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Little Peachling and Other Tales of Old Japan-Georgene Faulkner · South African Folk-Lore Tales

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Introduction of Little Peachling and Other Tales of Old Japan.
• 0:05
  Speaker 1: This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: visit LibriVox dot org. Read by Kirk Ziggler. Little Peachling
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: and Other Tales of Old Japan Retold by Georgine Faulkner. Introduction,
• 0:27
  Speaker 1: My Dear Children in far away Japan, the people all
• 0:31
  Speaker 1: love to listen to the old old tales that are
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: told by professional storytellers. The grown ups enjoy these stories
• 0:38
  Speaker 1: quite as much as do their children, and so the
• 0:42
  Speaker 1: whole family will go to the special houses of entertainment
• 0:45
  Speaker 1: called jose, just as you children go to the movies
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  Speaker 1: with your parents, and they're The storyteller or Hanashika as
• 0:53
  Speaker 1: he is called, tells them tells for which they pay
• 0:56
  Speaker 1: a small fee. But in Japan, they stop their entertaining
• 1:00
  Speaker 1: for a while and rest and drink tea. Then the
• 1:03
  Speaker 1: hana Shika goes on with the tale. Some of the
• 1:07
  Speaker 1: old old fairy tales have been told and retold for
• 1:10
  Speaker 1: many years and have been most popular with the Japanese audiences.
• 1:15
  Speaker 1: Travelers to the flowery Kingdom of japan have become fascinated
• 1:19
  Speaker 1: by these stories, and some of them have been translated
• 1:22
  Speaker 1: for us by our storytellers and writers, and have become
• 1:26
  Speaker 1: popular with our children. There are so many interesting Japanese
• 1:30
  Speaker 1: stories that it is hard to make a selection, but
• 1:33
  Speaker 1: I have tried to choose those I thought you would
• 1:36
  Speaker 1: enjoy best. I have told and retold them over the radio,
• 1:40
  Speaker 1: and have had many requests please tell more Japanese stories,
• 1:45
  Speaker 1: and little notes asking please tell them over again. I
• 1:49
  Speaker 1: wish that I could wear my Japanese costume and sit
• 1:52
  Speaker 1: down upon the floor with you and look right into
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  Speaker 1: your eyes and play that I am your hana shika.
• 1:59
  Speaker 1: But as I cannot be with you, I hope that
• 2:02
  Speaker 1: you will enjoy this book of old Japanese fairy tales,
• 2:05
  Speaker 1: as retold by your own story Lady Georgine Faulkner, and
• 2:11
  Speaker 1: of introduction Chapter one of Little Peachling and Other Tales
• 2:21
  Speaker 1: of Old Japan Retold by Georgin Faulkner. This LibriVox recording
• 2:27
  Speaker 1: is in the public domain. Little Peachling Momo Taro, many
• 2:33
  Speaker 1: many years ago, there lived in the mountains of Japan,
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  Speaker 1: an honest old woodcutter and his wife. They had no
• 2:40
  Speaker 1: little children of their own, and often the good woman
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  Speaker 1: would mourn about it, saying, how happy we should be
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  Speaker 1: if we only had a little child, and the good
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  Speaker 1: husband would answer her, Yes, indeed, wife, I wish that
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  Speaker 1: we had a little son to grow up and care
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  Speaker 1: for us in our old age. Now, these good people
• 2:59
  Speaker 1: loved children, and they were so kind to them that
• 3:02
  Speaker 1: all the children in the neighborhood loved them dearly and
• 3:05
  Speaker 1: liked to play near their home. One fine morning, the
• 3:09
  Speaker 1: old man went up on the mountain side to gather fagots,
• 3:13
  Speaker 1: while his wife went down to the river to wash
• 3:15
  Speaker 1: the clothes. As was the custom. She spread out her
• 3:19
  Speaker 1: clothes on the smooth white stones. As she was scrubbing
• 3:23
  Speaker 1: and scrubbing, she saw a large peach come, floating and
• 3:26
  Speaker 1: tumbling along in the water. At last it caught among
• 3:30
  Speaker 1: her clothes. Reaching out with a long bamboo pole, the
• 3:34
  Speaker 1: old woman drew it toward the bank and pulled it out.
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  Speaker 1: What a fine peach. I will take this home and
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  Speaker 1: give it to my husband, she said, and she wrapped
• 3:44
  Speaker 1: it in cool green leaves, and putting it in a
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  Speaker 1: safe place upon the bank. She went on with her washing.
• 3:51
  Speaker 1: As soon as she had finished her work, she carried
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  Speaker 1: home the peach. When the sun was just going down,
• 3:57
  Speaker 1: tinting the western sky with a rosy light. The old
• 4:00
  Speaker 1: woodcutter returned from the mountains carrying a great bunch of
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  Speaker 1: faggots upon his back. His wife had his supper spread
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  Speaker 1: for him, and there among the rice, cakes and fish,
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  Speaker 1: he saw the fine, large peach. Why where did you
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  Speaker 1: get that delicious peach, asked the woodcutter. It came floating
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  Speaker 1: along in the water, and I fished it out with
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  Speaker 1: a bamboo pole and brought it home for your supper,
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  Speaker 1: answered the good woman. Bring a knife, wife, and we
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  Speaker 1: will cut it in two and share it, said the
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  Speaker 1: wood cutter. Just as he cut the skin of the peach,
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  Speaker 1: it seemed to burst open, and there inside lay a
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  Speaker 1: tiny little baby boy smiling up at them. How wonderful,
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  Speaker 1: gasped the woman. Can it be possible that he is
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  Speaker 1: a real child? And she touched him very gently with
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  Speaker 1: her finger. Why, yes, he is alive. It is indeed marvelous,
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  Speaker 1: answered her husband. He is truly a gift of love
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  Speaker 1: from the gods. The good woman lifted the tiny baby
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  Speaker 1: carefully out of his peach cradle, and wrapping him in
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  Speaker 1: her apron. She rocked him tenderly in her arms. We
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  Speaker 1: will call him Mo Montero, little Peachling, said she, for
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  Speaker 1: he was born in a peach. When the neighbors heard
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  Speaker 1: the news of this wonderful baby boy, they came from
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  Speaker 1: near and far to see him, and they rejoiced with
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  Speaker 1: the old couple. The woodcutter and his wife were devoted
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  Speaker 1: to little Peachling, and they brought him up as their
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  Speaker 1: own little son. He was always so good and kind
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  Speaker 1: that he made all about him happy, and he was
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  Speaker 1: greatly beloved by all who knew him. He grew up
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  Speaker 1: to be a very strong and brave young man, and
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  Speaker 1: was absolutely without any fear. One day, Peachling said to
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  Speaker 1: his parents, I must start on a journey far away
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  Speaker 1: to day and fight with the terrible ogres that live
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  Speaker 1: on an island out in the sea. I have heard
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  Speaker 1: that they are very wicked, and that for many years
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  Speaker 1: they have been robbing the people of their treasures, taking
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  Speaker 1: some of them as prisoners, and shutting them up on
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  Speaker 1: this island. I feel that it is my duty to
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  Speaker 1: go out and overcome these ogres and set these poor
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  Speaker 1: people free and give them back the goods that have
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  Speaker 1: been stolen from them. O, my poor son, cried the mother.
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  Speaker 1: Do not go. I beg of you, what can you
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  Speaker 1: do among so many wicked monsters. Yes, my son, said
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  Speaker 1: the old man, I have heard that these ogres are
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  Speaker 1: so fearful to look upon that no one dares to
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  Speaker 1: fight with them. I am not afraid, said Peachleing. The
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  Speaker 1: good and the right will win over these demons, and
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  Speaker 1: I am sure that I am called upon to conquer them.
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  Speaker 1: Although the parents were frightened to have Peachleing go upon
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  Speaker 1: this adventure, still they were very proud of their brave son,
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  Speaker 1: who knew no fear. I must be on my way
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  Speaker 1: tomorrow morning, said Peachleing, So honorable mother, I beg of you,
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  Speaker 1: please to make me some millet dumplings, so that I
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  Speaker 1: may have some food to eat upon my journey. The
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  Speaker 1: old man ground the millet, and the old woman made
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  Speaker 1: him three nice millet dumplings, which she wrapped in a
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  Speaker 1: clean cloth and gave to him. The old couple blessed
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  Speaker 1: their brave son, and bowing low, they said, Sirnara Synara,
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  Speaker 1: which meant good bye. Good bye Siyunara, answered the young man,
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  Speaker 1: waving farewell, As he trudged down the dusty road, the
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  Speaker 1: old couple watched him until he was out of sight,
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  Speaker 1: the old woman wiping away a few tears with the
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  Speaker 1: sleeve of her kimono, for she was very unhappy and
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  Speaker 1: feared that he might never come back to them again.
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  Speaker 1: But these brave old people did not complain of their loneliness,
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  Speaker 1: but went back to their humble daily tasks. As Peachling
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  Speaker 1: went along the road, he met a dog and the
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  Speaker 1: dogs at his bundle, barking loudly. Eri, YERI, YERI, what
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  Speaker 1: have you here here? E? The kind hearted Peachling saw
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  Speaker 1: that the dog was very hungry, so he opened his
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  Speaker 1: package and gave the dog one of the millet dumplings.
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  Speaker 1: I know that you are half starved, friend, dog, he said,
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  Speaker 1: so I will share my luncheon with you. After the
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  Speaker 1: dog had finished the dumpling, he barked his thanks. Where
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  Speaker 1: are you going, honorable soldier? He asked, I am going
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  Speaker 1: to the island of the Ogres to punish them for
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  Speaker 1: their wickedness and to force them to give back the
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  Speaker 1: trachers they have stolen from the poor people. Let me
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  Speaker 1: go with you, answered the dog. I may be of
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  Speaker 1: some service to you upon this journey. So the two
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  Speaker 1: friends went down the road together. Soon they heard a
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  Speaker 1: great jibbering in the branches of a tree. Kia kia kia.
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  Speaker 1: A monkey swung himself by his tail to and fro
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  Speaker 1: over their heads. Kia kia kia, screamed the monkey. Stop
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  Speaker 1: a minute, brave boyer, and rest under the branches of
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  Speaker 1: my tree, and eat your luncheon. Here. I am very
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  Speaker 1: hungry also and would like a little bye to eat.
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  Speaker 1: The monkey swung himself by his tail down to the ground,
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  Speaker 1: and reaching up with one hand, he touched the package
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  Speaker 1: held by the young man. What have you here, he asked,
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  Speaker 1: Some nice little dumplings, answered peachling. I will give you one, friend, monkey,
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  Speaker 1: because you are so very hungry. But I must not
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  Speaker 1: stop to rest under your tree, for I am going
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  Speaker 1: on a long journey. Where are you going, friend, Woyer,
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  Speaker 1: asked the monkey, as he took the dumpling and nibbled
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  Speaker 1: it very fast. I am going to the island of
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  Speaker 1: the Ogres to punish them for their wickedness and to
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  Speaker 1: force them to give back the treasures they have stolen
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  Speaker 1: from the poor people. Let me go with you, you,
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  Speaker 1: said the monkey. I may be of some service to
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  Speaker 1: you upon this journey, for I can do many things
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  Speaker 1: with my strong hands, and can pull with my long tail,
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  Speaker 1: which is like a rope. So the three friends went
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  Speaker 1: on down the dusty road together. Presently they heard a
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  Speaker 1: harsh cry, Cannon, cannon, kennan. That is the warning cry
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  Speaker 1: of the pheasant, said the dog. I wonder what the
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  Speaker 1: trouble is, yes, said the monkey. When the pheasant screams
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  Speaker 1: like that, it is a sign of an earthquake or
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  Speaker 1: some terrible disaster. Maybe the pheasant is hurt and needs
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  Speaker 1: our help, said the kindly young man. Just then the
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  Speaker 1: pheasant flew over them, crying, cannon, cannon, cannan. My poor
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  Speaker 1: baby birdlings are starving, and I can find no food
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  Speaker 1: for them. What have you in your bundle, mighty warrior,
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  Speaker 1: Just one last little millet dumpling, which my good mother
• 11:00
  Speaker 1: bake for me to eat upon my journey. But I
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  Speaker 1: am strong and can do without food. So give this
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  Speaker 1: dumpling to your hungry baby birdlings, said peachling, and he
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  Speaker 1: gave the dumpling to the pheasant. Can in, can in,
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  Speaker 1: thank you, Thank you, said the pheasant, flying away with
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  Speaker 1: the dumpling, which she fed to her hungry family. Soon
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  Speaker 1: she came flying back, and hovering over them, she called,
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  Speaker 1: where are you going, honorable soldier. I am going to
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  Speaker 1: the island of the Ogres to punish them for their wickedness,
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  Speaker 1: and to force them to give back the treasures they
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  Speaker 1: have stolen from the poor people. Let me go with you,
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  Speaker 1: said the pheasant. I may be of some service to
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  Speaker 1: you upon this journey. So the four friends went on
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  Speaker 1: their way together, and soon they came to the sea shore,
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  Speaker 1: where they found a strong boat waiting for them. They
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  Speaker 1: sailed and sailed until they came to the island of
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  Speaker 1: the Ogres. And when they reached the great of the
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  Speaker 1: outer wall of the castle, they made the most horrible noise.
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  Speaker 1: The young warrior shouted, the dog barked, the monkey shrieked
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  Speaker 1: and chattered, and the pheasant screamed with a shrill voice.
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  Speaker 1: Kennanan Kennon Cannon the mining momento. The brave boyre has
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  Speaker 1: come with his army to take your castle. Run for
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  Speaker 1: your lives, Kennon, Kennon, Kennon. Now, when the Ogres heard
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  Speaker 1: this dreadful din they came rushing out of their castle.
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  Speaker 1: They were always afraid of the voice of the pheasant,
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  Speaker 1: and some screamed in their fright an earthquake, an earthquake,
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  Speaker 1: while others shouted, no, No, A mighty army has marched
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  Speaker 1: against us. The great pheasant flew over the wall and
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  Speaker 1: came swooping down into the courtyard, pecking at the Ogres,
• 12:53
  Speaker 1: while the monkey climbed over the wall, and the dog
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  Speaker 1: helped the warrior to break open the strong gates. The
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  Speaker 1: Ogres were in such a panic of fear that they
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  Speaker 1: did not know which way to turn. They were trying
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  Speaker 1: to buckle on their armor as they ran, and soon
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  Speaker 1: they were swinging their great swords, fighting each other in
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  Speaker 1: wild confusion. Momotero and his friend soon won the victory,
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  Speaker 1: and the Ogres were put to flight, while the king
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  Speaker 1: of the Ogres was taken prisoner. Then the king of
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  Speaker 1: the Ogres was forced to give up the keys to
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  Speaker 1: the castle prison, and Momotero let out all the poor prisoners.
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  Speaker 1: He opened the great vault where the stolen treasures were hidden,
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  Speaker 1: and the prisoners helped him to carry out the rolls
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  Speaker 1: of silk and gold and silver, the precious stones emeralds, corals, amber,
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  Speaker 1: and tortoiseshell, and to load them upon their boat. Momotero
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  Speaker 1: then left the King of the Ogres of prisoner all
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  Speaker 1: alone upon the castle wall of his palace. And they
• 13:56
  Speaker 1: say that the king walked up and down upon this
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  Speaker 1: parapet until well he became so dizzy that he fell
• 14:01
  Speaker 1: into the sea and was drowned. So that was the
• 14:05
  Speaker 1: end of the King of the Ogres. As for Monmotero
• 14:09
  Speaker 1: and his three faithful friends, they seld their boat back
• 14:12
  Speaker 1: to the shore, and all the treasures were returned to
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  Speaker 1: the poor people who owned them. The prisoners who had
• 14:18
  Speaker 1: suffered so long in the prison of the castle were
• 14:21
  Speaker 1: now free and carried their possessions to their own homes.
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  Speaker 1: Momotero divided some of the riches among his three faithful friends,
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  Speaker 1: and the rest he took home to his foster parents,
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  Speaker 1: so that they lived in peace and plenty all the
• 14:35
  Speaker 1: rest of their lives. The people all praised Momotero, but
• 14:40
  Speaker 1: he said, you must not give me all the honor
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  Speaker 1: for overcoming these wicked Ogres. I never could have done
• 14:47
  Speaker 1: it without the help of my three faithful friends. Some
• 14:52
  Speaker 1: of his friends had made for him a peach all
• 14:54
  Speaker 1: of solid gold, which they presented to him as a
• 14:57
  Speaker 1: reward for his bravery. We honor our Peachling, they said,
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  Speaker 1: Long may his praises be sung, and the tale of
• 15:06
  Speaker 1: his bravery be told throughout our land, And their wishes
• 15:10
  Speaker 1: have come true, children, for this story of Little Peachleing
• 15:13
  Speaker 1: or Momotero is one of the favorite tales of old Japan.
• 15:18
  Speaker 1: One day a little Japanese lady came into our story hour.
• 15:23
  Speaker 1: She was dressed all in her silken kimonos, and she
• 15:26
  Speaker 1: sat down upon the floor. She was living here, studying
• 15:30
  Speaker 1: at the University of Chicago, and she spoke English perfectly.
