Japanese Children's Favorite Stories Book 2 Page 3

  "Oh, what a terrible thing!" said the bird. Because he saw that the huge lobster was much, much larger than he. "I certainly lost this contest." And with that the bird flew quickly away home.

  "Ho! ho! ho!" laughed the lobster. "I really frightened that bird. What fun to see the bird that thought he was so big run away like that. I'm truly the biggest in the world."

  Just as the big lobster was saying this and feeling so proud, the sea gull happened to fly by. "Oh, no, Mr. Lobster," the gull said. "There is something still larger than you. You just swim farther south and you'll see.

  "All right!" said the lobster, "that's just what I'll do. Such nonsense, saying there's anything bigger than I!"

  So the lobster swam and swam. Finally, far to the south, right in the middle of the Southern Sea, he saw a huge mountain rising out of the water. And he could see two caves in the mountain.

  "Ah ha!" he said. "Those are fine caves. They will make a good place for me, the biggest thing in the world, to sleep." And, happily wiggling his big feelers, he crawled up into one of the caves.

  But what do you think! What Mr. Lobster had thought were caves in a mountain were actually the nose of a great whale!

  "Oh, something's tickling my nose!" said the whale, because the lobster was wiggling his feelers inside the whale's nose. "Ka—ka—ka— choo!" the whale sneezed.

  The poor lobster was blown high, high into the sky, and then he fell back down, right on top of a big rock sticking up in the ocean.

  "Ouch! Ouch!" cried the big lobster. "My back is broken." Sure enough, his back was broken. And that is the reason why, ever since that time, all lobsters' backs are curved as though the shell were broken. And that's also the reason why you can listen and listen but never again will you hear a lobster say: "I'm the biggest in the world."

  The Sandal Seller

  Long ago there was an old man and his old wife living in the country. They were very honest, but very poor. One day, near the end of the year, they heard some children singing outside. This is the song the children sang:

  Oh, Mr. New Year, are you coming near?

  Why, yes, I'm just beyond the mountain here.

  Oh, do you bring us gifts and things so nice?

  Why, yes, I've "mochi" cakes of finest rice.

  It made the old man and woman feel very sad and lonely to hear the children singing about New Year's. Because this year they had no money and couldn't celebrate the New Year.

  "Oh, dear," the old woman sighed. "New Year's is the day after tomorrow. And we don't have any rice at all. So we won't be able to make any mochi cakes. We won't even have mochi to eat on New Year's Day, and New Year's is not New Year's without mochi."

  The old man too sat sadly shaking his head. But then all of a sudden he got an idea. "I know what I'll take them to town right away and sell them. Then with the money we can buy some rice and make some mochi."

  So the old man started out for town right away, carrying the straw sandals on a long pole over his shoulder. It was a very cold day, with a strong wind and much snow. When he got to town he began to walk through the streets yelling: "Straw sandals! Straw sandals!"

  But everybody was very busy and no one wanted to buy any straw sandals. He kept walking and walking, always yelling: "Straw sandals! Straw sandals!" But he never sold a single pair.

  Just then another old man came along the street selling charcoal. He was yelling: "Charcoal! Charcoal!" The two old men met in the street and stopped to talk.

  "How's your business?" asked the charcoal seller.

  "Terrible!" said the sandal seller. "I haven't sold a single pair. Everybody's too busy getting ready for New Year's."

  "I haven't been able to sell any charcoal either," said the other. "Come, let's walk together and see if we'll have better luck."

  So they started walking together. "Straw sandals! Straw sandals!" one would yell. Then the other would yell: "Charcoal! Charcoal!"

  But still they didn't sell any of the wares. It became later and later and their voices became weaker and weaker. It was also becoming much colder and snowing harder. Finally it was completely dark, and still they hadn't made a single sale, so they decided to stop and go home.

  Then the charcoal seller said: "It's really too bad to take home the same things we started out with. Why don't we trade? Then you can take home my charcoal and I can take your straw sandals."

