The Early Years in the Life of Kintoki. (♪) Sakata no Kintoki, whose 10th-century exploits became the stuff of legend, was one of the four strongest retainers of the general Minamoto no Raikou. On the orders of Raikou Kintoki is said to have overcome the demons of Mt. Oe near Kyoto. As a child, Kintoki—then called Kintaro—was unusually strong. Some people said he was raised by a mountain witch at Mt. Ashigara, and he could throw a bear in a wrestling match.
But this story takes place at Mt. Akero in the province of Shinano, and here Kintaro is called Kaidomaru. The story begins like this.(♪)

(♪) From long ago people have talked about the mountain witch with strange spiritual powers who lived deep in the forest and devotedly raised a little boy, Kaidomaru. Mountain Witch: “Come, come, Monkey, be a good fellow and give that peach you’re holding to Kaidomaru.” Monkey: “Kyatch, kyatch, kyatch! All right, he can have it.”

(♪) Kaidomaru grew up strong and brave, and all the animals in the forest became his followers and allies. See how the wild boar, the fox, and the rabbit pull the wagon for him! Kaidomaru: “Oh, Fox, can’t you pull it a little more smoothly?” Fox: “Good heavens. Is this really a human child?” Off to the side, the obsequious monkey was crying out, “Cheers at the head! Cheers at the back!” Farmers watching the sight gaped in surprise. Farmer 1: “Is that the famous Kaidomaru, son of the mountain witch?” Farmer 2: “What kind of boy is this! With that bright red face…!”

(♪) A bear asked Kaidomaru to compete in neck pulling, a contest of strength where the opponents pull at wide bands around each of their necks and try to throw the other down. When the pulling started Kaidomaru made as if he were losing, and in the next moment he pulled the bear down. The bear was perplexed. Bear: “I give up, I give up. I’m afraid you’re too strong for me.” Kaidomaru: “Oh Bear, was that the best you could do? I know you can put up a better fight than that!!”

Right-side:

(♪) Having lost the match, the bear went dejectedly back to his den. Seeing him, the chief bear strode off to reclaim his pride by challenging Kaidomaru in a staff-pulling contest that pitted two people in pulling on a stout staff. Kaidomaru: “Oh, this time I compete against you, Chief? All right, I accept your challenge in pulling the staff.” Chief Bear: “I’ll never give up to you! Never! Arya, arya, arya! Korya, korya, korya!”

Left-side:

(♪) It happened that Hirai no Yasumasa, a retainer of Raikou, was in the neighborhood hunting wild boar and he caught sight of Kaidomaru vyeing with the chief bear in pulling the staff. Yasumasa: “Oh I say! What an amazing child! I must urge my master Raikou to take him into his service right away.” Attendant: “What a strange and wonderful child he is!”

(♪) Kaidomaru liked sumo, so he made a sumo ring for the forest animals to compete in. The best match was between the wild boar and the wolf. Both were cunning and not to be outdone easily. Kaidomaru acted as referee while the rabbit cheered. Rabbit: “Give it your best, Wild Boar! You can’t lose!” Kaidomaru: “Oh! Match over! Wolf is down!” With a vigorous toss, the wild boar vigorously threw the wolf on its tummy, and received rich rewards from Kaidomaru.

(♪) After spending the whole day with the animals in the forest, Kaidomaru went home, where he lived with the mountain witch, riding on the back of the wild boar. The rabbit followed him. Kaidomaru: “Hey, rabbit, don’t you like my Yajirobei doll?” Playing with his toy figures, Kaidomaru seemed just like any other child his age. The August moon was shining high over the mountains.

