JAPAN FOLKLORE

SOURCE : http://japanfolklore.blogspot.com/2008/08/kaguya-hime.html

Long, long ago in Japan, there lived a poor woodsman. One day, he was cutting bamboo in a grove when he came upon one stalk of bamboo glowing a bright, golden color. Finding this mysterious, he approached it for a closer look.

 

To his amazement, inside the bamboo was an adorable, tiny little girl. Since the old man and his wife had no children of their own, he decided to bring the child home with him, where he and his wife raised her with love and care. They decided to name her Kaguya Hime. From that time forward, whenever the woodsman went back to work in the grove, gold coins would come pouring out from the bamboo he cut. As a result, the old couple became wealthy. 

Amazingly, within just three months Kaguya Hime grew into a beautiful maiden. Her beauty soon became known throughout the country, and one young man after another came forth to ask her hand in marriage. Kaguya Hime refused all of her suitors, but there were five insistent young noblemen who refused to give up. In order to dissuade them, Kaguya Hime asked for a gift from each, and promised to marry the first one to bring her the gift she had requested. But these items were not things that could be found anywhere on this earth, and so the five young noblemen soon lost heart and gave up.

In the meantime the Emperor, who had heard of Kaguya Hime's beauty, also began courting the girl to become his wife and Empress. He too was refused. When the Emperor tried to force Kaguya Hime to come to the palace, she disappeared right before his eyes. The Emperor then realized that there was something unusual about Kaguya Hime, and so he too gave up.

 Three years passed and Kaguya Hime became even more beautiful. Then, one spring, Kaguya Hime began to grow melancholy on moonlit nights. She would stare at the moon with tears streaming down her face. The old woodsman, worried, asked what was wrong. Gazing up at the sky, Kaguya Hime replied, "Actually, I come from the moon. I was sent to live on the earth by my King, but now I have been told that I must go home. I will miss everyone here on earth, and that is why I am sad."

 

The old man was shocked, and not wanting to let his beloved daughter go, consulted with the Emperor to devise a plan. On the night of the full moon, the Emperor's guards hid Kaguya Hime deep inside the woodsman's house and surrounded it. Suddenly, the night sky became bright. Messengers from the moon dressed in brilliant clothes came down from the sky and descended to the earth on a cloud. At this sight, the guards become petrified and lost their courage. The messengers placed Kaguya Hime onto a palanquin and dressed her in a feathered robe. Leaving the heartbroken old couple behind, Kaguya Hime took off to the moon.

A Balinese Folktale: Cupak and Grantang

SOURCE : http://blog.baliwww.com/tale/707

Once upon a time in Bali, there were two brothers Cupak and Grantang. These two brothers are completely opposite. Cupak was the older brother, he was lazy, boastful, gluttonous, and cowardly. While Grantang was gentle, refined, fair and wise, humble in speech but fierce in battle.
One day, Cupak played a trick on Grantang and the result was, that their parents turn against Grantang accusing him of being a very lazy son, and they drive him from their home. Grantang was forced to wander in the wilderness, but Cupak sorrowfully followed him. Cupak however traveled without any burden, while Grantang carried all the provision. Moreover, Cupak was the one who eat most. All through their travels, Grantang was the one who must do all the heavy work. Finally, they arrive at the palace of Daha, where the king asked them to recover his daughter and promised that the one who successful could marry the princess. Cupak boastfully promised to kill the giant, while Grantang said humbly that he would also try.

They then set off in search of the giant Limandaru, once again Grantang bear all the burden. When they finally found the huge footprints of the giant, Cupak was afraid. When they encounter the giant, Grantang did all the fighting and finally killed the giant, while Cupak was hiding himself behind a tree. The princess felt in love with Grantang, but that night while they were sleeping in the forest with Cupak on guard, another giant carried the princess off to his home at the bottom of a deep well. Cupak was of course too coward to defend the princess and thought only of himself when Grantang set out in pursuit of the demon. It was Grantang who descent to the well and rescued the princess once more, by killing the giant. Grantang sent the princess out of the well to Cupak but before he can climb again, Cupak cut the rope, leaving Grantang to perish in the well. Cupak returned triumphantly with the princess to Daha. Cupak was betrothed to the princess. But this not prevented him from still pursuing other young girls.
Grantang meanwhile had gathered the bones of the giant and managed to make a ladder out of them and get out of the well. Starvation made Grantang very thin and people who met him believed he was an evil spirit. When he arrived at the palace, Cupak refused to acknowledge him and he was beaten and thrown into the sea. Fortunately, Grantang was found by a fisherman, to whom he brought a good fortune in the catch, and the fisherman looked after him. After a few years stay with the benevolent fisherman, Grantang regained his strength and one day he met the princess again, who managed to put off her wedding to Cupak. The princess the persuades her father to allow her to marry the most skillful warrior. She provided Grantang with magnificent clothes and weapons and he did battle with Cupak, he was off course, the winner and got the princess as his bride.