  "That's a good idea," said the sandal seller. So they traded, and then each of them went to his home.

  When the sandal seller reached home he was very, very cold. He told the old lady the bad news—that he hadn't been able to earn a single penny. "But at least I have this charcoal," he said, "and we can get warm."

  So they made a charcoal fire and then sat around it warming themselves. But they were so sleepy that they didn't notice a tiny elf that jumped out of the charcoal and hid in their closet watching them. The elf was scarcely an inch high, but he looked exactly like the charcoal seller the old man had met that day.

  After the old man and woman had gone to bed, the elf came out of the closet and said: "I felt so sorry for this poor old man today that I gave him this magic charcoal. Every spark will turn into a piece of gold." Then the elf disappeared.

  Sure enough, next morning when the old man and woman woke up, they found a great pile of gold beside the hearth. They were very surprised, but also very happy. They were able to buy plenty of rice and make very fine mochi for New Year's. And the old man never had to go out in the snow to sell straw sandals again.

  The Singing Turtle

  Once there were two brothers. One of them was very industrious. All day long he worked in the fields. He worked very hard, and he was never sullen nor unkind. He didn't particularly like to work, but his poor mother was ill and needed the little bit of money he could earn. So he worked without complaining, even when he was very tired. It was hard to get up in the morning and start working, but he did and always had a smile for his old sick mother. In the evening he was so tired he could hardly walk home, yet he fixed her supper and tucked her in for the night before he allowed himself to sleep.

  The other brother was quite different. He was very lazy. All day long, when he was supposed to be working, he lay on the grass or lazily picked flowers. And he was always sullen and often quite unkind. He didn't like to work and so he saw no reason why he should. When he needed money he'd go to his mother, and she would give him what little she could spare. But he was never satisfied and complained constantly. He slept all the time, yet he hated to get up in the morning, and he always shouted at his brother and snarled at his mother. In the evening he would come home for money and then go into town and stay half the night spending the money foolishly.

  The family became poorer and poorer because, no matter how hard the industrious brother worked, the lazy brother spent their money all the faster. Finally, one spring morning, the first brother cut some firewood and said to his mother: "I'm going into town and see if I can't sell this wood to make some money, for we have nothing to eat for supper tonight." The sick mother said: "I hope you can, but don't work too hard or else you'll be sick like me." The lazy brother, who was lying on his back asleep in the sun, said nothing, but only snored loudly. So the industrious brother took the enormous load of firewood on his back and started for town.

  He stayed all day but he couldn't sell a single stick of the wood. He was very discouraged and finally put the heavy wood on his back and started home, wondering how they would eat that day. The wood was heavy and his heart was heavier as he trudged through the forest. Finally he came to the little forest pond where he usually ate lunch and, putting the wood down by a tree, he sat down on a stump and began to cry.

  He was a grown man and grown men don't cry very often, so he was very sad indeed. While he was crying he suddenly heard a voice. "Why are you crying?" the voice asked. The young man looked all around but couldn't see anyone. "You'd better blow your nose," said the voice again. But he still couldn't see anyone.

/>   "Where are you?" he asked finally.

  "Right under the nose you'd better blow," said the voice. The young man looked down, and there was a turtle floating on a piece of wood.

  "Did you speak?" asked the man.

  "Naturally," said the turtle, "there's no one else around. Really, you'd better blow your nose."

  "But turtles don't talk," said the brother.

  "This one does. And what's more, I can sing too. I like singing."

  "Sing?" he said.

  "Blow your nose," said the turtle. After the young man had blown his nose, the turtle continued: "And I sing very beautifully too. But say, you're in trouble, aren't you?" The brother admitted that he was and finally told the turtle the whole story. After he had finished, the turtle said: "Well, you've fed me often enough, so I'll feed you now."

  "I've fed you?" asked the young man.

  "Sure," said the turtle, "this is where you eat your lunches, isn't it? Well, I've been eating the crumbs you've dusted off your lap afterwards. And seeing as how you've fed me, now I'll feed you."

