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Urashima
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This picturesque Japanese tale has loads of charm, but is a little bit sad. It will take you to a beautiful underwater world, and back to the reality of mortality on dry land.
These days we adapt many of the traditional tales ourselves, but this one is taken more or less straight from the English text of B. H. Chamberlain who published a number of Japanese stories in the 1880s.
Read by Natasha. Duration 8.46.
Long, long ago there lived on the coast of the sea of Japan a young fisherman named Urashima, a kindly lad and clever with his rod and line.
Well, one day he went out in his boat to fish. But instead of catching any fish, what do you think he caught? Why! a great big tortoise, with a hard shell and such a funny wrinkled old face and a tiny tail. Now I must tell you something which very likely you don’t know; and that is that tortoises always live a thousand years,—at least Japanese tortoises do. So Urashima thought to himself: “A fish would do for my dinner just as well as this tortoise,—in fact better. Why should I go and kill the poor thing, and prevent it from enjoying itself for another nine hundred and ninety-nine years? No, no! I won’t be so cruel. I am sure mother wouldn’t like me to.” And with these words, he threw the tortoise back into the sea.
The next thing that happened was that Urashima went to sleep in his boat; for it was one of those hot summer days when almost everybody enjoys a nap of an afternoon. And as he slept, there came up from beneath the waves a beautiful girl, who got into the boat and said: “I am the daughter of the Sea-God, and I live with my father in the Dragon Palace beyond the waves. It was not a tortoise that you caught just now, and so kindly threw back into the water instead of killing it. It was myself. My father the Sea-God had sent me to see whether you were good or bad.
“We now know that you are a good, kind boy who doesn’t like to do cruel things; and so I have come to fetch you. You shall marry me, if you like; and we will live happily together for a thousand years in the Dragon Palace beyond the deep blue sea.”
So Urashima took one oar, and the Sea-God’s daughter took the other; and they rowed, and they rowed, and they rowed till at last they came to the Dragon Palace where the Sea-God lived and ruled as King over all the dragons and the tortoises and the fishes.
Oh dear! what a lovely place it was! The walls of the Palace were of coral, the trees had emeralds for leaves and rubies for berries, the fishes’ scales were of silver, and the dragons’ tails of solid gold. Just think of the very most beautiful, glittering things that you have ever seen, and put them all together, and then you will know what this Palace looked like. And it all belonged to Urashima; for was he not the son-in-law of the Sea-God, the husband of the lovely Dragon Princess?
Well, they lived on happily for three years, wandering about every day among the beautiful trees with emerald leaves and ruby berries. But one morning Urashima said to his wife: “I am very happy here. Still I want to go home and see my father and mother and brothers and sisters. Just let me go for a short time, and I’ll soon be back again.” “I don’t like you to go,” said she; “I am very much afraid that something dreadful will happen. However, if you will go, there is no help for it. Only you must take this box, and be very careful not to open it. If you open it, you will never be able to come back here.”
So Urashima promised to take great care of the box, and not to open it on any account; and then, getting into his boat, he rowed off, and at last landed on the shore of his own country.
But what had happened while he had been away? Where had his father’s cottage gone to? What had become of the village where he used to live? The mountains indeed were there as before; but the trees on them had been cut down. The little brook that ran close by his father’s cottage was still running; but there were no women washing clothes in it any more. It seemed very strange that everything should have changed so much in three short years. So as two men chanced to pass along the beach, Urashima went up to them and said: “Can you tell me please where Urashima’s cottage, that used to stand here, has been moved to?”—“Urashima?” said they; “why! it was four hundred years ago that he was drowned out fishing. His parents, and his brothers, and their grandchildren are all dead long ago. It is an old, old story. How can you be so foolish as to ask after his cottage? It fell to pieces hundreds of years ago.”
Then it suddenly flashed across Urashima’s mind that the Sea-God’s Palace beyond the waves, with its coral walls and its ruby fruits and its dragons with tails of solid gold, must be part of fairy-land, and that one day there was probably as long as a year in this world, so that his three years in the Sea-God’s Palace had really been hundreds of years. Of course there was no use in staying at home, now that all his friends were dead and buried, and even the village had passed away. So Urashima was in a great hurry to get back to his wife, the Dragon Princess beyond the sea. But which was the way? He couldn’t find it with no one to show it to him. “Perhaps,” thought he, “if I open the box which she gave me, I shall be able to find the way.” So he disobeyed her orders not to open the box,—or perhaps he forgot them, foolish boy that he was. Anyhow he opened the box; and what do you think came out of it? Nothing but a white cloud which floated away over the sea. Urashima shouted to the cloud to stop, rushed about and screamed with sorrow; for he remembered now what his wife had told him, and how, after opening the box, he should never be able to go to the Sea-God’s Palace again. But soon he could neither run nor shout any more.
Suddenly his hair grew as white as snow, his face got wrinkled, and his back bent like that of a very old man. Then his breath stopped short, and he fell down dead on the beach.
