Hukumusume fairy tale collection > Foreign language (English) > Japanese classical stories

The Water of Youth

(Japanese classical stories)

Translation　Laurence Hunter

Japanese　←→　Japanese ＆ English　←→　English

　Once upon a time, in a village at the bottom of a small mountain, lived an old man and an old woman.

　The old man's profession was to make charcoal.

　The old man's job was to cut the wood, burn it, load it into a straw bag, then take it to the village to sell.

　But the old man was getting on in years and found his work too hot for his liking.

"Oh, how my back is bent and my eyes bleary and swollen . …How disagreeable this work has become "

　The old man threw his straw bag of charcoal over his shoulders, and unsteadily descended down from the mountain.



　Since it was a very hot day his mouth became dry with thirst.

　By chance, he happened to notice a stream of water trickling out of a rock sitting by the side of the road.

"This is a welcome surprise."

　The old man then ,went over and drank from the cold stream.

　The water was so refreshing.

"Oh, how delicious that was. And somehow my back seems to have become straight."

　The old man thought that somehow the water had made him young again, but didn’t think to deeply about it, and carried on down the mountain back home.

"Old lady, I'm home! "

"Why, you are so early. OLD MAN ...! "

　She shouted with amazement .

　She blinked to see if her eyes were deceiving her.

　But no, the man standing before her was no longer old ,but the image of the young man that she first knew when she married him.

"Am I dreaming?  It can't be."

　After his wife told him of these facts, the old man also noticed the change.

"I had heard stories of The Water of Youth, and now I know that the water I drank must have been that ."

　The old man then told his wife about the pure, cold water that he found trickling out of the rock .

"If such wonderful water exists, then I must go and sample some too ."

　After saying so, the old man's wife went out at once and headed off in the direction of the mountains.

　The old man waited at home, looking forward to seeing his wife come home, surely beautiful and young again.

　However, day and night came but his wife did not return.

　The old man became worried and decided ,with the aid of a villager to go and look for her in the mountains.

　But, his wife could not be found,

“Where in heaven's name could she have got to?"

"Maybe she has been tricked by a fox and been taken deep into the mountains ?"

　While they were discussing this.

"Whaaa, whaaa"

　A baby's crying could be heard from in the grass .

　When the old man approached the sound, there he found a red faced baby wearing his wife's clothes, crying it's eyes out.

"...What a stupid fool you've been old lady. You've gone and drunk too much and become a baby -- "

　Since he had no choice, he picked up the baby and took it back home.

The end

One point of advice: Too much of a good thing can be the ruin of you.

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