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. 

Reading Diary: Week 7: Lang Continued

Schippeitero
A young man was on a journey and had to stay the night in a chapel for safety. At night cats gathered there and chanted "Don't tell Schippeitrto." He soon found out that a girl from a near by village was going to be sacrificed to The Mountain Spirit and the young boy asked who Schippeitero was. He was a dog who could kill The Mountain Spirit. He got the dog and went to the chapel and when the spirit was going to eat the girl he found the dog instead and the dog and the boy worked together and killed the spirit.
The Crab and The Monkey
The monkey made a deal with the crab to give hm rice and to give the crab a seed of fruit. The crab agreed and she planted the seed and soon had a beautiful tree with a lot of fruit. The monkey asked if he could have some fruit and the crab said yes if he throws down half the fruit to her, but instead he ate all the good fruit and threw down the rotten fruit to the crab. The crab knew the monkey would come back for more fruit so she made a plan with her friends. When the monkey came back he tried to steal an egg that exploded in his face and the he got stung by a wasp and then a mortar fell on his head and he died.
The Magic Kettle
An old man had a kettle that he started to heat up, but when he did the kettle turned into a tanuki. The man didn't want this creature in his house so he sold the kettle to Jimmu. Jimmu set up a booth and showed people the transformation and became very weather. He was an honest man so he filled the kettle with gold coins and brought it back to the old man.

Tanuki

How The Wicked Tanuki Was Punished

Because of hunters there were no animals in the forest except three: the tanuki, the fox, and their son. They were very hungry so the Tanuki transformed himself into a man and sold the fox (knowing she was alive and could escape back into the forest). But he told the seller she wasn't really dead so the tanuki could have more food for himself. The son wanted to avenge his mother so he told his father that he was very good at magic and could transform into anything, but his father said he would still be able to recognize him. So instead of transforming the son just hid and then the king came by and tanuki jumped on him thinking it was the son and the kings guards killed him. 

The Slaying of The Tanuki

The tanuki was very mean to the peasant so the peasant took him home and bound him up because he was planning on eating him. The peasants wife felt bad for the tanuki and untied him, but he killed her and made dinner from her flesh. He transformed into the wife and fed the peasant the meal. He told the peasant and ran away. The hare tried to get revenge by setting the wood that was bounded to the tanuki's back, but it didn't kill him. They had an idea to make two boats, one made of clay and one made of wood. The hare invited the tanuki to fish and he agreed and god into the bigger clay boat. When they were out on the water the hare struck the boat, breaking it and drowning the tanuki. 

Uraschimataro and The Turtle

A young fisherman of two loving parents went too far out to sea and he caught a baby turtle. This turtle begged for his life so the boy gave it to him and set him free. Later he was caught in huge waves and the turtle was bigger now and saved him. The turtle brought him to an underwater palace with a beautiful princess, the boy stayed there for a very long time and did not age. The boy soon longed for his parents and the princess told him he could go and gave him a small box. She said if he were to open the box he would never be allowed to return. the boy agreed and went to the land. Up there he rand to his parents house only to find they were dead. He opened the box and the young boy turned into an old man. He waited by the shore for the turtle, but he never came and the man died. 

Reading Diary: Week 7: Japanese Fairy Tales - Lang

The Two Frogs 
There were two frogs, one from of Osaka and one from Kioto, and they both wanted to travel and explore their land. The Kioto frog wanted to travel to Osaka and the Osaka frog wanted to go to Kioto. They met at amounting in the middle of their two towns and looked at the towns they were traveling to see to find that they looked exactly like the town they came from.
The Stonecutter
There once was a poor stonecutter, who seemed content with his life until he visited a rich mans house. After that he said to himself that he wishes he was a rich man and the mountain spirit granted him this wish. The sun was still hot for him as a rich man so he wished to be a prince so someone would hold an umbrella over his head. He found the sun was mightier than man so he wished to be the sun, then he wished to be a cloud then to be a rock. As a rock, a stone cutter came and chipped off a piece of the former stonecutter. The rock wished to be a man again and then was content with what he had.
The Maiden With The Woden Helmet
There was a family who had lost all their riches so they had to teach their daughter tot work very hard. This girl was very beautiful, but her mother gave her a wooden helmet to wear and never take off. She started working for a rich family and soon became the sick mothers maiden. This sick women had a son who thought the helmet was strange but got a glimpse of the women beauty. He then had to marry her. During the wedding the helmet fell off and revieled her beauty.
The Envious Neighbor
There was an old couple with a very loyal dog. This dog dug up gold coins for the couple. The neighbor of this couples asked to borrow the dog for a night in hopes of him finding more gold, but the dog didn't , so the neighbor killed him. The dog visited the old man in a dream and told him to make a mortar to collect rice and the rice turned into gold. The neighbor borrowed the mortar and the rice turned into smelly berries so he smashed the mortar.

Digging Dog

The Sparrow With The Slit Tongue

A very sweet old man was married to a greedy mean women. The man saw a sparrow in need and brought it into his home and kept it safe, but the women saw this bird and tried to kill it and plot its tongue. When the man found out he went out to look for it and found himself in a beautiful garden with a big house and maiden. This maiden was his spare friend and she fed him and had him pick between two chests. He picked the smaller one and it was gold coins. His wife called him foolish and went to go get the bigger chest. She did and when she opened it there were two snakes who bit and killed her. 

The Cat's Elopement 

There were two cats Gon and Koma and they fell madly in love and ran away together. They came face to face with a dog and Koma ran up a tree and Gon stayed strong like he would fight the dog. A man who worked for the princess came and saved Gon and took him to the palace. They were heart broken that they were separated. At the palace Gon saw two cats fighting and went outside to break it up to find the smaller cat was Koma.