  "You mean I'm supposed to eat you?" asked the man. "I don't think I could—not after our friendly talk and all, you know."

  "No, no," said the turtle impatiently. 'You take me into town, and I'll sing. Then the people will pay you much money."

  The young man was undecided. "Can you really sing?" he asked.

  The turtle only looked disgusted. "Of course I can—-just listen," he said. And then he started to sing. Actually he couldn't sing very well, but a turtle that can sing at all is such an oddity that no one ever stops to think if he's singing well or not.

  "That was wonderful," said the man and, picking the turtle up, started back to town with him.

  The townspeople thought that the turtle was wonderful. They had never heard a turtle sing before, and after it had sung several songs they showered the turtle and the hard-working brother with coins. The young man took this money, bought food, and hurried back home with the turtle. When the mother saw the food she was very surprised. Her son told her what had happened, and the turtle nodded his head wisely from time to time. They were very happy, but just then the lazy brother showed up, and ate up all the food.

  "You didn't make very much money," he complained. "If you'd give him to me I'd bring back a fortune."

  "No, you wouldn't," said the industrious brother. "You'd run away with it. You can't have the turtle."

  This made the lazy brother very mad and in no time at all they began to fight. The lazy brother knocked his brother down and took the turtle to town himself.

  When the townspeople gathered, the wicked brother made them give him money. Then he held the turtle up in his hands and commanded "Sing!" But the turtle wouldn't sing a note. The brother became very angry and held him by his tail. "Sing!" he shouted. But not a sound came from the turtle. Finally the brother began whipping the turtle with a switch, but it didn't hurt the turtle at all. He just drew back into his tough shell.

  At first the people laughed, but when they realized that the turtle wasn't going to sing, they became angry and wanted their money back. "This is just an ordinary turtle," they said.

  "No, really, it's the same turtle you heard yesterday," said the wicked brother, becoming frightened. He hit the turtle's tough shell again and shouted: "Sing, sing!" Finally he began to plead: "Please sing, please!" But the turtle wouldn't sing a note.

  The people became more angry and said: "Let's give this cheat a beating the same way he's beating that poor turtle." And they began to beat the wicked brother so hard that he howled with pain, because he didn't have a hard shell to protect him, you see. They beat him right out of town.

  The turtle stuck out his head and crawled back to the house where the good brother and his mother lived. "Well, that bad man is gone," he said. "He got beaten and chased away. He'll never dare come back."

  The mother and brother thought they ought to feel sorry, but actually they were relieved, and soon all three were laughing together.

  Then the turtle looked shyly around the edge of its shell and said: "May I live with you? The other turtles think I'm a bit odd because I can talk, and sing. I'm more at home with humans. I can make money for you."

  "Oh, please do stay," said the mother and the good brother. "Whether you can make money or not, we like you."

  Thus it was that the turtle stayed and lived with them. He often sang in the town, and the three of them lived very happily on the money the townspeople gave to hear his singing.

  Saburo the Eel Catcher

  Once there was a man named Saburo who was a famous eel catcher. He was so expert that eels just couldn't resist his hook and so he always caught a lot of them. And when he caught one, he'd run right home and put it on the fire. Then when it was done, he would take it off the fire, put it on his rice, and eat it up, smacking his lips all the while. He thought that eels were delicious.

  One day when he was fishing he felt a great pull on his line. "Oh, this one must be enormous!" said Saburo to himself as he pulled back with all his might. "Yo, heave, ho!" he shouted, and pulled out of the water just about the biggest eel that he had ever seen. "What an enormous eel!" cried Saburo, as the eel flashed out of the water. But he was pulling so hard that the eel flew right over his head and landed, with a big grunt, in the field behind him.

