Ubakawa

A folktale. One of the stepchild tales. Ubakaha is the name of a kimono that allows one to take on the appearance of an old woman. A girl hated by her stepmother is driven out of the house. Her wet nurse gives her Ubakaha so that she can change her appearance. The girl becomes a cook in the guise of an old woman in a certain town. The young master sees her without the Ubakaha and falls in love with her, and they get married and live happily ever after. It is rarely told independently in folktales, and most of them form the latter part of the story of the snake's marriage, but in the Muromachi period, it was also found in the monogatari-zoshi "Ubakaha" and "Hanayo no Hime", and there are a few examples of folktales that accompany stepchild tales. "Hakone no Honchi", written in the late Edo period, is an example of a stepchild tale that is linked to Ubakaha, and in it Ubakaha is counted as one of the demon's treasures. There are many similar stories in other countries, and while it is related to the stepchild tale of Cinderella, it is widely distributed, especially in Europe.

[Yo Kojima]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

昔話。継子(ままこ)話の一つ。姥皮は、老婆の姿に身をやつすことができる着物の名。継母に憎まれた娘が、家を追い出される。乳母(うば)が、姿を変えるようにと、姥皮を与える。娘は老婆の姿で、ある町の旦那(だんな)の家の炊事女になる。姥皮を脱いでいるところを若旦那に見そめられ、結婚して幸せに暮らす。昔話では独立して語られることは少なく、大半は蛇(へび)婿入りの後段をなしているが、古く室町期には、単独で、物語草子の『うばかは』や『花世の姫』にもなっており、わずかながら、継子話に付随する昔話の例もある。江戸後期に筆録された「箱根の本地」は、継子話に姥皮が結び付いた例で、そこでは姥皮を鬼の宝物の一つに数えている。類話は外国にも多く、継子話のシンデレラと関連しながら、ヨーロッパを中心に広く分布している。

［小島瓔］

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