• 15:35
  Speaker 1: Will you please tell us a Japanese story, We begged, Yes,
• 15:39
  Speaker 1: she answered, I will tell to you the favorite story
• 15:43
  Speaker 1: of all Japan. For our Japanese children always liked best
• 15:47
  Speaker 1: to hear this tale of Little Peachling or Momotero. So
• 15:52
  Speaker 1: I am telling this story for you now, just as
• 15:55
  Speaker 1: she told it to us. End of Chapter one Chapter
• 16:05
  Speaker 1: two of Little Peachleing and Other Tales of Old Japan
• 16:08
  Speaker 1: retold by Georgine Faulkner. This LibriVox recording is in the
• 16:13
  Speaker 1: public domain. The two Frogs. Once upon a time there
• 16:19
  Speaker 1: lived in Japan two frogs. One of these frogs lived
• 16:23
  Speaker 1: in a ditch beside the road near to the town
• 16:26
  Speaker 1: of Osaka, which was on the sea coast, while the
• 16:29
  Speaker 1: other frog lived in a small stream that ran through
• 16:32
  Speaker 1: the city of Kyoto. Now these frogs lived so far
• 16:36
  Speaker 1: apart that they never had heard of each other. But
• 16:39
  Speaker 1: one day, strange as it may seem, the idea came
• 16:43
  Speaker 1: into their heads that they would like to see a
• 16:45
  Speaker 1: little of the world. Hop Hop hippity hop, I'll hop
• 16:50
  Speaker 1: to Kyoto before I stop, croaked a little frog who
• 16:54
  Speaker 1: lived in the ditch at Osaka, while at the very
• 16:56
  Speaker 1: same time, the other little frog at Kyoto was crokeding
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  Speaker 1: out hop Hop hippity Hop, I'll hop to Osaka before
• 17:04
  Speaker 1: I stop. And that very day they both started out
• 17:08
  Speaker 1: hop hop hippity hop on the long road that led
• 17:12
  Speaker 1: from Kyoto to Osaka, one frog starting from one town
• 17:16
  Speaker 1: and the other frog starting from the other town. They
• 17:20
  Speaker 1: knew very little about traveling, and the way seemed much
• 17:23
  Speaker 1: longer than they had thought, But on and on they went, steadily,
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  Speaker 1: hopping along hop hop hippity hop. Half Way between the
• 17:32
  Speaker 1: two towns there rose a high mountain which had to
• 17:35
  Speaker 1: be climbed. Hop Hop hippity Hop, I can reach the
• 17:40
  Speaker 1: mountain top, croake. Both frogs. It took a great many
• 17:44
  Speaker 1: hops before they reached the mountain top, but at last,
• 17:47
  Speaker 1: with one big jump, there they were on the top
• 17:50
  Speaker 1: of the mountain. Each one was astonished to see before
• 17:54
  Speaker 1: him another frog. Ohio, good morning, honorable friend, said the
• 18:00
  Speaker 1: frog from Osaka. Where are you hopping so fast? And
• 18:04
  Speaker 1: from what town do you come? Oh hail, honorable friend,
• 18:08
  Speaker 1: answered the other. I am from Kyoto and I am
• 18:12
  Speaker 1: hopping along on my way to visit Osaka. Where are
• 18:15
  Speaker 1: you going? That is very strange, said the first frog.
• 18:20
  Speaker 1: I am from Osaka and I am now hopping along
• 18:23
  Speaker 1: to see Kyoto, for I feel that it is time
• 18:26
  Speaker 1: I learn more of this wonderful country. Yes, I have
• 18:30
  Speaker 1: the same feeling, and that is why I came on
• 18:33
  Speaker 1: this journey, said the second frog. But now that we
• 18:37
  Speaker 1: have met, let us rest here under this tall pine tree,
• 18:41
  Speaker 1: for I am out of breath from climbing. Yes, agreed
• 18:44
  Speaker 1: the other. I am very tired too. How fine it
• 18:48
  Speaker 1: would be if we could only see these towns from
• 18:50
  Speaker 1: this mountain top, and then we would not have to
• 18:53
  Speaker 1: hop so far. What a pity we are not bigger,
• 18:57
  Speaker 1: said the frog from Osaka. Then we could see both
• 19:00
  Speaker 1: of these towns from here. Oh, we can't easily make
• 19:04
  Speaker 1: ourselves taller, said the frog from Kyoto. We can stand
• 19:09
  Speaker 1: on our hind legs and hold on to each other
• 19:11
  Speaker 1: to keep our balance while we stretch our heads up
• 19:14
  Speaker 1: as high as possible. Then we can each look down
• 19:17
  Speaker 1: and see the town toward which we are hopping. Why,
• 19:21
  Speaker 1: that is an excellent idea, said the frog from Osaka,
• 19:25
  Speaker 1: and jumping up at once on his hind legs, he
• 19:28
  Speaker 1: put his front feet on the shoulders of his friend.
• 19:31
  Speaker 1: The frog from Kyoto stood up also, and there they
• 19:35
  Speaker 1: were stretching up as high as they could, while each
• 19:38
  Speaker 1: held the other tightly so that he would not fall down.
• 19:43
  Speaker 1: The Osaka frog turned his nose to Kyoto, while the
• 19:46
  Speaker 1: Kyoto frog turned his nose to Osaka. But the foolish
• 19:51
  Speaker 1: frogs forgot that their great bulging eyes were in the
• 19:54
  Speaker 1: backs of their heads, and although their noses pointed toward
• 19:57
  Speaker 1: the places where they wished to travel, their eyes were
• 20:00
  Speaker 1: looking back upon the places from which they had come.
• 20:04
  Speaker 1: Dear me, dear me, croak the Osaka frog, Kyoto is
• 20:09
  Speaker 1: exactly like Osaka. It certainly is not worthwhile for me
• 20:13
  Speaker 1: to hop away down there. I shall hop back home.
• 20:18
  Speaker 1: Dear me, dear me, croaked the frog from Kyoto. I
• 20:22
  Speaker 1: can say the same, for if I had known that
• 20:25
  Speaker 1: Osaka looked just like Kyoto, I never would have left
• 20:28
  Speaker 1: my home and hopped all this long, weary way. Then
• 20:32
  Speaker 1: the two frogs took their feet from each other's shoulders. Syonara, goodbye,
• 20:38
  Speaker 1: honorable friend, croak the frog from Osaka. May you have
• 20:42
  Speaker 1: a pleasant journey back to your home. Sirenara, honorable friend,
• 20:47
  Speaker 1: answered the frog from Kyoto, and may you reach your
• 20:51
  Speaker 1: home safely. And they both hopped down the mountain side,
• 20:55
  Speaker 1: hippity hop, hippity hop, back to their own homes again,
• 20:59
  Speaker 1: and to the end of their days, these two frogs
• 21:02
  Speaker 1: always believed that Osaka and Kyoto, which really were very
• 21:06
  Speaker 1: different from each other, were as much alike as two
• 21:09
  Speaker 1: peas in a pod and of Chapter two Chapter three
• 21:19
  Speaker 1: of Little Peachling and Other Tales of Old Japan, retold
• 21:23
  Speaker 1: by Georgine Faulkner. This LibriVox recording is in the public domain.
• 21:30
  Speaker 1: The Wonderful tea Kettle Bumbuku Chegama. A long long time ago,
• 21:36
  Speaker 1: there lived in Japan a very good old priest. His
• 21:40
  Speaker 1: home was in the Temple of Mauringji in the province
• 21:43
  Speaker 1: of Katsuka. His young pupils lived in the temple with him.
• 21:48
  Speaker 1: This old priest was very fond of the ceremony known
• 21:52
  Speaker 1: as chanoyu, the preparing and drinking of tea. It was
• 21:56
  Speaker 1: his chief pleasure in life to prepare the tea and
• 21:59
  Speaker 1: invite his lines friends to drink it with him. One day,
• 22:03
  Speaker 1: in a second hand shop, he found a nice looking
• 22:06
  Speaker 1: old tea kettle, which he bought for a very small sum.
• 22:10
  Speaker 1: All the way up the hill to the temple, as
• 22:12
  Speaker 1: he carried the box which held the precious kettle, he
• 22:15
  Speaker 1: kept thinking how beautiful it was. When he reached his room,
• 22:20
  Speaker 1: his hands fairly trembled as he untied the tape about
• 22:23
  Speaker 1: the box, and drawing out his wonderful tea kettle, he
• 22:28
  Speaker 1: placed it upon the box, turning it around from side
• 22:31
  Speaker 1: to side to admire it. Indeed, you are a beauty,
• 22:35
  Speaker 1: that's what you are, said the old priest joyously. Tomorrow
• 22:40
  Speaker 1: I will invite all of my friends to come in
• 22:42
  Speaker 1: to the chinoio. How pleased they will be to find
• 22:46
  Speaker 1: me serving tea from such a wonderful kettle. In his delight,
• 22:50
  Speaker 1: he called to his pupils come here, boys, come into
• 22:54
  Speaker 1: my room and see my beautiful tea kettle. Has it
• 22:57
  Speaker 1: not an artistic shape? The old priest patted the brass
• 23:01
  Speaker 1: sides of the kettle. It is good brass too. I
• 23:05
  Speaker 1: found it in a small shop and bought it at
• 23:08
  Speaker 1: a great bargain. Now you must go back to your studies.
• 23:12
  Speaker 1: I shall soon be ready to hear you recite your lessons.
• 23:16
  Speaker 1: The boys admired the old kettle to please their master,
• 23:19
  Speaker 1: but back in the schoolroom they laughed, what does he
• 23:23
  Speaker 1: want of another old tea kettle? The old priest loves
• 23:27
  Speaker 1: his tea better than anything else on earth. After a while,
• 23:31
  Speaker 1: the old priest became drowsy, his eyes began to blink.
• 23:35
  Speaker 1: He began to nod, and at last rested his head
• 23:38
  Speaker 1: upon his desk and fell fast asleep. Then a marvelous
• 23:43
  Speaker 1: thing happened. The tea kettle began to move about. A
• 23:47
  Speaker 1: hairy head with a sharp little nose appeared from its spout.
• 23:52
  Speaker 1: Two funny, beady little eyes peered all about. A long,
• 23:57
  Speaker 1: bushy tail came from the opposite side. Four little feet
• 24:01
  Speaker 1: pushed from under a soft furry coat that seemed to
• 24:04
  Speaker 1: cover the surface of the kettle. The queerest little badger
• 24:08
  Speaker 1: jumped down and went capering all around the room. It
• 24:12
  Speaker 1: jumped up and down upon the floor. It climbed upon
• 24:16
  Speaker 1: the table and danced about. The three boys in the
• 24:20
  Speaker 1: next room heard the noise. The priest is awake. I
• 24:24
  Speaker 1: hear him moving about, said one of the boys. He
• 24:28
  Speaker 1: peered through the screen and was amazed to see the
• 24:31
  Speaker 1: tea kettle on four feet, dancing and capering about the room.
• 24:36
  Speaker 1: Oh oh, he cried out in horror. The tea kettle
• 24:40
  Speaker 1: is no longer tea kettle. It has changed into a badger.
• 24:45
  Speaker 1: What nonsense, said the second boy. How could a tea
• 24:48
  Speaker 1: kettle turn into a badger? And he pushed his companion
• 24:52
  Speaker 1: aside and peered through the screen. When he saw the
• 24:55
  Speaker 1: badger capering towards him, he screamed in terror. It is
• 25:00
  Speaker 1: a goblin. See he is climbing the screen. He is
• 25:04
  Speaker 1: coming at us. Let us run. The third boy was
• 25:08
  Speaker 1: not so easily frightened. What a joke on the old priest.
• 25:12
  Speaker 1: I think this is good fun, how that little creature
• 25:16
  Speaker 1: does run about. Let's wake the master and let him
• 25:20
  Speaker 1: see this wonderful tea kettle. Now, wake Master, wake, called
• 25:25
  Speaker 1: the boy, rushing into the room and pulling the priest's sleeve.
• 25:29
  Speaker 1: Wake up and see your kettle. Such a strange thing
• 25:33
  Speaker 1: has happened. You noisy fellow, scolded the old priest. Leave
• 25:38
  Speaker 1: me alone. How dare you rouse me from my nap?
• 25:41
  Speaker 1: What is the matter with you? Matter enough, said the pupil.
• 25:46
  Speaker 1: Any one would be noisy when such a queer thing
• 25:49
  Speaker 1: has happened. Look, look, Master, your wonderful tea kettle has
• 25:54
  Speaker 1: feet and is running about. What do you mean? What
• 25:58
  Speaker 1: are you talking about? Gasped the old priest. The kettle
• 26:02
  Speaker 1: has feet and is running about. Nonsense, There is the
• 26:07
  Speaker 1: kettle sitting upon the box, just where I left it.
• 26:11
  Speaker 1: And sure enough, as soon as the Master began to wake,
• 26:14
  Speaker 1: the badger had climbed upon the box and had changed
• 26:17
  Speaker 1: into a brass tea kettle. Again, such stupid boys, scolded
• 26:22
  Speaker 1: the priest. You should have been studying your lessons instead
• 26:25
  Speaker 1: of rushing in here to awaken me for nothing. But
• 26:29
  Speaker 1: it was not for nothing, master, said the boys in chorus.
• 26:33
  Speaker 1: We saw the badger under the kettle. Nonsense, said the master.
• 26:38
  Speaker 1: That is impossible. As long as I have lived, I
• 26:43
  Speaker 1: have never heard of a tea kettle walking about like
• 26:45
  Speaker 1: a badger. You can't make me believe that. The priest, however,
• 26:51
  Speaker 1: was a little uneasy about it, and watched his tea
• 26:54
  Speaker 1: kettle for a long time. At last he patted it
• 26:58
  Speaker 1: and murmuring to himself as he felt the smooth brass sides,
• 27:02
  Speaker 1: such nonsense. I believe I need a good cup of
• 27:06
  Speaker 1: tea to rest my nerves. So he took the kettle
• 27:09
  Speaker 1: down from its box, filled it with water, lighted his
• 27:13
  Speaker 1: little charcoal fire, and placed the kettle over the embers
• 27:17
  Speaker 1: so that the water would boil. To his horror, as
• 27:21
  Speaker 1: soon as the water began to boil, the kettle jumped
• 27:24
  Speaker 1: into the air, spilling the hot water about and shrieking, shrilly, hot,
• 27:30
  Speaker 1: hot hot, you are burning me, hot, hot, hot. And
• 27:35
  Speaker 1: there was the kettle changed into a furry little badger
• 27:39
  Speaker 1: with a sharp nose and beady eyes, a bushy tail,
• 27:42
  Speaker 1: and four little feet. Help help, help, cried the poor priest,
• 27:47
  Speaker 1: terrified out of his wits.
• 27:50
  Speaker 2: Catch this awful.
• 27:51
  Speaker 1: Goblin, Help help help. The three boys rushed in with
• 27:56
  Speaker 1: sticks to help the old priest, But presto change. The
• 28:00
  Speaker 1: badger was gone, and there on the floor was the
• 28:02
  Speaker 1: tea kettle. With a pool of water all about it.
• 28:06
  Speaker 1: Did the kettle fall off, the fire master, asked one
• 28:09
  Speaker 1: of the boys. No, it turned into a badger and
• 28:13
  Speaker 1: jumped right at me, said the terrified priest. I do
• 28:17
  Speaker 1: not understand it. See it now, it looks like a
• 28:21
  Speaker 1: kettle once more. We will soon find out whether it
• 28:24
  Speaker 1: is alive or not, said one of the boys, and
• 28:27
  Speaker 1: they all begin to beat it with their sticks. Clang clang, clang,
• 28:33
  Speaker 1: sounded the metal kettle. Clang, clang, clang. It rang out
• 28:38
  Speaker 1: at every blow. Stop. Boys, there is nothing to be
• 28:42
  Speaker 1: gained by beating it, said the priest. I do not
• 28:45
  Speaker 1: want to keep it any longer, and so I shall
• 28:48
  Speaker 1: sell it as soon as I can. That evening, a
• 28:52
  Speaker 1: tinger came that way, and the priest was very glad
• 28:55
  Speaker 1: to see him. Here is the man to buy the
• 28:57
  Speaker 1: tea kettle, he said to himself aloud. He said, tinker,
• 29:02
  Speaker 1: come into my room and see the old kettle I have.
• 29:05
  Speaker 1: It is quite battered and bent, but it is good brass.
• 29:09
  Speaker 1: Possibly you could mend it up and sell it. The
• 29:13
  Speaker 1: tinker looked at the kettle and tapped the brass sides. Yes,
• 29:17
  Speaker 1: I can mend it and polish it. Up, he said.
• 29:20
  Speaker 1: So he paid the priest a few coppers for the kettle,
• 29:23
  Speaker 1: wrapped it up in a cloth, placed it carefully in
• 29:26
  Speaker 1: its box, and tied the tapes tightly. Then he carried
• 29:31
  Speaker 1: it home, well pleased with his bargain. When he was
• 29:34
  Speaker 1: getting ready for bed, he untied the box, and opening
• 29:38
  Speaker 1: the cloth, he inspected the kettle. Surely, this is a
• 29:43
  Speaker 1: very good brass kettle, he said. I wonder how it
• 29:46
  Speaker 1: ever got so many dents. Well, in the morning I
• 29:50
  Speaker 1: will mend it and fix it as good as new.
• 29:54
  Speaker 1: The tinker went to sleep in fine spirits, and he
• 29:57
  Speaker 1: was dreaming about his beautiful brass kettle when he I
• 30:00
  Speaker 1: heard a noise as though some one was moving about
• 30:03
  Speaker 1: in the room. I must be dreaming, he said to himself,
• 30:07
  Speaker 1: and turned over and went to sleep again. But soon
• 30:10
  Speaker 1: he was awakened by a shrill little voice that called, Tinker, Oh, tinker,
• 30:15
  Speaker 1: get up, get up. The tinker sprang up wide awake
• 30:20
  Speaker 1: this time, and lo and behold there was the tea kettle,
• 30:24
  Speaker 1: with the head, the sharp little nose and beady eyes,
• 30:28
  Speaker 1: the bushy tail, the four little feet, and the free
• 30:32
  Speaker 1: little body of a badger. The tinker was frightened nearly
• 30:36
  Speaker 1: out of his wits and began to scream, goblin, goblin,
• 30:40
  Speaker 1: Go away, you ugly goblin. The badger walked right towards him, grinning.
• 30:46
  Speaker 1: Listen to me, my dear tinker, I am not a goblin.
