“A long, long time ago, there was a kind fisherman named Urashima Tarou. He was the kindest man one could have ever met.” Saburou remembered listening to Grandpa Tou as a seven year old boy, sitting with the other village children in the old man’s tiny room, not so tiny then. Grandpa Tou’s beard used to be as white and as shiny then too. The children would tug at it when the old man repeated a story. “Tou-jii, we heard this already!” They would complain. This time around, fortunately, they listened.
“Urashima Tarou was from a poor family so his mother used to scold him as he was so kind as to give away the fish he caught,” Grandpa Tou continued, as always, caressing his beard all the while.
“She would shout, ‘Tarou! We can’t eat your kindness for dinner!’” And all the children would giggle, imagining an old woman chasing her son around the kitchen with a ladle.
“Tarou, the sweet boy that he was, would give his fish away, anyway. If he saw a hungry cat, he would give it a fish. A fisherman with a broken net, he would give him two. A seagull with a sore throat, he would give it three sardines and hot tea!”
The tiny room would be filled with laughter.
“One day, Tarou was walking along the beach, humming a silly little tune.
‘All the secrets of the ocean blue
Tell me li’l fish, if only I knew!’
His silly song was interrupted when he saw a group of boys poking at something near the tidepools. It was a turtle. A small one, with a cracked shell and eyes like old, wise marbles. The boys were laughing, trying to flip it over. Seeing this, Tarou shouted, ‘Hey! Leave the turtle alone!’ And the boys said, ‘We’re just playing!’ but Tarou knew better. He chased them off with a stick and carried the turtle to the sea himself. He even whispered to it: ‘Don’t worry, friend. You’ll be safe now.’ And the turtle blinked at him then disappeared into the waves.
That very night, when the moon looked like a sliced radish in the sky, Tarou heard a knock at his door.
“Knock-knock!”
When Tarou opened the door, outside stood a beautiful woman in clothes that shimmered like fish scales and pearls. She bowed and said, ‘Urashima Tarou, you saved someone very dear to me. Please come with me to the Ryūgū palace beneath the sea.
The Ryugu palace was like heaven underwater with lobsters that wore tiny suits, crabs that danced with silver spoons, jellyfish that sang lullabies…
Tarou followed her to the submarine palace. She led him to the shore and then into the sea. Taro was surprised to breathe in the water as though it was on land. The two went down, eventually reaching the heart of the ocean.
Tarou was captivated by the Ryūgū palace with lanterns that floated in bubbles, dolphins that played the flute and giant sea breams that came to serve him tea. And in the center, the dragon God of the sea, the Ryūjin stood in his human form. Beside him was the Sea Princess Otohime, graceful as a koi in spring water. She thanked Tarou and said, ‘Stay with us, kind fisherman, in our palace of joy.’
Tarou agreed and stayed for a day… for two days…for three days and nights, he feasted, danced and enjoyed his time in the palace.”
Grandpa Tou stopped and stroked his beard.
“But what happened next?” one child asked, impatient.
Grandpa Tou’s eyes twinkled. “Ahh. That part of the story,” he said, leaning forward, “is a tale for another time.”
“No-ooo!” the children would wail in chorus and Saburou would join in.
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