[Goldfish Edo Tales] Night 4: The Smooth-Talking Goldfish Seller
Welcome everyone.I, Yuugyotei Junmyoraku, will tell amusing tales of goldfish and the people of Edo.
Night 4 features the 'Goldfish Seller,' a poetic charm of Edo summers.Enjoy this story of a slightly foolish man who, lured by that familiar call of 'Kingyo~, e~, kingyo~,' found himself loosening his purse strings.
So then, let it begin, let it begin...
Night 4: "The Smooth-Talking Goldfish Seller"
Ah, speaking of Edo summers, that voice you hear from nowhere, "Kingyo~, e~, kingyo~".
The sight of them walking with a carrying pole, red goldfish swaying, is cool just to look at.
Now, here is Hachigoro from the tenement house.
He's a man who loves new things and is weak to flattery.
Lured by the goldfish seller's spirited voice, he rushed out to the street.
"Hey uncle, got any good goldfish?"
"Hey, welcome! You have a keen eye, sir. Look at this goldfish. They say this one is a special goldfish that calls in 'Fortune'."
The goldfish seller pointed to a plain Wakin swimming in the tub and said this with a serious face.
"Look at the movement of this tail fin. They say when this one swims, fortune dances in, so even the samurai come specifically to buy this type. Since you're a handsome man, sir, I'll make it specially cheap for you today."
Hachigoro, completely taken in by "handsome man" and "calls in Fortune", spent his meager money to buy one and carefully took it back to the tenement.
"Listen here, goldfish. If you swim, fortune comes. Come on, swim more and make me rich."
However, the goldfish in the bowl wouldn't move a muscle.
It ignored food, and even when the water was shaken, it just stayed still at the bottom.
"Strange. Far from calling fortune, just watching it makes me anxious."
Just then, the retired neighbor passed by, peered into the bowl, and started laughing amusedly.
"Hachi-san, you've been had by the goldfish seller. Look closely at this goldfish. Its tail fin is slightly bent, so it's particularly bad at swimming."
"Ehh! So that goldfish seller lied to me!"
Hachigoro rushed out in a panic and caught the goldfish seller who had just turned the corner.
"Oi! Far from calling fortune, this one can barely swim. What's the meaning of this!"
Then the goldfish seller, not panicked in the least, grinned and said:
"It's only natural. This one is wearing 'Fuku' (Clothes/Fortune pun), so it won't swim in a way that would mess up its hem (suso)!"
[Junmyoraku's Afterword]
The Edo goldfish sellers were not just selling fish, but were entertainers who pleased customers with their "sales pitch"(kojo).
The wit to rephrase a non - swimming goldfish as "refined".
Even Hachigoro, who was tricked, surely ended up laughing and forgiving him due to the brilliance of that excuse.