• 30:50
  Speaker 1: Don't be frightened. I am a wonderful tea kettle, and
• 30:55
  Speaker 1: my name is Umboo Koochagama. I will bring you good luck,
• 31:00
  Speaker 1: for you have treated me well. I do not like
• 31:03
  Speaker 1: to be put over the warm coals, as the priest
• 31:06
  Speaker 1: placed me in the temple to day. I do not
• 31:09
  Speaker 1: care to be beaten with sticks. Those boys at the
• 31:12
  Speaker 1: temple beat me and made dents in my sides. But
• 31:16
  Speaker 1: you've patted me gently and wrapped me carefully, and promised
• 31:19
  Speaker 1: to mend me. So I shall bring good luck to you, tinker.
• 31:24
  Speaker 1: The tinker still trembled a little. He was so astonished
• 31:27
  Speaker 1: to hear this badger tea kettle talking. What can I
• 31:31
  Speaker 1: do for you, Bumboo Koochagama, he asked humbly. Shall I
• 31:36
  Speaker 1: wrap you in the soft cloth again and keep you
• 31:38
  Speaker 1: in your box? Oh no, no, answered the tea kettle.
• 31:43
  Speaker 1: I would like to live here in your house with you.
• 31:46
  Speaker 1: I like nice, sweet things to eat, just as you do.
• 31:51
  Speaker 1: I will not be a burden, however, for I can
• 31:54
  Speaker 1: work for my living. Now go to sleep, Tinker, and
• 31:58
  Speaker 1: in the morning I will show you what I can do.
• 32:01
  Speaker 1: The tinker was soon fast asleep. In the morning, he
• 32:05
  Speaker 1: rubbed his eyes, feeling sure that it was all a dream.
• 32:09
  Speaker 1: But no, there was the badger tea kettle, looking at
• 32:12
  Speaker 1: him with his beady little eyes. Bowing low before him,
• 32:16
  Speaker 1: the badger said, almost politely, Ohio, good morning, honorable master.
• 32:23
  Speaker 1: The kind tinker then provided a fine feast for baboonkoot Chagama.
• 32:28
  Speaker 1: After breakfast was over, he took the dance out of
• 32:31
  Speaker 1: the brass sides of the kettle and polished it all
• 32:34
  Speaker 1: over until it shone like a mirror. This pleased the
• 32:38
  Speaker 1: badger very much. Honorable Tinker, said, baboonkoo Chugama, you must
• 32:44
  Speaker 1: know that I am no ordinary kettle, nor am I
• 32:47
  Speaker 1: an ordinary badger. I have many tricks and accomplishments. If
• 32:53
  Speaker 1: you will take me around the country, you can give
• 32:56
  Speaker 1: shows with me, if you will have someone to accompany
• 32:58
  Speaker 1: me with music. And the tinker never doubted the badger,
• 33:03
  Speaker 1: and so he started out at once he called his
• 33:07
  Speaker 1: show Babunkuchigama. People came from near and far, and the
• 33:12
  Speaker 1: wonderful tea Kettle made a great success. He would be
• 33:16
  Speaker 1: as still as an ordinary tea kettle at first, then
• 33:19
  Speaker 1: suddenly he would change into a badger with the kettle
• 33:23
  Speaker 1: on his back. Not only did he walk about on
• 33:26
  Speaker 1: four legs, but he would walk the tightrope and dance
• 33:30
  Speaker 1: upon it, performing all kinds of acrobatic tricks, and ending
• 33:33
  Speaker 1: by making a low bow to his spectators, begging them
• 33:37
  Speaker 1: to come to his next show. Finally, he would climb
• 33:41
  Speaker 1: up on his box, close his eyes, and become a
• 33:44
  Speaker 1: brass kettle again. The people came in crowds to see
• 33:48
  Speaker 1: the wonderful tea Kettle, and the theater was filled many
• 33:51
  Speaker 1: times a day for his show. At length, even the
• 33:55
  Speaker 1: Princess heard of him, and the tinker was summoned to
• 33:58
  Speaker 1: the royal Palace, where he retained the princes and the
• 34:01
  Speaker 1: princesses and all the court. At last, the tinker became
• 34:06
  Speaker 1: so very rich that he retired from the show business, and,
• 34:10
  Speaker 1: wishing his faithful kettle to rest, he spent a large
• 34:13
  Speaker 1: share of his wealth upon the kettle and had it
• 34:16
  Speaker 1: placed in the temple of Muringi, where it was kept
• 34:19
  Speaker 1: as a precious treasure. Some say that every day the
• 34:23
  Speaker 1: tea kettle becomes a badger and is fed upon sugar plums,
• 34:28
  Speaker 1: while others say that it rests now in the form
• 34:31
  Speaker 1: of a brass kettle and is worshiped as a saint.
• 34:35
  Speaker 1: End of chapter three, chapter four of Little Peachling and
• 34:45
  Speaker 1: Other Tales of Old Japan, retold by Georgine Faulkner. This
• 34:50
  Speaker 1: LibriVox recording is in the public domain. The mayor of Matsuyama,
• 34:56
  Speaker 1: Matsuyama Kagami. Once upon a time, long long ago, there
• 35:02
  Speaker 1: lived in Montsiyama, in the province of Ichigo, a very
• 35:06
  Speaker 1: happy family, a man at his wife and their dear
• 35:10
  Speaker 1: little girl. One day, the father came home and said, sadly, see,
• 35:15
  Speaker 1: dear wife, I have just received this message from the
• 35:18
  Speaker 1: Emperor of Japan, commanding me to come at once to
• 35:21
  Speaker 1: the great city of Tokyo. I am very sorry to
• 35:25
  Speaker 1: leave you and our dear daughter, for this means I
• 35:28
  Speaker 1: must be gone many days now. You must know, children,
• 35:32
  Speaker 1: that there were no trains in those days, and as
• 35:36
  Speaker 1: this good man had no horse upon which to ride,
• 35:39
  Speaker 1: he was obliged to walk the whole long journey. His
• 35:43
  Speaker 1: wife had never been further from home than the next village,
• 35:47
  Speaker 1: so she was frightened at the thought of her husband
• 35:49
  Speaker 1: taking such a long journey. And yet she was a
• 35:52
  Speaker 1: little proud too, for she knew that he was the
• 35:56
  Speaker 1: first man in all that part of the country who
• 35:58
  Speaker 1: had ever been summoned by the Emperor. When the time
• 36:02
  Speaker 1: came for the father to leave home, the mother and
• 36:05
  Speaker 1: little daughter walked with him down through the village until
• 36:08
  Speaker 1: they came to a long path which went winding up
• 36:10
  Speaker 1: the mountain side. There he kissed them goodbye, saying syonara, goodbye,
• 36:17
  Speaker 1: dear wife. I hope I may be able to come
• 36:20
  Speaker 1: home in about three weeks. Syonara, little daughter, I will
• 36:25
  Speaker 1: bring you some presents from the great city of Tokyo. Siranara, sirrenara,
• 36:31
  Speaker 1: They both answered sadly, and the mother led the little
• 36:34
  Speaker 1: girl back home. After three long weeks had passed, the
• 36:38
  Speaker 1: mother felt that it was time to expect her husband home,
• 36:42
  Speaker 1: so she hung garlands of flowers all about the house
• 36:45
  Speaker 1: and dressed herself and her little daughter in their very
• 36:48
  Speaker 1: best kimonas. Hand and in hand, they walked down to
• 36:52
  Speaker 1: the turn of the road to await his coming. On
• 36:55
  Speaker 1: the side of the mountain, they saw a tiny speck
• 36:58
  Speaker 1: come down the winding pathway, and as it drew nearer
• 37:02
  Speaker 1: and nearer, they saw that it was the father. Soon
• 37:06
  Speaker 1: he was clasping them in his strong arms and kissing them,
• 37:10
  Speaker 1: while they hugged and kissed him in return, and told
• 37:13
  Speaker 1: him over and over how much they had missed him
• 37:15
  Speaker 1: these many days. He had wonderful things to tell them
• 37:20
  Speaker 1: about his long journey to the city, and about the
• 37:23
  Speaker 1: Emperor and the royal palace. When they reached home, he
• 37:27
  Speaker 1: untied a package and brought out some presents for his
• 37:30
  Speaker 1: little daughter. I want you to always have a happy spirit,
• 37:34
  Speaker 1: he said, as he gave her a tiny image of
• 37:37
  Speaker 1: the Goddess of laughter.
• 37:39
  Speaker 2: You zu me.
• 37:41
  Speaker 1: Then he took out a funny little toy monkey made
• 37:43
  Speaker 1: of cotton, and when the little girl pressed a spring,
• 37:47
  Speaker 1: the monkey ran up to the top of the rod.
• 37:50
  Speaker 1: Watch this tombo dragonfly, said the father. As he took
• 37:54
  Speaker 1: out a toy which was shaped like a tea, he
• 37:58
  Speaker 1: whirled it about his fingers it flew up into the
• 38:01
  Speaker 1: air like a real dragonfly. The little girl clapped her
• 38:05
  Speaker 1: hands in glee, calling to her mother, just see it fly,
• 38:10
  Speaker 1: Just see it fly. But best of all, the little
• 38:14
  Speaker 1: girl loved the new doll Ninghio, which her father had
• 38:17
  Speaker 1: bought for her. Keep this doll carefully, said her mother.
• 38:22
  Speaker 1: Then some day, when you are grown your own little
• 38:25
  Speaker 1: girl will play with it as you play with my doll.
• 38:28
  Speaker 1: On Doll's Day, the little girl sat down upon a
• 38:32
  Speaker 1: straw mat near her father. She patted the beautiful little
• 38:36
  Speaker 1: silk Kimona on the doll, and hugging her new dolly
• 38:40
  Speaker 1: to her, she listened to the stories her father told
• 38:43
  Speaker 1: of the wonderful city of Tokyo, and of all the
• 38:46
  Speaker 1: strange sights he had seen there by and by. The
• 38:50
  Speaker 1: little girl went outside to play, and when they were alone,
• 38:54
  Speaker 1: the husband handed his wife a white box, saying, I
• 38:58
  Speaker 1: have brought you a very pretty present. It is called
• 39:01
  Speaker 1: a mirror. Look and tell me what you see inside.
• 39:06
  Speaker 1: He gave her a plain, white wooden box tied with
• 39:09
  Speaker 1: a red tape, and when she had opened it, she
• 39:12
  Speaker 1: found inside, wrapped in silk, a round piece of metal.
• 39:17
  Speaker 1: One side was white like frosted silver, and was covered
• 39:21
  Speaker 1: with raised figures of birds and flowers, while the other
• 39:25
  Speaker 1: side was as bright as the clearest crystal. But as
• 39:29
  Speaker 1: the young mother bent over it, she was amazed to
• 39:32
  Speaker 1: see a beautiful woman who was looking out at her
• 39:35
  Speaker 1: with shining eyes and a happy smile. Oh, husband, she gasped,
• 39:42
  Speaker 1: look in here at this beautiful woman. Why she seems
• 39:46
  Speaker 1: to talk as I talk, and she is smiling at me.
• 39:49
  Speaker 1: Her hair is like my hair, and she wears a
• 39:52
  Speaker 1: light blue silk, kimona, just like mine? Is that not
• 39:57
  Speaker 1: very strange? Why you, silly woman, laughed her husband. Don't
• 40:02
  Speaker 1: you know that is your own face you see before you?
• 40:06
  Speaker 1: That round piece of metal is called a mirror, and
• 40:09
  Speaker 1: it is a bit of glass that can reflect anything
• 40:12
  Speaker 1: placed before it. So it is a picture of you
• 40:15
  Speaker 1: as you have seen yourself in a pool of clear,
• 40:18
  Speaker 1: bright water. All the women in Tokyo use these mirrors,
• 40:22
  Speaker 1: although we have never seen them in this little country
• 40:25
  Speaker 1: place before. But my dear little wife, you are much
• 40:30
  Speaker 1: more beautiful than any of the court ladies. The wife
• 40:34
  Speaker 1: gazed and gazed into the mirror, smiling at the picture
• 40:37
  Speaker 1: of herself, for she liked to see her red lips
• 40:41
  Speaker 1: and her black hair and laughing eyes. And she knew
• 40:45
  Speaker 1: that her husband was right, that she was indeed very beautiful.
• 40:51
  Speaker 1: After a while, she put it down, scolding herself softly,
• 40:56
  Speaker 1: how silly I am to sit here and smile at
• 40:59
  Speaker 1: my own image. I shall grow vain if I keep
• 41:02
  Speaker 1: on looking at my own face. I must look about
• 41:05
  Speaker 1: me to find beauty. My husband tells me I am
• 41:09
  Speaker 1: beautiful because he loves me. But I must remember that
• 41:13
  Speaker 1: I am only beautiful when I am happy and smiling.
• 41:16
  Speaker 1: For if I look cross and angry, then my mirror
• 41:19
  Speaker 1: will show me a face that is scowling and sad.
• 41:23
  Speaker 1: I will put my mirror in the box and shut
• 41:25
  Speaker 1: it up among my most valued treasures, and I will
• 41:28
  Speaker 1: look at it only once a year, to see if
• 41:31
  Speaker 1: my face is full of joy and gladness. So she
• 41:34
  Speaker 1: put the mirror away, wrapping it carefully in a silk
• 41:38
  Speaker 1: cloth and tying up the box. And only once a
• 41:41
  Speaker 1: year did she take it out. And then she did
• 41:44
  Speaker 1: not admire herself, but look thoughtfully at her face, watching
• 41:48
  Speaker 1: to see that no cross lines came upon her brow.
• 41:52
  Speaker 1: After many years, the little girl grew from a small
• 41:55
  Speaker 1: girl into a beautiful young woman, and her dolls and
• 41:59
  Speaker 1: her toy were all put carefully away for her own
• 42:02
  Speaker 1: little children to enjoy She grew to look more and
• 42:06
  Speaker 1: more like her mother every day, and as she was
• 42:10
  Speaker 1: always thoughtful of others and very unselfish, everybody loved her.
• 42:16
  Speaker 1: The mother remembered her own little passing vanity when her
• 42:19
  Speaker 1: husband had told her that she was beautiful, and she
• 42:22
  Speaker 1: had found that it was true as she gazed for
• 42:25
  Speaker 1: the first time into a mirror. So this careful mother
• 42:30
  Speaker 1: was afraid that her daughter might become vain of her beauty,
• 42:33
  Speaker 1: and she had kept her mirror hidden away from the
• 42:35
  Speaker 1: young girl. She never spoke of the silver marre, and
• 42:39
  Speaker 1: the father seemed to have forgotten about it. So the
• 42:43
  Speaker 1: daughter grew up to be just as simple as her
• 42:45
  Speaker 1: mother had been, never knowing that she was beautiful. By
• 42:50
  Speaker 1: and by a great sorrow came to this happy little family.
• 42:54
  Speaker 1: The good kind mother became very ill, and although the
• 42:58
  Speaker 1: father and daughter waited upon her her day and night
• 43:01
  Speaker 1: with loving care, she grew rapidly worse and worse, until
• 43:05
  Speaker 1: they knew that she could not stay with them. When
• 43:08
  Speaker 1: the good mother found that she soon must leave her
• 43:11
  Speaker 1: husband and dear daughter, she felt very sad. She called
• 43:15
  Speaker 1: her daughter to her and said, my dear daughter, I
• 43:19
  Speaker 1: know that I am very sick, and soon I must
• 43:22
  Speaker 1: go on a long journey from whence no one can
• 43:25
  Speaker 1: ever return. I want to give you a present which
• 43:28
  Speaker 1: will always remind you of me. Go now and bring
• 43:32
  Speaker 1: me the little white box that your father gave me
• 43:35
  Speaker 1: so long ago when you were a little girl. Look
• 43:39
  Speaker 1: in it and just tell me what you see. The
• 43:42
  Speaker 1: daughter brought out the box and carefully unwound the silk,
• 43:46
  Speaker 1: and when she looked for the first time at the mirror,
• 43:49
  Speaker 1: she exclaimed in surprise. Oh mother, dear mother, I can
• 43:54
  Speaker 1: see your face looking out at me. You are very
• 43:57
  Speaker 1: beautiful and young, and happy and smiling. Yes, dear daughter,
• 44:02
  Speaker 1: the mother answered softly. The face you see before you
• 44:06
  Speaker 1: looks very like my own when I was young. Now,
• 44:11
  Speaker 1: when I am gone, look into this mirror every morning
• 44:14
  Speaker 1: and night, and talk with me, telling me of your
• 44:17
  Speaker 1: joys and sorrows. Be sure and bring only smiles, and
• 44:22
  Speaker 1: then the face will smile back at you. But if
• 44:25
  Speaker 1: you bring tears and sadness, then you will only see
• 44:29
  Speaker 1: tears and sadness in the mirror. Try to do right,
• 44:32
  Speaker 1: my dear, and comfort your poor father. Try to make
• 44:36
  Speaker 1: him happy, and then you will see happiness in this face. Yes, yes,
• 44:42
  Speaker 1: I promise, dear mother, said the girl softly. And not
• 44:46
  Speaker 1: long after that the mother was gone. The girl remembered
• 44:50
  Speaker 1: what her mother had said and went and brought out
• 44:53
  Speaker 1: the white box, And when she looked into the mirror
• 44:56
  Speaker 1: and saw the sad, tear stained face looking out at her,
• 45:00
  Speaker 1: she cried aloud, Oh, I have made my dear mother
• 45:04
  Speaker 1: most unhappy. I must never look at her like this
• 45:08
  Speaker 1: through my tears, even if I do feel lonely and sad.
• 45:12
  Speaker 1: So drying her eyes, she went back and smiled at
• 45:16
  Speaker 1: the face in the mirror, and instantly the smile came
• 45:19
  Speaker 1: back to her. Now she is happy, said the girl.
