Week 10 Story: The Forgotten Son

There once was a boy that lived in the deep woods of Japan. He was a child of nature and spent many hours outside with the animals that were native to the forest. The child's name was Kintaro. He was the son of a ferocious and brave warrior that had been crossed by old friends and nobles. Kintaro lived with this mother deep in the woods. She chose to flee the city after her husband's death and raise her child in secret. He was a gifted boy with many talents. Kintaro was smart and he had a very genuine appreciation for nature. He was friends with the animals of the forest because they respected him. He also had no one else to bond with.

The reality of growing up in the forest was different from a life in the city. Kintaro did not understand how gifted he truly was. There was no one else for Kintaro to compare himself to. He had incredible strength. His own strength rivaled that of a fully grown man. He would play games with the different animals of the forest and he would often wrestle and fight with them. Kintaro would always come out as the victor. He would even challenge his best friend the bear and never lose. He was a truly incredible child.

One day an old lumberjack saw Kintaro playing with his animal friends. The lumberjack was confused by this and decided to follow the animals and Kintaro as they played. He followed the group to a river without a way to cross. Kintaro casually pulled a massive tree out of the ground and used it as a bridge for the group to cross. The man was impressed and continued to follow Kintaro to his home.

The old man introduced himself to Kintaro's mother and explained that he was a general in the army of Japan. He explained that his duty was to find extraordinary children and train them to become warriors of Japan. With a bit of discussion and convincing, Kintaro's mother let her son join the man back to the capital. Kintaro would go on to become one of the greatest and most ferocious warriors that Japan had ever seen. He would return in his adult years to care for his mother and ensure her health and safety.

(A photo of Kintaro with the animals of the forest. Source: Wikimedia Commons)

Author's Note: The story that I told was very similar to the source story. The original story is much longer and has a lot of details that I left out. However, the events that unfold are pretty much the same. Kintaro has many friends in the forest and the old woodcutter spots him the same way. Kintaro goes on to be trained as a samurai and great warrior. He becomes Chief of the Four Braves and serves the Lord Raiko well. 

Bibliography: The Adventures of Kintaro, The Golden Boy from Japanese Fairy Tales by Yei Theodora Ozaki. Source: UnTextbook