Tradition: Japanese Mythology
Alternative Names: 鴨娘
Category: River dweller
The Myth
In Aozasa, Tōno, Iwate Prefecture, a folktale tells of a kind-hearted old hunter who had no children. One morning, he spotted a beautiful duck beside a lake and raised his gun to shoot it, intending to sell it. The duck transformed into a beautiful young woman resembling a princess and begged him to spare her. She explained that she had been cursed more than ten years earlier and transformed into a duck. If he cared for her for three years, she would return to human form and look after him in gratitude.
The old man agreed and brought the duck home, carefully feeding her every day while waiting for her transformation. However, shortly before the three years were up, a fox took advantage of the old man’s absence and ate the duck. The fox then transformed into a duck and deceived the old man into believing that the young woman was still alive. He continued feeding it, eagerly awaiting the day she would return to human form.
When the appointed day arrived, the duck transformed not into a woman but into a fat fox. Furious and disappointed, the old man decided to kill the fox, skin it, and sell its pelt. He discovered a golden ball inside the fox’s side and set off to sell it in the capital.
On the journey, bandits robbed him and took the golden ball. Later, while the old man sheltered in a shrine, the bandits arrived and tried to break the ball apart with a heavy hammer. It resisted their blows until it suddenly burst open, revealing the princess from three years earlier.
After the bandits fled in terror, the old man approached her. She explained that the fox had eaten her while the old man was away, but she had become a ball inside the fox’s body. Unable to escape from it, she had remained trapped until the bandits’ hammer blows freed her and restored her human form. She then took the old man to a magnificent mansion and cared for him there.
Sources
Tyz-Yokai. (n.d.). Duck Girl. https://tyz-yokai.blog.jp/archives/1063126348.html