[Special Feature: Yukichi Fukuzawa and Statistics] Ayatoshi Kure and Grimm's Fairy Tales: "The Wolf and the Seven Young Goats" as a Japanese Folktale / Tomonao Obuchi

Image: Ayatoshi Kure (Collection of the Keio University Fukuzawa Memorial Center for Modern Japanese Studies)

In 1812, the first edition of "Children's and Household Tales," the so-called Grimm Brothers' fairy tales, was published. Seventy-five years later, in 1887 (Meiji 20), Ayatoshi Kure, known as a statistician, published a small booklet titled "Yatsu-yagi" (Eight Goats) (Kobunsha). It is a beautiful and delightful piece, printed in color and featuring pop-up pages similar to modern pop-up books. Despite being the work of the statistician Kure, this "Yatsu-yagi" is a translation of the Grimm's fairy tale "The Wolf and the Seven Young Goats," and it is one of the earliest Japanese translations of a Grimm's fairy tale.

Unfortunately, no records remain explaining why Kure translated this fairy tale at a time when the Grimm Brothers' stories were not yet widely known in Japan. While the circumstances of his encounter with Grimm's fairy tales are unknown, Kure's connection to foreign languages had been strong since his childhood.

Ayatoshi Kure was born in Edo in 1851 as the second son of Koseki Kure, a physician for the Asano clan of Geishu. His father was well-versed in both Chinese and Dutch medicine, and his reputation is said to have reached the ears of Yasuyoshi (Kaishu) Katsu. Influenced by his father, Kure began studying foreign languages at the age of 11 or 12. By the time of the Meiji Restoration, he was studying under Englishmen, and by around age 20, he had already acquired such proficiency in English that he dropped out of Daigaku Nanko (one of the predecessors of the University of Tokyo) because the English classes were boring. Furthermore, in his mid-30s, around 1886 to 1887, he decided that English alone was insufficient to master statistics and devoted himself to learning German. He later recalled that although he was "no longer at the age of a student," he "studied German studies with single-minded devotion."

During his course of study, Kure also studied at Keio University twice. However, the first time, when he was 13 or 14, he was frightened by the rowdiness of the Juku and ran away after a week. The second time, in his early 20s, he was ordered to leave the Juku by Fukuzawa for being too much of a dandy. Kure would later stand at the lectern of Keio University as a teacher, and it is said that he desired this position partly as a way to restore his honor from those earlier times (details regarding Ayatoshi Kure's life are based on his oral account "For the Children" in "Ayatoshi Kure," published by Takahiro Harada, 1933).

In this way, Kure, who was acquiring English and German, released "Yatsu-yagi" in September 1887. While it is an unusual work for a statistician, Kure's writing was not limited to the world of statistics; for instance, he also produced an abridged translation of an English introductory astronomy book for children during the Meiji calendar reform.

Kure published "Yatsu-yagi" during the period when he was "studying German studies with single-minded devotion." At the time, most Japanese translations of Grimm's fairy tales were indirect translations, mostly from English versions. However, considering this coincided with Kure's period of German study, it is possible to assume this work was a direct translation from German. In fact, one month after the publication of "Yatsu-yagi," Kure published a translation of a specialized statistics book from German, showing that even while still learning, he already possessed more than sufficient proficiency in the language.

Furthermore, there is another piece of evidence suggesting that "Yatsu-yagi" is a direct translation. Although not by Kure's hand, it is the illustration for "Yatsu-yagi." Figure 1 shows the left half as the cover of "Yatsu-yagi," and the right half as an illustration from a collection of fairy tales published in Germany in 1884, which included the Grimm Brothers' tales. Figure 2 shows the opening section of "Yatsu-yagi," and the similarity between the Japanese and German versions cannot be a coincidence. Kure likely performed his Japanese translation with this German fairy tale collection on his desk.

So, how did Kure, who had just mastered German, translate the Grimm Brothers' "The Wolf and the Seven Young Goats"?

