Author's Note
Book One: Ryūjin
This is my second edition to this Japanese folk tale. For those curious about the first edition, The Legend of Princess Tamatori can be found here.
In The Quest of the Jewel, the legend continues to follow Empress Jingū of Japan and her conquest for Korea. Having lost the tide jewel, the Empress shuns Takeuchi and tells him not to return without the jewel. Takeuchi is about to walk off a cliff in despair when Tamatori stops him from doing so. Being infatuated with him, Tamatori claims that she can fetch the tide jewel and dives into the ocean. Even though she finds the jewel, Ryūjin gives chase. The only way to stop his pursuit is by death, so Tamatori stabs herself. Takeuchi rushes to the shore and finds Tamatori’s lifeless body cradling the jewel. After giving her a proper burial, the Empress continues her conquest and marries Takeuchi.
When I first wrote this story, I wanted to explore what would happen if Tamatori had lived. Because this storybook focuses on draconic heroes, I shifted my focus to Ryūjin and wondered how I could write him as a hero instead of the antagonist. One could argue that Ryūjin kept to himself and should not have been robbed to begin with. Some shrines even celebrate Ryūjin and other water spirits in an annual festival as a way to appreciate the ocean. With that in mind, it was simple to write a story about a wise dragon who did not find justice in war.
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Book Two: Akosua
Like the first book, this is my second time writing a story based on a West African folk tale. For those interested in the heroics of Kweku-Tsin, you can read How Kweku Tsin Became the Sun.
Following the original legend of The Moon and the Stars, Kweku Tsin is the son of Anansi, a famous trickster in West African folklore. Kweku Tsin is the main supplier of his village who runs into a fearsome dragon on one of his usual hunts with his father. It is then that they are captured and imprisoned on a mountain, along with more people being held hostage and patrolled by the dragon’s rooster. Luckily, Kweku Tsin devises an escape plan and is able to leave the mountain with his father and the other captives, sneaking by the rooster and foiling the dragon’s plans. Returning home, he and his father, along with the other escapees, are given the title of the sun, moon, and stars.
For this tale, I wanted to write a story that illuminates the wisdom of a dragon. I also wanted to touch upon the importance of preserving nature and wildlife, knowing how the current events of the world have taken a toll on our environment in the last decade. Instead of having Kweku Tsin fight off a dragon, I had a dragon show him how to give back to the earth and protect it. Additional characters include the dragon Akosua, who is attuned to nature and wildlife, and Thema, Kweku-Tsin’s wife and chief of the village. Like Kweku Tsin and Anansi, our new characters have names of Akan (Ghanian) origin.
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Book Three: Damon
In the original tale of How the Dragon was Tricked, a young trickster gains fame for his mischief, so much that a king hires him to steal from a dragon, or otherwise be put to death. Throughout the story, the trickster steals the dragon’s flying horse and bedding, kills the dragon’s wife, and captures the dragon himself. The trickster opens the trap wide enough for the dragon to kill the king, but not to let him escape. The trickster then marries the king’s daughter and becomes the new ruler—whatever happens to the dragon is a mystery.
As with most heroic tales, I wanted our final story to have a happy ending. With this in mind, I changed the main plot entirely in order to fit the overall theme of this project. In the end, I had a story about a princess teaming up with a palace jester to protect the dragons from her father, the king.
While this story is inspired by a generic European folktale, I used historical elements from the United Kingdom as a point of reference. For example, court jesters were a popular source of entertainment in England, which is what I used to replace the trickster character. Additionally, since the original story only relied on labels such as "the king" and "the youth," all characters were given names of English origin.