■ あらすじ　
　昔々、川で洗濯していた婆が、流れてきた桃を拾って家に持ち帰り、爺と食べようとすると、桃の中から男の子が出てきた。爺と婆はその子を桃太郎と名付け、大事に育てた。男の子は成長し力の強い若者になると、鬼ヶ島へ宝を取りに行くことにした。桃太郎は爺婆にキビ団子を作ってもらい、鬼退治に出かけ、道中出会った犬、猿、雉にそれぞれキビ団子を分け与えて仲間にした。そして、彼らの協力を得て鬼を退治し、宝を持って爺と婆のもとへ帰った。

注釈
　日本五大昔噺の一つ。明治時代に国定教科書にも取り上げられたことから比較的安定した形で現在に伝えられているが、筋に若干の異なりを見せている。長谷川刊行の英訳にあたりＤ．タムソンは「鬼」を“ｄｅｖｉｌ” と表現し、ジェイムズ夫人は“ｏｇｒｅ”としているものの、筋は同じで小林永濯<えいたく>の多彩な挿絵が見られる。松室八千三<まつむろやちぞう>刊行版は挿絵が殆どなく代わりに話が詳細であり、絵師の名も記されていない。

■ Outline of this story
　Once upon a time, an old woman was washing clothes in a stream when a peach came tumbling along. She plucked the peach out of the water and took it home. She was going to eat it with her husband, but when she sliced it open, out popped a boy. The couple named the boy "Momotaro," meaning "Little Peachling," and took good care of him. The boy grew up to be a strapping young man. He determined to cross over to the Island of Devils and take their riches. The old couple made him some millet dumplings, and then Momotaro set off to conquer the devils. On the way, he met a dog, a monkey, and a pheasant, and all three joined him after he gave them some of the very best Japanese millet dumplings. With their help, he vanquished the devils and came back to the old couple with the riches in hand.

Note
　This is supposed to be one of the five best-loved Japanese fairy tales. It has been transmitted to the present in a comparatively set form because it was included in a school textbook edited and authorized by the government in the Meiji period. The plot, however, shows some variation. D. Thompson, who translated the Hasegawa edition, rendered "oni" as "devil," while Mrs. T.H. James chose "ogre" instead. Nevertheless, the plot is the same, and both editions contain many illustrations by Eitaku Kobayashi. The version published by Yachizo Matsumuro has very few illustrations but presents a more detailed story. It does not credit any illustrator.