  "Funny," said Saburo to himself as he looked for the eel. "Eels can't grunt. At least I don't think they can. Now, let's see. Where could he have gone to?" And Saburo began looking around the trees, in the tall grass, and under the big stones. But he couldn't find the eel anywhere. "Odd," he said, scratching his head. "I guess I pulled too hard and he went flying over the mountain." He kept on looking and suddenly saw something big and long and black under a bush. "Aha," said Saburo rushing at it. But when he got there, he found it was only a big, black stick and no eel at all. "I never knew sticks and eels looked so much alike," he said, scratching his head.

  Just then he saw a wild boar asleep in the grass. "Oh, my, I'd better be careful: wild boars are pretty dangerous." So he began tiptoeing around the sleeping boar, when all of a sudden he tripped over a stone and fell down with a thud. "Oh, that's done it!" said Saburo, trembling. The boar didn't move, though ordinarily the noise would have been enough to bring him charging through the grass at poor Saburo. So Saburo walked closer and saw the eel lying on top of the boar.

  The boar was lying very still on its side, and the eel was sort of coiled on top with his head hanging over the boar's shoulder. "Oh, that's nice," said Saburo. "They've gone and made friends with each other. But I never knew eels and boars were friends before." But then he looked more closely and saw that the eel and the boar were both quite dead.

  "Well, this is curious," said Saburo, "for I distinctly heard the eel grunt." Then he stopped, scratched his head and thought: "No, I know what it was. The eel landed on the boar and the boar grunted. That's more like it. Then the eel died because he was out of water and the boar died of fright." And that is just what had happened. The eel had gone sailing through the air, turning end over end, and had finally landed with a big thump right on the back of the sleeping boar. Now boars, even though they are fierce, are very sensitive. The surprise had been just too much for its nerves.

  "Oh, what luck!" said Saburo to himself. "Both eels and boars are delicious. Oh, what a feast I'll have!" Then he stopped and wondered: "How on earth can I get the boar home tonight?" He scratched his head. "I guess I'll have to make something to carry that boar with. Here're some vines. I'll take some of these and use them to strap the boar onto my back and that way I can take him home."

  So he pulled at the vines, but no sooner had he taken hold of one than it came loose and he saw it had wild yams on the end. "Oh, how wonderful," said Saburo, "wild yams. How delicious they will be!" Usually wild yams are hard to pull from the ground, but today they came loose as easy as anything.

  Saburo said: "Now I have an eel and a boar and lots of wild yams, but I'll have to make something to
carry the yams in. Here are some reeds. I'll use these." So he set to work picking reeds. He would grasp a thick top and pull violently; then they would come loose. He pulled one and it squawked once and then lay still in his fist.

  "What's this?" wondered Saburo. "A reed with feathers?" But it wasn't, it was a pheasant—a nice, plump pheasant with a lovely green and red head, brown wings, and long, long tail feathers. "Well, what a nice bird you are," said Saburo patting its head, but the bird didn't move. In pulling he had wrung its neck. And there at his feet was a nest with thirteen big shiny eggs in it.

  "Oh, thirteen must be my lucky number today," said Saburo. "Here I have a boar, an eel, lots of yams, a nice plump pheasant, and thirteen eggs! What a feast I'll have when I get home!" Then he stopped. "But how to get them home I wonder," he said.

  He thought and thought and thought about this big problem. There really seemed to be much more than one man could ever hope to carry. But he was determined not to leave any of these wonderful things behind him. Finally he took some of the reeds and wove a basket with them. He wove it wide and deep and strong, and then he put the pheasant and the eggs in the basket, packing them carefully in moss. Then he put the boar across his back and tied it firmly with the vines. Then he tied the yams around his neck and let them hang down over his shoulders in the front. And finally, using still more of the strong vines, he tied the eel to one of his hands. When he was all finished, he was indeed a funny-looking sight, but everything was quite safe. And that's the way he went home, carrying the eel and the wild boar, and the yams, and the nice plump pheasant, and the thirteen eggs. All the way he kept imagining the wonderful feast he would have when he got home. His mouth was watering and he felt so happy that he didn't even notice how heavy a load he was carrying.