Why not have fun learning Japanese by reading stories? This time, we will introduce a story called "The Mouse's Wedding."
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Well, this time I'd like to introduce a story called "The Mouse's Wedding". It's a very famous story, and I remember being read it a lot when I was little. Let's all read the story and have fun learning Japanese.
"The Mouse's Wedding"
Once upon a time, there lived a rich family of mice in a storehouse.
In this house, there was a little mouse girl, and the mouse father and mother raised her with great care. Eventually, she grew into a very beautiful mouse.
One day, the mouse's father and mother
"My daughter is the best in Japan, so she should have the best husband in Japan."
said.
So the father and mother thought that the greatest person in the world was the sun, who shines brightly all over the world from high in the sky, and they took their daughter and went to see the sun.
Dad said to the sun.
"Sun, you are the greatest person in the world. Please marry my daughter."
The sun then smiled and said,
"I appreciate that, but there are greater things in the world than I am."
said.
My dad was surprised.
"Well, there is someone greater than you. Who is it?"
"Clouds. No matter how brightly I shine in the sky, once the clouds appear it's all over."
"I see."
So Dad went off to see the clouds this time.
"Mr. Cloud, you are the greatest man in the world. Please marry my daughter."
"I appreciate that, but there are greater things in the world than I am."
My dad was surprised.
"Well, there is someone greater than you. Who is it?"
"That's the wind. I can't compete with the wind."
"I see."
Then Dad went off to find the wind.
"Kaze-san, you are the greatest person in the world. Please marry my daughter."
"I appreciate that, but there are greater things in the world than I am."
My dad was surprised.
"Well, there is someone greater than you. Who is it?"
"That's a wall. Walls are the only thing I can't blow away."
"I see."
Then Dad went off again to the wall.
"Mr. Wall, you are the greatest man in the world. Please marry my daughter."
"I appreciate that, but there are greater things in the world than I am."
My dad was surprised.
"Well, there is someone greater than you. Who is it?"
"It's no one, it's Mr. Mouse. Mr. Mouse has no problem tearing my body apart and making holes through it. So I can't beat him no matter what."
"I see."
The father mouse looked impressed and clapped his hands.
"I had never realized this before. So we are the most important people in the world. Thank you. Thank you."
"I'm so happy," she said, and went home. And she immediately made the little mouse next door her husband.
The young groom and bride lived together happily and took good care of their mother and father. They had many children and the family of the storehouse mice grew bigger and bigger.
How was it?
I can really understand the feelings of parents who send their only precious daughter off to get married.
So, what is this story trying to tell us? Let's think about it.
The father mouse went around looking for the most amazing thing in the world. In the end, he realized that he and his mouse friend were amazing. This story teaches us that each person has good and bad points, and things they are good at and things they are not good at.
What are your strengths and weaknesses? Everyone has something they're not good at, but it's also important to find your strengths and praise yourself and others from time to time.
Additionally, in these old tales, the words "groom" and "bride" appear, showing that there is an image of marriage being something between a man and a woman. Nowadays, terms like LGBTQ are becoming more widely known in society, and the idea that marriage is not determined by gender but is something that people should do with someone they love is becoming more widespread, so perhaps stories read by children 100 years from now will feature free marriages that transcend gender and age barriers.
This time we introduced the story "The Mouse's Wedding." Did you enjoy the story?
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