Long time ago, Shinriki-bo, (a mountain priest) lived in a big house in Sakamoto Hachiman. A devil from Chichibu mountain came to his house daily. He used to demand huge quantities of wine and feasts and made many unreasonable demands. The priest was in great trouble. He wanted to teach the devil a lesson. So, he thought of a plan so that the devil might never come to his house. Shinriki-bo asked the villagers to cut all the wheat in a single day if the devil came along. Then, for delicacies to serve with wine, the priest cut white stones into squares and bamboo roots into rings and set them out. He cooked some white bean curd and bamboo sprouts, and placed them on a separate dish for himself. Unaware, the devil came along in his usual way to eat a big feast. But the stones and the bamboo rings were so hard that his teeth could not bite them.
The Devil and the Human
The devil was puzzled. On the other hand, Shinriki-bo, the host, sat calmly and ate his bean curd and bamboo sprouts, licking his lips. “How about it, Mr. Devil?” he remarked, “With such strong teeth, we humans can chew anything that we feel like eating. And that is not all. We can also turn land upside down and skin it. Come out and have a look! ” He led the devil out of his house to show him. What had been field of ripe golden wheat when the devil came that morning was completely harvested during the day. It was only black soil that now remained in the field. Seeing this, the devil thought, ‘Men are really greater than devils and devils can never risk parading around before them carelessly.’ He never came to the village again.
