Once upon a time in the village of Yawata in Higo province, there was an old pond near the shrine. It was decided that the pond needed to be drained and the fish taken out. Finally, the day arrived and at early morning all the villagers gathered and started dipping the water out. They kept working throughout the day but still could not empty the pond. The sun began to set. The villagers thought that they had almost reached the bottom. All of a sudden, a man such as they had never seen before rose up out of the pond. The villagers were frightened. “You’ve all been to great trouble,” said the man and he disappeared. The water then rose back up to the brim of the pond. From then on, the pond had been called Goshinro and nobody tried to catch fish in it.
Goshinro Pond
