguishable talent?
My most distinguishable talent is that I enjoy writing stories and fan fictions for myself since I've always wanted to become a writer and writing fan fictions and stories seem to soothe me.
2. Do you enjoy horror stories?
Oh yes! I love reading horror stories whenever I get the chance too, especially demon stories!
3. Do you read Japanese folktales?
I've read a few so far such as Peachboy and the Little Old Woman and I've really enjoyed those stories. I hope to read more in the near future!
The Boy Who Drew Cats by David Johnson
The Boy Who Drew Cats by Margaret Hodges; illustrated by Ari Sogabe
The Boy Who Drew Cats by Lafcadio Hearn; illustrated by Manabu C. Saito
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