昔話 Urashima Taro
Once upon a time, there was a kind-hearted young man named Urashima Taro. As Urashima Taro was walking along the beach, some children were tormenting a turtle. "Hey, hey, don't you feel sorry for the turtle? Let him go," Urashima Taro said, and saved the turtle from the children's bullying. A little while later, while Urashima Taro was fishing as usual, a turtle appeared in the sea and spoke to him. "Urashima Taro, I am the turtle you saved. Princess Otohime told me to take you to the Dragon Palace, so I came to pick you up." "Are you going to take me to the Dragon Palace? Let's go for a little while." Urashima Taro climbed onto the turtle's shell and went into the sea. There were many colorful and beautiful corals in the sea. Bright fish and sea creatures were swimming comfortably in the light blue of the sea. "Wow, it's so beautiful." As Urashima Taro was entranced, a large Dragon Palace in the sea came into view. "We have arrived. This is Ryugu-jo Castle. Please come this way." "Welcome to Ryugu-jo Castle. Thank you for helping the turtle the other day. As a token of my gratitude, I will show you around Ryugu-jo Castle. Please make yourself at home." Urashima Taro was led to a large room and sat down, and one after another, delicious food that he had never seen before was brought to him. Beautiful music was playing, and the creatures in the sea were dancing happily, and it felt like heaven. After a while, he remembered his village and his family, and said, "It's about time to go home, my family and the village are waiting for me." "I wish you would stay here forever, but I guess there's no other way. I'll prepare a souvenir for you then." Princess Otohime prepared a treasure box as a souvenir and said, "Inside this box is the time that Urashima spent in Ryugu-jo Castle." As long as you keep this box, Urashima will not age. You will remain young forever. However, if you open it, time will go back, so you must never open it." Urashima Taro got on the turtle and returned to the village. However, the village had completely changed, and there was no one he knew, or his family. "Excuse me. Is there a house named Urashima around here?" "Urashima? Ah, it seems that someone named Urashima left 100 years ago and never came back." "What?! A few days in Ryugu-jo is equivalent to 100 years in this world... My family and everyone I know is dead..." Urashima Taro was stunned, and then he remembered the treasure box that Princess Otohime had given him. "Now that I think about it, Princess Otohime said that if I open this treasure box, time will go back. Maybe if I open it, I will go back to the time when I was living." With that in mind, Urashima Taro opened the treasure box that he was told not to open. Then a lot of smoke came out of the treasure box. Memories of Ryugu-jo were projected, and when the smoke cleared, Urashima Taro became a feeble old man with completely white hair and beard.