Prince Fire-Shine and Prince Fire-Subside

Note: This article has been excerpted from a larger work in the public domain and shared here due to its historical value. It may contain outdated ideas and language that do not reflect TOTA’s opinions and beliefs.

From Ancient Tales From Many Lands by Rachel M. Fleming, 1922.

Long ago in Japan there was a prince named Prince Rice-in-Plenty, who ruled over the fertile plain called the Land of Fresh Rice Ears. This land is opposite to the Land of Korea.

Now, when Prince Rice-in-Plenty left his place in heaven and came to rule this land, he pushed aside the eight-fold clouds, and came floating across the Floating Bridge of Heaven to the fair land of the Thousand Rice Ears.

When the Prince saw it, he exclaimed, "This is a land on which the morning sun shines straight, and which the evening sun makes bright. So it is an exceedingly good place."

He built himself a palace of stout rock pillars, and made great wooden crossbeams, and dwelt there.

Now one day, as he walked abroad, he met the most beautiful princess. So lovely was she that her name was Princess Blossoming Brilliantly, like the flowers upon the trees. At once Prince Rice-in-Plenty fell in love with her, and asked her to marry him.

She replied that he must first ask her father, the King of the Mountains. So Prince Rice-in-Plenty sent a message to her father, asking if he might marry Princess Blossoming Brilliantly.

The King of the Mountains sent back the very ugly-sister of the princess, and with her a present, saying that he would be very glad for the prince to marry this ugly elder sister.

Alas! she was so very ugly that the Prince was quite frightened, and sent her straight back to her father. Then he married the Princess Blossoming Brilliantly.

Now the King of the Mountains was much vexed at this treatment of his elder daughter, and he sent word to the Prince, saying:—

"Had you married my elder daughter, though snow should fall and wind should blow, thy children should have lived for ever like the everlasting rocks. Now, however, they shall be but frail, and shall die like the flowers upon the trees."

So for that reason, it is said, the Emperors of Japan do not have very long lives.

Now they had two children, one named Prince Fire-Shine and one named Prince Fire-Subside. They were given these strange names because a fire broke out in the palace just before they were born, and died down again just afterwards, in time for the children to be saved.

Now, Prince Fire-Shine made his living by fishing on the sea, and caught both great and little fish. But Prince Fire-Subside made his living on the mountains, and hunted for wild animals.

One day Prince Fire-Subside said to his elder brother—"Let us change places, you give me your fish hook, and I will give you my bows and arrows."

For a long time Prince Fire-Shine would not agree to this, but at last he gave in. So Prince Fire-Subside went a-fishing, but alack-a-day! he never caught a single fish, and what was very much worse, he lost his brother's fish hook in the sea! Then his brother came and said:— "The mountains have luck for thee, and the sea has luck for me. Come now, give me back my hook."

But Fire-Subside answered, "I can't give you back the hook, for I did not catch a single fish with it, and at last I lost it in the sea."

But Fire-Shine only kept asking for the hook the more earnestly. Then Fire-Subside took off his huge sabre and broke it in pieces, of which he made 500 fish hooks. These he offered to his elder brother, who would not take them, but only kept on saying, "I want my own first fish hook that brought me luck."

Then Fire-Subside sat by the seashore and wept aloud. Hereupon there came along the Salt King, and asked, "Why are you weeping?" The Prince replied, "I exchanged my bow and arrow for my elder brother's fish hook. Now I have lost the hook, and though I have offered him many fish hooks in exchange, he will not take them. He only keeps on asking for the hook that I have lost."

So the Salt King at once built a beautiful little boat of bamboo strips plaited very tightly. In this he put Prince Fire-Subside, and pushed him off, telling him to go on till he came to a pleasant road. Along this road he was to go in the boat until he came to a palace built like fishes' scales, the palace of the Ocean King.

He added, "When you come to the gate of the palace, you will see a many-branched cassia tree above a well. Sit on the top of the tree till the Ocean King's daughter comes to you."

Everything happened as the Salt King had said, and he climbed up into the cassia tree and sat there.

Soon the maidens of the Sea King's daughter came to the well to draw water. In the well there was a light, so they looked up and saw the beautiful young man in the cassia tree.

They thought it very strange, but when he begged for a drink, they offered him some water in a beautiful jewelled vessel.

Instead of drinking the water, the Prince unloosed the jewel at his neck, and placed it in the vessel, where it stuck so tightly to the sides that the maidens could not unloose it. So they went back and showed it to the Princess and said, "There is someone sitting in the cassia tree above the well. He is more beautiful even than the King. So when he asked for a drink, we respectfully gave him some water, but, instead of drinking, he placed this jewel in the vessel. As it stuck so tightly to the side that we could not get it off, we brought it to you as a present."

Then the Princess, thinking it all very strange, went and looked at the Prince in the cassia tree. He was so beautiful that she was delighted, and went back to her father saying, "There is a beautiful person at our gate." Then the Sea King himself went out to look, and was so delighted that he brought the Prince into the palace. Here he spread eight layers of sea-lions' skins, and on these eight layers of silk rugs, and begged the Prince to recline on them.

Then he made a great feast, and married Prince Fire-Subside to his daughter. For three years they were very happy together. But one night, the Prince began to think of all that had gone before, and heaved a deep sigh.

This troubled the Princess so much that she said to her father, "For three years the Prince has been very happy, but to-night he heaved a very deep sigh. What can be the matter with him?"

So the Sea King asked Prince Fire-Subside what was the matter, and the Prince told him the whole story of the fish hook. Then the Sea King summoned together all the fish of the sea, both great and small, and asked if any of them had by chance taken the hook.

Now the tai fish complained that it had something sticking in its throat and could not eat. On its throat being examined, the hook was discovered sticking there. It was taken out and washed, and given to Prince Fire-Subside.

Then the Sea King told Prince Fire-Subside to give back the hook to his elder brother, Prince Fire-Shine, and say to him, "This fish hook is a poor, silly thing, and will make its owner both poor and silly."

The Sea King also said to the Prince, "If Prince Fire-Shine makes low fields, do you make high ones, and if he makes high fields, do you make low ones. As I rule the waters, your elder brother will certainly be ruined."

Then he gave the Prince two beautiful jewels, one to make the tide flow in, and one to make the tide ebb out. He told him that if Prince Fire-Shine grew angry about his fields being ruined, and attacked Prince Fire-Subside, the latter had only to put forth the tide-flowing jewel to drown him. Then, if Fire-Shine expressed his sorrow, Fire-Subside was to put forth the tide-ebbing jewel and let him live.

Having said this, the King called a crocodile, one fathom long, and asked him to take the Prince to the Upper World. He warned the crocodile to do it respectfully, and not to frighten him in mid-ocean.

When he reached the Upper World, Prince Fire-Subside sent back the crocodile, and gave the fish hook to his elder brother, exactly as the Sea King had told him to do.

Upon this. Prince Fire-Shine became poorer and poorer, and came savagely towards Fire-Subside to attack him.

Just as he was about to attack him, Prince Fire-Subside put forth the tide-flowing jewel, and nearly drowned Fire-Shine. Then Fire-Shine expressed his grief, and Fire-Subside put forth the tide-ebbing jewel, and saved his elder brother's life.

This happened several times, and then Prince Fire-Shine bowed his head and promised to be his brother's guard, and to serve him respectfully by day and night.

Fleming, Rachel M. Ancient Tales From Many Lands. Frederick A. Stokes Company, 1922.

Rachel M. Fleming

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