RakudaThe Camel
らくだ（らくだ）
The most hated man in the tenement, nicknamed Rakuda, “the Camel,” is found dead of blowfish poisoning. His sworn brother wants to give him a funeral but has no money, so he strong-arms a timid junk dealer who happens by into running his errands. But once the sake starts flowing, the two men trade places...
The story
Uma is a brute so big and slow-moving that everyone calls him Rakuda, “the Camel.” He never pays his rent, skips out on his tabs, and is loathed by the whole tenement. One day his sworn brother comes to visit and finds him dead, poisoned by the blowfish he ate the day before.
The brother wants to hold a funeral but has no money. He seizes the tools of a passing junk dealer named Kyuroku, then sends him to make the month's tenement representative collect condolence money, and to tell the landlord to supply sake and food for the wake. When the landlord refuses, the brother actually hauls the Camel's corpse over and makes it dance the kankanno, a popular dance song, scaring the landlord out of his wits.
After squeezing a pickle barrel out of the greengrocer to serve as a coffin, Kyuroku thinks he can finally go home. Instead, the brother forces sake on him. But as the drink takes hold, Kyuroku's personality does a complete turnaround, and now he is the one barking orders and sending the brother on errands. Most performers end the story around here.
In the full version, the two drunks carry the barrel toward the crematorium, but on the way the bottom falls out and they lose the body. They go back and mistake a begging monk asleep at the foot of a bridge for the corpse, and into the fire he goes. Woken by the heat, the monk yells, “Where am I?” When they answer, “Hiya, the crematorium,” he says...
The sage the punchline, contains spoilers
Tap to reveal the punchline
“Hiya? Cold's fine. Just pour me one more!”
The sage (the punchline) hinges on hiya, which here means the crematorium, but which the drunken monk hears as hiya, cold unheated sake. Tatekawa Danshi VII created a sage of his own, in which someone sees the lump on the monk's head and retorts, “Well, if it isn't the Camel!”
Edo and Kamigata versions
The story originally comes from Kamigata, and the two regions differ in character names and the location of the crematorium. The Kamigata version includes a scene where the pair parade the barrel through the streets shouting “Funeral!” and pick fights with shops to extort money.
| Edo | Kamigata | |
|---|---|---|
| The Camel's name | Uma | Unosuke |
| Sworn brother | Often Chonome no Hanji | Yataketa no Kumagoro, or Noten no Kumagoro |
| Junk dealer | Kyuroku | Unnamed, simply “the junk dealer” |
| Crematorium | Ochiai | Sennichimae |
Key scenes original dialogue written for this site
Calling in the junk dealer
- BrotherHey, junk man, come on in. Buy up everything in this place.
- KyurokuUh, yes sir... Only, there doesn't seem to be a single thing here worth buying.
- BrotherThat so? Then I'll just hold on to your basket and scales.
- KyurokuB-but I can't do business without those.
The kankanno
- KyurokuThe landlord says he won't give you any sake or food.
- BrotherIs that right? Then carry him over on your back. We'll have the Camel do a little dance for him.
- (He grabs the corpse's arms from behind and jerks them around stiffly.)
The tables turn
- KyurokuHey, we're out of sake. Don't just sit there, get down to the liquor shop.
- BrotherY-yes sir. ...Wait, you're not the same guy you were a minute ago.
- KyurokuIf they say no, tell 'em you'll make the corpse dance the kankanno.
This is not a transcription of any storyteller's performance. The plot, the sage, and the kankanno gag follow the classic version. The dialogue was written for this site.
Notable performers
- Yanagiya Kosan III1857–1930EdoBrought this story from Kamigata to Tokyo.
- Kokontei Shinsho V1890–1973EdoKnown for his bold structure, compressing the first half into Kyuroku's telling at the greengrocer's.
- Sanshotei Karaku VIII1898–1964EdoUnusually for Tokyo, he performed the scene where they shave the Camel's head.
- Shofukutei Shokaku VI1918–1986KamigataConsidered one of his signature pieces, his Rakuda is known as especially acclaimed.
- Shofukutei Tsurube1951–KamigataHas taken on his master Shokaku's signature piece since the 2000s.