Beauty and The Beast

Beauty and the Beast

Once upon a time, a merchant set off for market, he asked each of his three daughters what she would like as a present on his return. The first daughter wanted a brocade dress, the second a pearl necklace, but the third, whose name was Beauty, the youngest, prettiest and sweetest of them all, said to her father;

“All I’d like is a rose you’ve picked specially for me!”

When the merchant had finished his business, he set off for home. However, a sudden storm blew up, and his horse could hardly make headway in the howling gale. Cold and weary, the merchant had lost all hope of reaching an inn when he suddenly noticed a bright light shining in the middle of a wood. As he drew near, he saw that it was a castle, bathed in light. “I hope I’ll find shelter there for the night,” he said to himself. When he reached the door, he saw it was open, but though he shouted, nobody came to greet him. Plucking up courage, he went inside, still calling out to attract attention. On a table in the main hall, a splendid dinner lay already served. The merchant lingered, still shouting for the owner of the castle. But no one came, and so the starving merchant sat down to a hearty meal. Overcome by curiosity, he ventured upstairs, when the corridor led into magnificent rooms and halls. A fire crackled in the first room and a soft bed looked very inviting. It was now late, and the merchant could not resist. He lay down on the bed and fell fast asleep. When he woke next morning, an unknown hand had placed a mug of steaming coffee and some fruit by his bedside. The merchant had breakfast and after tidying himself up, went downstairs to thank his generous host. But, as the evening before, there was nobody in sight. Shaking his head in wonder at the strangeness of it all, he went towards the garden where he had left his horse, tethered to a tree. Suddenly, a large rose bush caught his eye.

Remembering his promise to Beauty, he bent down to pick a rose. Instantly, out of the rose garden, sprang a horrible beast, wearing splendid clothes. Two bloodshot eyes, gleaming angrily, glared at him and a deep, terrifying voice growled : “Ungrateful man! I gave you shelter, you ate at my table and slept in my own bed, but now all the thanks I get is the theft of my favourite flowers! I shall put you to death for this slight!” Trembling with fear, the merchant fell on his knees before the Beast. “Forgive me! Forgive me!  Don’t kill me! I’ll do anything you say! The rose wasn’t for me, it was for my daughter Beauty. I promised to bring her back a rose from my journey!” The Beast dropped the paw it had clamped on the unhappy merchant. “I shall spare your life, but on one condition, that you bring me your daughter!” The terror-stricken merchant, faced with certain death if he did not obey, promised that he would do so. When he reached home in tears, his three daughters ran to greet him. After he had told them of his dreadful adventure, Beauty put his mind at rest immediately. “Dear father, I’d do anything for you! Don’t worry, you’ll be able to keep your promise and save your life! Take me to the castle. I’ll stay there in your place!” the merchant hugged his daughter. “I never did doubt your love for me. For the moment I can only thank you for saving my life.” So Beauty was led to the castle. The Beast, however, had quite an unexpected greeting for the girl. Instead of menacing doom as it had done with her father, it was surprisingly pleasant.

In the beginning, Beauty was frightened of the Beast, and shuddered at the sight of it. Then she found that, in spite of the monster’s awful head,  her horror of it was gradually fading as time went by. She had one of the finest rooms in the Castle, and sat for hours, embroidering in front of the fire. And the Beast would sit, for hours on end, only a short distance away, silently gazing at her. Then it started to say a few kind words, till in the end, Beauty was amazed to discover that she was actually enjoying its conversation. The day passed, and Beauty and the Beast became good friends. Then one day, the Beast asked the girl to be his wife. Taken by surprise, Beauty did not know what to say. Marry such an ugly monster? She would rather die! But she did not want to hurt the feelings of one who, after all, had been kind to her. And she remembered too that she owed it her own life as well as her father’s. “I really can’t say yes,” she began shakily. “I’d so much like to ………” The Beast interrupted her with an abrupt gesture. “I quite understand! And I’m not offended by your refusal!” Life went on as usual, and nothing further was said. One day, the Beast presented Beauty with a magnificent magic mirror. When Beauty peeped into it, she could see her family, far away. “You won’t feel so lonely now,” were the words that accompanied the gift. Beauty stared for hours at her distant family. Then she began to feel worried. One day, the Beast found her weeping beside the magic mirror. “What’s wrong?” he asked, kindly as always. “My father is gravely ill and close to dying! Oh, how I wish I could see him again, before it’s too late!” But the Beast only shook its head. “No! You will never leave this castle!” And off it stalked in a rage. However, a little later, it returned and spoke solemnly to the girl. “If you swear that you will return here in seven days time, I’ll let you go and visit your father!” Beauty threw herself at the Beast’s feet in delight. “I swear! I swear will! How kind you are! You’ve made a loving daughter so happy!” In reality, the merchant had fallen ill from a broken heart at knowing his daughter was being kept prisoner. When he embraced her again, he was soon on the road to recovery. Beauty stayed beside him for hours on end, describing her life at the Castle, and explaining that the Beast was really good and kind. The days flashed past, and at last the merchant was able to leave his bed. He was completely well again. Beauty was happy at last. However, she had failed to notice that seven days had gone by. Then one night she woke from a terrible nightmare. She had dreamt that the Beast was dying and calling for her, twisting in agony. “Come back! Come back to me!” it was pleading. The solemn promise she had made drove her to leave home immediately. “Hurry! Hurry, good horse!” she said, whipping her steed onwards towards the castle, afraid that she might arrive too late. She rushed up the stairs, calling, but there was no reply. Her heart in her mouth, Beauty ran into the garden and there crouched the Beast, its eyes shut, as though dead. Beauty threw herself at it and hugged it tightly. “Don’t die! Don’t die! I’ll marry you……..” At these words, a miracle took place. The Beast’s ugly snout turned magically into the face of a handsome young man. “How I’ve been longing for this moment!” he said. “I was suffering in silence, and couldn’t tell my frightful secret. An evil witch turned me into a monster and only the love of a maiden willing to accept me as I was, could transform me back into my real self. My dearest! I’ll be so happy if you’ll marry me…….”

