[xrd]

I was thinking this would be a fun way to get access to more monster stories. I'm bored of the usual ones.

I started digging into the Shinto text, the Kojiki. This is my favorite story so far:

https://archive.sacred-texts.com/shi/kj/kj153.htm

As far as I can tell, it looks like a young prince was mad his uncle didn't get mad that the uncle's brother was killed. So the prince killed the uncle in a fit of rage. Then, another brother was similarly unconcerned, so the prince buried him up to his shins which caused eyes to pop out and then die.

No monsters so far. But, about as ludicrous and disjointed as most writing from a thousand years ago. It takes a special person to twist that into a religion.

[bee_rider]

Is the young prince portrayed as basically the villain or as the protagonist (he sounds like the monster)? I could see this story as a warning about getting angry on the part of others if he’s portrayed in a negative light (he did more damage to his family by being angry “for” them). Or I could see it as a story basically about upholding some social standard, if he’s portrayed in a positive light (if the story thinks the uncles deserve it).

Of course the latter reading is incompatible with modern morals, but then the past is a weird place.

[Loughla]

What is the metaphor of your eyes popping out when buried to your shins?

[xrd]

Technically, after reading it again, I see it was his loins. I'm not sure, is this a riddle?

[Loughla]

No, my assumption is it's a metaphor.

Loins makes much more sense as the metaphor, as that's an area of the body that can get you in real trouble if you don't think first.