The bamboo princess
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On the night of the August moon the true identity of the bamboo princess was known.
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There once lived in a remote and picturesque village in Japan, an old couple who were good and generous and well-loved by the villagers. They did not have any children. One day, the old man went to the bamboo grove to cut a piece of bamboo.
He was surprised to see that one particular bamboo was effulgent with light. He went near it, and was surprised to see a beautiful girl-child inside. He brought the child home to his wife who was overjoyed. They brought up the child with great care and love.
She grew up into an exceedingly beautiful maiden, and there were many suitors for her hand. But the old man set Herculean, impossible tasks for each of them.
Suitable tasks
To one he said: "Go to the Horai mountain and bring from there a branch bearing a gleaming ball which you will find growing on a golden tree." To another he said: "Find the stone bowl that Lord Buddha used to drink from when he journeyed through the world." To the third he said: "You should bring the ball of five jewels which you will find in the throat of the dragon of the Horai mountain."
To yet another suitor, he said: "You have to bring the cowry shell which the Horai mountain swallow bears within her, without harming the bird nor the shell in obtaining it."
To the fifth suitor, he said: "You are challenged to bring back the skin of the tree rat which will emerge uncharred and unscathed from fire."
Naturally all the suitors failed. One evening, when the August moon was waxing, the old man heard his daughter weeping bitterly in her room. When the old couple asked her the reason, she replied: "The time has come for me to tell you my secret. I am not of the human race; I belong to the country of the Moon. And the time has also come for me to return to my own country." The old couple was very disturbed and they arranged with the Emperor to provide maximum security for their daughter.
But on the night of the August full moon, a shining golden chariot descended from the moonbeams. All the barricades collapsed, all doors opened themselves and the people of the moon took the Bamboo princess up to the country of the moon with them.
The old couple then understood the divine nature of the shining child they were blessed to rear, because of their goodness.
Retold by Indu K. Mallah
Narrated by Mieko Kamata
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