Let's read a story in Japanese. Let's introduce "The Crane's Return of Favor"!
Everyone, why don't you try reading the story in Japanese?
Today I would like to introduce a very famous folktale called "The Crane's Return of Favor."
Please be sure to watch until the end!
"The Crane's Return of Favor"
Once upon a time, there lived a kind old man and woman.
One cold winter day, on his way home from working in the mountains , the old man heard the cry of a crane coming from somewhere.
When I walked towards the source of the sound, I saw a crane caught in a trap and suffering.
The kind old man helped the crane by removing its legs from the trap, and the crane was now free to fly away into the sky.
That night, the grandfather told his grandmother about the crane.
The old lady also seemed happy to hear the story of the crane flying away happily.
Then, tap, tap…
I hear someone knocking on the door.
"Oh, who could it be on a snowy night like this...?"
The old man and woman opened the door, wondering what was going on.
And there stood a beautiful girl.
"I'm sorry to bother you so late at night. I got lost during my travels. Could you let me stay the night?"
"That's terrible, on such a cold night. Come on, come inside."
The old man and woman brought the girl inside the house and had her warm herself by the hearth.
The grandmother cooked some hot porridge for her daughter, who ate it with great gusto.
"Where are you planning to go alone in this cold weather?"
"No, actually, I don't have anywhere to go..."
"Well, then why don't you come and live with us here?"
"Is that okay? Thank you. I'll help you two too. Thank you very much."
So my daughter came to live in this house.
The grandfather and grandmother, who had no children of their own, loved and cherished their daughter as if she were their own child.
The next morning, the little girl woke up earlier than her grandparents and went to the kitchen to start preparing breakfast.
But the rice bin is empty.
The porridge that the grandmother gave her daughter yesterday was the last rice.
The girl found a spool of thread in the house and quietly went into the weaving room.
Key clunk, key clunk
The girl continued weaving.
Soon the old man and woman woke up.
The girl then showed them the finished cloth.
"Oh, how beautiful..."
"Did you make this?"
"Yes, Grandpa, go and sell this in town and use the money to buy some rice."
The old man was delighted and went out into the town.
The cloth that the daughter made was sold for a high price, and the grandfather used the money to buy rice and fish.
I bought a beautiful comb as a souvenir for my daughter.
That night, the three of them ate their fill.
"Thank you so much, my daughter. I'm so happy you came home."
"I'm happy too. I'm going to weave one more bolt of cloth before I go to bed, so you two can go to sleep first."
The old man and woman were surprised.
"Are you still going to work? You should take the day off."
"Yes, I will weave one more bolt of cloth and then go to bed. But you must promise me one thing. You must never see me weaving."
"Oh, I get it. I promise."
The old man and woman were puzzled, but could only nod in agreement to their daughter's request.
The next day, and the day after that, the girl continued weaving.
Thanks to this, my grandparents can now live a comfortable life.
However, her grandparents were worried because their daughter was gradually losing energy.
"Are you going to weave today? I'm taking the day off. Don't push yourself too hard."
"No, please let me weave just one more bolt."
And with that, the girl slammed the sliding screen doors shut in the weaving room.
The grandfather and grandmother cannot sleep because they are worried about their daughter.
"You seem a bit down lately. You must be tired from working every day."
"Okay, let's go and see how it goes."
"But I have a promise to my daughter!"
The old woman tried to stop him, but the old man quietly opened the sliding screen to the weaving room and peeked inside.
Then he saw a crane weaving its own feathers into cloth.
"That is…"
The old man cried out in surprise.
The crane noticed the old man and woman and said,
"Oh, so you saw it. That's right. I am the crane that the old man saved that time. I wanted to repay him for his kindness, so I came here in human form. But now that you saw me, I must say goodbye..."
"Don't go!"
The old man and woman cried as they tried to stop the crane.
"Thank you, Grandpa and Grandma. Goodbye."
The crane took the beautiful comb that the old man had given her in its mouth and flew away crying.
How was it.
I hope you enjoyed reading it.
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See you next time!
