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The Tale of Princess Kaguya · Legends and Fables 101

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  Speaker 1: One night, deep inside a bamboo forest, an old bamboo
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  Speaker 1: cutter discovered something that would change his life forever. A
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  Speaker 1: bamboo stalk glowed with a strange, gentle light. When he
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  Speaker 1: cut it open, he found a tiny girl inside, no
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  Speaker 1: larger than his thumb. She was beautiful, mysterious, and unlike
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  Speaker 1: any child he had ever seen. The old man carried
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  Speaker 1: her home to his wife, and together they raised her
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  Speaker 1: as their own daughter. But the little girl was no
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  Speaker 1: ordinary child. She had come from somewhere beyond the human world,
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  Speaker 1: and one day she would have to return. This is
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  Speaker 1: the Japanese legend of Princess Kaguya, the celestial maiden whose
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  Speaker 1: brief life on Earth brought wonder, love, and heartbreak to
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  Speaker 1: everyone who knew her. Long ago, in the countryside of
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  Speaker 1: ancient Japan, there lived an elderly bamboo cutter who made
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  Speaker 1: his living harvesting bamboo and selling it to support his
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  Speaker 1: wife and himself. Their home was humble, and their days
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  Speaker 1: were quiet. They had grown old without having a child,
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  Speaker 1: and though they loved one another deeply, a sadness lingered
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  Speaker 1: in their hearts. Then came the day the bamboo cutter
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  Speaker 1: found the glowing stalk. Inside it was a tiny girl,
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  Speaker 1: radiant and delicate, as if she had been placed there
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  Speaker 1: by the heavens themselves. The old man brought her home.
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  Speaker 1: His wife held the child close, and the two realized
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  Speaker 1: that their long loneliness had finally ended. They named her Kaguya-hime,
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  Speaker 1: the Shining Princess. As they cared for her, something extraordinary happened.
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  Speaker 1: The child grew with impossible speed. Within a short time,
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  Speaker 1: she became a young woman of breathtaking beauty. The bamboo
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  Speaker 1: cutter also began discovering gold and precious treasures inside bamboo stalks,
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  Speaker 1: one discovery after another. Their humble household became wealthy, and
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  Speaker 1: the couple believed that heaven had blessed them. Yet Kaguya's
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  Speaker 1: beauty soon attracted attention far beyond their village. News of
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  Speaker 1: the mysterious young woman spread throughout the land. Men travelled
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  Speaker 1: from distant places, hoping to win her hand in marriage.
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  Speaker 1: Among them were five powerful noblemen, each convinced that he
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  Speaker 1: deserved to become her husband. But Kaguya did not wish
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  Speaker 1: to marry any of them. Rather than reject them outright,
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  Speaker 1: she gave each suitor an impossible task. One was ordered
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  Speaker 1: to find the stone begging bowl of the Buddha. Another
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  Speaker 1: had to bring a branch from a legendary jeweled tree.
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  Speaker 1: A third was sent to search for a robe said
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  Speaker 1: to belong to a fire rat. The fourth had to
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  Speaker 1: obtain a jewel from a dragon's neck, while the fifth
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  Speaker 1: was tasked with finding a cowrie shell from a swallow.
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  Speaker 1: Each task demanded something extraordinary. and each suitor soon revealed
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  Speaker 1: the limits of his courage, honesty, or intelligence. Some tried
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  Speaker 1: to deceive Kaguya with imitations. Others abandoned their quests when
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  Speaker 1: danger or difficulty became too great. None succeeded. Kaguya had
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  Speaker 1: protected herself from unwanted marriages, but she could not escape
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  Speaker 1: the growing sadness within her. As the seasons passed, she
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  Speaker 1: began to spend long evenings gazing at the moon. Whenever
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  Speaker 1: it rose above the mountains, she would look toward it
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  Speaker 1: with tears in her eyes. Her adoptive parents noticed the change.
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  Speaker 1: They asked what troubled her, but Kaguya struggled to explain.
