Yamato was a great king. One day, many of his subjects came to him with a complaint that a huge boar was raging in the forest of Hakone and was ridden by a demon with a great spear, who spread calamity and pestilence in the land. Yamato went to the high priestess of Ise to seek her guidance. The high priestess welcomed him.
“I have been waiting for you, Yamato. Take this Sacred Sword,” she said, giving it to him, “You can kill the Demon Boar with this. He runs like the wind and remember that his tail is the weak part that you must attack.”
Yamato took the sword and her blessings and set off to find the Demon Boar. He took with him his huntsmen and hounds. They sniffed the paths till they reached the great forests at the foot of the Fujiyama.
They chased the scent of the Boar till they reached him in his secret lair on a strip of rocky crag. He stood alert against a cedar tree. The hounds bayed as they charged towards him. But the Boar attacked them with his tusks and they lay dead in a flash.
The huntsmen shot arrows like a shower at the Boar, but they seemed to bounce right off his tough hide. There seemed no way to kill him.
Yamato was angry and, forgetting the wise words of the high priestess, he urged his horse to charge at the Demon Boar. But the Boar killed his horse with his tusks and Yamato was flung on the ground.
Yamato was dazed by the fall and stood up, staggering a little. Before he could collect his wits, the Demon Boar charged at him. He recovered sufficiently to slip behind a huge tree as the Boar charged past him.
Looking behind, he saw that he was standing on the edge of a precipice. He was in a fix. Behind him was a sheer drop into the dark valley below and in front of him stood the Demon Boar. Either a fall or an attack by the Boar was sure to kill him!
Suddenly, recollecting the words of the high priestess, he drew the Sacred Sword and charged at the Demon Boar. In a flash, he was on its back and with the sword he slashed at its tail, cutting it right off!
Maddened with pain the Boar ran blindly around. He went over the precipice to crash miles below and was instantly killed.
