Funny story - Laughing story

A general term for stories that are composed of themes aimed at making people laugh. Along with full-fledged folktales (folktales in the narrow sense) and animal folktales, it is considered one of the three major categories of folktales. Simple, spontaneous puns are also used to make people laugh, but they are themselves conversations, not stories. When the scene is reported in a third person, it becomes a story. These are "shorthair tales" or "light-hearted stories." A "comedy story" is a story in which a humorous scene is given a beginning and an end. The humorous element of a "comedy story" comes from the abilities and personality traits of the characters. It is a greatly exaggerated version of an aspect that every human being has, and it resonates with many people. The characters that appear in a "comedy story" are abstract figures that could be found anywhere, but do not exist in reality. This is the essence of the cheerfulness of the laughter in a "comedy story." The theme of a "comedy story" can be classified according to the characteristics of the protagonist's character. First, there are stories about clever people who succeed through the special exercise of wisdom. One such example is the story of a cunning person who actively deceives others to gain profits, such as "Rokubei the Seer." In general, there are many similar stories of this type that exist in other countries as well. "The Gold-Hunting Horse," in which gold and silver coins are placed in a horse's rear end and the horse is sold at a high price, claiming that it produces gold and silver, also appears as early as "Seisuisho" (1623), and has become widely known from Korea, China, Indonesia, and India, through Western Asia, and into Europe. There are also many stories about witty people who use their wits as a weapon to defeat their opponents. "The Golden Eggplant" and "The Priest and the Boy" are typical examples. In between these are stories about playful people who defeat their opponents by deceiving them. This is a humorous story based on a small trick, such as "Buying Firewood," in which a man gets through a narrow gate under the pretense of buying firewood, and then gathers the broken logs to use. Stories of this kind are found in Korea, China, and throughout Asia and Europe. There are also stories in which a cunning person fails. There are also many stories with sexual themes that fall into the category of humorous stories.

Secondly, there are idiot stories in which fools fail. One of these is the failure due to lack of judgment, as in the "foolish groom." The "dog's mark" and "spit mark," which are used to mark moving or disappearing objects, can be found in the rakugo story "Irachi no Atago Mairi," as well as in Edo period storybooks such as "Seisui Sho." In China, the "Lüshi Chunqiu" (3rd century BC) tells of a man who drops his sword into the river from a boat and marks the side of the boat, and in India, in the "Katā Sarit Sagara." Similar stories can be found in India, Indonesia, and many in Europe. Lack of knowledge, as in "Traveling Scholarship," is also a characteristic of idiot stories. Ignorance of new products is also a theme of this typology worldwide, but old-fashioned stories include laughs about ignorance of the true nature of things, such as "Tai no Me" (The sprouts of a sea bream), in which a sea bream is buried in a field and the maggots emerge from it, causing the man to rejoice that it has sprouted. Similar stories can be found in Asia and Europe. Character flaws are also the subject of laughter. Rakugo often features stories about hasty people, such as "Soso Sobei." A story about laziness is "Two Slackers." A story about extremely lazy people can be found in storybooks such as "Tori no Machi" (Tori no Machi) (1776) and the rakugo story "Slacker's Substitute," and similar stories are also common in Asia and Europe.

Thirdly, there are stories of fantastical exaggeration. "Great tales" have as their theme the humor of exaggeration. "Gengoro's Ascension to Heaven" and "Kamotori Gonbei" are typical examples, and similar stories can be found in Asia and Europe. "The Adventures of Baron Munchausen", which was completed as a literary work by Burger, also drew much of its material from this kind of "great tale". "The Mouse Sutra" aims for the humor of coincidence. "Funny stories", along with "monster stories", are easily transformed into "everyday talk". There are many "foolish village stories" in Japan, in which a group of idiots are told as true stories about real villagers. There is roughly one of these in each prefecture. In Tokyo, there is the "Hinoharamono Monogatari". The tradition is old, and in ancient China, people from Song were spoken of as fools. One example is the story in Mencius about a man in the Song dynasty who pulled on a seedling to make it grow faster, causing it to wither. In Europe, the "Gotham People" from England and the "Idiot of Morbo" from Denmark are also well known. There are also many stories about a joker who is both clever and foolish, told as the deeds of a real person. These can be broadly divided into cases where the protagonist is a servant, such as "Nanazawa Kyusuke" from Kanagawa Prefecture, and cases where the protagonist is a member of the Otogi-shu (fairy tale) family who serves a lord, such as "Tokashiki Pekū" from Okinawa Prefecture. "Suga no Suttonkyo" from Kanagawa Prefecture is a rare example of a "joke murabanashi" where a "shorthair tale" is part of everyday life. In literature, comical stories with individual protagonists include the ancient Heichu Monogatari (late 900s), which depicts Taira Sadafumi, and more serious stories such as the story of Ikkyu Sojun in Ikkyu Banashi (1668) and the story of Sorori Shinzaemon in Sorori Kyoka Banashi. Similar examples can be found in Korea and China, but the Turkish "Nasrettin Hoja Monogatari" is particularly famous.