Poor Urashima! He died because he had been foolish and disobedient. If only he had done as he was told, he might have lived another thousand years. Wouldn’t you like to go and see the Dragon Palace beyond the waves, where the Sea-God lives and rules as King over the Dragons and the tortoises and the fishes, where the trees have emeralds for leaves and rubies for berries, where the fishes’ tails are of silver and the dragons’ tails all of solid gold?
Fairytales and legends including many that you have probably never heard before. Rumbustious and amusing, or gentle and spiritual, these tales are a world tour of stories ! We have adapted many of these stories especially for Storynory.
Japan is so cool
Sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo cool
Yes, Ahmad. I do want to read your story. Please narrate it to me.
Y did she have to give the box to urashima if he could die? Please answer me
Konichiwa!Great!
Konichi wa!Greatest in the world
Konichiwa!Greatest!
It’s a beautiful story, but really sad.
I think, he wasn’t desobedient, he just do it because, he couldn’t remember de way back.
Sorry for my english, I’m learning recently
That was ok :l
luv it but soooooo sad ;<wa wa wa wa
i like it thanku so much!!1
it was good but we should consider that the difference between cultures brings about some misunderstanding.
oh if I have story, is there any one who wants to read it?
well, he lived longer and better than humans usually do ? he should not regret at all ?
The story dosent make sense at all, hallo……any body home?
Just not enough isn’t it?
Naver known that Madison u like storynory just call me ok?
Is it Japanese oooh!
Hope everybody likes it & its also one of my favourite story……….
Whoa! its a cool story of Japan isn’t it?
I love this story. It is a cool look at an amazing culture.
it was a great story because it is a fantasy
whats the author name
i think asmaa is right! he does not deserve this!!!
Cool!
thank you these story can help me to improve my english language
it is really a sad ending.Urashima was foolish but he was very nice he don’t deserve this end.
a very touching story
thanks for answering me Bertie.
dear Fatima I don t really know how old urashima was when he met the princess but he was just between a boy and a man. I think it has a sad ending as a warning to follow instructions exactly.
i loved this story! i’ve herd three stories from here and this one was by far the best. there is two thing i’d like to know… how old was urashima when he met the princess? and…………
WHY WAS THERE A SAD ENDING!?
please answer me Bertie!
its a nice tale………… but somehow i would say that this story fidnt deserve a sad ending
wow, I would belive it a true ,and I can beacome a lucky someday.
I’m Japanese. it’s a very famous tale in Japan.
i like story books you given to me all good story books story names snow white,sunralla,barbie dolls and all good story books
I’m from china.a nice tale
What a poor man !!! If he didn’t want to comeback , he will live happily with his wife forever !
Very sad
Hi.
I am from Iran.Thank you for stories.They are very good and help me to learning English.Thank you my dear
Syabie, I suppose the sad ending is supposed to be a warning – but it’s such an ancient tale that we just have to take it the way it is.
nice story indeed. but does they need to have a sad end??
Good stories! if Adam and EVA had obeyed …………
GOOd story
very nice.
people to do good and be rewarded in a place other than the human world. happy to live in but they always remember about their world. they want to return but fail because they do not belong there anymore.
Good moral story… :D
Very sad, poor urashima, the old stories always end that way
Bertie,
help!!!!!!!!!!
Michelle
VERY SAD AND H U R T F UL
wah…….!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
HI Sara, the princess was very sad.
what happened to urashima’s wife
what did she do?
Thsi story a quite of sad ! But still very interesting!
Dear Yuko, I’m so glad you like our version of Urashima – it’s lovely to hear that it sounds alright to somebody from Japan.
This story is quite sad. Poor urashima! The old stories always has a happy and unhappy ending.
I live in Japan and I am working on English.
This story is one of the most famous stories in Japan.
When I was a child ,I read this story written book with pictures many times.
And I love it.
That time,I didn’t have any idea that I can read and listen to this story in English.
Additionally,by internet.
I seem myself like Urashima.
the story was pretty good I learned a lot of word and verb specialy from the dectoinary
it was good
That is such a sad story. It has a good moral but I guess because we usually listen to fairy tales that have happy endings and this one didn’t it came as a kind of abrupt short ending.
I want to thank Natasha for telling us so beautiful story. I´m a brasilian man and I´ve been learned a lot of English since I´ve been started listening these stories, but the Urashima´story has something wonderful I dont know how to describe it
Hello Kendra and Kayla, I think the dragon princess would have known… v sad I agree, but it is just a sand its truth deep – not literal.
(Kayla) That is so sad! I felt so sorry for the former fisherman. Did the Dragon Princess know what happen to her husband? Was she sad?
Hi Daria
I have a holiday booked at a secret pond in the South
You are going away Bertie!!!!!!?????
So great, Lets love her!
Dear First commenters, I”m glad people like this story. I think it’s very sweet, but I was worried that some might not like the sad ending. Natasha reads it beautifully of course. We have lots and lots of Alice recorded, it’s just that I haven’t got the time to edit it all. I”m planning to do some sound editing on Alice while I’m away on holiday in August. Really sorry about the delay.
Wow…such a beautiful story!
Ps-Am I the first to comment?
PPs-When will the next Alice installment be out?
Wow…great one!
Am I first, by the way?
I can’t see…
good moody
good
Marvelous story! Poor Urashima.