The Oldest of Fishermen 17 



up and down the sandy shores of Oshima. At last, his 

 mother took pity on him and whispered through the soft 

 warm wind of the Kuroshiwo, " Fish, fish, my son, by fish- 

 ing shalt thou live. By fishing shalt thou be made a man." 

 So angling made a man of Ebisu, as it has helped to make 

 one of you and me. And the seas were ripe for his hook 

 and his net. His catch was boundless. No one could do so 

 well as he. And men called him the fish god. But living on 

 fish alone, he thirsted for rice; for raw fish and cooked rice 

 go together to make a meal in Japan. 



And so he carried his fishes inland to the lands which 

 know not the sea. And there he met Daikoku, the smiling 

 god of luck, sitting high on his bags of rice. Ebisu had a 

 red tai, or snapper (Pagrus major), under his arm, and 

 Daikoku gave him a bag of rice for it. Thus they became 

 the twin gods of trade, as no one before them had ever 

 thought of such a thing, and because both made by the bar- 

 gain, they were both in luck. And so they became the twin 

 luck-gods of Japan, the god of fisherman's luck and the 

 luck of commerce. And the red tai ever since, by the same 

 token, has been the national fish of Japan. 



But one day, so the story tells, and I do not see what this 

 has to do with the story, but it is in the record, smiling 

 Daikoku came to visit Ebisu. But Ebisu was gone a-fishing. 

 Suddenly a huge giant faced Daikoku and challenged him to 

 a wrestling match. Daikoku, short-legged, good-natured, 

 trembled and smiled. This smile won the heart of the giant, 

 and he, too, like a genuine Japanese, broke out in an answer- 

 ing smile. 



Soon Ebisu returned, his great basket heavy with fish, and 

 without warning, the giant turned suddenly evil again and 

 rushed upon him. But Ebisu had not fought in vain with 

 tuna and tarpon and mighty sharks. He forced the giant 

 into the air, whence he fled in a dark cloud. And Ebisu and 

 Daikoku sat down to a fish dinner, the like of which was 

 not known then or since. The red tai is the best fish for a 