Even authentic old tales contain humorous elements. In the "next door old man" type and "stepdaughter tales," the bad old man or the real daughter imitates the old man and fails, which are types of idiot stories. There is also a tendency for authentic old tales to become "joke stories," as in the case of "Issun-boshi," where the ending changed to the "next door old man" type. However, as can be seen from the development of similar stories of various types of Japanese "joke stories," "joke stories" have their own history, are distributed among various peoples around the world, and are considered to be one of the ancient human cultures. The element of humor is also ancient in Japanese literature. Comical descriptions are added to narrative literature such as "Tosa Nikki" and "Ise Monogatari" from the early Heian period. Stories with humorous themes clearly appear in the "Konjaku Monogatarishu" from the late Heian period, and this has been carried over to subsequent tale collections. It was around the time of Muju Hoshi's Shasekishu and Zotanshu that stories of the same quality as "funny stories" from oral tradition began to appear in large numbers. Many of the old stories such as "funny stories" that were used as material for sermons by temple monks at that time have continued to be used in later generations. There are many Noh and Kyogen plays that stage "funny stories" as dialogue dramas. During the Muromachi period, the profession of Otogishu, who served as storytellers for nobles, flourished, and promoted the development of story literature that included many "funny stories" in a broad sense. Behind the creation of many story books throughout the Edo period, including "Sesuisho," were the activities of storytellers who made a living from telling stories. Later Rakugo performers are a descendant of this group. Biwa Hoshi (commonly known as Zatō), who performed "Heikyoku" as their main art, were also storytellers of "funny stories." The reason why folk tales feature blind narrators is because they were the custodians of the stories. These professional storytellers often put themselves in the position of being laughed at, and acted out the laughs.

[Yo Kojima]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

笑いをおこさせることを目的とした主題で構成されている説話の総称。本格昔話（狭義の昔話）や動物昔話とともに、昔話の三大分類の一つとされる。単純で思い付き的な洒落(しゃれ)も笑いを求める趣向であるが、それ自体は談話であり、説話ではない。その場面を第三者として報告すると説話になる。「一口話」あるいは「軽口話」がそれである。「笑い話」は、笑いの場面に発端と結末をつけて、説話の形態に整えている。「笑い話」の笑いの趣向は、登場人物の能力や性格の特徴から生まれる。それは人間だれでもがもっている一面を大きく誇張拡大したもので、多くの人の共感をよぶ。「笑い話」に登場するのは、どこにでもいそうでありながら、現実にはいないという、抽象化された人物像である。「笑い話」の笑いの明るさの本質はそこにある。「笑い話」の主題は、主人公の人物像の特徴から分類できる。第一に、知恵の特別な働きにより成功する利口者の話がある。その一つは、「見透(みとお)しの六平(ろくべい)」のように、積極的に他人をだまして利益を得る、ずる賢い人の話である。全体に類話が外国にもある類型が多い。馬の尻(しり)に金貨・銀貨を入れておき、金銀を生む馬だといって高く売る「金ひり馬」も、古くは『醒睡笑(せいすいしょう)』（1623）にみえ、朝鮮、中国、インドネシア、インドから、西アジアを経てヨーロッパに広く知られている。また、知恵を武器として相手をやりこめる頓智(とんち)話も多い。「金の茄子(なす)」や「和尚(おしょう)と小僧」はその典型である。この中間に、相手をだましてやりこめる、おどけ者話がある。薪(たきぎ)を買うといって狭い門を通らせ、折れて落ちた薪を集めて使う「薪を買う」など、ささやかな策略を主題にした笑い話で、この種の類話も、朝鮮、中国をはじめ、アジア、ヨーロッパにもある。ずる賢い人が失敗する話もある。また性的な話題を主題にした話も、おどけ者話の範疇(はんちゅう)に属するものが少なくない。

