Once upon a time, there lived a young man who lived in the village. The young man was very hard working. He works in a forest close to where he lives.
One sunny morning, he went to the forest with a happy heart. However, his footsteps stopped when he tripped over a shirt on the river bank. He looked at the dress, it was very beautiful. Thinking that the shirt had no owner, the young man finally took the shirt and stored it.
The young man finally continued his journey. When in the middle of the road, a beautiful woman met the young man and asked about something.
"Excuse me, did you find my angel's clothes?" the woman asked.
The young man was surprised to see the beauty of the woman. The woman is very beautiful like an angel. Because the young man just found out that the woman in front of him was an angel, he then lied. The man lied because he had fallen in love with the woman.
"No, I didn't find your angel's clothes," replied the man.
The woman finally looked down sadly. She could not imagine if she could not return to heaven. Because, the angel's clothes were not found again. She can fly to heaven when wearing her angel clothes.
Seeing the sadness of the angel, the young man finally spoke up. He offered to let the woman stay at his house.
"If you can't return to heaven, you better stay with me, I will marry you," said the young man.
According to Japanese folklore, finally the angel agreed to the young man's invitation. They soon married and lived together. The woman eventually became known as Princess Tanabata.
Time after time passed, unexpectedly a dove landed on the house of Princess Tanabata and the young man. The pigeons were playing in their house. Without realizing it, the dove found Princess Tanabata's nymph dress. The pigeon played with the dress by pecking its beak on Princess Tanabata's nymph. Princess Tanabata was surprised and overjoyed to have found her angel's clothes. She can't wait to return to heaven.
Actually, Princess Tanabata was also sad when she left her husband on earth. However, after all she is actually an angel. An angel should live in heaven. Princess Tanabata then approached her husband to talk about his departure.
"My husband, I have found my angel's clothes. I will plan to go to heaven,” explained Princess Tanabata.
Hearing his wife's explanation, the young man was surprised.
"If you go to heaven, what about me? I will definitely be lonely,” said the young man sadly.
Princess Tanabata sighed, then said “My husband, we will still meet. Make 1000 pairs of sandals made of straw. You must bury the sandals under a bamboo tree. That is a condition for you to meet me again."
Princess Tanabata and her husband finally separated. The wife must go to heaven, while her husband must patiently wait until the meeting can be realized. Finally the young man made 1000 pairs of straw sandals as a condition to reunite with his wife, Princess Tanabata. Making the straw sandals took months. Until it was enough, the young man buried the straw sandals under a bamboo tree. The bamboo tree finally rose and continued to rise, until it soared into the sky. As it turned out, the young man only made 999 pairs of straw shoes. This makes the height of the bamboo tree less than one step from reaching heaven. With all his strength and high spirits, the young man managed to reach the top of a tall bamboo tree. The young man finally called his wife, Princess Tanabata.
“My wife, Princess Tanabata… here I am your husband,” shouted the young man.
Hearing a familiar voice, Princess Tanabata rushed towards the source of the sound. They finally met after a long time apart.
Princess Tanabata's father came to them. He then asked about the young man who met his daughter.
“He is my husband, Father. When I was on earth, I married an earthling," explained Princess Tanabata.
Actually Princess Tanabata's father didn't like the humans of the earth. However, because his daughter seemed to love the young man, he then allowed them to live together. The young man was finally given the task of guarding the pumpkin garden for 3 days as a condition to be able to live in heaven with Princess Tanabata.
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"You can stay here, on condition that you have to look after the pumpkin garden for 3 days. You can't eat the pumpkins, because it will cause disaster and you have to return to earth," explained Princess Tanabata's father.
Hearing his father-in-law's explanation, the young man agreed. With enthusiasm, Princess Tanabata's husband carried out his duties. However, fate said otherwise. When the young man was still guarding the pumpkin garden, suddenly the weather became very hot. The young man finally ate the pumpkin to quench his thirst. The young man's actions eventually led to disaster. Some pumpkins that have not been eaten turn out to be releasing quite a lot of water. The water gradually grew larger, until a river appeared. Heaven was finally flooded by water. The young man's actions were heard by his father-in-law. Until the father-in-law expelled the young man from heaven.
The young man and his wife, Princess Tanabata, separated. They are very far apart, because the young man is on earth and his wife is in heaven. They can only meet on July 17th.
Thus the folk tale from Japan entitled Princess Tanabata aka The Story of Tanabata. Tells the story of a village youth who finds the clothes of an angel in the forest. The young man finally married the angel. The lesson that can be drawn from the story is not to break the rules, because doing so can harm yourself. Hopefully this story is useful and thank you for visiting this blog!
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