• 45:24
  Speaker 1: I must try to make her smile every day, and
• 45:27
  Speaker 1: make my poor, lonely father very happy too. Every day,
• 45:31
  Speaker 1: the brave girl tried to comfort her father, and her
• 45:34
  Speaker 1: greatest joy was to be able to look into the
• 45:36
  Speaker 1: mirror at night and smile. She would say gently, Mother,
• 45:42
  Speaker 1: I have tried to day to do all that you
• 45:44
  Speaker 1: would have me do. Now. As her father saw her
• 45:48
  Speaker 1: looking into the mayor and talking with it, he asked
• 45:51
  Speaker 1: her the reason for her strange behavior. Why don't you see, father,
• 45:56
  Speaker 1: She answered, this is the present you've brought for dear mother.
• 46:00
  Speaker 1: They're so long ago, and she gave it to me
• 46:03
  Speaker 1: and told me to look into it. Every day. As
• 46:06
  Speaker 1: I look into this mirror, I can always see the
• 46:09
  Speaker 1: face of my mother before me. If I am sad,
• 46:12
  Speaker 1: she looks sad. But if I smile at her, she
• 46:16
  Speaker 1: smiles back at me. As she told him of her
• 46:19
  Speaker 1: mother's last wish, the father was touched by her child
• 46:23
  Speaker 1: like faith and simplicity. My daughter, you are quite right.
• 46:28
  Speaker 1: You grow to look more like your dear mother every day,
• 46:31
  Speaker 1: and like hers, your face shines with love and happiness.
• 46:36
  Speaker 1: And of Chapter four chapter five of Little Peachling and
• 46:46
  Speaker 1: Other Tales of Old Japan, retold by Georgine Faulkner. This
• 46:51
  Speaker 1: LibriVox recording is in the public domain. The Prince of
• 46:55
  Speaker 1: the reed Planes. Once upon a time there lived in Japan,
• 47:00
  Speaker 1: a mighty prince who had eighty one sons. Now eighty
• 47:04
  Speaker 1: of these princes were proud and bold, and they quarreled
• 47:07
  Speaker 1: constantly with each other, and despised their younger brother, because
• 47:11
  Speaker 1: he was good and gentle. He was not very handsome,
• 47:15
  Speaker 1: but his eyes were always shining with kindness, so that
• 47:18
  Speaker 1: everyone loved him. He was very good to the poor
• 47:22
  Speaker 1: people who worked out in the rice fields. His older
• 47:25
  Speaker 1: brothers often mocked him, saying, hotly, you're no better than
• 47:29
  Speaker 1: a servant, constantly down among the workers in our father's
• 47:33
  Speaker 1: fields and plains. You should be called Prince of the
• 47:36
  Speaker 1: reed Plains. All the animals loved the young prince, for
• 47:40
  Speaker 1: he constantly cared for them. At one time he had
• 47:44
  Speaker 1: saved the lives of some little field mice when the
• 47:47
  Speaker 1: reapers were about to cut down their tiny home. Now,
• 47:51
  Speaker 1: at that time there lived in Inabah a very beautiful princess.
• 47:56
  Speaker 1: She had eyes as bright as the stars, and her
• 47:59
  Speaker 1: hair was black as the darkest night. As she grew older,
• 48:04
  Speaker 1: everyone about the court said, soon, our beautiful princess will
• 48:08
  Speaker 1: be married. But she would answer, nowhere in Anaba is
• 48:12
  Speaker 1: there a prince for me to wed. When people heard
• 48:15
  Speaker 1: of her great beauty, suitors came from near and far
• 48:18
  Speaker 1: to try to woo her. Among them came the eighty brothers,
• 48:23
  Speaker 1: all quarreling with one another. They took with them as
• 48:27
  Speaker 1: their servant, the Prince of the reed Plains. He is
• 48:30
  Speaker 1: so homely that she will not love him. They said.
• 48:34
  Speaker 1: He is no better than a servant, So he shall
• 48:36
  Speaker 1: carry all our burdens. The eighty haughty brothers marched on ahead,
• 48:41
  Speaker 1: leaving the Prince of the Reed Plains to follow after them.
• 48:45
  Speaker 1: As they came to Cape Keda by the sea shore,
• 48:48
  Speaker 1: they saw a poor little hare lying on the sand.
• 48:52
  Speaker 1: He was stripped of his furry coat and was weeping
• 48:54
  Speaker 1: and moaning, Oh, please, kind sirs, what shall I do
• 48:59
  Speaker 1: to make my fur grow again? One of the wicked
• 49:02
  Speaker 1: brothers answered with a mocking laugh. Run out into the
• 49:06
  Speaker 1: sea and bathe in the salt water. Then climb up
• 49:09
  Speaker 1: on the slope of Yonder High mountain and let the
• 49:12
  Speaker 1: wind god fan your skin. That will cure you. Thank you, kindly,
• 49:17
  Speaker 1: noble prince, said the poor little hare, and he did
• 49:21
  Speaker 1: just as he was told, while the cruel brothers laughed
• 49:24
  Speaker 1: to see him. Hopping down into the sea waves. The
• 49:27
  Speaker 1: salt water made his skin smart, and when he lay
• 49:31
  Speaker 1: down on the sunny slope of the mountain, the sun
• 49:34
  Speaker 1: and wind cracked and burned his tender skin until he
• 49:37
  Speaker 1: cried with pain. The Prince of the Reed Plains came
• 49:42
  Speaker 1: last of all, carrying his heavy burdens, and when he
• 49:45
  Speaker 1: saw the poor little hare, he said, why are you
• 49:48
  Speaker 1: lying here in the sun weeping. Oh, honorable sir, said
• 49:53
  Speaker 1: the little hare. You have a kind face, and I
• 49:55
  Speaker 1: am sure that you must have a kind heart. Maybe
• 49:59
  Speaker 1: you will help me if I tell you my sad story.
• 50:02
  Speaker 1: Tell me, little hare, and I will do what I
• 50:05
  Speaker 1: can for you, said the young man. All my life
• 50:09
  Speaker 1: I lived in the island of Oki. As I grew older,
• 50:12
  Speaker 1: I wished to cross over to this mainland, but of
• 50:15
  Speaker 1: course I could not swim. So one day, when I
• 50:20
  Speaker 1: saw some crocodile stretched out on the beach, I called
• 50:24
  Speaker 1: out boastingly, there are more hares in Oki than there
• 50:27
  Speaker 1: are crocodiles in the sea. That is not so, answered
• 50:32
  Speaker 1: one of the crocodiles. You don't know what you are
• 50:35
  Speaker 1: talking about. There are more crocodiles in the sea. Well,
• 50:40
  Speaker 1: you get all the crocodiles and come and lie in
• 50:42
  Speaker 1: a row across from this island to Cape Kita. I
• 50:46
  Speaker 1: will run across your backs and count them as I go.
• 50:50
  Speaker 1: Then we shall know whether there are more hares or
• 50:53
  Speaker 1: crocodiles in the world. So the crocodiles did just as
• 50:57
  Speaker 1: I said, and their broad backs made a good bridge
• 51:00
  Speaker 1: for me, and I came hopping across, counting them as
• 51:03
  Speaker 1: I ran But when I was just jumping off the
• 51:07
  Speaker 1: last crocodile upon the shore, I called out mockingly, that
• 51:12
  Speaker 1: is the time I fooled you. I only wanted to
• 51:15
  Speaker 1: use you to make a bridge for my own safe
• 51:17
  Speaker 1: crossing to the mainland. Then the last crocodile caught my
• 51:22
  Speaker 1: fur in his teeth, and in his anger, he stripped
• 51:25
  Speaker 1: me of my coat. As I lay here on this sand,
• 51:29
  Speaker 1: weeping and wailing, eighty princes came along, and they told
• 51:32
  Speaker 1: me to bathe in the sea and to lie in
• 51:35
  Speaker 1: the wind in the sun. I did so, and now
• 51:38
  Speaker 1: my body is cracked and its stings and smarts. What
• 51:43
  Speaker 1: can I do, for I can hardly bear this pain.
• 51:46
  Speaker 1: The prince of the reed planes answered you, poor little hare.
• 51:50
  Speaker 1: I do pity you. You did wrong to trick the crocodiles.
• 51:55
  Speaker 1: But my brothers did wrong to tell you to bathe
• 51:57
  Speaker 1: in the sea. So I will help you. You must
• 52:01
  Speaker 1: go quickly to the mouth of the river and bathe
• 52:03
  Speaker 1: the salt from your body with the fresh clear water. There.
• 52:07
  Speaker 1: Then take the pollen from the water reeds and spread
• 52:10
  Speaker 1: it about and roll upon it, and your body will
• 52:13
  Speaker 1: be again covered with fur. The hare did just as
• 52:17
  Speaker 1: the Prince of the reed Plains told him to do,
• 52:20
  Speaker 1: and soon soft fur began to grow all over his body.
• 52:24
  Speaker 1: The grateful little hare hopped after the prince and said,
• 52:28
  Speaker 1: I know that you are going to the royal palace.
• 52:31
  Speaker 1: Those other cruel princes shall not wed the beautiful princess.
• 52:34
  Speaker 1: And although you seem to be their servant and carry
• 52:38
  Speaker 1: their bags, yet I know you are the true prince,
• 52:41
  Speaker 1: and you shall marry her. Then the little hare ran away,
• 52:45
  Speaker 1: clippety clippity clip through the tall grass. He ran to
• 52:50
  Speaker 1: the garden of the palace, and there he found a
• 52:52
  Speaker 1: little brother hare, who was the pet and playmate of
• 52:55
  Speaker 1: the beautiful princess, and he told him the whole story.
• 53:00
  Speaker 1: Now you must help this good prince to wed your
• 53:03
  Speaker 1: beautiful mistress, said the hare. He is carrying all the
• 53:07
  Speaker 1: burdens like a servant, but is really a prince, and
• 53:10
  Speaker 1: he is worthy of your beautiful princess because he has
• 53:13
  Speaker 1: such a kind heart. I will whisper your story to
• 53:17
  Speaker 1: my princess, said the pet hare, and he did so
• 53:20
  Speaker 1: that very day. Now, in the meantime, the eighty princes
• 53:25
  Speaker 1: came to the palace, and each in turn tried to
• 53:28
  Speaker 1: woo the princess. But her answer was the same to all,
• 53:32
  Speaker 1: I will not listen to one of you, for I
• 53:35
  Speaker 1: know that you are cruel. I am going to marry
• 53:38
  Speaker 1: the Prince of the reed Plains, for I have been
• 53:41
  Speaker 1: told that he has a kind heart. Then the eighty
• 53:44
  Speaker 1: princes went away in great anger, plodding among themselves how
• 53:48
  Speaker 1: they might trap the prince. At last, the Prince of
• 53:52
  Speaker 1: the reed Plains came near the royal palace, burying his
• 53:56
  Speaker 1: brother's burdens. He looked like a servant, but the beautiful
• 54:00
  Speaker 1: princess knew from the hair just who he was, so
• 54:04
  Speaker 1: she went outside to the gate to meet him. When
• 54:08
  Speaker 1: she looked into his eyes, she knew that he had
• 54:11
  Speaker 1: a kind heart, and she loved him at once, and
• 54:15
  Speaker 1: so she married him in secret. Then she came to
• 54:18
  Speaker 1: her father, the King, and said, a very noble and
• 54:22
  Speaker 1: beautiful prince has come to our land. I would have
• 54:25
  Speaker 1: him for my husband. Her father went forth to look
• 54:29
  Speaker 1: at the prince, But as soon as he saw him,
• 54:32
  Speaker 1: he said, this is only the ugly prince of the
• 54:35
  Speaker 1: reed Plains. He is no better than a servant to
• 54:38
  Speaker 1: his brothers. How dare he come here begging for your hand?
• 54:43
  Speaker 1: So he caused the prince to be seized and put
• 54:45
  Speaker 1: in the snake house that night. Now it would have
• 54:49
  Speaker 1: fared ill for the prince if his wife, the Princess,
• 54:52
  Speaker 1: had not managed to give him a magic scarf. When
• 54:56
  Speaker 1: the snakes were about to strike you, she whispered, wave
• 54:59
  Speaker 1: them scarf three times. The prince took the magic scarf
• 55:04
  Speaker 1: and did as she told him, waving it three times
• 55:07
  Speaker 1: at the snakes. Soon, all the serpents coiled up and
• 55:11
  Speaker 1: went to sleep, and the prince slept soundly until the morning.
• 55:15
  Speaker 1: The next day. The king was very angry when he
• 55:18
  Speaker 1: saw that the prince was unharmed by the snakes, so
• 55:22
  Speaker 1: he ordered him to be put into a chamber of
• 55:24
  Speaker 1: wasps and centipedes. But that night, as before, the prince
• 55:29
  Speaker 1: waved the magic scarf three times and slept unharmed in
• 55:34
  Speaker 1: the chamber of the wasps and centipedes. Then the king
• 55:38
  Speaker 1: was more enraged and was determined to kill the prince.
• 55:42
  Speaker 1: He shot an arrow from his great bow far away
• 55:45
  Speaker 1: into the midst of the moor, and he said to
• 55:47
  Speaker 1: the prince, go and get that arrow. As soon as
• 55:51
  Speaker 1: the prince got to the middle of the moor, the
• 55:54
  Speaker 1: king set fire to it all about, so that there
• 55:57
  Speaker 1: was no chance of escape. While the prince stood gazing
• 56:01
  Speaker 1: at the fire, as the circle of flames came closer
• 56:04
  Speaker 1: and closer, a little field mouse came to him and said,
• 56:08
  Speaker 1: once you were kind to the field mice, and now
• 56:11
  Speaker 1: we can help you. And he led the prince to
• 56:14
  Speaker 1: a certain spot, saying, the inside is hollow, hollow, the
• 56:19
  Speaker 1: outside is narrow, narrow. Putting his foot on the spot.
• 56:23
  Speaker 1: The prince saw it open and fell into an underground passage,
• 56:27
  Speaker 1: where he hid until the fire burn passed him. As
• 56:30
  Speaker 1: he came out upon the burned and blackened more, the
• 56:34
  Speaker 1: field mouse ran to him, carrying the arrow in his mouth.
• 56:38
  Speaker 1: The tiny children of the mouse came after, each bringing
• 56:42
  Speaker 1: a feather from the shaft of the arrow. Meanwhile, the
• 56:46
  Speaker 1: poor princess was watching the flames and weeping, for she
• 56:50
  Speaker 1: truly loved her kind prince. Her father was just saying,
• 56:55
  Speaker 1: at last we have trapped the ugly reed prince. He
• 56:58
  Speaker 1: is not worthy to be the husband of our princess.
• 57:01
  Speaker 1: When in walked the prince, holding the arrow in his hand.
• 57:06
  Speaker 1: Then the king took the prince and princess into his
• 57:09
  Speaker 1: garden house. But while he was planning another task for
• 57:13
  Speaker 1: the prince, The king fell asleep, the prince very quietly
• 57:17
  Speaker 1: without waking. The king tied his long locks of hair
• 57:21
  Speaker 1: to the rafters. He took the king's great sword, his
• 57:25
  Speaker 1: boned arrows, and his magic clute. Then he and his wife,
• 57:30
  Speaker 1: the beautiful princess, slipped away, locking the door with a
• 57:34
  Speaker 1: big rock. The prince carried the princess on his back
• 57:38
  Speaker 1: and ran through the garden and out into the forest
• 57:41
  Speaker 1: to hide before the king could awaken and give the alarm.
• 57:46
  Speaker 1: But as the prince ran, the magi clute caught in
• 57:49
  Speaker 1: the branches of the tree and called out a loud
• 57:52
  Speaker 1: note of warning to his master, and the king awoke
• 57:55
  Speaker 1: with a start when he found his hair tied. He
• 57:59
  Speaker 1: pulled and pulled until his house fell down about him.
• 58:03
  Speaker 1: This gave the prince and princess time to reach the
• 58:06
  Speaker 1: pass between that far distant land and the prince's own homeland.
• 58:11
  Speaker 1: Now the king could not but admire the reed prince,
• 58:15
  Speaker 1: even though he was angry to be outdone by him,
• 58:18
  Speaker 1: he loved his courage, so he called out in a
• 58:22
  Speaker 1: loud voice, you have successfully overcome me, but your brothers
• 58:26
  Speaker 1: lie hidden in the valley waiting to kill you. Use
• 58:30
  Speaker 1: now my great sword and bow and arrows. Shoot at
• 58:34
  Speaker 1: them with my magic harols, and all of them will
• 58:36
  Speaker 1: be swept into the river. The Prince of the Reed
• 58:40
  Speaker 1: Plains did as the King commanded, and eighty wicked princes
• 58:44
  Speaker 1: were swept into the reaches of the river. Then he
• 58:47
  Speaker 1: built for his wife a palace with mighty pillars of stone,
• 58:51
  Speaker 1: near the palace of the King. And the old King
• 58:54
  Speaker 1: loved the Prince of the Reed Plains, for he knew
• 58:57
  Speaker 1: him to be brave as well as kind and gem
• 59:01
  Speaker 1: And the princess loved him more and more each day,
• 59:04
  Speaker 1: for she said, I knew from the story of that
• 59:07
  Speaker 1: little hare that if he was kind to the animals,
• 59:10
  Speaker 1: he would be kind and loving to his wife. So
• 59:13
  Speaker 1: they lived in peace and happiness all their lives. End
• 59:18
  Speaker 1: of chapter five Chapter six of Little Peachling and Other
• 59:28
  Speaker 1: Tales of Old Japan retold by Georgine Faulkner. This LibriVox
• 59:33
  Speaker 1: recording is in the public domain. Ginchin Kobakama. Once upon
• 59:39
  Speaker 1: a time there lived in Japan a little girl who
• 59:42
  Speaker 1: was pretty, but she was lazy and selfish. The parents
• 59:46
  Speaker 1: of the little girl were very rich. They lived in
• 59:50
  Speaker 1: a beautiful home. The floors were covered with soft, padded
• 59:54
  Speaker 1: straw matting. The screens were made of carved ebony and
• 59:59
  Speaker 1: covered with silk which was embroidered by artists. The little
• 1:00:04
  Speaker 1: girl was always dressed in the beautiful embroidered silk kimonas.
