DISCLAIMER: This is an adaptation from Japanese folklore. The story is not mine.
This is a famous story, not really here in the west, but in its country of origin, it is a tale of glory and loyalty, an example that puts the bar so high up, it, in my opinion, has never been reached since then; it happened about 900 years ago.
The story begins in the year 1155, if my memory does not fail me, in a shrine dedicated to Buddha. “Which of the thousands?” you may ask. Well, take your pick; because it is not known which shrine we are talking about, we only know it was located in the archipelago that we know as Japan.
In an unknown day, in an unknown place, but in a known year, a boy is born, and his name is a tad bit annoying to say, so I’ll use the name by which he is most commonly known: Benkei.
At a very young age, Benkei was already very big, and it is said by some, mostly the superstitious ones, that he was gifted by the gods. Those say that he had teeth like fangs and an indomitable hair, though that doesn’t really sound that godly; Or gifty, as a matter of fact. But, to say he was not gifted would be simply wrong, because, you see, he was abnormally huge.
Before he even hit puberty, he had already begun his life as a monk. He travelled far and wide throughout the lands of Japan, visiting shrines and temples wherever he passed. But the thing is: in Japan, for the longest time, many monks received martial training, these were the so called “Sohei” or “Sōhei”, the warrior monks. They learned to fight with a type of spear called “naginata”, and in case you are wondering what it looks like, picture a spear, but, instead of the regular tip, imagine a small katana blade.
At the age of 17, Benkei's height had already reached two meters, and, sometime during his life as a warrior monk, he came across a bridge in Kyoto, the capital of the emperor, the Gojo (or Gōjo, if you prefer) bridge. There, he stood, and, when a young warrior passed, he challenged him to a duel. Confident, the young warrior accepted the challenge, and so, the two combatants took their positions. Although Benkei was most famous for using the naginata, he also carried six other weapons on his back, but let’s stick with the naginata. The duel was quick, with the young warrior being disarmed by the gigantic monk, and, as a trophy, he took the young warrior’s sword.
For an unknown amount of years, Benkei guarded the bridge, challenging any and all warriors that passed, and every time, he disarmed the opponent and kept their swords. Eventually, he collected 999 swords, and was anxious for the 1000th, and it was drawing near as he thought about it. For the thousandth time he challenged the passing warrior, for the thousandth time the warrior accepted, and for the thousandth time the two combatants took their positions, but for the first time, Benkei was defeated.
But that didn’t put him down, because the young man that defeated him was… hmmm… let’s call him Prince Charming (I doubt you prefer Minamoto no Yoshitsune). You see, Prince Charming was the son of a powerful warlord, the leader of the great Minamoto Clan, and he would eventually become a legendary warrior during the Genpei War against the Taira Clan. Benkei was not angry, he was not let down, he was amazed. He pledged his allegiance to Charming, and became his retainer.
Benkei followed Prince Charming into the Genpei War, a war between great clans for the position of Shogun, the military ruler of all Japan. Charming achieved greatness as a warrior and a leader during the war, and Benkei was by his side. The war was won by the Minamoto Clan in the year of 1185, so Prince Charming and Benkei went to live in Kyoto, the imperial capital of Japan. But, you see, Prince Charming had an older brother, and, though his name is easier than Charming’s, I’ll call him Prince Cunning (His name is Minamoto no Yoritomo, by the way), and he was, well, cunning.
Prince Charming, because of his success in the war, was very famous, not only in the court of the emperor, but everywhere, but his brother, not that much. “Can you believe it?” I imagine Price Cunning said “I am the son! I am to become Shogun! Why is he the one to receive all the fame?” Even though Charming was more famous, his brother was much more influent with the nobles, so much so, that he could no longer stay in Kyoto, as it was too late to ask for the emperor’s help; he’s limited power was no longer of any help against his brother’s cunning.
