The tale collected in Konjaku Monogatari seems to have been referred to the Chinese books, being different from the consummate work of "Taketori Monogatari," and has been assumed that it told an old form of 'The Tale of Taketori no Okina,' which had been handed down orally.
漢籍などを参照したと考えられ、完成した内容を持つ『竹取物語』とは異なり、今昔所収の説話は口頭伝承されてきた「竹取の翁の物語」の古態を伝えているのではないかと想定されている。