• 1:00:09
  Speaker 1: She always wore a bright sash or obie tied around
• 1:00:13
  Speaker 1: her waist, but she never dressed herself. Her parents had
• 1:00:18
  Speaker 1: so many servants, and they were all so fond of
• 1:00:20
  Speaker 1: the little girl that they spoiled her. They dressed and
• 1:00:24
  Speaker 1: undressed her, They combed and arranged her beautiful black hair.
• 1:00:29
  Speaker 1: They polished her fingernails. They waited upon her from morning
• 1:00:34
  Speaker 1: until night, doing many things for her which she ought
• 1:00:37
  Speaker 1: to have done for herself. And of course she just
• 1:00:40
  Speaker 1: grew more and more lazy and selfish every day. When
• 1:00:45
  Speaker 1: she grew up to be a beautiful young woman, a
• 1:00:48
  Speaker 1: young lawyer asked her father if he could marry her.
• 1:00:52
  Speaker 1: He was a very brave and handsome young man, and
• 1:00:55
  Speaker 1: the young people loved each other Dearly. After the wedding
• 1:00:58
  Speaker 1: festivities were over, the young husband took his beautiful bride
• 1:01:03
  Speaker 1: to her new home. He did not have a large house,
• 1:01:07
  Speaker 1: nor many servants. There was only one old servant to
• 1:01:11
  Speaker 1: cook the food and to care for the house. So
• 1:01:14
  Speaker 1: the lazy young woman, for the first time in her life,
• 1:01:17
  Speaker 1: found that she had many things to do for herself.
• 1:01:21
  Speaker 1: She had to dress and undress herself now, and she
• 1:01:24
  Speaker 1: must take care of her clothes and make herself pretty
• 1:01:27
  Speaker 1: and neat. She tried hard to do this because she
• 1:01:31
  Speaker 1: loved her husband and was anxious to please him. Now,
• 1:01:35
  Speaker 1: the young warrior had to go away very often, and
• 1:01:38
  Speaker 1: he had to be gone for a long time in
• 1:01:41
  Speaker 1: the wars. While he was gone, she could be as
• 1:01:44
  Speaker 1: lazy as she pleased, for his old parents were good
• 1:01:47
  Speaker 1: natured and never scolded her. One night, when it was
• 1:01:51
  Speaker 1: very still, just at the hour of the Ox, which
• 1:01:55
  Speaker 1: is two o'clock and is a very mysterious time, she
• 1:01:59
  Speaker 1: was awakened by hearing some queer little noises in her room.
• 1:02:04
  Speaker 1: Startled and frightened, she sat up straight in bed, and
• 1:02:07
  Speaker 1: by the light of the big paper lantern, she saw
• 1:02:10
  Speaker 1: a strange sight. Tiny little men dressed just like Japanese
• 1:02:15
  Speaker 1: warriors were marching and dancing and whirling about her bed.
• 1:02:19
  Speaker 1: While the floor was covered with hundreds of these little
• 1:02:21
  Speaker 1: men not more than an inch high. These little soldiers
• 1:02:26
  Speaker 1: wore two tiny swords, and they were dressed just like
• 1:02:29
  Speaker 1: her husband. As they danced about her, they grinned at
• 1:02:33
  Speaker 1: her and sang in a mocking voice, chin chin kobakama
• 1:02:39
  Speaker 1: yomofukasoro oshizumara, Hi mcgimme yatantan, which meant, we are the
• 1:02:47
  Speaker 1: chinchin kobakama. The hour is late, sleep noble, honorable darling.
• 1:02:54
  Speaker 1: Although these words sounded very polite, she could tell by
• 1:02:57
  Speaker 1: the mocking voices and the grinning faces that these little
• 1:03:00
  Speaker 1: warriors were making fun of her. Reaching out with her hands,
• 1:03:05
  Speaker 1: she tried to catch them. She struck at them, trying
• 1:03:08
  Speaker 1: to drive them away, but they jumped aside and went
• 1:03:12
  Speaker 1: whirling and whirling about, waving their tiny swords and making
• 1:03:16
  Speaker 1: up ugly faces as they sang over and over again,
• 1:03:20
  Speaker 1: chin chin kobakama, yomofukusoro oshizumara, hi mcgimmei yatan tan. All
• 1:03:29
  Speaker 1: through the night they danced about her, and she was
• 1:03:32
  Speaker 1: so frightened that she could not cry out nor sleep.
• 1:03:36
  Speaker 1: In the early dawn, they vanished down under the floor mats,
• 1:03:40
  Speaker 1: as suddenly as they had come. She felt sure that
• 1:03:44
  Speaker 1: they must be fairies, but she did not like to
• 1:03:46
  Speaker 1: tell anyone about their strange visit. The next night, just
• 1:03:51
  Speaker 1: at the hour of the ox, the little men came
• 1:03:54
  Speaker 1: again and waked her up with their mocking song. The
• 1:03:58
  Speaker 1: little wife lay awake, frightened until dawn. Every night after
• 1:04:03
  Speaker 1: that they came back at the same hour, and she
• 1:04:07
  Speaker 1: was in such a panic of fear that she could
• 1:04:09
  Speaker 1: not sleep. At last, she became weak and ill. She
• 1:04:14
  Speaker 1: could not eat for all day she feared and dreaded
• 1:04:17
  Speaker 1: the night, and every night the tiny warriors came out
• 1:04:20
  Speaker 1: and frightened her, so that she could get no rest.
• 1:04:24
  Speaker 1: When her husband came home from the war, he was
• 1:04:27
  Speaker 1: worried to find her looking so ill. What is the
• 1:04:31
  Speaker 1: matter with my honorable darling, he asked gently. The little
• 1:04:35
  Speaker 1: wife began to sob and cry. At first, she hid
• 1:04:39
  Speaker 1: her face in her Kimona sleeve, for she was afraid
• 1:04:42
  Speaker 1: that he would laugh at her and tell her that
• 1:04:45
  Speaker 1: she had been dreaming. But he was so very kind
• 1:04:48
  Speaker 1: and gentle to her as he coaxed her to tell
• 1:04:51
  Speaker 1: him her troubles that at last she sobbed out the
• 1:04:55
  Speaker 1: whole story. He listened very seriously and did not laugh
• 1:05:00
  Speaker 1: at her, but took her in his arms, and, wiping
• 1:05:03
  Speaker 1: away her tears, said, do not cry, poor little wife.
• 1:05:08
  Speaker 1: I will watch for these little men tonight and protect
• 1:05:11
  Speaker 1: you with my big sword. At what hour will these
• 1:05:14
  Speaker 1: tiny warriors appear? At the hour of the ox, sobbed
• 1:05:18
  Speaker 1: his wife. They always come back at the same hour.
• 1:05:22
  Speaker 1: That night, the warrior hid himself behind a tall screen
• 1:05:26
  Speaker 1: in their sleeping room, watching through a crack to see
• 1:05:29
  Speaker 1: what would happen. He waited and watched until two o'clock,
• 1:05:33
  Speaker 1: the hour of the Ox, when suddenly, up through the
• 1:05:36
  Speaker 1: mats came the tiny little soldiers, dressed just as he
• 1:05:41
  Speaker 1: was dressed. They marched about, waving their tiny swords, and
• 1:05:45
  Speaker 1: began to dance and to sing in mocking tones Chin
• 1:05:49
  Speaker 1: chin kobakama, yomofukusoro, oshizumara him gimme yatan tan. As they
• 1:05:58
  Speaker 1: dance and whirled, making up faces, they looked so funny
• 1:06:03
  Speaker 1: that the young warrior wanted to laugh. Then, by the
• 1:06:06
  Speaker 1: light of the night lantern, he saw the drawn white
• 1:06:10
  Speaker 1: face of his poor little wife, who was watching the
• 1:06:12
  Speaker 1: men in wild eyed horror. Now the warrior knew that
• 1:06:17
  Speaker 1: all fairies, ghosts, and goblins are afraid of a sword. So,
• 1:06:21
  Speaker 1: drawing his big blade, he rushed from behind the screen, and,
• 1:06:25
  Speaker 1: giving a loud war cry, he struck right and left
• 1:06:29
  Speaker 1: at the little dancers. Immediately, the little men fell down
• 1:06:33
  Speaker 1: right where they were. And what do you think They
• 1:06:36
  Speaker 1: turned into toothpicks. Yes, just a lot of dirty, old
• 1:06:42
  Speaker 1: toothpicks that had been used and thrown aside by the
• 1:06:45
  Speaker 1: lazy young woman. There they were scattered all over the
• 1:06:49
  Speaker 1: floor mats. When the young wife saw them, she was
• 1:06:53
  Speaker 1: very much ashamed, for she knew that they were the
• 1:06:56
  Speaker 1: toothpicks she had used each day. She was so very
• 1:07:00
  Speaker 1: lazy that after she used a toothpick, she would stick
• 1:07:03
  Speaker 1: it down through the tiny slats in the floor mats
• 1:07:06
  Speaker 1: in her room. The little fairies of the floor mats
• 1:07:09
  Speaker 1: were angry at this lazy young woman, and so they
• 1:07:12
  Speaker 1: came out each night to torment her and punish her
• 1:07:15
  Speaker 1: in this way. You have only yourself to blame for this,
• 1:07:19
  Speaker 1: scolded her husband. For this shows that you have been
• 1:07:22
  Speaker 1: very untidy and lazy. She knew that her husband was right,
• 1:07:27
  Speaker 1: so she promised to be a better housekeeper in the future.
• 1:07:31
  Speaker 1: The next morning, the old servant brushed up the dirty
• 1:07:34
  Speaker 1: toothpicks and they were carried out and burned. So, of
• 1:07:38
  Speaker 1: course the tiny men never came back. The young wife
• 1:07:42
  Speaker 1: tried from that time to be as neat and orderly
• 1:07:45
  Speaker 1: as her husband could wish, and so they lived in
• 1:07:48
  Speaker 1: good order and peace and happiness ever after. End of
• 1:07:53
  Speaker 1: chapter six Chapter seven of Little Peachling and Other Tales
• 1:08:03
  Speaker 1: of Old Japan, retold by Georgine Faulkner. This LibriVox recording
• 1:08:09
  Speaker 1: is in the public domain. The boastful bamboo Tree. Far
• 1:08:15
  Speaker 1: far away in the flowery Kingdom of Japan is a
• 1:08:18
  Speaker 1: wonderful snow capped mountain called Fujiyama. Near this mighty mountain
• 1:08:24
  Speaker 1: was a great forest where many tall trees were growing,
• 1:08:28
  Speaker 1: firs and pines and graceful bamboo trees. Standing side by
• 1:08:32
  Speaker 1: side in this forest were two bamboo trees. One was
• 1:08:36
  Speaker 1: very strong and straight and tall. He held his head
• 1:08:40
  Speaker 1: high and would not bow before the north wind, while
• 1:08:44
  Speaker 1: the other was a little slender bamboo tree, so slight
• 1:08:47
  Speaker 1: that it bent with every breeze and trembled with fright.
• 1:08:51
  Speaker 1: When a severe storm came sweeping down from the mountains.
• 1:08:56
  Speaker 1: The little flowers of the forest would also bend in
• 1:08:58
  Speaker 1: the storm, and when they saw the little tree trembling
• 1:09:02
  Speaker 1: in the tempest, They would bow to the ground like
• 1:09:05
  Speaker 1: worshippers before a shrine. The flowers loved the little bamboo
• 1:09:09
  Speaker 1: tree and were grateful for its shade, and the happy children,
• 1:09:13
  Speaker 1: when they came to the forest to gather flowers, learned
• 1:09:17
  Speaker 1: to love the little tree. Also. They called her lady
• 1:09:21
  Speaker 1: silver Mist. But the big bamboo tree looked down upon
• 1:09:25
  Speaker 1: her and said, scornfully, you are a coward. A brave
• 1:09:29
  Speaker 1: bamboo would never show such fear. You bend and bow
• 1:09:33
  Speaker 1: to every breeze. Just watch me and see how straight
• 1:09:38
  Speaker 1: I stand. I bow to no one, Yes, said the
• 1:09:42
  Speaker 1: little bamboo tree humbly. Some day you will be of
• 1:09:46
  Speaker 1: great use in the world. Maybe you will become a
• 1:09:49
  Speaker 1: strong beam in some large house or palace. While maybe
• 1:09:53
  Speaker 1: if I grow very tall, I will be chosen to
• 1:09:56
  Speaker 1: carry the carp on the boy's festival day. I should
• 1:10:00
  Speaker 1: love to help the children and have my pole tall
• 1:10:03
  Speaker 1: enough to hold the famous fish flag for the boys. Pooh,
• 1:10:07
  Speaker 1: answered the big bamboo Such silly dreams you strong enough
• 1:10:13
  Speaker 1: and tall enough to be used as a flagpole. Ridiculous
• 1:10:17
  Speaker 1: that you should be honored to hold the carp. Now
• 1:10:21
  Speaker 1: I would not be content to be a mere flagpole,
• 1:10:24
  Speaker 1: nor do I care to be a mere beam in
• 1:10:26
  Speaker 1: a house. I am so strong that I hope to
• 1:10:30
  Speaker 1: serve as a mast for some mighty ship, and I
• 1:10:33
  Speaker 1: shall carry the sails and help the ship on his
• 1:10:35
  Speaker 1: journey to strange lands across the sea. But you poor,
• 1:10:40
  Speaker 1: weak little tree will see nothing. I do not believe
• 1:10:44
  Speaker 1: that you are even fit for the new year's decorations.
• 1:10:48
  Speaker 1: You will doubtless be cut up and woven into mats
• 1:10:51
  Speaker 1: for people to walk upon. The little bamboo did not answer.
• 1:10:56
  Speaker 1: She knew that she was slim and frail, but she
• 1:10:59
  Speaker 1: said softly to her, I will do the best that
• 1:11:02
  Speaker 1: I can to grow, and maybe some day I shall
• 1:11:05
  Speaker 1: be of service too. Every time the children came to
• 1:11:08
  Speaker 1: the forest to pick flowers, they would rest under the
• 1:11:12
  Speaker 1: little bamboo tree. Our lady silver mist grows more beautiful
• 1:11:16
  Speaker 1: every day, they cried, See the leaves are giving us shade.
• 1:11:21
  Speaker 1: Now let us thank our little tree and weave some
• 1:11:24
  Speaker 1: flowers together and make her an obie. So the children
• 1:11:29
  Speaker 1: took some of the bright blossoms and bound this flower
• 1:11:31
  Speaker 1: sash around the slender tree. Not very long after that,
• 1:11:36
  Speaker 1: some woodmen came to the forest. Chop, chop, chop, went
• 1:11:40
  Speaker 1: their axes as they cut down the trees. What a splendid, straight,
• 1:11:45
  Speaker 1: tall tree, they said, this will do for a mast
• 1:11:49
  Speaker 1: on a big junk, And they begin to chop down
• 1:11:52
  Speaker 1: the big bamboo tree. I told you that I shall
• 1:11:55
  Speaker 1: go out into the world and make a mast, said
• 1:11:58
  Speaker 1: the boastful bamboo to the little tree, I suppose you
• 1:12:02
  Speaker 1: will be cut up in strips and made into raincoats. Sirenara, goodbye, Sirenara,
• 1:12:09
  Speaker 1: said the little tree, sadly, and many good fortune go
• 1:12:13
  Speaker 1: with you. When the woodman saw the flowers upon the
• 1:12:16
  Speaker 1: little bamboo tree, they said, why this little tree must
• 1:12:20
  Speaker 1: have friends. Just then the happy children came running through
• 1:12:24
  Speaker 1: the forest, and when they saw the woodmen, they said, oh,
• 1:12:28
  Speaker 1: honorable woodcutters, this is our own little lady silver mist.
• 1:12:33
  Speaker 1: We love this little tree better than any in the forest.
• 1:12:37
  Speaker 1: It is our playmate. Please do not cut it down.
• 1:12:41
  Speaker 1: Then one of the woodcutters said, we are sorry, children,
• 1:12:45
  Speaker 1: but we are ordered to chop down all the trees
• 1:12:47
  Speaker 1: on the hillside so that a beautiful palace may be
• 1:12:51
  Speaker 1: built here. But if you wish to save your tree,
• 1:12:54
  Speaker 1: you may dig it up and carry it away. The
• 1:12:57
  Speaker 1: children clapped their hands and shouted joyfully, thank you, thank you.
• 1:13:03
  Speaker 1: We will dig up our lady's silver mist and take
• 1:13:05
  Speaker 1: her to our own garden, and there she shall live always.
• 1:13:09
  Speaker 1: The kind hearted woodmen helped the children to dig up
• 1:13:12
  Speaker 1: the little bamboo tree, which was then planted in a
• 1:13:16
  Speaker 1: beautiful garden close down beside the sea. She was very happy,
• 1:13:21
  Speaker 1: for she loved to look over the bright blue water
• 1:13:24
  Speaker 1: and watch the fleecy clouds reflected in it as in
• 1:13:28
  Speaker 1: a mirror. I am growing taller, she said, and I
• 1:13:32
  Speaker 1: know that I am much stronger. She liked to watch
• 1:13:36
  Speaker 1: the waves as they tumbled over the coral strand, and
• 1:13:39
  Speaker 1: the yellow sand as it glistened like gold in the sunbeams.
