Literally in
Japanese "Peach boy." An
old man and
old woman were living together in the
mountains by themselves. One day, when the old woman was at the
river washing
laundry, a large
peach came floating down the river. Upon seeing the peach, she thought that she and her
husband could enjoy it, so she took it back to her
house. Upon cutting it in half with her
knife, a small
boy was found inside the peach. The old couple had no children, so they thought that the
gods had blessed them with this child. They named him "Momotaro" because he was
born from the peach. Soon, he grew up to be a tall and strong boy. He was very
lazy though, and when the other kids would go and gather
firewood, he'd stay home and sleep. Once his parents encouraged him to gather firewood, he slept while everyone else was out gathering
wood. When everyone was ready to go back in, he woke up and said "I'll collect firewood and come back with you." The other boys thought they'd be in too late if he started working now, but he ignored their
complaints and went to a large
tree. Putting his
arms around it, he uprooted it and carried the tree back to town. On seeing his
great strength, the local
county lord called him to his
castle, and said to him "
Ogres have been threatening and robbing my
peasants for a long time. If you are as strong as I heard, you shall go and punish them." Momotaro agreed to help him out. His grandmother baked some
millet cookies for him to eat while on his journey.
Somewhere down the road, he met a dog. "Momotaro, where are you going?" asked the dog.
"To the Island of Ogres, to punish them."
"And what are you bringing with you?"
"The best millet cookies of Japan."
"Can I have one and go with you?" offered the dog. Momotaro gave the dog a cookie and they went along together.
Soon they met a monkey.
"Momotaro, where are you going?" asked the monkey.
"To the Island of Ogres, to punish them."
"And what are you bringing with you?"
"The best millet cookies of Japan."
"Can I have one and go with you?" offered the monkey. Momotaro gave the monkey a cookie and the three of them went along together.
Then they met a pheasant.
"Momotaro, where are you going?" asked the pheasant.
"To the Island of Ogres, to punish them."
"And what are you bringing with you?"
"The best millet cookies of Japan."
"Can I have one and go with you?" offered the pheasant. So Momotaro gave the pheasant a cookie too.
The companions sailed to the Island of Ogres, as Momotaro entered the cave where the ogres were, he announced himself and said that he was going to punish them. The ogres then laughed, but the dog ran in and bit them as Momotaro fought with his sword. He and his companions, having eaten the best millet cookies in Japan, knew no fear. The defeated ogres then begged for mercy and gave Momotaro their treasure. He took it back to his family, and all lived happily ever after.