To begin with, the title "Yatsu-yagi" (Eight Goats) does not match the number of goats in the Grimm's tale. Kure's story begins, "Once upon a time, there was a mother goat who had eight children." The number of young goats has increased to eight. Although his experience with German was relatively short, it is unlikely to be a mistranslation. There must be a reason for replacing 7 with 8. Kure likely replaced the Western number "7" with the more Japanese number "8" to make the story feel more familiar to readers. Additionally, using eight (yatsu) creates an alliteration with goat (yagi), improving the rhythmic flow in Japanese. "Yatsu-yagi" is not a literal translation of the Grimm's tale; it was cleverly "Japanized" by Kure in this manner.

For the readership of "Yatsu-yagi" at the time, German culture was, so to speak, an unknown culture. To make a distant culture easier to accept, translators of this era employed various creative measures. In Mannen Ueda's "The Wolf," published two years after "Yatsu-yagi," the wolf and goats are depicted in illustrations wearing kimonos. During this period, various forms of Japanization were necessary for the reception of Western culture.

Kure's ingenuity was not limited to manipulating the number of young goats. In the story of "The Wolf and the Seven Young Goats," the wolf repeatedly devises evil schemes to impersonate the mother goat and attack the young goats. In these scenes as well, Kure applies Japanization for the reader's understanding.

In the Grimm's tale, the wolf, in order to make himself look like the mother goat, threatens a baker and a miller to get white paws, using dough and flour to turn his black paws white. However, considering the Japanese readers of the time who were not yet familiar with bread-eating culture, Kure simply has the wolf go to a paint shop to have his paws painted white.

Another memorable scheme is the scene where the wolf eats chalk to make his voice resemble the mother goat's. The act of eating chalk to improve one's voice is not common even in German culture, but it is a part where Japanese readers would clearly feel a sense of oddity. Kure translated this as "The wolf went to a pharmacy and drank medicine to improve his voice," changing it so that anyone could understand it without feeling out of place. While "medicine to improve his voice" is a very rational choice of words, the influence of Japanization can be glimpsed behind it. In the Meiji period, gypsum chalk was common. And in the world of Chinese medicine, gypsum is used as a crude drug to suppress throat inflammation. It is possible that Kure, whose father was a physician well-versed in Chinese medicine, replaced the German word "chalk"—which the wolf consumes to make his gruff voice graceful—within the context of Japanese culture, recalling gypsum as a Chinese medicine and choosing the translation "medicine to improve his voice."

Furthermore, the part where Kure's Japanization is most successful is the mother goat's actions at the very end. In the Grimm's tale, the mother goat, whose children except for one have been devoured by the wolf, evokes pity: "After she had cried her fill, the mother goat went outside in her grief." (Complete Grimm's Fairy Tales, Vol. 1, translated by Gen Nomura, Chikuma Bunko, 2005). However, the mother goat in "Yatsu-yagi" is different. After hearing the details from the young goat who escaped, she is rather brave: "Then I shall strike down this enemy of my children; he cannot have gone far yet. Clutching her sewing box, the parent and child together hurried after the wolf." The mother goat pursues the wolf with her sewing box as a weapon to avenge her children's "enemy." Furthermore, Kure not only incorporated the Japanese element of revenge into the Grimm's tale but also made the text rhythmic in a 7-5 syllable meter reminiscent of Kodan storytelling. This can be said to be a part where Kure's Japanization is extremely prominent.

In this way, although Kure's experience with German was still brief, he employed various creative measures to make the story easily acceptable to Japanese readers. As a result, it is no exaggeration to say that while the illustrations of "Yatsu-yagi" are Western in style, its content was reborn as a Japanese folktale through Kure's efforts.

Wenceslau de Moraes, who was stationed in Japan at the time and continued to share Japanese culture with his home country of Portugal—and who is also described as a second Lafcadio Hearn—introduced a Japanese folktale titled "The Goat and Her Kids" in Lisbon in 1904. This Japanese folktale, featuring eight young goats, is undoubtedly a Portuguese translation of "Yatsu-yagi." "Yatsu-yagi" had actually become a "Japanese folktale" in Portugal.

A fairy tale published in Germany in 1812 was introduced in far-off Japan in 1887, traveled back to Europe, and was introduced as a Japanese folktale in Portugal in 1904. In less than 100 years, a German fairy tale changed its form into a Japanese folktale and was re-imported to Europe. At the center of this interesting cultural phenomenon stands the statistician Ayatoshi Kure, who was in the midst of learning German.