• 1:13:44
  Speaker 1: While at night the moon bathed the garden in its
• 1:13:46
  Speaker 1: silvery light, and the dew sparkled like diamonds upon the
• 1:13:50
  Speaker 1: leaves of the little bamboo tree. There were many flowers
• 1:13:54
  Speaker 1: in the garden, tall irises, the rare lotus lily, the azaleas,
• 1:14:00
  Speaker 1: and the purple wistyria. And when the sun was very warm,
• 1:14:04
  Speaker 1: the little bamboo tree stretched out its leaves and tried
• 1:14:08
  Speaker 1: to shade the beautiful flowers. How lovely the world is,
• 1:14:12
  Speaker 1: and how happy I am, she murmured. But even though
• 1:14:16
  Speaker 1: I am growing in strength, I must still obey the wind.
• 1:14:20
  Speaker 1: When the south wind rustled through the garden, gently kissing
• 1:14:24
  Speaker 1: the flowers and rocking the little tree to and fro,
• 1:14:27
  Speaker 1: the little bamboo tree would whisper, how kind you are,
• 1:14:31
  Speaker 1: gentle south Wind. But when the north wind roared about her,
• 1:14:36
  Speaker 1: shaking her branches, the little tree would bow humbly before him, saying,
• 1:14:41
  Speaker 1: how strong you are, great north Wind. One night there
• 1:14:45
  Speaker 1: came a severe storm. The wind swept across the seas,
• 1:14:49
  Speaker 1: and the waves beat against the shore, and great ships
• 1:14:53
  Speaker 1: were wrecked and sank. The slender lady silver Mists shook
• 1:14:57
  Speaker 1: and shook in a terrible storm, and she bent toward
• 1:15:01
  Speaker 1: the ground in her fright. In the early morning light,
• 1:15:04
  Speaker 1: she saw the sandy beach all strewn with wreckage, And
• 1:15:08
  Speaker 1: as it grew lighter, she beheld on the bank beneath her,
• 1:15:12
  Speaker 1: her old friend of the forest, the boastful bamboo Tree,
• 1:15:16
  Speaker 1: while all about him were bits of the boat upon
• 1:15:19
  Speaker 1: which he had so proudly carried his sails. My poor friend,
• 1:15:24
  Speaker 1: sighed the little tree. I am so sorry that you
• 1:15:27
  Speaker 1: have been in such a wreck. How I wish that
• 1:15:30
  Speaker 1: I could help you. It is impossible. No one can
• 1:15:34
  Speaker 1: help me now, moaned the big bamboo. If only I
• 1:15:38
  Speaker 1: had been made into a long pole with which a
• 1:15:42
  Speaker 1: kuli could have pushed this boat, I might have been
• 1:15:45
  Speaker 1: useful for many years. But now it is too late.
• 1:15:49
  Speaker 1: I am only a bit of broken bamboo, of no
• 1:15:52
  Speaker 1: use to any one, Sayinara, lady silver missed. A little later,
• 1:15:59
  Speaker 1: some men picked up the rubbish from the wrecked ship,
• 1:16:02
  Speaker 1: and they chopped up this broken mast for firewood. And
• 1:16:05
  Speaker 1: so it was the end of the Boastful Bamboo Tree.
• 1:16:10
  Speaker 1: End of chapter seven Chapter eight of Little Peachling and
• 1:16:19
  Speaker 1: Other Tales of Old Japan, retold by Georgine Faulkner. This
• 1:16:24
  Speaker 1: LibriVox recording is in the public domain. Chipyetero. Once upon
• 1:16:30
  Speaker 1: a time there lived in Japan a brave young soldier
• 1:16:34
  Speaker 1: or samurai named Wakiki Mononofu. One day, when he was
• 1:16:39
  Speaker 1: traveling about the land in search of adventure, he lost
• 1:16:43
  Speaker 1: his way in a dense forest on a wild and
• 1:16:45
  Speaker 1: lonely mountain side. Night was coming on, and though he
• 1:16:50
  Speaker 1: searched through the bushes and brambles, he could not find
• 1:16:53
  Speaker 1: a single pathway that led out of the forest. Every
• 1:16:57
  Speaker 1: way he turned, he seemed to be more hopelessly lost
• 1:17:00
  Speaker 1: in the briers and tall grasses which grew thickly on
• 1:17:03
  Speaker 1: all sides. Weary and faint for want of food, he
• 1:17:08
  Speaker 1: stumbled on in the darkness until at last he came
• 1:17:10
  Speaker 1: to a clearing in the forest, where he beheld a
• 1:17:13
  Speaker 1: ruined temple. A storm was coming up, and the young
• 1:17:17
  Speaker 1: warrior was very glad to find shelter. This temple shall
• 1:17:21
  Speaker 1: be my palace for the night, he said, And here
• 1:17:24
  Speaker 1: I will be safe from the wrath of the storm god.
• 1:17:27
  Speaker 1: I will wrap my warm mantle about me and sleep
• 1:17:30
  Speaker 1: on the floor and dream of glory and adventure. So,
• 1:17:34
  Speaker 1: with his good sword by his side and his mantle
• 1:17:37
  Speaker 1: wrapped around him, he lay down upon the floor and
• 1:17:40
  Speaker 1: was soon fast asleep. Towards midnight, he was awakened by
• 1:17:44
  Speaker 1: a dreadful noise. At first he thought that he must
• 1:17:48
  Speaker 1: have had a bad dream, but as the noise grew
• 1:17:51
  Speaker 1: louder and louder, he sprang to his feet, and, seizing
• 1:17:55
  Speaker 1: his sword, looked out of the temple door. The storm
• 1:17:59
  Speaker 1: clouds had passed and the moon was peeping out, and
• 1:18:02
  Speaker 1: to his horror, he saw in the moonlight a strange sight.
• 1:18:06
  Speaker 1: A troop of hideous cats were dancing about the temple,
• 1:18:09
  Speaker 1: yowling maaou ma'aw ma'ao wau mi'ao wau waung. They were
• 1:18:16
  Speaker 1: led by a giant black cat, and all were so
• 1:18:20
  Speaker 1: terrible to look upon that the young soldier shivered with fear,
• 1:18:24
  Speaker 1: crouching down behind the wall of the temple for fear
• 1:18:27
  Speaker 1: of being seen. Then he heard them singing through their
• 1:18:31
  Speaker 1: terrible groans, tell it not to ship Itterro, that the
• 1:18:35
  Speaker 1: fantom cats are here. Tell it not to Shipitierro, lest
• 1:18:39
  Speaker 1: he soon appear. And as the midnight hour passed, the
• 1:18:44
  Speaker 1: fantom cats gave a chorus of wild yells and disappeared
• 1:18:48
  Speaker 1: as suddenly as they had come. Wakiki looked out upon
• 1:18:52
  Speaker 1: the moonlight shining like silver over the snow capped mountain
• 1:18:56
  Speaker 1: in the distance. All about him was still no longer afraid.
• 1:19:01
  Speaker 1: He wrapped himself in his long mantle and slept soundly
• 1:19:05
  Speaker 1: until the sun Goddess was high in the sky. In
• 1:19:08
  Speaker 1: the morning, he started down the mountain side and was
• 1:19:11
  Speaker 1: soon able to find a path which led him through
• 1:19:14
  Speaker 1: the forest and down into the valley, where he saw
• 1:19:17
  Speaker 1: a village. As he was very hungry, he hurried to
• 1:19:21
  Speaker 1: the nearest home to ask for food. Drawing near, he
• 1:19:25
  Speaker 1: heard voices from within the house and the sound of crying.
• 1:19:29
  Speaker 1: But he knocked upon the door, and it was opened
• 1:19:32
  Speaker 1: by a young girl whose eyes were red with tears. Ohio,
• 1:19:36
  Speaker 1: he said, bowing low. All night in the storm, I
• 1:19:40
  Speaker 1: was lost upon the mountain side, and I am very hungry.
• 1:19:44
  Speaker 1: Would you kindly give me a bull of rice? You
• 1:19:47
  Speaker 1: are most welcome, honorable stranger, answered the girl. Enter and
• 1:19:52
  Speaker 1: be our honorable guest at breakfast with my parents. The
• 1:19:56
  Speaker 1: parents of the girl also gave the young warrior a
• 1:19:59
  Speaker 1: cordial greeting, and soon he was seated upon the floor
• 1:20:02
  Speaker 1: between them. A small table was placed before him, upon
• 1:20:07
  Speaker 1: which was a bowl of rice and a cup of tea.
• 1:20:10
  Speaker 1: After finishing his breakfast, Wakiki bowed low and said, my
• 1:20:15
  Speaker 1: honorable friends, I thank you for a good meal. You
• 1:20:19
  Speaker 1: have been most welcome, honorable guest, said the master of
• 1:20:22
  Speaker 1: the house. May peace and happiness attend you, and may
• 1:20:27
  Speaker 1: you and all your household no happiness, honorable host, said
• 1:20:31
  Speaker 1: the young soldier, bowing low. We can never be happy again,
• 1:20:35
  Speaker 1: said the old man. Sadly as he watched his daughter
• 1:20:39
  Speaker 1: follow her mother from the room, and from behind the screen,
• 1:20:43
  Speaker 1: the young soldier could hear bitter weeping. You seem to
• 1:20:47
  Speaker 1: have a terrible sorrow, said the soldier. Yes, answered the
• 1:20:51
  Speaker 1: old man, we are in great trouble. You must know,
• 1:20:56
  Speaker 1: May Samurai, that upon the mountains of this forest there
• 1:20:59
  Speaker 1: stands that's an old and ruined temple. It was once
• 1:21:03
  Speaker 1: a shrine of the gods, but now it is haunted
• 1:21:06
  Speaker 1: by evil spirits. Every year a black demon or mountain
• 1:21:10
  Speaker 1: spirit of evil comes to this temple, leading his army
• 1:21:14
  Speaker 1: of evil spirits, and claims a victim from the village.
• 1:21:18
  Speaker 1: These mountain demons demand that the fairest maiden in the
• 1:21:21
  Speaker 1: village be brought to them in a cage, else they
• 1:21:24
  Speaker 1: will come and destroy the whole village. Alas this year,
• 1:21:29
  Speaker 1: my daughter has been chosen for the sacrifice. And burying
• 1:21:33
  Speaker 1: his face in his long sleeve, the old man groaned aloud. Indeed,
• 1:21:38
  Speaker 1: I should think that the young maidens of the village
• 1:21:41
  Speaker 1: would all wish to be ugly, said the young man,
• 1:21:44
  Speaker 1: since the fairest must be fed to this demon. But
• 1:21:48
  Speaker 1: do not grieve, my honorable friend, I think I know
• 1:21:51
  Speaker 1: of a way to save your daughter. Tell me who
• 1:21:55
  Speaker 1: is this Gipieiro Chipitierro. Is a strong and beautiful white dog,
• 1:22:01
  Speaker 1: replied the old man. He belongs to the head men
• 1:22:05
  Speaker 1: of our prince, who lives not far from here. We
• 1:22:09
  Speaker 1: often see this fine, brave dog following his master about
• 1:22:12
  Speaker 1: the streets. But why do you ask about the dog?
• 1:22:16
  Speaker 1: Only trust me, answered the soldier, and all will be well.
• 1:22:21
  Speaker 1: Keep your daughter in your home, guard her closely now.
• 1:22:26
  Speaker 1: All the time the old man had been telling the
• 1:22:28
  Speaker 1: young soldier about the terrible demons, the young man was
• 1:22:31
  Speaker 1: thinking of his adventure of the night before, and of
• 1:22:35
  Speaker 1: the horrible fantom cats which had danced and yewled about
• 1:22:38
  Speaker 1: the ruined old temple. He remembered the song they had sung,
• 1:22:42
  Speaker 1: and felt that they had reason to fear Chippietero. The
• 1:22:46
  Speaker 1: young soldier hurried away, and fortunately, near the castle he
• 1:22:51
  Speaker 1: met the servant of the Prince with his big dog, Shippeitaro.
• 1:22:56
  Speaker 1: Will you lend me your strong dog for one night,
• 1:22:59
  Speaker 1: asked the young SOULI why should you ask such a favor,
• 1:23:03
  Speaker 1: said the servant of the Prince. My dog is strong
• 1:23:07
  Speaker 1: and powerful, and he helps me guard the castle. I
• 1:23:10
  Speaker 1: only need him for this one night, said the soldier.
• 1:23:14
  Speaker 1: I must have him to help me save the life
• 1:23:16
  Speaker 1: of a fair maiden in this village. Well for to
• 1:23:20
  Speaker 1: night only, said the servant, since you desire him so much,
• 1:23:25
  Speaker 1: but upon one condition, only that you will bring him
• 1:23:28
  Speaker 1: back safe and sound in the morning. This shall be done,
• 1:23:33
  Speaker 1: promised the young warrior. I will protect Chipito with my
• 1:23:37
  Speaker 1: sword and my life, and tomorrow he shall return to
• 1:23:41
  Speaker 1: you in safety. The young warrior then took the great
• 1:23:44
  Speaker 1: dog with him, and when evening came, placed Chipitereo in
• 1:23:49
  Speaker 1: the cage which was to have carried the maiden. Some
• 1:23:52
  Speaker 1: of the young men of the village carried the cage
• 1:23:55
  Speaker 1: to the ruined temple, and when they reached the little
• 1:23:58
  Speaker 1: shrine in the forest, put the cage on the ground
• 1:24:01
  Speaker 1: and ran down the mountain side as if a whole
• 1:24:04
  Speaker 1: troop of hobgoblins were chasing at their heels. With no
• 1:24:08
  Speaker 1: companion but the great dog, the young warrior remained in
• 1:24:12
  Speaker 1: the ruined temple. Just at midnight, when the full moon
• 1:24:16
  Speaker 1: was high in the heavens, shedding a silvery light over
• 1:24:19
  Speaker 1: the mountain side. The fearful troop of phantom cats came out,
• 1:24:23
  Speaker 1: led by the great giant cat. Maaw meow meow meow
• 1:24:30
  Speaker 1: wow meaow wow wow. They shrieked as they danced wildly about,
• 1:24:36
  Speaker 1: and then through their terrified groans and moans, the young
• 1:24:39
  Speaker 1: man heard them chant the same song. Tell it not
• 1:24:43
  Speaker 1: to Chippitero that the phantom cats are here. Tell it
• 1:24:48
  Speaker 1: not to Chipatero lest he soon appear. Scarcely had the
• 1:24:53
  Speaker 1: song ended when the monster cat caught sight of the cage,
• 1:24:57
  Speaker 1: and with wild yells of triumph he he sprang upon it.
• 1:25:01
  Speaker 1: With one blow from his strong paw, he broke open
• 1:25:05
  Speaker 1: the door of the cage, ready to devour the dainty maiden,
• 1:25:09
  Speaker 1: but to his surprise, out jumped the powerful dog Chippitero.
• 1:25:15
  Speaker 1: Hierie yerie ri yerie E marked the dog as much
• 1:25:19
  Speaker 1: as to say, hear hear re, hear re, I'll end
• 1:25:23
  Speaker 1: this hereye, and seizing the big cat, he shook him
• 1:25:27
  Speaker 1: by the throat with a loud shout. The young samurai
• 1:25:31
  Speaker 1: drew his sword and ran to the help of the
• 1:25:34
  Speaker 1: brave dog. The frightful battle was soon over, for when
• 1:25:38
  Speaker 1: the other cat saw that their leader was dead, they
• 1:25:41
  Speaker 1: lost courage and were easily killed. The young warrior brought
• 1:25:45
  Speaker 1: back the noble dog to his master and told the
• 1:25:48
  Speaker 1: father and mother of the maiden that their daughter was free,
• 1:25:52
  Speaker 1: and that the whole village was free, for the phantom
• 1:25:55
  Speaker 1: cats could never trouble them again. Brave woyeur, how can
• 1:25:59
  Speaker 1: I ever think thank you for all you have done
• 1:26:01
  Speaker 1: for us, said the young maiden. I am the only
• 1:26:04
  Speaker 1: child of my aged parents, and there would have been
• 1:26:07
  Speaker 1: no one to care for them if you had not
• 1:26:10
  Speaker 1: saved me. You must not thank me, said the young soldier.
• 1:26:14
  Speaker 1: I could never have won this battle alone. You owe
• 1:26:18
  Speaker 1: it all to the noble dog Chipitero, for he killed
• 1:26:22
  Speaker 1: the phantom cats. Then the young girl made a wreath
• 1:26:25
  Speaker 1: of flowers or obi and tied it about the great
• 1:26:29
  Speaker 1: white dog. All the people of the village, with garlands
• 1:26:33
  Speaker 1: of flowers, marched with the young soldier and the dog
• 1:26:36
  Speaker 1: to the castle of the prince. The samurai told his
• 1:26:39
  Speaker 1: story to the servant of the prince and thanked him
• 1:26:42
  Speaker 1: for his part in saving the life of the maiden
• 1:26:45
  Speaker 1: by lending him the brave dog Chipiteo. Then all the
• 1:26:49
  Speaker 1: people shouted and sang songs. All honor be to Chipiatero,
• 1:26:55
  Speaker 1: the brave, the noble Chipiatero. When the cruel cats came near,
• 1:27:00
  Speaker 1: Chipiaziero showed no fear. Now the cats will return no more.
• 1:27:05
  Speaker 1: We can live in peace forever. All honor be to Chipiatero,
• 1:27:11
  Speaker 1: the brave and noble Chipiatero. End of chapter eight, Chapter
• 1:27:22
  Speaker 1: nine of Little Peachling and Other Tales of Old Japan,
• 1:27:26
  Speaker 1: retold by Georgine Faulkner. This LibriVox recording is in the
• 1:27:31
  Speaker 1: public domain. The tongue cut sparrow she takiri susu me.