Prince Charming, along with Benkei and a handful of loyal retainers, fled the city and sought for refuge in the north, where the Fujiwara no Hidehira (let’s call him The Good Old Man), took them in under his protection. Unfortunately, The Good Old Man was actually quite old, and fell ill, and, in 1187, when he died, he named Charming as his heir, instead of his elder son (Fujiwara no Yasuhira is his name, in case you are wondering), and The Bad Young Man, as I call him, was very angry because of it, and looked for Prince Cunning’s help to restore his position in exchange for Charming’s whereabouts.
For two years, Charming and his retainers lived as outlaws, running indefinitely from Cunning’s attempts to catch them, and they did escape, but nothing lasts forever; even more so if your enemy controls almost all of the country. Eventually, Cunning discovered Charming’s hiding place, and sent 500 samurai (we all know those guys) to finally put an end to the chase, and, besides a river, next to a castle, still in Fujiwara territory, the two parties met. 500 samurai faced off against not more than 50 retainers, of which not all were trained warriors, but were still loyal to Prince Charming.
The two bands of combatants met in a fierce melee while Charming and Benkei fled to the nearby castle. As the two raced across the bridge that led to the castle, the small force of retainers was quickly defeated by the overwhelming troop of samurai.
“Even though the name of the story is Benkei, all you have been talking about is this Prince Charming!” you may be complaining right about now. But I had to set the stage to this final showdown; otherwise it would be simply an amazing fight in the middle of nothing. But, if want some more of our giant warrior monk, here it comes.
As the samurai approached the bridge to the castle, barely breaking a sweat from wiping the floor with the retainers, they were met with a single defender. Charming had fled to the castle, but Benkei stayed behind to hold back the attackers at the bridge. The samurai, confident, charged the defender that, towering above the attackers, simply held his ground, naginata in hands, ready to give his life for the man he devoted his loyalty to; and stood. He held back the wave of enemies that swarmed the bridge, slaying any who dared to challenge him.
The samurai retreated after the first attack, having lost some men in the combat. But they were not done; after all, a single man couldn’t hold back 500 well trained, well equipped men! And so, they came to the conclusion that the best way of winning was to charge again. It is said that, for every samurai that was slain in this charge, the average IQ score of Japan increased a little bit. Of course, the samurai were beaten back once again, with even more of them lying in the bridge as a result. “Hey, why don’t we use our bows instead of charging in recklessly?” said the smartest of them, the only one not in search for glory. And so the remaining samurai pulled out their bows and shot one arrow each. About 15 arrows hit their marks, but the gigantic man still stood his ground, challenging his enemies. Another volley was shot, once again, each of them shot once, and 20 more arrows hit their target, but Benkei still stood, proud and challenging.
A small group of samurai, the bravest of them, decided to get closer and see what happens, and as they drew closer and closer, nothing happened. At first, he samurai thought that the gigantic monk had given up, but upon closer examination, it was discovered that he was already dead, along with the 300 samurai that he defeated before dying. Some say that he remained standing through the power of will; others say that it was because falling would mean not fighting to the very end. Really, it was just some physics shenanigans, but I like to think that it was something greater than us, the force of his loyalty surpassing even death. But, unfortunately, it was just some physics playing tricks on us.
But Benkei had held for long enough. The precious time that he bought allowed Prince Charming to slip away before the samurai could reach him. Charming continued to roam the lands, rallying the people against his treacherous brother, until he finally gathered a force great enough to defeat Prince Cunning and take the position of Shogun for himself, starting a dynasty that lasted for a thousand years that brought peace and prosperity to the lands of Japan.
Now that the children have heard the ending of the story of Prince Charming, we can talk about the tragic end of Minamoto no Yoshitsune. Yoshitsune did indeed manage to reach the castle, but as Benkei, along with all hopes died, he took his own life. As Yoritomo ended his life as the ruler of Japan, instating a dynasty that would last 150 years, Yoshitsune’s life ended with Seppuku.
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