JagansoThe Snake Herb
蛇含草（じゃがんそう）
One summer day, a man visiting a friend's house notices a strange herb hanging from the eaves. It is “jaganso,” which a giant serpent is said to lick to settle its stomach after swallowing a person whole. He finds it amusing and gets a little of it, and then mochi (rice cakes) start toasting, and before long the talk turns to eating mochi by the boxful. Heading home holding his swollen belly, the man remembers that herb.
The story
One summer day, a man in a jinbei (a light summer jacket and shorts) goes to visit a friend and finds a dirty-looking herb hanging there. He is told that it is a medicinal herb called “jaganso”: when an uwabami (giant serpent) swallows a person whole, it licks this herb to settle its bloated stomach. Finding it unusual, the man gets a little of it.
Before long, the friend lights a fire and starts toasting some mochi he was given. When the man reaches for each piece as soon as it is done, the friend teases him: “It's only polite to ask before you eat. If you just say the word, you can eat every mochi in this box for all I care.” The man declares, “Then I'll eat the whole lot.”
Deciding that just eating them would be dull, the man shows off “kyoku-gui” (trick eating), tossing the mochi into the air and catching them in his mouth in all sorts of poses. At first he is full of confidence, but gradually his hands slow down, and with only two left he finally gives up. As he leaves, he asks, “Lend me a mirror.” When his friend asks why he would bother tidying himself up now, the man says that if he looks down, the mochi will come out of his mouth, so he wants to find his geta (wooden clogs) in the mirror.
Back at the nagaya, he lies down, but his stomach only gets more painful. He remembers the jaganso he had tied to the cord of his jinbei, and puts it in his mouth as a stomach medicine.
The next day his friend, worried, visits the nagaya and opens the shoji (paper sliding door), but the man is nowhere to be seen. Instead, there...
The sage the punchline, contains spoilers
Tap to reveal the punchline
“There was mochi wearing a jinbei, sitting cross-legged.”
Jaganso, it turns out, was not an herb that helps digest what has been eaten, but one that dissolves the person instead.
Jaganso and Soba Sei
A man who has eaten far too much tries to dissolve what is in his stomach with the power of a medicinal herb, and dissolves himself instead. Stories built on the same framework are Jaganso, born in Kamigata, and Soba Sei (also called Soba no Haori, “The Soba Haori”), performed in Tokyo.
| Jaganso | Soba Sei | |
|---|---|---|
| Style | Born in Kamigata. Performed in both east and west | Performed mainly in Tokyo |
| What he eats | Mochi | Mori-soba (chilled soba noodles) |
| How he learns of the herb | He gets some of a medicinal herb hanging in his friend's house (in Tokyo, a retired man's house) | On a mountain path in Shinshu, he sees an uwabami swallow a hunter and then lick an herb to shrink its belly back |
| Why he eats | Teased, he declares he will eat all the mochi in the box | A bet with customers at a soba shop |
| Sage | There was mochi wearing a jinbei, sitting cross-legged | There was soba wearing a haori (jacket), sitting there |
Key scenes original dialogue written for this site
The hanging herb
- ManHey, what's that filthy weed hanging from your eaves?
- FriendFilthy? That's a fine thing to say. It's called jaganso, and it's a precious medicinal herb.
- ManMedicinal? That shriveled thing?
- FriendYou know how an uwabami swallows a man in one gulp? When its belly is stuffed tight, it gives this a lick, and its stomach settles right down, they say.
- ManWell, that's handy. Let me have a pinch of it.
Trick eating of mochi
- ManNow, watch this. Toss it up... (He throws his head back and snaps it up.)
- FriendHey, not bad.
- ManNext, I'll catch one facing backward. ...Hup. (Snap.)
- (After a few more, he can't manage to swallow the one he caught, and his eyes roll.)
- FriendWhat's wrong? You're slowing down quite a bit. Only two to go.
- Man...Those two are starting to look like mountains.
On his way home
- ManSorry, but could you lend me a mirror for a moment?
- FriendWhat's the point of dressing up now?
- ManNo, if I look down, I think the mochi'll come out of my mouth. I'll find my geta in the mirror.
This is not a transcription of any storyteller's performance. The plot and the sage follow the classic version. All lines were written for this site.
Notable performers
- Katsura Mikisuke III1902–1961EdoIt is said to have been his signature piece (Rakugo Jiten, expanded edition, edited by the Todai Rakugo-kai).
- Katsura Shijaku II1939–1999KamigataOne of the performers whose videos survive. His performance at the 1992 “Beicho Ichimon-kai” (a show by Beicho's school) was released on video.
