The Merchant And The Magical Herb 'MEGA' (Japanese Folktale )


This interesting and funny Folktale is from Japan.

                                          
 One day a small merchant was returning to his home after buying  some goods from another town. He got late. It was getting dark and night was about to come.

"It is not safe to travel at night", thought the merchant. "I should stay somewhere at night and should go to home tomorrow." He dropped in a village and went to an inn to spend the night.  

                                                                                        


 He asked the inn- keeper to make dinner for him.

The inn-keeper's wife was a greedy woman. When she saw the goods that the merchant had brought with him, she thought "How good for us if we take all his merchandise and money.'' She told his husband what she was thinking about. "It's not so easy to take his stuff ." said the husband.

                                                     
''You are such an intelligent man can't you think of something to make this happen?", said the woman.
The inn-keeper got moved by the sweet talks of his wife, he thought for a while and told his wife ''It is possible to take his merchandise if you put the magical herb Mega in the merchant's food. He will surely forget a thing or two after consuming this herb.""Are you sure about that? What if he doesn't forget his stuff?" , asked the greedy lady. 
He has got nothing to forget, except for his merchandise, I am sure he will forget to take it with him.
The innkeeper's wife cooked a delicious meal for the merchant and put the herb, 'Mega' in the food. 
                                                                                                        

      
                                                
The merchant ate the food and went to sleep. 
Next morning when the innkeeper's wife woke up, she saw that the merchant had left their place. She checked the room in which the merchant stayed at night thinking that he must have forgot his merchandise but found nothing. She searched again but there was nothing.
She called out to her husband and said, ''You told me that the merchant will forget his stuff but he has taken all his goods with him and there is nothing left behind."That is not possible, he must have forgot something , the herb is very effective.
The woman thought for a moment and cried.....
'' Yes! He forgot  something, he forgot to pay us for the food and the stay.'' 
"Oh no! The man said holding his head, ''What a big fool I am!''
                                               

                                                          
                                                                   
                                          Japanese Folktale Re-told by -Aunt Mary

24 comments:

  1. Serve them right! Hahaha...the magic herb really worked.
    Thank you, Aunt, for sharing another lesson in this story.
    I enjoyed it! :)

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    1. I am so glad that you liked the tale Balqis, thank's a lot for your kind visit and lovely comment :)

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  2. Hello Aunt Mary, I must just say how much I like your blog header it’s so pretty.
    I’m afraid the greedy woman in this tale got what was coming to her. A very moral story nicely told.

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    1. Hi Barbra, I am happy to hear that you liked the blog header, thank you so much for reading and for your beautiful comment :)

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  3. Interesting tale. Thank you for sharing.

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  4. Really amusing with a moral "not to be greedy"!

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    1. Thank you so much , I am glad that you liked the post :)

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  5. I love your stories. You narrate them really well. Do keep writing.

    www.hautekutir.com
    www.numerounity.com

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  6. Ha ha. Thats what they got for doing such an evil deed:)

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    1. Yes you are right , thank you so much Joy for reading the tale :)

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  7. Ha ha. Thats what they got for doing such an evil deed:)

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  8. Serves them right :)
    They got a sip of their own medicine :)
    Well narrated!

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    1. Thank you very much for your beautiful comment Anita :)

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  9. What a wonderful story! The greedy woman may have fed the merchant a meal, but it sounds like she's the one who got her just desserts. :)

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    1. Yes you are right , she's the one who got her just desserts, thank you so much for your lovely comment :)

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  10. It isn't often I've come across folktales from this part of the world so thank you for sharing this.

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