The wedding took place shortly after and, from that day on, the young Prince would have nothing but roses in his gardens. And that’s why, to this day, the castle is known as the Castle of the Rose.      

Source : www.fpx.de/fp/Disney/Tales/BeautyAnd TheBeast.html

SCOTTISH FOLKTALE ‘Three games for gold’

‘Three games for gold’

            Once upon a time, there was a young man called Jack who lived with his poor mother, on a poor farm, in a poor valley. One day, his mother grew tired of Jack’s laziness and told him to go down to the town to get a job. So, she made him some sandwiches and gave him all the money she had left to buy a suit.

            ‘Now, keep to the path and don’t take any shortcuts,’she told him as he was leaving. ‘And stay away from that pub!’ So, Jack took the long and winding path down around the woods to the town. He spent half an hour looking for a job. He passed by the pub, which they now call the ‘Feet and Hooves’ and he thought to himself, ‘Well, a quick drink will do no harm.’ So he went into the pub, and one drink led to another.

            He woke up at midnight in a field at the edge of town. All his money was gone, and he had the worst headache he could imagine. Feeling cold and sick, he decided to go home and face his angry mother. But it was such a long way home. Perhaps he would just take the shortcuts! So instead of taking the path, he followed the river through the woods. The forest got thicker and darker. Suddenly he heard music coming through the trees. It was the sound of a violin. Jack followed the sound until he came to a cave. Scared but curious, he slowly and carefully entered the cave and followed the dark tunnel feeling his way with his hands in the direction of the music.

            As the tunnel turned a corner, Jack saw a big bright bonfire ahead of him. On one side, to Jack’s delight, he saw a huge pile of gold coins. But to Jack’s horror, standing on the other side of the fire was the Devil with his hooves and his horns and his pointy tail! And that was where the music was coming from. The Devil was playing a violin!

            ‘Welcome, Jack,’ said the Devil. ‘I’ve been expecting you.’

‘Why?’ asked Jack nervously. ‘Because most lazy boys end up dancing to my music, don’t they?’ grinned the devil.. And here is my bargain. We will play three games that you choose. If you beat me at any game, this pile of gold coins is yours. But if you don’t beat me, your soul is mine!’

            ‘OK, sounds good!’ said Jack, fearing his mother even more than the Devil. ‘Name your game,’ said the Devil.

So Jack chose Poker. He played as well as he could, but the Devil had all the best cards, and Jack soon lost. ‘You have two games left,’ laughed the Devil, ‘Name your game!’

So Jack chose Dice. He played as well as he could, but the Devil kept rolling three sixes, and Jack soon lost.

            ‘You have one game left,’ laughed the Devil. ‘Name your game!’

            Jack thought quickly. He knew the Devil could beat him at any game. Then an idea came to him.

            ‘We’ll play a game called Copy-cat,’ said Jack. ‘You have to copy what I do. If you can’t, you lose.’ ‘What can you do that I can’t?’ laughed the Devil, even louder this time.    

            Jack smiled. He took off a shoe. Then he took off a sock. Then he reached his foot into the pile of gold coins. He took a coin between two of his toes and held his foot up in the air. The Devil looked down at his hooves. Jack took a step backwards, fearing for his life. But the Devil just laughed.

            ‘Well done, Jack,’ he said quietly. ‘The gold is yours’ And with that, the Devil disappeared, leaving Jack with all the gold!

            So that’s how Jack ended up returning home a rich man. His mother never did believe how he got it!