One summer evening, a man living in Oshu went fishing in a pond at Handayama. He caught many fish and his basket was full up to the brim. To cool himself, the man soaked his bare feet in the pond. Suddenly, a water spider came out of the pond and fastened his thread onto the man’s big toe. The spider went into the pond and came out again. He, now, fastened another thread on the same place. The man found it quite strange. He carefully unfastened the thread from his toe and tied it around the willow stump beside him. Suddenly, someone screamed from the bottom of the pond, “Jera and Sero and the rest of you, come here!” The man was amazed. All the fish from his basket leapt out and went back in the pond. And right before his eyes, the spider’s thread was pulled and the thick stump broke off. From then on, no one went fishing in that pond.
The Water Spider