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  Speaker 1: At last, she revealed a secret. She did not truly
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  Speaker 1: belong to Earth. She had come from the moon, and
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  Speaker 1: the time was approaching when she would be taken back
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  Speaker 1: to her celestial home. Her elderly parents were devastated. They
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  Speaker 1: had raised her with all the love they possessed. To them,
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  Speaker 1: She was their daughter, the child they had long wished for.
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  Speaker 1: They could not bear the thought of losing her. The
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  Speaker 1: bamboo cutter appealed to the emperor, hoping that the power
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  Speaker 1: of the royal court might protect Kaguya. The emperor, who
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  Speaker 1: had also become captivated by the princess, sent guards to
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  Speaker 1: watch over her home. But no human army could prevent
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  Speaker 1: what was coming. On the night of the full moon,
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  Speaker 1: a radiant procession descended from the heavens. Celestial beings approached
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  Speaker 1: the house, and their light filled the surrounding landscape. The
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  Speaker 1: guards found themselves powerless before the visitors from the moon.
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  Speaker 1: Kaguya wept as she prepared to leave. She embraced the
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  Speaker 1: elderly couple who had raised her and expressed her gratitude
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  Speaker 1: for their kindness. She had loved them, even though she
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  Speaker 1: had never truly belonged to their world. Before departing, she
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  Speaker 1: left behind a letter for the Emperor and a precious
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  Speaker 1: elixir of immortality. Then the celestial visitors placed a feathered
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  Speaker 1: robe upon her shoulders. As she put it on, the
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  Speaker 1: sorrows and attachments of her earthly life began to fade.
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  Speaker 1: Kaguya rose toward the heavens, leaving behind the home where
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  Speaker 1: she had been loved and the people who would never
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  Speaker 1: forget her. The emperor was heartbroken when he received her letter.
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  Speaker 1: He did not wish to live forever in a world
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  Speaker 1: where Kaguya was absent. He asked his servants to take
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  Speaker 1: the letter and the elixir to the highest mountain in
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  Speaker 1: the land and burn them there, as close to heaven
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  Speaker 1: as human beings could reach. According to the legend, the
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  Speaker 1: mountain became known as Mount Fuji, and smoke rose from
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  Speaker 1: its summit toward the sky. The elixir of immortality was
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  Speaker 1: never consumed. and the princess who had come from the
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  Speaker 1: moon remained beyond the reach of those who loved her.
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  Speaker 1: The tale of Princess Kaguya is one of Japan's oldest
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  Speaker 1: and most beloved literary stories. It is a tale of beauty, longing,
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  Speaker 1: and the painful distance between the human world and something
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  Speaker 1: beyond it. Kaguya's life on Earth was brief, but it
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  Speaker 1: changed the lives of everyone she met. Her adoptive parents
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  Speaker 1: experienced the joy of having a daughter and the grief
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  Speaker 1: of losing her. Her suitors discovered that wealth and status
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  Speaker 1: could not guarantee love, and the emperor learned that even
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  Speaker 1: the most powerful ruler could not command someone to stay.
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  Speaker 1: Perhaps the story's deepest sadness lies in its reminder that
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  Speaker 1: love does not always mean possession. Sometimes, we love someone
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  Speaker 1: whose path leads somewhere we cannot follow. We can offer
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  Speaker 1: them a home, protect them for a time, and treasure
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  Speaker 1: the moments we share. but we cannot always decide where
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  Speaker 1: their journey ends. The moon still rises over Japan, bright
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  Speaker 1: and distant, and in the quiet hours of the night,
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  Speaker 1: one can imagine the princess looking down upon the world
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  Speaker 1: she once called home, a world where she was loved,
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  Speaker 1: a world she could never remain in. This has been
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  Speaker 1: Legends and Fables 101, where ancient myths, legendary heroes, and
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  Speaker 1: timeless stories come alive. Until next time, remember, Some of
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  Speaker 1: the most beautiful things in life are precious, not because
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  Speaker 1: they stay forever, but because we were lucky enough to
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  Speaker 1: know them at all.