• 1:27:37
  Speaker 1: Once upon a time there lived in Japan an old
• 1:27:40
  Speaker 1: man and his wife. Their home was small, for they
• 1:27:44
  Speaker 1: were very poor, but they were always good and kind
• 1:27:47
  Speaker 1: to everyone, so that everyone loved them. They were kind
• 1:27:52
  Speaker 1: to all the animals and birds, and all the creatures
• 1:27:55
  Speaker 1: loved them. One morning, when the good wife slid back
• 1:27:59
  Speaker 1: the screen door to open the house to the warm sunshine,
• 1:28:02
  Speaker 1: a poor, hungry little sparrow flew into the room.
• 1:28:06
  Speaker 2: Cheap, cheep, cheap.
• 1:28:08
  Speaker 1: Called the little sparrow, as the woman took him up
• 1:28:10
  Speaker 1: gently in her hand.
• 1:28:12
  Speaker 2: Cheep beep beep, cheep beep beep. I want something to eat,
• 1:28:17
  Speaker 2: cheep beep beep. The woman seemed to understand his hungry
• 1:28:21
  Speaker 2: little cries, For she gave him some food and filled
• 1:28:23
  Speaker 2: a soggy cup with water for him to drink. After
• 1:28:27
  Speaker 2: he had finished his breakfast, she let him go so
• 1:28:30
  Speaker 2: that he might fly far away to his home. But
• 1:28:33
  Speaker 2: that grateful little sparrow stayed near her home and tried
• 1:28:36
  Speaker 2: to thank her with his sweet songs. Every morning, when
• 1:28:40
  Speaker 2: the sun was just touching the mountain tops with a
• 1:28:43
  Speaker 2: rosy glow, the little sparrow would carol out his songs
• 1:28:46
  Speaker 2: of joy, and the old man and his wife would
• 1:28:49
  Speaker 2: be awakened by the sweet songster. Near them lived a
• 1:28:53
  Speaker 2: very cross old woman who did not care to be
• 1:28:56
  Speaker 2: awakened so early in the morning by the song of
• 1:28:59
  Speaker 2: the sparrow. You noisy little bird, she would scold. If
• 1:29:03
  Speaker 2: I could catch you, I would cut out your tongue.
• 1:29:07
  Speaker 2: One day, this cross old woman put a basin of
• 1:29:10
  Speaker 2: starch outside her home, for she was planning to wash
• 1:29:13
  Speaker 2: her clothes.
• 1:29:14
  Speaker 1: That morning. The little sparrow was on the branch of
• 1:29:17
  Speaker 1: a tree overhead, and when he saw the starch, he
• 1:29:21
  Speaker 1: thought that it was food placed there for him to eat,
• 1:29:24
  Speaker 1: so he flew down and had almost eaten it all
• 1:29:27
  Speaker 1: when the crosswoman saw him she sees the sparrow, crying,
• 1:29:32
  Speaker 1: you hateful thing. I will get even with you for this,
• 1:29:36
  Speaker 1: And she cut out his tongue and let him go
• 1:29:39
  Speaker 1: chirping sadly. The poor little bird flew far away to
• 1:29:42
  Speaker 1: his home, but never again could he sing his sweet songs.
• 1:29:47
  Speaker 1: As soon as the good woman heard that her pet
• 1:29:49
  Speaker 1: sparrow had been so cruelly hurt, she said to her husband,
• 1:29:53
  Speaker 1: we will go together and find our poor little tongue
• 1:29:56
  Speaker 1: cut sparrow. So they set out the next day, cry
• 1:30:00
  Speaker 1: now to every one they met, where does the tongue
• 1:30:03
  Speaker 1: cut sparrow stay? Where does the tongue cut sparrow stay?
• 1:30:08
  Speaker 1: They asked all the birds and beasts they met, And
• 1:30:12
  Speaker 1: because the old man and woman had always been kind
• 1:30:15
  Speaker 1: to them and fed them, all the birds and beasts
• 1:30:18
  Speaker 1: helped them on their way. Presently they came to a bridge.
• 1:30:22
  Speaker 1: They did not know what to do, nor which way
• 1:30:25
  Speaker 1: to turn. But under the bridge the old man saw
• 1:30:28
  Speaker 1: a bat hanging with his head down, taking his daytime sleep. Friend, Bat, Friend, Bat,
• 1:30:35
  Speaker 1: I am sorry to awaken you, but do you know
• 1:30:38
  Speaker 1: where the tongue cut sparrow went, asked the old man. Yes,
• 1:30:42
  Speaker 1: honorable friend, answered the bat, he has flown over the
• 1:30:46
  Speaker 1: bridge and up the mountain side to his home. Thank you,
• 1:30:49
  Speaker 1: friend bat, said the man. Then the old couple went
• 1:30:53
  Speaker 1: on their way over the bridge and up the mountain side,
• 1:30:56
  Speaker 1: where they found two roads. They did not know which
• 1:31:00
  Speaker 1: one to take, But just then they saw a tiny
• 1:31:04
  Speaker 1: field mouse peering out at them from under some tall grasses,
• 1:31:07
  Speaker 1: and they said, friend, field mouse, do you know where
• 1:31:11
  Speaker 1: the tongue cut sparrow lives? Yes, honorable friend, answered the
• 1:31:15
  Speaker 1: field mouse. He flew down over the side of this
• 1:31:18
  Speaker 1: mountain to those woods down in the valley. His home
• 1:31:22
  Speaker 1: is in the forest down there. Thank you, friendfield mouse,
• 1:31:26
  Speaker 1: said the old man. The old couple went on their
• 1:31:29
  Speaker 1: way down the mountain and into the woods, and at
• 1:31:32
  Speaker 1: last they came to the home of the little sparrow.
• 1:31:36
  Speaker 1: When the sparrow saw that his old master and mistress
• 1:31:38
  Speaker 1: had come to see him, he chirped to his wife
• 1:31:41
  Speaker 1: and his children and grandchildren, come quickly and welcome our
• 1:31:45
  Speaker 1: honorable friends. All the sparrow family came out at once, and,
• 1:31:50
  Speaker 1: bowing down to the ground to show their respect to
• 1:31:52
  Speaker 1: these honorable friends, they all chirped and twittered their welcome Ohio,
• 1:31:58
  Speaker 1: good morning, Ohio, honorable friends. The Sparrow brought his old
• 1:32:04
  Speaker 1: friends into the house and thanked them for their kindness
• 1:32:07
  Speaker 1: to him in the old days. He asked that a
• 1:32:10
  Speaker 1: feast should be prepared at once for his good master
• 1:32:13
  Speaker 1: and mistress. And so the Sparrow family spread a table,
• 1:32:17
  Speaker 1: and soon served the old man and his wife with
• 1:32:19
  Speaker 1: fish and rice, and sake, and all manner of good
• 1:32:23
  Speaker 1: things to eat and to drink. After feasting for some time,
• 1:32:27
  Speaker 1: the Sparrow wished to entertain his guests. He could not
• 1:32:31
  Speaker 1: sing to them now, as his poor little tongue was cut,
• 1:32:34
  Speaker 1: but he could dance very gracefully, and so he danced
• 1:32:37
  Speaker 1: for them a little jig, which is called the sparrows dance.
• 1:32:42
  Speaker 1: When it began to grow late, and the sun was
• 1:32:44
  Speaker 1: sinking in the west, making the sky all purple and
• 1:32:48
  Speaker 1: pink like the beautiful wistaria hanging over the wall, the
• 1:32:52
  Speaker 1: old man said to his wife, see the sun is
• 1:32:55
  Speaker 1: sitting soon it will be growing dark. We must start
• 1:32:59
  Speaker 1: for home, as we have a long journey before us.
• 1:33:03
  Speaker 1: The Sparrow, hearing this, brought out two wicker baskets, saying,
• 1:33:08
  Speaker 1: honorable friends, we would like to give you a parting
• 1:33:11
  Speaker 1: present which one of these baskets do you desire? Will
• 1:33:15
  Speaker 1: you take the heavy one or the light one? The
• 1:33:19
  Speaker 1: old people replied, we are old and our backs are bent,
• 1:33:23
  Speaker 1: so if it please you, give us the light basket,
• 1:33:26
  Speaker 1: for it will be easier for us to carry. Certainly,
• 1:33:30
  Speaker 1: said the sparrow, It shall be as you desire. You
• 1:33:34
  Speaker 1: may have the light basket, for you have a long
• 1:33:37
  Speaker 1: journey before you. We trust that you may reach your
• 1:33:40
  Speaker 1: home in safety. We are so very grateful to you,
• 1:33:44
  Speaker 1: dear master and mistress, for your honorable visit. Thank you
• 1:33:49
  Speaker 1: good sparrow for your hospitality and kindness to us, said
• 1:33:53
  Speaker 1: the old man. May you and your family always have
• 1:33:56
  Speaker 1: peace and plenty. And now we must say goodbye. Sayinara,
• 1:34:02
  Speaker 1: chipped the sparrows. Strapping the basket upon his back, the
• 1:34:07
  Speaker 1: old man and his wife went on their way home
• 1:34:10
  Speaker 1: over the mountain and across the bridge. They were so
• 1:34:13
  Speaker 1: happy that the road did not seem long and strange
• 1:34:16
  Speaker 1: to say, the basket seemed to grow lighter and lighter
• 1:34:20
  Speaker 1: all the way. When they returned to their home, the
• 1:34:23
  Speaker 1: old woman said, let us open our basket and see
• 1:34:27
  Speaker 1: what the sparrow has given us. They opened the basket
• 1:34:31
  Speaker 1: and to their surprise, found gold and silver, and jewels
• 1:34:34
  Speaker 1: and rolls of silk. And the strange thing about it
• 1:34:38
  Speaker 1: was that the more they took out, the more they
• 1:34:41
  Speaker 1: found inside. There seemed to be no end to their riches.
• 1:34:46
  Speaker 1: The cross old woman who had cut out the sparrow's
• 1:34:48
  Speaker 1: tongue saw them going by her home in the early morning,
• 1:34:52
  Speaker 1: and she wondered where they had been all day. So
• 1:34:56
  Speaker 1: when she heard them returning at night, she came to
• 1:34:59
  Speaker 1: their home and teared through their screen and spite upon them.
• 1:35:03
  Speaker 1: By the light of their lantern, she saw them take
• 1:35:05
  Speaker 1: out the gold and silver, the precious jewels, and the
• 1:35:08
  Speaker 1: rolls of silk. She knew now that they were very rich,
• 1:35:13
  Speaker 1: and she was so envious of them that she made
• 1:35:15
  Speaker 1: up her mind to find out about their journey and
• 1:35:18
  Speaker 1: how they came by all of these presents. The next
• 1:35:22
  Speaker 1: morning she came over to see the good woman to
• 1:35:25
  Speaker 1: question her about the journey of the day before. Where
• 1:35:29
  Speaker 1: did you and your good man go yesterday? I saw
• 1:35:32
  Speaker 1: you leave early in the dawn, and I heard you
• 1:35:34
  Speaker 1: come home in the darkness of night. Oh, we went
• 1:35:38
  Speaker 1: to find our poor little tongue cut sparrow, said the
• 1:35:41
  Speaker 1: good woman, and we did have such a happy day
• 1:35:44
  Speaker 1: with him, but she did not tell her cross neighbor
• 1:35:48
  Speaker 1: about the treasure which the sparrow had given them. Tell
• 1:35:52
  Speaker 1: me the way to find your sparrow, said the cross
• 1:35:54
  Speaker 1: old woman. I am sorry I cut out his tongue,
• 1:35:58
  Speaker 1: and I would seek him to ask his pardon. The
• 1:36:02
  Speaker 1: good woman told her just how to go, and soon
• 1:36:05
  Speaker 1: the cross woman was upon her way. When she finally
• 1:36:08
  Speaker 1: reached the home of the sparrow, he came out to
• 1:36:11
  Speaker 1: meet her and was very polite to her. He invited
• 1:36:15
  Speaker 1: her into his home and his family gave her a feast,
• 1:36:19
  Speaker 1: but the cross woman did not even thank them, nor
• 1:36:22
  Speaker 1: did she tell the sparrow that she was very sorry
• 1:36:24
  Speaker 1: that she had cut out his tongue. When it was
• 1:36:27
  Speaker 1: time for her to go home, the sparrow brought out
• 1:36:30
  Speaker 1: two wicker baskets as before, and asked, will you take
• 1:36:34
  Speaker 1: the heavy one or shall I give you the light
• 1:36:36
  Speaker 1: one the heavy one. I am strong. It will not
• 1:36:40
  Speaker 1: be too heavy for me, said the greedy old woman,
• 1:36:43
  Speaker 1: for she thought I shall have twice as many treasures
• 1:36:47
  Speaker 1: as my neighbors. She did not thank the sparrow for
• 1:36:50
  Speaker 1: his hospitality nor for his gift Seizing the basket, she
• 1:36:56
  Speaker 1: put it on her back and went upon her way.
• 1:36:59
  Speaker 1: The Sparrow family all tittered and laughed at her as
• 1:37:02
  Speaker 1: she staggered away. The basket was as heavy as stone
• 1:37:06
  Speaker 1: and was hard to carry, but she struggled through the
• 1:37:09
  Speaker 1: woods and over the mountain. When she crossed the bridge,
• 1:37:13
  Speaker 1: it was so dark, and the basket was so heavy
• 1:37:16
  Speaker 1: that she was afraid she would fall into the water
• 1:37:19
  Speaker 1: and be dragged down by her treasure. The basket seemed
• 1:37:23
  Speaker 1: to grow heavier and heavier, but the thought of all
• 1:37:26
  Speaker 1: the gold and silver and precious stones, and the rolls
• 1:37:29
  Speaker 1: of silk she must be carrying, helped her to go on.
• 1:37:34
  Speaker 1: At last she reached her home. She was so tired
• 1:37:38
  Speaker 1: that she could hardly move. She closed all of her
• 1:37:41
  Speaker 1: screens tightly, so that no one could spy upon her treasure.
• 1:37:46
  Speaker 1: She lighted one lantern, and then she bent down and
• 1:37:49
  Speaker 1: opened her big basket. The moment she took off the lid,
• 1:37:53
  Speaker 1: out came a troop of ugly goblins and other frightful creatures.
• 1:37:58
  Speaker 1: They came screaming at her, pinching and stinging her, and
• 1:38:02
  Speaker 1: pulling her about the room. The cross woman crawled to
• 1:38:06
  Speaker 1: the door and pushed aside the screen, trying to get
• 1:38:09
  Speaker 1: away from them, But the demon seized her and carried
• 1:38:13
  Speaker 1: her away, and she was never heard of again. As
• 1:38:17
  Speaker 1: for the good old couple, they lived in peace and
• 1:38:20
  Speaker 1: plenty all the rest of their days, and they always
• 1:38:23
  Speaker 1: were grateful to their friend the tongue cut Sparrow, end
• 1:38:28
  Speaker 1: of chapter nine, chapter ten of Little Peachling and Other
• 1:38:38
  Speaker 1: Tales of Old Japan, retold by Georgine Faulkner. This LibriVox
• 1:38:43
  Speaker 1: recording is in the public domain. The Wonderful Waterfall. Once
• 1:38:49
  Speaker 1: upon a time there was a poor woodcutter who lived
• 1:38:52
  Speaker 1: in a little home with his father and mother. Every morning,
• 1:38:56
  Speaker 1: when the sun was just hinting the eastern sky with
• 1:38:59
  Speaker 1: a rosy life, the young man would climb high upon
• 1:39:02
  Speaker 1: the mountain side, and there he would chop trees busily
• 1:39:06
  Speaker 1: until nightfall. But with all his hard work, he could
• 1:39:09
  Speaker 1: not earn enough money to buy his poor parents the
• 1:39:12
  Speaker 1: good things which he longed to give them. How I
• 1:39:15
  Speaker 1: wish that I could earn more money, he said, so
• 1:39:18
  Speaker 1: that I could always buy them good food to eat,
• 1:39:21
  Speaker 1: and tea, and sometimes a little sakie wine to drink.
• 1:39:26
  Speaker 1: My poor parents really need a little sakie in their
• 1:39:29
  Speaker 1: old age. Yet no matter how hard he worked, he
• 1:39:33
  Speaker 1: could not earn enough to buy anything extra, so that
• 1:39:37
  Speaker 1: they had only rice to eat and tea to drink.
• 1:39:39
  Speaker 1: And sometimes they did not even have tea, but had
• 1:39:43
  Speaker 1: to drink hot water. One morning he climbed up a
• 1:39:47
  Speaker 1: very steep mountain. It was a long, hard climb, and
• 1:39:52
  Speaker 1: because it was so difficult a place to climb, no
• 1:39:55
  Speaker 1: other wood choppers were working there. Chop, chop, chop went
• 1:40:00
  Speaker 1: his axe, and as he piled up the logs, he
• 1:40:03
  Speaker 1: said to himself, maybe to day I shall have good
• 1:40:06
  Speaker 1: luck and will be able to get a good price
• 1:40:08
  Speaker 1: for my logs. About noontime, when it was very warm
• 1:40:12
  Speaker 1: in the sun, he stopped to rest for a few
• 1:40:15
  Speaker 1: moments in the shade of a tree while he ate
• 1:40:18
  Speaker 1: the little rice cake which his good mother had baked
• 1:40:21
  Speaker 1: for his luncheon. Suddenly he saw near by upon the
• 1:40:24
  Speaker 1: ground a fat little badger who was sound asleep. Well,
• 1:40:29
  Speaker 1: I am in luck, for here is a fat morsel
• 1:40:31
  Speaker 1: that I can take home to my mother. She can
• 1:40:34
  Speaker 1: make a fine stew of him. My poor parents have
• 1:40:38
  Speaker 1: not had any meat for many days. But when he
• 1:40:41
  Speaker 1: looked down at the sleeping badger. He did not have
• 1:40:44
  Speaker 1: the heart to kill him, poor little fellow. He said,
• 1:40:48
  Speaker 1: it is not fair to take the life of a
• 1:40:51
  Speaker 1: sleeping thing, giving him no chance to escape. I will
• 1:40:55
  Speaker 1: let him go, and I will work hard and try
• 1:40:57
  Speaker 1: to buy some meat for my parents. To his great surprise,
• 1:41:01
  Speaker 1: the badger stood up and said, you are a wise
• 1:41:05
  Speaker 1: young man not to try to take my life. You
• 1:41:08
  Speaker 1: could not do it anyway. But since you have so
• 1:41:11
  Speaker 1: good a heart, I will be kind to you and
• 1:41:13
  Speaker 1: help you. But first, please go beyond the tall pine
• 1:41:17
  Speaker 1: tree and bring me a smooth stone, which we will
• 1:41:20
  Speaker 1: find there. The wood cutter went at once to the
• 1:41:23
  Speaker 1: pine tree to get the stone. There he was amazed
• 1:41:27
  Speaker 1: to behold spread out upon the stone a rich feast
• 1:41:31
  Speaker 1: of rice and fish, meat, and dumplings to eat, and
• 1:41:34
  Speaker 1: tea and sake to drink. Although the young man was
• 1:41:38
  Speaker 1: very hungry, he did not taste this food. Instead, he
• 1:41:43
  Speaker 1: gave a little sigh and said, oh, dear, how I
• 1:41:47
  Speaker 1: would like to take all that food home to my parents.
