Story Synopsis

Since being given the basis of the story The Tinderbox, we were also asked to provide a brief synopsis to show our understanding of the story before we begin development of our characters and environments. I think it would also be a good idea to transpose this story into the setting I have been provided, which is Edo Japan.

Synopsis:

A soldier is returning home when he encounters an old witch. This old witch asks him to go into the depths of a tree and fetch her tinderbox, whilst warning him of the dogs that he must take care of in order to take their gold. He was told that he could keep the gold so long as he gave the tinderbox back to her.

So he went into the tree, dealing with the dogs and taking as much copper, silver and gold as he could. When he found the tinderbox, he left the tree and was about to give the tinderbox to the witch before he was overcome by his curiosity as to what she wanted with it. When she refused to tell him, he cut off her head and kept the tinderbox for himself.

He lived for a while in relative comfort due to his acquired riches. At this point he learns of the princess, who is kept in secret because she was said to be marrying a common soldier, which the king would have nothing of. He pondered upon this, whilst he ran out of money and returned to what he once was - a poor soldier. He finally decided to find out what the tinderbox did, and struck it.

The three dogs he encountered earlier came to him, from which they asked what he bid of them. He first asked for more gold, before asking the dogs to bring him the princess. At the end of the night, she left speaking of strange dreams. This aroused suspicion from the Queen, who decided to use various methods to find out who was stealing her precious princess.

First they tried to mark his door with a chalk cross, but he outwitted them by crossing all the doors in town. Then they filled a bag with flour and tied it to the princess, which successfully led the King and Queen to the soldier. He was taken to be hanged in the morning.

However, the soldier asked someone to fetch his tinderbox, and on the morning when he was to be hanged, he used it, telling the dogs to 'let him not be hanged'. The dogs let rip a massacre, killing both the King and Queen and all the judges. The soldiers and people were so afraid they decided to make the soldier the new King. In the end, the princess did marry the common soldier, even if the King tried to prevent it.

Transposing the Story:

In Edo Japan, maintaining class structure was vital, so the idea of a mere soldier marrying into a ruling family was unheard of. Instead of the King being a King, I think he should be a Daimyo, who is a figure that ruled under the Shogun. Most Daimyo only ruled over a small area of land, but some had truly great ranges to their rule.

I would like to think that, in this story, the soldier would be a Rōnin, which is the term for a samurai with no master. In tradition, a Samurai is supposed to commit seppuku if their master is to die, so that they can join them in death. However, in the Edo Period, there was a large increase in Rōnin due to the immense amount of restrictions and confiscations of fiefs. Some Rōnin would hire themselves out as mercenaries, whilst others would turn to a life of crime. I believed a role as Rōnin on the criminal side would have suited the soldier as he seems to not have much of a moral compass, serving no master but his own.

The dogs, I decided, would not be actual dogs as the animal, but three individuals of the lowest class. In the Edo Period, there was a group of people outside the four main classes, whose professions broke taboos of Buddhism. These groups were known as the Eta, which served as butchers, tanners and undertakers, and the Hinin, which included town guards, street cleaners and executioners. Not all of the outsiders were included in this category, however, with occupations such as beggars and prostitutes also falling into this lowest class. Hinin were only allowed into special parts of the city, whilst Eta lived in a totally separate place altogether. The 'dogs' would be beggars, so not part of either Eta or Hinin, but complete outsiders. The money they earned from begging would be split into the coins that each 'dog' kept an eye on, but they would also steal money from each passerby who would stop to pity them, in spite for being in a higher class than them.

The only characters I have trouble pinning down are the Witch, Princess and Queen. There are a lot of sub-classes within each social class, so I would have to consider and do more research into these social structures to pin down a role for each.