　第二に、愚か者が失敗する馬鹿(ばか)者話がある。その一つが、「馬鹿聟(むこ)」のような判断力の欠如による失敗である。動くもの、なくなるものを目印にする「犬の目印」「唾(つば)の目印」は、落語の「いらちの愛宕参(あたごまい)り」のほか、『醒睡笑』以下の江戸時代の咄本(はなしぼん)などにあり、中国では『呂氏(りょし)春秋』（前3世紀）に、船から川に剣を落とした人が船べりに印をつける話としてみえ、インドでは『カター・サリット・サーガラ』にある。類話はインド、インドネシアにあり、ヨーロッパにも多い。「旅学問」のような知識の欠如も、馬鹿者話の特色である。新製品に対する無知も、世界的にこの類型群の主題になっているが、古風なものには、鯛(たい)を畑に埋め、ウジがわくと芽が出たといって喜ぶ「鯛の芽」のように、物の本質に対する無知を笑う話がある。これも類話はアジア、ヨーロッパにある。性格的な欠陥も笑いの対象になる。「粗相惣兵衛(そそうそうべえ)」など、あわて者話は落語にも多い。怠け者話では「2人の不精者(ぶしょうもの)」がある。極端な不精者の話で、『鳥の町』（1776）などの咄本や落語の「不精の代参」があり、類話はやはりアジア、ヨーロッパに多い。

　第三に、空想的な誇張話がある。誇張のおもしろさを主題にしたのが「大話(おおばなし)」である。「源五郎の天昇り」や「鴨取権兵衛(かもとりごんべえ)」がその典型で、類話はアジア、ヨーロッパにある。ビュルガーによって文学的に完成された『ほらふき男爵の冒険』も、この種の「大話」に多くの素材を得ている。「鼠経(ねずみきょう)」などは偶然のおもしろさをねらっている。「笑い話」は「化け物話」とともに、「世間話」化しやすい。一群の馬鹿者話が実在の村の人の実話として語られる「愚か村話」は、日本には多い。ほぼ県に一か所程度のわりで分布する。東京都には「檜原者(ひのはらもん)話」がある。その伝統は古く、古代中国では、宋(そう)の人が馬鹿者として語られた。宋の人が、苗が早く伸びるように、苗を引っ張ったため枯れたという『孟子(もうし)』の話は、その一例である。ヨーロッパでもイギリスの「ゴーサムの人々」、デンマークの「モルボの馬鹿」などが知られている。また、利口者と馬鹿者を兼ねたおどけ者の話が、実在の人物の事跡として語られている例も多い。神奈川県の「七沢久助(ならさわきゅうすけ)」のように主人公が奉公人である場合と、沖縄県の「渡嘉敷親雲上(とかしきペークー)」のように殿様に仕える御伽(おとぎ)衆の類の人物である場合とに大別できる。神奈川県の「須賀(すか)の素頓狂(すっとんきょう)」は、「一口話」が日常生活に生きている珍しい「おどけ村話」の例である。文学では、個人を主人公にしたおどけ者話は、古くは平貞文(さだふみ)を描く『平中(へいちゅう)物語』（900年代後半）があり、本格的には、『一休咄(ばなし)』（1668）などの一休宗純の話や『曽呂利(そろり)狂歌咄』などの曽呂利新左衛門の話がある。似た例は朝鮮や中国にもあるが、とくにトルコの「ナスレッティン・ホジャ物語」は著名である。

　本格昔話にも笑いの要素は含まれている。「隣の爺(じじ)」型や「継子(ままこ)話」で悪い爺や実の娘がまねをして失敗するのは、馬鹿者話の型である。「一寸法師」の末尾が「隣の爺」型に変化している例があるように、本格昔話が「笑い話」化する傾向もある。しかし、日本の「笑い話」の諸類型の類話の展開からもわかるように、「笑い話」には独自の歴史があり、世界の諸民族に分布していて、古い人類文化の一つと考えられる。日本の文学でも笑いの要素は古い。平安初期の『土佐日記』『伊勢(いせ)物語』など物語文学にも、笑いを誘う描写が付加されている。平安後期の『今昔物語集』には、おかしみを主題にした説話がはっきりと現れ、それは後続の説話集に引き継がれている。口承の「笑い話」と同質の説話がまとまって登場するのは、無住(むじゅう)法師の『沙石(しゃせき)集』や『雑談(ぞうたん)集』あたりからである。このころ寺僧の説経の素材に用いられた「笑い話」などの昔話は、そのまま後世まで続いているものが多い。能狂言には、「笑い話」を対話劇として演出した形のものが少なくない。室町時代、貴人の話相手をする御伽衆などの職が栄え、広義の「笑い話」を多く含んだ咄の文学の発達を促した。『醒睡笑』をはじめ、江戸時代を通じて多数の咄本が生まれた背後には、咄を語ることを職業とする咄家の活動があった。後世の落語家はその末流である。また「平曲」を表芸とした琵琶(びわ)法師（通称座頭(ざとう)）も、「笑い話」の語り手であった。昔話に座頭が登場するのは、座頭がその話の管理者であったからである。こうした職業的な語り手は、自ら笑われる立場になって、笑いを演じることも多かった。

［小島瓔］

出典　小学館　日本大百科全書(ニッポニカ)日本大百科全書(ニッポニカ)について　情報 | 凡例