• 1:41:50
  Speaker 1: Just then he heard a little laugh, ha ha, he
• 1:41:54
  Speaker 1: he come eat with me, Come eat with me. Are
• 1:41:57
  Speaker 1: you not hungry? Why don't you eat? Yes, I am
• 1:42:02
  Speaker 1: very hungry, answered the young woodcutter. But I was just
• 1:42:06
  Speaker 1: wishing that I could take this food home to my
• 1:42:08
  Speaker 1: poor parents. Well your wish has come true, said the
• 1:42:12
  Speaker 1: friendly little badger, blinking his eyes at the young man,
• 1:42:16
  Speaker 1: for at this very time your parents are eating the
• 1:42:19
  Speaker 1: same food at home, So let us sit down and
• 1:42:22
  Speaker 1: enjoy this together. The young man and the badger had
• 1:42:26
  Speaker 1: a fine feast, and the woodcutter was just about to
• 1:42:29
  Speaker 1: thank his little friend when the badger suddenly ran away
• 1:42:32
  Speaker 1: and disappeared in the woods where he had been. The
• 1:42:36
  Speaker 1: young man now saw a wonderful waterfall that fell tinkling
• 1:42:40
  Speaker 1: upon the rocks, singing a sweet song. The water sparkled
• 1:42:45
  Speaker 1: upon the stones, and the woodcutter, feeling very thirsty, bent down,
• 1:42:50
  Speaker 1: using his hand for a cup and drank. To his surprise,
• 1:42:54
  Speaker 1: he found that it was not water he was drinking,
• 1:42:57
  Speaker 1: but was sweet sacky. Never had he tasted such good saki.
• 1:43:02
  Speaker 1: He filled his gourd and hurried home to share it
• 1:43:05
  Speaker 1: with his father and mother. Here is some good saki
• 1:43:08
  Speaker 1: for you, father, cried the young man joyfully. Then he
• 1:43:12
  Speaker 1: told his parents the whole story about the badger and
• 1:43:15
  Speaker 1: the fine feast he had eaten. We also had a
• 1:43:18
  Speaker 1: fine feast, said the mother. You are a good son,
• 1:43:22
  Speaker 1: always thinking of us before you think of yourself. I
• 1:43:26
  Speaker 1: did not bring you the food, laughed the young man.
• 1:43:29
  Speaker 1: It was the generous badger that did that. But I
• 1:43:32
  Speaker 1: really cannot understand about this wonderful waterfall where saki flows.
• 1:43:37
  Speaker 1: Now a neighbor overheard the young woodcutter telling his father
• 1:43:41
  Speaker 1: about the saki, and soon the word had been spread
• 1:43:44
  Speaker 1: through the village about the wonderful waterfall. The next morning,
• 1:43:49
  Speaker 1: the young woodcutter was very much astonished to see many
• 1:43:52
  Speaker 1: people of the village going up the mountain before him.
• 1:43:56
  Speaker 1: They were all carrying large gourds and jars or each
• 1:44:00
  Speaker 1: one wanted to bring home a great deal of saki.
• 1:44:04
  Speaker 1: When the villagers saw how many had come upon the
• 1:44:07
  Speaker 1: same errand they were cross at each other, until one
• 1:44:10
  Speaker 1: man laughingly said, we are all here for the same thing,
• 1:44:14
  Speaker 1: so why try to hide it. We all want to
• 1:44:17
  Speaker 1: fill our gorgs and jars with this saki and take
• 1:44:19
  Speaker 1: it home, but let us have one good taste before
• 1:44:23
  Speaker 1: we go. Stooping down, the man filled his gourd and
• 1:44:27
  Speaker 1: all of the villagers did the same. Then they all
• 1:44:30
  Speaker 1: took one deep drink. How disappointed they were to find
• 1:44:34
  Speaker 1: that it was not saki at all. Nothing but water
• 1:44:38
  Speaker 1: called one water, clear cold water, gasped another. Then the
• 1:44:43
  Speaker 1: first man raged and shouted that young woodcutter has played
• 1:44:47
  Speaker 1: a trick upon us. Where is he? We will dunk
• 1:44:51
  Speaker 1: him in his own waterfall. But the woodcutter had wisely
• 1:44:55
  Speaker 1: slipped away behind a big rock, and they could not
• 1:44:58
  Speaker 1: find him. One after another tasted the stream, but there
• 1:45:02
  Speaker 1: was no saki for them, only the clear, cold water.
• 1:45:07
  Speaker 1: So the angry people went down the mountain side, scolding
• 1:45:11
  Speaker 1: about the woodcutter, who had deceived them with his fine tails.
• 1:45:15
  Speaker 1: When they were gone, the young man slipped out from
• 1:45:18
  Speaker 1: his hiding place and said, well, this is very astonishing.
• 1:45:23
  Speaker 1: I must try that water for myself. Was it really saki?
• 1:45:28
  Speaker 1: Or did I dream it yesterday? Leaning over the stream,
• 1:45:32
  Speaker 1: he filled his gourd and took a long drink. It
• 1:45:35
  Speaker 1: is saki, sweet saki, he said, just as it was yesterday.
• 1:45:41
  Speaker 1: I cannot understand this. Then the wonderful waterfall seemed to
• 1:45:45
  Speaker 1: laugh as it tinkled over the stones, and the woodcutter
• 1:45:49
  Speaker 1: heard a soft voice singing, sweet saki, sweet saki, for
• 1:45:54
  Speaker 1: him who is kind? While those who seek self clear
• 1:45:58
  Speaker 1: water will find but saki, sweet saki for him who
• 1:46:03
  Speaker 1: was kind. When the Emperor of Japan heard this story,
• 1:46:07
  Speaker 1: he sent a gift of rolls of silk and gold
• 1:46:10
  Speaker 1: pieces to reward this young man for his kindness to
• 1:46:13
  Speaker 1: his parents, and the Emperor gave to that year the
• 1:46:16
  Speaker 1: name of the young man, so that every one in
• 1:46:19
  Speaker 1: Japan might know this story. For this will be a lesson,
• 1:46:23
  Speaker 1: said the Emperor, to all of our children in the future,
• 1:46:27
  Speaker 1: to honor and obey their parents, as did this young
• 1:46:30
  Speaker 1: wood cutter. And of chapter ten, Chapter eleven of Little
• 1:46:41
  Speaker 1: Peachling and other Tales of Old Japan, retold by Georgine Faulkner.
• 1:46:47
  Speaker 1: This LibriVox recording is in the public domain. The stone
• 1:46:52
  Speaker 1: cutter long ago there lived in Japan, a poor stone
• 1:46:56
  Speaker 1: cutter named Hafi's. Every day Hafi hammered with his strong
• 1:47:01
  Speaker 1: mallet and chisel, cutting the great rock upon the side
• 1:47:04
  Speaker 1: of the mountains, chip chip chip, went his sharp chisel,
• 1:47:09
  Speaker 1: while the specks of stone flew all about him, chip
• 1:47:13
  Speaker 1: chip chip. Sometimes Haffy's cut slabs of stone for gravestones,
• 1:47:19
  Speaker 1: and sometimes the stones he cut were used for big
• 1:47:22
  Speaker 1: buildings and for a time, he was happy and contented
• 1:47:26
  Speaker 1: with his work. But one day he carried a gravestone
• 1:47:30
  Speaker 1: to the home of a rich man, and when he
• 1:47:32
  Speaker 1: saw all the beautiful things the rich man enjoyed, he
• 1:47:36
  Speaker 1: grew envious and unhappy. I don't see why I have
• 1:47:40
  Speaker 1: to spend my days hewing and hacking away at this rock,
• 1:47:43
  Speaker 1: he muttered, while this rich man lives in his beautiful
• 1:47:47
  Speaker 1: home with nothing to do but enjoy himself. As he
• 1:47:51
  Speaker 1: worked busily at the rock, he grew more and more
• 1:47:55
  Speaker 1: restless and discontented. Finally he threw down his mallet, groaning out,
• 1:48:01
  Speaker 1: how I wish that I were a rich man. There
• 1:48:04
  Speaker 1: was a rushing noise, like the noise of a great wind,
• 1:48:07
  Speaker 1: and then all was still, and a solemn voice was heard, saying, Hafiz,
• 1:48:13
  Speaker 1: listen unto me, thy wish now is granted. Thee be
• 1:48:18
  Speaker 1: thou the rich man now. Hafiz had heard of strange
• 1:48:22
  Speaker 1: tales of a mountain spirit who could do wonderful things,
• 1:48:25
  Speaker 1: but he had never believed in this spirit, and so
• 1:48:28
  Speaker 1: when he heard the sound, he looked all around, but
• 1:48:32
  Speaker 1: as he could see no one, he thought that he
• 1:48:34
  Speaker 1: had been dreaming. There is no such a thing as
• 1:48:38
  Speaker 1: the spirit of the mountain, he said. Taking up his tools,
• 1:48:42
  Speaker 1: he went home. But to his great surprise, in place
• 1:48:46
  Speaker 1: of his old hut there stood a mansion, surrounded by
• 1:48:49
  Speaker 1: a beautiful garden, and everything about it inside and out
• 1:48:54
  Speaker 1: as complete as it was in the home of the
• 1:48:57
  Speaker 1: rich man he had envied. Haffies was very happy in
• 1:49:01
  Speaker 1: his new home. He enjoyed this life of luxury with
• 1:49:05
  Speaker 1: nothing to do. One day, as he was looking out
• 1:49:09
  Speaker 1: upon the street, he saw the king riding by in
• 1:49:12
  Speaker 1: his golden chariot, drawn by eight prancing white horses. Guards
• 1:49:18
  Speaker 1: rode at either side of the chariot. They were all
• 1:49:21
  Speaker 1: dressed in a cloth of silver and blue velvet. The
• 1:49:25
  Speaker 1: day was very warm, and the servants held over the
• 1:49:28
  Speaker 1: king a large golden umbrella to protect him from the
• 1:49:31
  Speaker 1: rays of the sun. As Hafiz watched the king and
• 1:49:35
  Speaker 1: his royal procession, he became envious and unhappy. It must
• 1:49:40
  Speaker 1: be wonderful to be a king and rule all the people.
• 1:49:43
  Speaker 1: He said, How I wish that I were a king
• 1:49:46
  Speaker 1: and could ride in a golden chariot under a golden umbrella.
• 1:49:50
  Speaker 1: Then he heard the rushing noise of the wind, and
• 1:49:53
  Speaker 1: when all was still a voice said solemnly, Hafiz, listen
• 1:49:58
  Speaker 1: unto me, thy wish is granted. Thee be thou the king,
• 1:50:03
  Speaker 1: and Hafiz became the king, and his home was changed
• 1:50:07
  Speaker 1: into a royal palace. One summer day, when the sun
• 1:50:11
  Speaker 1: was very warm, Hafiz the King was riding out in
• 1:50:14
  Speaker 1: his golden chariot, drawn by eight white horses. Over his head,
• 1:50:19
  Speaker 1: the servants held the golden umbrella, but still he felt
• 1:50:23
  Speaker 1: the heat from the sun. He looked out upon the
• 1:50:26
  Speaker 1: grass scorched and browned by the warm rays of the sun.
• 1:50:31
  Speaker 1: The little flowers were withering by the side of the road,
• 1:50:34
  Speaker 1: and he knew that the sun was burning his face
• 1:50:37
  Speaker 1: browner and browner every day. He cried out in anger.
• 1:50:42
  Speaker 1: The sun is mightier than I. I am warm and
• 1:50:44
  Speaker 1: weary when I feel the hot rays of the sun.
• 1:50:48
  Speaker 1: So the sun is more powerful than a king. How
• 1:50:51
  Speaker 1: I wish that I were the sun. As he said that,
• 1:50:55
  Speaker 1: a loud, roaring sound was heard, like a mighty wind
• 1:50:59
  Speaker 1: rushing down from the mountains, and a solemn voice said,
• 1:51:02
  Speaker 1: in a deep tone, Hafiz, listen unto me, thy wish
• 1:51:07
  Speaker 1: now is granted. Thee be thou the sun, and Hafiz
• 1:51:12
  Speaker 1: became the golden Sun. He was proud of his power
• 1:51:16
  Speaker 1: and sent his bright beams down upon the grass and
• 1:51:19
  Speaker 1: the fields, Burning up the harvest. He scorched the faces
• 1:51:23
  Speaker 1: of the rich and poor alike. But one day a
• 1:51:27
  Speaker 1: big dark cloud covered his face, hiding the earth from him.
• 1:51:32
  Speaker 1: Hafis was very angry and called out, is the cloud
• 1:51:36
  Speaker 1: then mightier than the sun? The cloud holds my bright
• 1:51:39
  Speaker 1: beams and will not let me reach down to the earth.
• 1:51:43
  Speaker 1: Can it be stronger than I am? How I wish
• 1:51:46
  Speaker 1: that I were the cloud. Once again, a mighty wind arose,
• 1:51:51
  Speaker 1: and when all was still, the solemn voice was heard, saying, Hafis,
• 1:51:55
  Speaker 1: listen unto me. Thy wish now is granted. Thee be
• 1:51:59
  Speaker 1: thou the cloud. Then Hafiz became a cloud and sent
• 1:52:04
  Speaker 1: down rain upon the dry earth. He held back the
• 1:52:07
  Speaker 1: Sun's rays, and all the earth grew green again. But
• 1:52:11
  Speaker 1: that was not enough for rejoicing in his new power.
• 1:52:15
  Speaker 1: He sent so much rain to the earth that the
• 1:52:17
  Speaker 1: rivers overflowed their banks. The rice fields were ruined, and
• 1:52:21
  Speaker 1: towns and villages were swept away by the floods. There
• 1:52:25
  Speaker 1: was one great rock upon the side of the mountain
• 1:52:28
  Speaker 1: that was not harmed by these torrents. And as Hafist
• 1:52:32
  Speaker 1: the cloud looked down at the rock, he became angry.
• 1:52:36
  Speaker 1: Is that rock down there stronger than I am? How
• 1:52:39
  Speaker 1: I wish that I were the rock? And there arose
• 1:52:42
  Speaker 1: a mighty wind and a loud voice which was heard
• 1:52:45
  Speaker 1: above the tempest. Hafis, listen unto me. Thy wish now
• 1:52:50
  Speaker 1: is granted thee be thou the rock. Then hap Fee'z
• 1:52:54
  Speaker 1: became the rock, and he rejoiced in his strength. Let
• 1:52:58
  Speaker 1: the rain pour down upon me, he said haughtily. The
• 1:53:02
  Speaker 1: rain cannot move me. Let the sun send down its
• 1:53:06
  Speaker 1: warmest rays upon me. It cannot scorch or brown me.
• 1:53:10
  Speaker 1: For I am a rock stronger than anything in the world.
• 1:53:14
  Speaker 1: But one day he heard a noise, chip chip chip,
• 1:53:19
  Speaker 1: as a heavy mallet pounded a chisel into his side,
• 1:53:23
  Speaker 1: chip chip chip. Every blow of the mallet made an
• 1:53:27
  Speaker 1: ugly crack in the sight of the rock. Haffis looked
• 1:53:30
  Speaker 1: down and saw a small stone cutter working away at
• 1:53:33
  Speaker 1: the smooth face of the rock. Cannot be that a
• 1:53:37
  Speaker 1: mere man is stronger than a great rock. How I
• 1:53:40
  Speaker 1: wish I were that man, groaned Haffis. Then the wind
• 1:53:45
  Speaker 1: rushed down the mountain, and a loud voice was heard
• 1:53:47
  Speaker 1: as it echoed and re echoed through the mountains. Haffie's listen,
• 1:53:52
  Speaker 1: unto me thy wish now is granted thee be thou thyself.
• 1:53:58
  Speaker 1: And there was Haffis, a poor stone cutter, hammering away
• 1:54:02
  Speaker 1: at the rock, trying to earn his daily bread. His
• 1:54:06
  Speaker 1: home was a lowly hut. His food was poor and scarce,
• 1:54:10
  Speaker 1: his bed was hard. But his mallet hammered away at
• 1:54:14
  Speaker 1: the rock, chip chip chip. He could almost hear it say.
• 1:54:18
  Speaker 1: The king was mightier than the rich man. The sun
• 1:54:22
  Speaker 1: was stronger than the king. The cloud was more powerful
• 1:54:25
  Speaker 1: than the sun. The rock was stronger than the cloud.
• 1:54:30
  Speaker 1: But Hafiz, the stone cutter, is more powerful than all.
• 1:54:35
  Speaker 1: End of Chapter eleven and of Little Peachling and other
• 1:54:39
  Speaker 1: Tales of Old Japan, retold by Georgine Faulkner,