# Momotaro, the Peach Boy _Unknown author_ · 15 min read · ages 6-10 An old man and his wife find a baby inside a giant peach and name him Momotaro, and at fifteen he sets out against the devils who rob his country. With a dog, a monkey and a pheasant, Momotaro takes the devils’ castle, frees the prisoners, and sails home with the treasure and the chief to a rejoicing country. --- Long ago, in a village among green hills, there lived an old man and an old woman. They were poor, and they worked hard for their daily rice. Every morning the old man went up to the hills to cut grass for the farmers. The old woman kept the house and tended their own small rice field. They had all they needed but one thing. They had no child, and they had wept over it, night and day, for more years than they cared to count. One morning, early in summer, the old man shouldered his scythe and set off for the hills. The old woman took a basket of washing down to the river. She found a flat stone and began to work, in water so clear that she could count the pebbles at the bottom. Then something came bumping down the stream towards her. It was a peach, the largest peach she had seen in all her sixty years. “What a peach that is,” she said to herself. “I must take it home to my old man.” She reached for it, but the current carried it just beyond her fingers. There was no stick on the bank, and if she went to look for one the peach would be gone. So she stood still and thought, and an old charm-verse came back to her. She began to clap her hands in time with the rolling of the peach, and she sang: Distant water is bitter, the near water is sweet. Pass by the distant water and come into the sweet. And strange to tell, the peach began to swing in towards the bank, nearer and nearer, until it stopped in front of her and she lifted it out with both hands. She was far too happy to finish the washing. She piled the clothes back into her basket and hurried home with the peach in her arms. The afternoon seemed very long. At last the old man came down the path at sunset, almost hidden under his bundle of grass, leaning on his scythe like a walking stick. “You have been such a long time coming home today!” she called. “Why so impatient?” he asked. “Has something happened while I was away?” “Nothing has happened,” she said. “Only I have found a present for you.” He washed his feet and stepped up onto the veranda, and she brought the peach out of the cupboard. “Did you ever see such a peach in all your life?” “Never,” said the old man. “Wherever did you buy it?” “I did not buy it. I found it in the river.” And she told him the whole story. “Then let us eat it now,” he said, “for I am hungry.” He fetched the kitchen knife and laid the peach on a board. But before the blade could touch it, the peach split open of itself, and a clear voice said: “Wait a bit, old man!” And out of the peach stepped a beautiful little child. The two old people were so astonished that they sat down where they stood. The child spoke again, gently. “Do not be afraid. Heaven has had compassion on you. Every day and every night you have grieved that you had no child, and your cry has been heard. I am sent to be the son of your old age.” Then there was such joy in that little house that neither of them knew what to do with their hands or their feet. The old man took the child in his arms, and then the old woman did, and they named him Momotaro, Son of a Peach. The years went by quickly. Momotaro grew taller and stronger than any boy of his age, and he was brave besides, and wise beyond his years. One day, when he was fifteen, he came to his foster-father and spoke seriously. “Father, by a strange chance we became father and son. Your goodness to me is higher than the hill grass you cut and deeper than the river where my mother washes. I do not know how to thank you.” “A father brings up his son,” said the old man, a little embarrassed. “One day it will be your turn to look after us, so in the end it comes out even between us.” “Then grant me one thing before I begin to pay you back,” said Momotaro. “Let me go away.” “Away? From your old father and mother, and from your home?” “I will come back, if you let me go now. Listen, and you will see why I must.” Far to the northeast, he said, out in the sea, lay an island, and on that island stood the stronghold of a band of devils. “They come across to our country and rob it. They kill the people and carry them off, and some they eat. They obey no law, not even the Emperor’s. I mean to conquer them and bring back everything they have taken from us.” The old man sat quiet a while, thinking it over. The boy was no common boy: he had come to them from Heaven, and surely no devil could have power to harm him. “Go, then,” said the old man at last. “Go as soon as you like. Put an end to them and bring peace to the land.” That same day the two old people pounded rice in the kitchen mortar and made cakes for him to carry. When the cakes were