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He never saw any one ill after eating these horrible things, nor
did he ever see any one with as much as a cold.
Sentaro was delighted. He said to himself that he would nev-
er grow tired of living, and that he considered it profane to
wish for death. He was the only happy man on the island. For
his part he wished to live thousands of years and to enjoy life.
He set himself up in business, and for the present never even
dreamed of going back to his native land.
As years went by, however, things did not go as smoothly as
at first. He had heavy losses in business, and several times
some affairs went wrong with his neighbors. This caused him
great annoyance.
Time passed like the flight of an arrow for him, for he was
busy from morning till night. Three hundred years went by in
this monotonous way, and then at last he began to grow tired
of life in this country, and he longed to see his own land and
his old home. However long he lived here, life would always be
the game, so was it not foolish and wearisome to stay on here
forever?
Sentaro, in his wish to escape from the country of Perpetual
Life, recollected Jofuku, who had helped him before when he
was wishing to escape from death and he prayed to the saint
to bring him back to his own land again.
No sooner did he pray than the paper crane popped out of
his pocket. Sentaro was amazed to see that it had remained un-
damaged after all these years. Once more the bird grew and
grew till it was large enough for him to mount it. As he did so,
the bird spread its wings and flew, swiftly out across the sea in
the direction of Japan.
Such was the willfulness of the man's nature that he looked
back and regretted all he had left behind. He tried to stop the
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bird in vain. The crane held on its way for thousands of miles
across the ocean.
Then a storm came on, and the wonderful paper crane got
damp, crumpled up, and fell into the sea. Sentaro fell with it.
Very much frightened at the thought of being drowned, he
cried out loudly to Jofuku to save him. He looked round, but
there was no ship in sight. He swallowed a quantity of sea-wa-
ter, which only increased his miserable plight. While he was
thus struggling to keep himself afloat, he saw a monstrous
shark swimming towards him. As it came nearer it opened its
huge mouth ready to devour him. Sentaro was all but para-
lyzed with fear now that he felt his end so near, and screamed
out as loudly as ever he could to Jofuku to come and rescue
him.
Lo, and behold, Sentaro was awakened by his own screams,
to find that during his long prayer he had fallen asleep before
the shrine, and that all his extraordinary and frightful adven-
tures had been only a wild dream. He was in a cold perspira-
tion with fright, and utterly bewildered.
Suddenly a bright light came towards him, and in the light
stood a messenger. The messenger held a book in his hand,
and spoke to Sentaro:
"I am sent to you by Jofuku, who in answer to your prayer,
has permitted you in a dream to see the land of Perpetual Life.
But you grew weary of living there, and begged to be allowed
to return to your native land so that you might die. Jofuku, so
that he might try you, allowed you to drop into the sea, and
then sent a shark to swallow you up. Your desire for death was
not real, for even at that moment you cried out loudly and
shouted for help."
"It is also vain for you to wish to become a hermit, or to find
the Elixir of Life. These things are not for such as you your
life is not austere enough. It is best for you to go back to your
paternal home, and to live a good and industrious life. Never
neglect to keep the anniversaries of your ancestors, and make
it your duty to provide for your children's future. Thus will you
live to a good old age and be happy, but give up the vain desire
to escape death, for no man can do that, and by this time you
have surely found out that even when selfish desires are gran-
ted they do not bring happiness."
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"In this book I give you there are many precepts good for you
to know if you study them, you will be guided in the way I
have pointed out to you."
The angel disappeared as soon as he had finished speaking,
and Sentaro took the lesson to heart. With the book in his hand
he returned to his old home, and giving up all his old vain
wishes, tried to live a good and useful life and to observe the
lessons taught him in the book, and he and his house
prospered henceforth.
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THE BAMBOO-CUTTER AND THE MOON-CHILD.
Long, long ago, there lived an old bamboo wood-cutter. He was
very poor and sad also, for no child had Heaven sent to cheer
his old age, and in his heart there was no hope of rest from
work till he died and was laid in the quiet grave. Every morn-
ing he went forth into the woods and hills wherever the bam-
boo reared its lithe green plumes against the sky. When he had
made his choice, he would cut down these feathers of the
forest, and splitting them lengthwise, or cutting them into
joints, would carry the bamboo wood home and make it into
various articles for the household, and he and his old wife
gained a small livelihood by selling them.
One morning as usual he had gone out to his work, and hav-
ing found a nice clump of bamboos, had set to work to cut
some of them down. Suddenly the green grove of bamboos was
flooded with a bright soft light, as if the full moon had risen
over the spot. Looking round in astonishment, he saw that the
brilliance was streaming from one bamboo. The old man, full of
wonder, dropped his ax and went towards the light. On nearer
approach he saw that this soft splendor came from a hollow in
the green bamboo stem, and still more wonderful to behold, in
the midst of the brilliance stood a tiny human being, only three
inches in height, and exquisitely beautiful in appearance.
"You must be sent to be my child, for I find you here among
the bamboos where lies my daily work," said the old man, and
taking the little creature in his hand he took it home to his wife
to bring up. The tiny girl was so exceedingly beautiful and so
small, that the old woman put her into a basket to safeguard
her from the least possibility of being hurt in any way.
The old couple were now very happy, for it had been a
lifelong regret that they had no children of their own, and with
joy they now expended all the love of their old age on the little
child who had come to them in so marvelous a manner.
From this time on, the old man often found gold in the
notches of the bamboos when he hewed them down and cut
them up; not only gold, but precious stones also, so that by de-
grees he became rich. He built himself a fine house, and was
no longer known as the poor bamboo woodcutter, but as a
wealthy man.
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Three months passed quickly away, and in that time the bam-
boo child had, wonderful to say, become a full-grown girl, so [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]