The Prince, or Princess of the bamboo
This brief note by W.E. Maxwell (W.E.M.) discusses the Japanese tale of the bamboo-hewer and its parallels in Malay legend, published in the JSBRAS in December 1886.
Summary
The note opens with a fragment (signed R.N.B.) listing local monetary denominations and marriage/abduction fines, which appears to be the concluding portion of a preceding article (p. 357). Maxwell’s own contribution then continues a discussion of the Japanese romance of the bamboo-hewer, referencing Mr. Dickins’ translation and a native Japanese bibliography from around 1800 that identifies source texts for the tale (p. 358). He cites a Buddhist legend of Indian origin in which three recluses die of joy after attaining enlightenment, their souls becoming golden-leafed bamboo that splits open to reveal boys who likewise attain the truth and are replaced by temples. Maxwell concludes by noting the parallel between this Japanese motif and Malay legends of a child developing supernaturally within a vegetable production, cross-referencing his own earlier note in the Journal and a paper in the Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, Vol. XIII (N.S.), Part IV (p. 358).