The Apothecary Diaries - Volume 5 - Chapter SS

Bonus Translator’s Notes

The Apothecary Diaries Diaries

Vol. 5

On the Origins of Flame-Resistant Rodents

In chapter 4 of this book, Maomao encounters a shopkeeper selling what he claims is a robe belonging to a celestial nymph. She tells him she has a much better name for it: “the fire-rat cloak” (hi-nezumi no kawagoromo in Japanese). Neither she nor the narration really explains this name, other than to hint that it comes from “the eastern island country.” But to Japanese readers, the expression would be familiar.

As Maomao notes, the technique of using rock-based fibers, such as asbestos, to create fire-resistant garments has been known since ancient times. The fibrous, almost soft appearance of the material has sometimes caused observers to imagine that it was the pelt of some animal, perhaps a rat. In Japan, however, the fire-rat cloak really entered the popular consciousness with The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter (Taketori Monogatari), one of the oldest and most famous of the country’s folktales.

In this story, an old man and his wife cut down a piece of bamboo to discover a tiny girl, Kaguya. Unbeknownst to them, she comes from the moon, and although they’re unaware of this bit of personal history, they can see that she’s bound to be a great beauty. Her father in particular becomes obsessed with presenting her at court, where several princes attempt to win her hand. Kaguya, distressed by the situation and not interested in marrying any of the men, assigns each of them a task to complete if they would be her husband—but in fact the tasks, based in mythology themselves, are impossible.

The job Kaguya gives to a certain Prince Abé is to bring her the cloak of the fire rats. The prince writes to a friend who lives in China, asking him to find the robe if at all possible and send it to him. After many travails and being told by all and sundry that no such robe exists, Abé’s friend is about to give up hope when an old beggar tells him of a temple where the beggar’s grandfather once saw the cloak with his own eyes. The friend rushes to the location to discover the temple is no longer there—but a box is found buried on the spot containing a rich, silvery robe.

Prince Abé’s friend sends him the robe, and Abé is joyful—but then he recalls that legend says the robe grows more lustrous each time it’s exposed to flames. Thinking he’ll make it a little brighter and more beautiful before presenting it to Princess Kaguya, he calls for a brazier and tosses the robe in, only to watch it burn to ash before his horrified eyes. Nonetheless, Abé is glad in one way: the other suitors attempted to deceive Kaguya with fake gifts, and one by one they were found out, deeply disappointing the princess. Abé is at least pleased to know that he won’t look like he’s trying to put one over on the young woman. Instead he writes her a letter saying that despite his best efforts, he has been unable to complete her task, and so he will go away and never seek her hand again.

Princess Kaguya, receiving the letter, realizes that Prince Abé was true of heart, and tries to summon him back to her, but by the time her messenger arrives Abé has already left, and she never sees nor hears of him again

In that respect, it seems Maomao had better luck than Prince Abé. But whispers of the fire-rat cloak have continued to pass down through the ages, even into contemporary fiction—and the occasional translator’s note about contemporary fiction. Fancy that!

Thanks for joining us for volume 5. Have fun, read widely, and we’ll see you for the next book!