Storytelling Week 7: Turtle Talk

Long ago I was just a little turtle, swimming very far out where most boats don't go, just like I did all the time. One day there was a boat out there and a boy came right up next to me and scooped me up and put me in his boat with all of these fish. When I worked up enough courage to ask the boy to spare my life, because I was so little and there was no benefit in keeping me. He was very kind and let me go without hesitation.

After this I went to the house of the sea god and told his daughter, Otohmi, about my encounter with the boy. She told me that she really wanted to meet him and thank him for his kind act, but I told her that he lived on the land. She seemed very sad and it broke my heart. 

Many years later I saw the boat again, but it was storing out and the waves were huge. Soon enough the boys boat was swallowed by the biggest wave I had ever seen. The boy struggled to get to the surface and I swam right to him. I reminded him that I was the turtle that he set free years ago. I told him I could save him, but we had to make a stop before heading back to the shore. I knew the princess would be very happy with me. 

Uraschimataro on the back of the Turtle

We traveled all the way down to the house of the sea god and his daughter. On this journey he told me his name was Uraschimataro and he was very fond of fishing, and came from a family of fishermen and fisherwomen. He seemed to care for his parents very much. 

When we reach the princess she instantly fell in love with Uraschimataro and begged him to stay. She told him if he stayed he would be able to stay young and keep his beauty forever. He was very hesitant, but he agreed. 

Over the years they grew very fond of each other, that it seemed like no time at all to them. Since I was the princess's first maid she was able to keep me the same age as she did Uraschimataro. 

One day Uraschimataro seemed very sad and I could see his sadness grow more and more with each day. Otohmi noticed this also and asked him what was the matter. He said that he missed his parents, and I could tell it broke her heart. She told me before that she was scared if he left her then he would never return. I told her that he loved her very much and he would obviously come back. 

Otohmi told him why she was worried and he chuckled a little and told her he will always come back. Because she had kept him young so many years, he needed to be able to keep this appearance whenever he was on land, but since the princess wasn't going to be around him she had to put the magic in a box for him to take to the land. She didn't tell him what was in the box though, she wanted to test his trust, so all she told him was to not open the box. 

I delivered the boy to the shore. I reminded him not to open the box and he quickly agreed, but I could tell he was too excited to see his parents. When he got off my back he ran to the town and I waited for him. I waited for many hours. He didn't return and I was very worried. 

The only person who came to the shore the rest of the day was a very old man, but I didn't let him see me. I didn't want to tell the princess that Uraschimataro do not come back, so I wanted several more days. It came time I had to tell Otahmi the horrible news and she was heart broken. She did not believe he would do that to her so in the middle of the night she snuck up onto shore, but that is a story for another time. 

Authors Notes: This story comes from the Japanese Fairy Tales: Uraschimataro and The Turtle. In the story the boy was a fisherman and saved the turtle who returned the favor saving him when his boat got swallowed by a wave. It is all about the same, but in the original story it talks about what happens when Uraschimataro gets to the land. Since I was writing in the turtles perspective, whenever knew what happened so I couldn't add it in this storytelling. 

When he reached the land he ran to his parents house, but as he was running through the town he noticed everything was a little different. When he went to his parents house and knocked a woman answered who had never heard of his parents. He went to the graveyard to find his parents gravestones that had the date on them, that was a little after the date he left to go to the house of the sea god. He found out that 300 years had passed while he was underwater. He thought that everything was some sort of spell and the box held the counter spell, so he opened it. When he opened the box he immediately aged and he went back to the shore. The turtle didn't come back for him and he died on the beach.