Assignment task:
"The Prince and the Badger"
1. What is a bakemono or obake? Use a passage from the story to illustrate.
2. The samurai warrior is an important figure in Japanese history. Use the story to demonstrate a key characteristic of his persona (courage, wisdom, etc.).
3. How important is the warrior code or "bushido" for the samurai in this story?
4. Hara-kiri or seppuku is a gruesome act that a samurai would inflict on himself -- why? Does the story provide any evidence for its purpose?
The story begins with this:
In days of yore there lived a forefather of the Prince of Tosa who went by the name of Yamanouchi Kadzutoyo. At the age of fourteen this prince was amazingly fond of fishing, and would often go down to the river for sport. And it came to pass one day that he had gone thither with but one retainer, and had made a great haul, that a violent shower suddenly came on. Now, the prince had no rain-coat with him, and was in so sorry a plight that he took shelter under a willow-tree and waited for the weather to clear; but the storm showed no sign of abating, and there was no help for it, so he turned to the retainer and said-"This rain is not likely to stop for some time, so we had better hurry home." As they trudged homeward, night fell, and it grew very dark; and their road lay over a long bank, by the side...
5. Comment on the elemental effects -- the rain, dark, etc.-- what role do they serve? Think about the purpose of ghost stories. You may wish to revisit older discussion forums where this is discussed, Weeks 2-3 for example.