Hukumusume fairy tale collection > Foreign language (English) > Aesop’s Fables

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The Bandit and The Mulberry Tree

(Aesop’s Fables)

Translation　ちいさな翻訳屋さん

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　A bandit killed a traveler on the street. Because there were some people near the murder scene, and they started to chase the bandit,

　he ran away with his hands stained with blood.

　However, there were travelers coming from the direction that he was running away to.

”Why are your hands stained in red so much?”

One of the travelers asked him.

He answered ”Well..., because I was getting mulberries on a mulberry tree a while ago.”

　The color of mulberries is red.

　While the bandit was trying to cover up what he did, the chasers caught up with him.

　They caught the bandit, and then hanged him from a mulberry tree.

　The mulberry tree said to the bandit.

”I am glad to be the one that is of use to hang you

　because you killed a person,

　and then used me as a reason to cover up your stained hands with blood.”


　Even the natural-born good would say such a harsh thing to the bad

　if a false charge is made against them by the bad.

The end

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