packed in his bag, Momotaro stood at the door. The eyes of the old couple were full of tears, and their voices shook. “Go carefully, and quickly. We shall be waiting for you to come home victorious.” “Take good care of yourselves while I am away,” he said. “Goodbye.” And he stepped out of the house, sorry for the two of them, and brave about it. By midday he was hungry, so he sat down under a tree by the road and took out one of the cakes. Out of the long grass came a dog nearly the size of a young horse. He made straight for Momotaro and showed his teeth. “You are a rude fellow, to cross my field without asking. Leave me every cake in that bag and you may go on. Otherwise you will be sorry.” Momotaro only laughed. “Do you know who I am? I am Momotaro, and I am on my way to the Island of Devils in the northeast. Stand in my road and it will go badly with you.” The dog’s manner changed at once. His tail dropped between his legs, and he came near and bowed until his forehead touched the ground. “Momotaro? Are you really Momotaro? I have heard of your strength a hundred times. Forgive my rudeness, I did not know you. Take me with you as one of your followers, rough fellow though I am.” “I can take you, if you wish to come,” said Momotaro. “Thank you. And I am very hungry. Will you give me one of those cakes?” “These are the finest cakes in Japan,” said Momotaro. “I cannot spare you a whole one. You shall have half.” The dog ate his half cake, and away the two of them went, over the hills and down the valleys. After a while something came down out of a tree ahead and ran to meet them. “Good morning, Momotaro. Will you let me go with you?” “Momotaro has a dog already,” said the dog jealously. “What use is a monkey in a battle? We are going to fight the devils. Be off.” At that the two of them fell to quarrelling and snapping, as dogs and monkeys always do. “Stop that,” said Momotaro, stepping between them. “Wait a moment, dog.” “It is not dignified for you to have a creature like that at your heels,” the dog grumbled. “What do you know about it?” said Momotaro. He pushed the dog aside and turned to the monkey. “Who are you?” “A monkey of these hills. I heard you were going to the Island of Devils, and nothing would please me more than to follow you.” “And you truly mean to fight beside me?” “I do, sir.” “Then I admire your courage. Here is a piece of my cake. Come along.” So the monkey joined them, though for a long while those two went snapping at each other all down the road. By and by they came out into a wide field, and a bird flew down right in front of the little party. It was the most beautiful bird Momotaro had ever seen. Its body wore five robes of feathers, one over another, and its head wore a scarlet cap. The dog ran at it at once. But the bird struck out with its spurs and flew at the dog’s tail, and neither of them could get the better of the other. Momotaro watched, and could not help admiring the bird. Anything with that much spirit, he thought, would make a fine fighter. He held the dog back. “You are hindering my journey,” he said to the bird. “Surrender now, and I will take you with me.” The bird surrendered on the spot. “I quarrelled with your servant the dog because I did not see you. I am only a pheasant, a poor sort of creature. Let me follow behind the dog and the monkey.” “You surrendered quickly, and I congratulate you,” said Momotaro, smiling. “Come and join our raid on the devils.” “Are you taking that bird as well?” the dog broke in. “Why ask a question like that? I am taking the bird because I wish to.” “Hmph,” said the dog. Then Momotaro stood where all three could see him, and gave his order. “Listen to me, every one of you. The first thing an army needs is harmony. Where there is no peace among ourselves, no enemy is easily beaten. From today the three of you are friends, of one mind. And the first to begin a quarrel will be discharged on the spot.” All three promised. The pheasant was made one of the company, and received half a cake. After that they marched as an army. The dog went ahead with the flag, the monkey came behind with a sword, and Momotaro walked between them with a war-fan of iron in his hand. Day after day they hurried on, until one morning the road ran out and they stood on the shore of the North-Eastern Sea. There was nothing to see but water, all the way to the sky. The three had come bravely over every hill, but none of them had ever seen the sea. They looked at each other and said nothing at all. Momotaro saw that the water had daunted them, and to try them he spoke roughly. “Why are you hanging back? Are you afraid of the sea? I cannot take such weak creatures to fight devils. I shall go alone, and you are all discharged.” The three caught at his sleeve and begged him not to send them away. “Please, Momotaro,” said the dog. “We have come so far,” said the monkey. “You cannot leave us here,” said the pheasant. “Very well,” said Momotaro. “I will take you. But be