“I was born from a peach.”
The peach
The dog, the monkey, the bird
The island
An old couple finds a giant peach; a boy steps out. When he is grown he goes to Onigashima, the island of oni. Along the way he shares food with a dog, a monkey, and a pheasant, and they become his. The demons are defeated not by a lone sword but by a small, well-fed fellowship.
Von Franz would read the animals as instinctual allies. The dumpling is the unglamorous resource: enough, shared.
Inspect
INTERPRETATION
Momotarō appears when a task is too large for the solo hero myth you were handed. The peach is an unusual origin; the lesson is ordinary: pack food, make friends with your instincts, go.
The shadow
The lone sword. The dumpling unshared. Instincts left hungry.
Four lookings
Campbell
What island of trouble are you still approaching as if you had to be the only one?
von Franz
Which instinct (loyal, clever, far-seeing) have you left hungry?
Hillman
What ordinary provision, the dumpling, is your actual magic?
Coelho
Who is already walking with you, that you keep calling a coincidence?