(♪) Hirai no Yasumasa, the retainer of Minamoto no Raikou, had seen Kaidomaru and knew that the boy was stronger even than the mountain beasts. What do you think happens next? (♪)

(♪) Yasumasa reported to his master Raikou all that he had seen concerning Kaidomaru, the child with the superhuman strength he had encountered in the mountains. Yasumasa: “Kaidomaru, son of the mountain witch, is amazingly strong. He can easily throw bears and even wild boars. You must take him into your service.” Watanabe no Tsuna, Raikou’s first retainer, heartily agreed. Raikou: “If you all think I should, I will take on this child of the mountain witch.”

Right-side:

(♪) One day, Kaidomaru was playing house with some of the forest animals. Monkey, pretending to tend the cookfire: “I’ll cook the rice. Foo, foo! Kyat kyat!” Kaidomaru: “Make sure you do it right, Monkey.” The mountain witch was happy as she watched them. Mountain Witch: “Kaidomaru, don’t cut yourself with that knife! You are my most precious child!”

Left-side:

(♪) The animals liked to play with Kaidomaru and amuse him with tricks and stunts. The raccoon, blindfolded, danced the ponpoko dance as he drummed the rhythm on his stomach. The fox did a fox dance, his agile limbs swaying this way and that. The rabbits bobbed and bounced in merry pirouettes. Mountain Witch: “Look, Kaidomaru! The raccoon dances with his eyes covered. And how well the rabbits dance!”

(♪) As they were happily playing, the sky suddenly grew dark and thunder roared, “Boom, boom, boom,” and then the rain poured down. Kaidomaru was angry. Kaidomaru: “What a racket! We were playing so happily, and now this!” He glared up at the sky with such anger that Thunder was frightened and dropped right out of the sky. Kaidomaru caught him and tied him to a tree.
Thunder: “Nooo! You took my thunder drum. How can I make thunder booms without it? Oh please give it back!” What a coward! But Thunder just kept crying for his drum. And all of these events were witnessed by Yasumasa, who had come to visit the mountain witch to tell her about Kaidomaru’s chance to serve Raikou. Yasumasa: “My, my, what a fierce-tempered child. He even smashed the thunder drum!”

Right-side:

(♪) After Yasumasa, Raikou himself visited the mountain witch to inform her that a place had been prepared for Kaidomaru. Raikou: “He is an extraordinary child. Let us call him Kintoki (“gold time”).” Yasumasa: “What a good name!” Needless to say, the mountain witch was pleased as well.

Left-side:

(♪) Kaidomaru, now called Kintoki, retainer of Raikou, held a final sumo match with the animals with his new lord as audience. Kintoki: “From now on I am a samurai. I will show you what I can do, so you can attack me from any direction and I will be prepared.” He lifted the bear up off its feet with his right arm and placed a neck lock on the wild boar with his left. Mountain Witch: “What an auspicious farewell for Kaidomaru! Work hard! Do your best!”

(♪) When Kintoki was twelve years old, Raikou held a coming-of-age ceremony for him. He was dressed in formal clothes and given the full name of Sakata no Kintoki. Raikou: “I am pleased. Now I have four fine samurai. Watanabe no Tsuna, Urabe no Suetake, Usui no Sadamitsu, and Sakata no Kintoki.” Yasumasa fixed Kintoki’s hair in the samurai style. Yasumasa: “Kintoki, now we are comrades. You should be pleased.” Kintoki: “I owe you so much, Sir!” Tsuna: “Kintoki, you are a good young man!”

(♪) According to tradition, Kintoki went with Raikou to defeat the demons at Mt. Oe, but in this book, the place was Mt. Togakushi. Kintoki: “You, wretched demons, surrender!” Demon: “All right, all right, we give in. You’ve won.” Raikou: “Kintoki, you’ve done it, you’ve done it!” Suetake: “Kintoki, what a great achievement!”
That is the story of the childhood of Kintoki, famous for the conquest of the demons.

(♪) The last page of the book is inscribed with the name “Iseya Kamekichi.” Perhaps this book was owned by a man named Kamekichi whose shop was called “Iseya.” He must have treasured this book and written his name in it to show how important it was to him.