careful.” He found a small ship, and they all went aboard. The wind was fair and the ship ran over the sea like an arrow. The waves frightened the three of them at first, but they soon grew used to the water. They walked the deck watching for the island, and the voyage seemed short. Then one bright morning the four watchers at the bow saw land. Momotaro knew it at once. On the top of a steep shore, looking out to sea, stood a great castle behind high walls and heavy iron gates. He sat with his head in his hands, thinking how to begin, while his followers waited for orders. At last he called the pheasant. “It is a great advantage to us to have you here, for you have good wings. Fly to the castle and challenge them. We will follow you.” The pheasant flew off gladly. He reached the island, settled on the roof in the middle of the castle, and called out as loudly as he could. “Devils, listen to me! The great Japanese general Momotaro has come to take your stronghold. If you wish to save your lives, surrender now, and break off the horns on your foreheads as a sign that you submit, or the dog, the monkey and I will take it from you.” The horned devils looked up, saw one bird, and laughed at it. “A wild pheasant! It is ridiculous to hear such words from a shabby little thing like you. Wait until one of our iron bars catches you.” They shook their horns and their shocks of red hair, pulled on their tiger-skin trousers to make themselves more terrible, and came running with great iron bars to knock the bird down. But the pheasant slipped aside from every blow. He wheeled round and round above them, striking at one head and then another, until the devils began to wonder whether they were fighting one bird or a hundred. Meanwhile Momotaro had brought his ship to shore and climbed the path towards the castle, with the monkey and the dog behind him. Near the top they came upon two young women washing clothes in a stream, and the tears were running down both their faces. The clothes in their hands were stained with blood. “Who are you?” asked Momotaro. “Why are you weeping?” “We are prisoners of the Demon King. We are daughters of daimyo, of great lords, and we were carried off from our homes to be his servants. One day he will eat us, as he has eaten others, and there is nobody to help us.” “I will help you,” said Momotaro. “Do not cry any more. Only show me how to get inside.” They led him round to the lowest part of the wall, where there was a little back door, so small that he could hardly crawl through it. The pheasant, still fighting hard above the courtyard, saw Momotaro and his band come rushing in at the back. After that the devils could not stand against them. They had been fighting one bird; now there were four enemies among them, and the four fought as though they were a hundred. Some of the devils fell from the parapet to the rocks below, and some went into the sea, and none of those rose again. Before long the chief of them all stood alone. He knew then that he was beaten by something stronger than any mortal man. He threw down his iron bar, knelt at Momotaro’s feet, and broke off his own horns, which were the sign of his strength. “I am afraid of you,” he said humbly. “I cannot stand against you. Spare my life, and I will give you every piece of treasure in this castle.” Momotaro laughed. “It is not like you to beg, big devil. I cannot spare you, beg as you may. For years you have robbed this country and harmed its people.” So he tied the devil chief up and gave him into the monkey’s charge. Then he went through the castle room by room, letting the prisoners out and gathering the treasure together. The dog and the pheasant carried the plunder down to the ship, and Momotaro sailed home in triumph with the chief of the devils as his captive. The two daughters of daimyo, and all the others who had been carried off, were taken safely home and given back to their parents. The whole country made a hero of Momotaro, and rejoiced that the devils who had been the terror of the land for so long would trouble it no more. And the old man and the old woman, who had once wept for want of a child, lived with him in peace and plenty to the end of their days. --- - Read online: https://talerie.com/en/tales/momotaro-the-peach-boy - Subject (Wikidata): https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q877820 - Source: Japanese Fairy Tales, transl. Yei Theodora Ozaki (Archibald Constable, 1908), «Momotaro, or the Story of the Son of a Peach» (Project Gutenberg #4018) (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/4018) - Public-domain basis: Talerie contemporary retelling (CC0 2026), based on: Japanese Fairy Tales, transl. Yei Theodora Ozaki (Archibald Constable, 1908), «Momotaro, or the Story of the Son of a Peach» (Project Gutenberg #4018) — EU anonymous-work rule (+70 passed); translator Yei Theodora Ozaki died 1932 (+70 passed) - License: CC0-1.0 (https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/)