Week 6 Reading Diary: Japanese Fairy Tales (Lang)

This week, I chose to read Japanese Fairy Tales (Lang), found here.

The Two Frogs

• The two frogs lived far from each other and wanted to visit each other.
• They set off to meet each other.
• On the way, there was a mountain they had to climb.
• They started talking once they met each other. They both wished to explore more. They rose on their hind legs and held onto each other. 
• When they rose, their eyes pointed backwards. Since they forgot, they turned their noses to their destinations, which means that their eyes are in the complete opposite.
• Each saw their own town without realizing and decided not to visit after all.

The Stonecutter

• There was a stonecutter who went everyday to a big rock to cut it. He used it to help others build houses and gravestones. 
• It was said that there is a spirit that would appear to men and helped them become rich. The stonecutter didn't believe so. 
• He was walking one day when he wished to be rich. A voice said that his wish will be granted.
• He became a prince. It was not enough.
• He became the sun. It was not enough either.
• He became a cloud. It was not enough and he poured rain until the rivers overflowed and the crops of rice stood in water. 
• He became a rock. One day he looked down and saw a stonecutter. He got mad.
• He became a man. He was finally satisfied.

The Maiden with the Wooden Helmet

• There lived a man and his wife. They have a beautiful daughter. They moved to the country.
• The women would clean, but the man would sit and think. One day he died.
• The girl grew even more beautiful. The mother was worried, so she taught her to always be busy so that she would never have time to think about herself. 
• The mother got ill one day and told her daughter to go get the wooden helmet and to wear it low, so almost all her face was covered. Her beauty was hidden. 
• She went to look for work and found one with a man that owned fields. She never took the helmet off.
• Many young men tried to lift her helmet. She didn't talk to people much. 
• One day the man watched the girl. He reassigned her to tend to his sick wife. 
• The man's oldest sun is back from out of town for studies. He saw the girl and immediately took interest to her. 
• He walked by her one hot day when she was splashing water on her face, her helmet off to one side. He caught a glimpse of her beauty. 
• When he told his family he wants to marry her, they got mad. She refused him, thinking it wasn't worth it for the family to fight over her.
• Her mother appeared to her one night, telling her to marry the man. She went to tell him the next day. 
• When they tried to dress her for her wedding and tried to pull off the helmet, it would not come off. 
• When they were married and finished drinking, the helmet suddenly burst with a loud noise and fell in pieces on the ground. The people turned and found precious stones which had fallen out of it. The guests were more surprised at her beauty.
• They were married till they died and had many children.

Cherry blossom tree in Japan (source: Google)

The Envious Neighbour

• There once was an old couple. Since they didn't have anyone to care for, they cared for a little dog. 
• The dog was grateful to them for their kindness and never left their side.
• One day out in the field, the dog was scratching and barking at the ground. He followed to where the dog led him. The husband began to dig and pulled out a large box filled with gold.
• A neighbor grew envious of their luck. He begged the couple to lend him the dog. 
• He was so persistent the couple finally agreed. The dog just ran around.
• The next morning the dog ran to the foot of a tree and started scratching.
• He started to dig but only found old bones. He was so mad he killed the dog. What a mean person. It's not the dog's fault you're greedy and lazy. 
• He told the couple that the dog fell down dead, that he took care of it and gave it everything. 
• The old man buried the dog under the tree he found the treasure. 
• He woke up the next morning having a dream of cutting the tree. The wife, trusting the dog's instinct, told him to do it. 
• They made a mortar from the tree. When they gathered rice and put it in the mortar, it turned into gold. 
• The neighbor asked for the mortar. The rice instead turned into horrible smelling berries. They were mad and smashed the mortar. 
• The dog appeared in the dream and told the couple to go get the ashes from the burnt mortar. He was to carry the ashes to the high road, climb the cherry-tree and sprinkle the ashes on the procession, and they would bloom.
• When the procession approached, the old man didn't bow. Before the messenger could reach the old man, he climbed the tree and scattered the ashes. Daimio was so happy that the flowers bloomed he gave rich presents to the old man. 
• The envious neighbor then went to gather the ashes, and waited for the procession. When he threw the ashes, the flowers didn't bloom but instead got into Daimio and his warriors' eyes. 
• The prince ordered the envious neighbor to be seized and thrown into prison. By the time he was free, everybody knew of his wickedness. 

The Sparrow with the Slit Tongue

• An old couple lived on a high mountain. A sparrow flow into him one day with a giant bird chasing him. He comforted the little bird and put it into a cage where it soon recovered. 
• The next morning he let it out but it would quickly return when it saw other big animals.
• The wife grew jealous of the husband's affection for the bird. She threw her broom at the bird. She finally caught it after a while. How mean. She stilted its tongue, and the bird flew away into the forest.
• The old man came back and asked for his pet. The wife told him what she did. At least she's honest and didn't try to get out of it. 
• He left the house to look for the bird, but never found it.
• One hot summer day he came upon a beautiful garden and a little house. The woman who came out was lovely and immediately invited him in. She turned out to be the sparrow. How weird.
• The woman brought out 2 chests and told the old man to choose one. He chose the small one. 
• His wife was mad. The husband took out the chest, opened it, and discovered gold and precious stones in it. 
• She asked him where he was and he told her. She put on her best clothes and went to find the woman/sparrow.
• When it was time to choose, the woman chose the bigger chest and returned home. When she opened it, she found poisonous snakes who bit her.
• She died. 

The Cat's Elopement

• Gon the cat. He belonged to a music teacher. 
• Near the music teacher's house is a woman who has a cat named Koma.
• The two cats fell madly in love with each other.
• Neither owners would sell their cats to the other.
• The cats ran away together.
• A dog appeared. Gon stood to fight, but Koma, with her loud screaming, finally drew the attention of a servant of the princess. He drove off the dog and took Gon to his mistress. 
• One day, a snake slithered up the princess. Gon saw this and bit its neck. The princess treated him great, but he only wanted Koma.
• Koma was being bullied one day when Gon came to her rescue. She almost didn't recognize him. 
• The princess got married. 
• Gon and Koma had many children, as did the princess.