My named is Matsu, which, in the speech of my country, means the Pine Tree. And, as the pine tree, I am strong and evergreen; unchanging and enduring. I served in the house of Idé, and my charge was Fugiwaka, the son of the samurai and his wife. His father Idé had...
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Rai-Taro, Son of Thunder
In the cool of the evening, my father and I walked upon the ramparts of the Castle of Cloud as we often did. My father was a great and mighty god of Thunder and all the Elements. From the ramparts we viewed the doings of men upon the Land of Reed Plains. North and...
Princess Who Marries a Pig
I knew from the moment I heard him speak that he was not an ordinary pig. But he was still a pig! And he had come to the castle to marry me. I had no escape. The street was full of pigs. All the pigs in the world had come to the castle that day. What could I do? It...
Seagull
I met John after he had returned from the war. I was mending my net in my hut when I heard him come up to the house and sit on the steps. I invited him in, poured him some wine, and cooked him some fried fish. He told me how he'd nearly been beaten to death in a...
Old Man by the Roadside
I have a bit of magic, oh, yes, I do, and it is quite special. Nothing like you'd see in a magic show. No, I don't like to make a spectacle. I just stand by the road, and I ask questions, like I did the other day, when the peasant's three sons walked past me, one...
Prince Who Stays At Home
I found everything that I needed right at home. The toads under the castle gave me the treasure that was my birthright. They gave me the finest carpet and the finest ring that anyone could imagine, and why? Because they were originals. Nothing derivative. Even my wife...
Poor Brother
It's Christmas Eve and we have no food in the house. I go to my rich brother's house, and I ask him for a piece of bread or meat. He throws a ham at me and says, "You can have the whole ham if you promise to go straight to Dead Man's Hall." I don't why he says that,...
An Ordinary Ass
I'm not precious, okay? Diamonds and rubies don't fall out of my mouth when you say the word, "bricklebrit." I'm just an ordinary working mule. I don't get special treatment in the landlord's stable. Nobody feeds me the best oats and hay. When Antonio mistook me for...
Poor Knight Rosald
My father is a poor knight with a great many children, and we have never had enough to eat. One day, I went to town to do some business, and I met Geirald, the son of a rich man. We got along very well, and he proposed that we should travel together. I said, "There is...
Failed Prince on a White Horse
I was the golden boy. I was strong, handsome, and clever. Sun-Hero, they called me. Then one night, both my parents had the same dream. A girl dressed in red came to them and said, "If you truly wish your son to be a Sun-Hero, in deed as well as in name, then send him...
Princess Undone
My father became so exasperated with me that he declared he would give me to the first beggar who came to the door. I thought he was joking! But here I am, living in a hovel, and going to the market to sell pots and crockery. I have no skills. I can't cook, or spin,...
Shabby Inn
I stand on the roadside, facing a much more well-frequented inn than myself. The windows are brightly lit, and music and merriment pour from inside. The noise gets louder as the night goes on, and the people who stay there live in riot and revel. I do not deny that I...