일본 민간전승과 ‘녹녀부인’ 설화 - ‘사슴 발’ 모티브를 중심으로 -

Abstract

In the present article, we explore the way in which the Buddhist script based tale “Noknyobuin” has been developed and transformed in folklore. In the literature concerning the Buddhist scripts, the Buddhist‐tales, and so on, two differing assumptions are identified. According to one common view, the story in “鹿女夫人” proceeds in the order of “鹿娘説話” and “母子再会説話”. According to another view, “母子再会説話” stands alone, Our research, however, shows that in the folktale, “鹿娘説話” handed down as the story of women who are reborn as the daughters of deer. This story was transmitted through Koumyou Kougou, Oomiya Hime, Joururi Gozen, and Izumi Shikibu. In the cases of Koumyou Kougou and Oomiya Hime, the daughter of a deer “becomes the wife of an emperor.” In the cases of Joururi Gozen and Izumi Shikibu, although the ladies meet noble persons, they cannot be the wife of an emperor but they are rather described as “wandering women.” We argue that this very difference between “wife of an emperor”and “wandering woman” are closely related to the traces of “virtuous deed” and “transmigration,” which are the deleted theme of “鹿因縁譚.”