Hukumusume fairy tale collection > Short stories of Edo >May

A Japanese sparrow

make origami Origami Club sparrow

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translator : HORSTのなかまたち

English edition

translator　HORSTのなかまたち　Recitation：HORST久住呂敦子

　A merchant dealing with a lord obtained sparrows from China.
　He got six sparrows in all.
　These sparrows were to be offered to the lord because Chinese sparrows were very rare.
　However, the lord was such a superstitious person that he was never pleased unless the number of the items he received was a lucky number even if the items were very rare.
“What should I do? When they are offered to the lord, the number should be a lucky number, like 7, 5 or 3. In fact, no matter how many times I count, there are still six.”
　The merchant was lost in thought for a while.
“Well... what will be will be,”
　He said to himself and added one Japanese sparrow to the group and took them to the lord.
“Oh, they are very rare.”
　said the lord happily and took a close look at them one by one.
“ You said that they are Chinese sparrows but one of them is a Japanese sparrow, isn’t it? How come?”
　asked the lord.
“Well...it’s because ...”
　The merchant mumbled. then the Japanese sparrow opened its tiny beak and said,
“ I am an interpreter, Your Lordship”

The end

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