Week Seven Story: The Turtle and the Fisherman

Once upon a time, a young turtle with a kind heart loved to swim in the open seas. She would catch the currents and ride the waves, splashing happily and without care. Now, one day, this young turtle was slicing through the waters at what she thought was a safe distance from a little island; fishermen seldom came out this far. However, she suddenly felt a net tightening around her little shell, hoisting her upwards out of the water, and she quickly tucked her legs and head inside out of fear!

Peering out of her armor, she glimpsed a handsome young man hauling another net - this one filled with flopping fish - into his boat. Poking her head out just a little, she cleared her throat to get his attention.

"Excuse me, kind sir. I know that you are a fisherman, and that this is how you live," she began, "but seeing as how I am but a young turtle, and very small, I wonder if you might release me? There is not much meat on my bones, as you can see."

The man thought for a moment, and then he denied her.

"Turtle soup is my very favorite meal," he explained without a hint of remorse, "and even if I cannot eat you yet, surely you shall grow, and then you will make a very fine soup."

Seeing that pleading would get her nowhere, the little turtle sought a different tack.

"But, good sir, then you would have to keep me in water, and feed me, and keep me safe," she ventured, "lest I should dry up, or grow too thin instead of becoming fat for eating, or be stolen by your neighbors."

The man plopped himself down next to the netted turtle and seemed to become very perplexed, but he said nothing as he thought. After a good little while, the turtle spoke once more.

"Perhaps," she suggested, "you might let me go, and I can go about the business of fattening myself up right here in the sea, and it will not cost you any time or work. Then, once I've gotten quite large and delicious, I will come back and meet you here again, and you may make me into soup and eat me. This way, you won't have to feed me any of the precious fish you catch, and I may enjoy a year or two more of life before I perish, if perish I must."

Although this plan seemed good to him, it did occur to the man that perhaps the turtle would not come back, and then he would have no turtle and no soup. So, he still refused to cut the turtle loose, saying, "You turtles are clever creatures, and this is certainly a trick."

Desperate to return to the sea and terribly afraid of losing her young life, the turtle began to spin for the man a story. She told him of a beautiful princess - the daughter of the sea god, no less - who lived richly and lavishly in a shimmering palace under the sea, and who was searching even now for a handsome fisherman to keep her company and become her husband. At this, the fisherman puffed out his chest, as he supposed himself to be the handsomest fisherman on his island at the very least, and he believed himself quite deserving of a beautiful princess and endless riches.

"If you'd like, I could take you to her," said the turtle casually, "but alas! These heavy ropes will hinder me from showing you the way, as I cannot swim with them tied around me like this!"

Greedily, the fisherman agreed to cut off the netting which ensnared the little turtle, only tying a thin string from one of the turtle's flippers to keep from losing track of her while they swam. But as they dove deeper and deeper, the man found that he could not swim as far as the turtle, and needed to go back up for air. Letting go the string briefly, he kicked up towards the surface, but when he again dove down, the turtle was nowhere to be seen. After a good deal of time in searching, the man returned to his boat, only to find that in his absence, seabirds had eaten the majority of his fish. So he went home with no fish and no turtle, and he was altogether very sad about missing out on his favorite soup.

The turtle, meanwhile, sought out a friend to help her cut off the string, and then happily returned to her peaceful life, though she never again ventured quite so close to the shore.

*Author's Note: This story is based on the story of "Uraschimataro and the Turtle," which is a traditional Japanese folktale. In the original, the fisherman is merciful to the turtle and lets her go, and many years later the turtle saves him from a sea storm and takes him to live with the daughter of the sea god as her immortal husband. However, at long last he discovers that time has passed faster than he thought, and everyone he loved is dead. In a moment of foolishness, he loses his immortality and ages three hundred years in a few moments, then dies. In my story, I wanted to imagine what would have happened had the turtle been captured by a less kind fisherman than Uraschimataro, and what she might have done to win back her freedom. 

Bibliography: "Japanese Fairytales" from The Violet Fairy Book by Andrew Lang, illustrated by H. J. Ford (1901). Web source.

Image of a turtle from Max Pixel

Week Seven Reading Notes Part A - Lang

Source Story: "Japanese Fairytales" from The Violet Fairy Book by Andrew Lang, illustrated by H. J. Ford (1901).

• "The Two Frogs"
• Two frogs dwell in Japan, one in Osaka and one in Kioto, and both happen to decide at the same time that they wish to travel and see the other city. They meet at the top of a mountain just by chance, and decide to peer off from the mountain towards the cities they intend to visit in order to decide if the journey is worth it. However, they mistakenly each look at the city they are from instead and, each believing the city they intend to visit is the same as the city they are from, they simply go home.
• "The Stonecutter"
• A stonecutter's wishes of becoming a rich man are granted. Then his subsequent wishes of being the next great thing continue to be granted, and he is in turn a prince, the sun, a cloud, and a large stone, only to become a stonecutter again and be content with his own life.
• "The Maiden with the Wooden Helmet"
• A once-rich but now impoverished couple has a daughter of surpassing beauty. They both die, but before she passes the mother entreats the daughter to keep her beauty hidden beneath a wooden helmet to keep herself safe from men who might do her ill because of it. She does this, and works for a rich man and his ailing wife, until their eldest son catches a glimpse of her with her helmet tilted back and begs to marry her. His parents protest, so she says no, but after her mother comes to her in a dream to urge her to get married, she consents. Before the wedding, she and the maids attempt to take the helmet off, but it will not come off, so she gets married in it. When the marriage ceremony is finished, it breaks off and pours precious stones on the floor. She and her husband live happily ever after.
• "The Envious Neighbour"
• A poor old couple has no children, so they dote on their dog, who finds a treasure buried in their yard. With their new riches they treat him even better than before, but their envious neighbor begs them day in and day out to borrow their dog so he can find a treasure, too. When the dog instead digs up stinky old bones, the neighbor kills the dog and lies about it to the owners, who are heartbroken. The dog comes to the old man in a dream and tells him to cut down their tree and use it to make a mortar, which ends up turning rice into gold. The neighbor borrows the mortar, but it turns his rice into smelly berries and he breaks and burns it. The dog comes again in a dream, and the old man takes the ashes from the mortar and sprinkles them on a bare cherry tree in front of the Daimio, which causes the tree to fill with blossoms and the Daimio gives him rich gifts. The neighbor takes some of the ashes to try it as well, but instead the ashes blow into the Daimio's eyes and he has the neighbor arrested.
• "The Sparrow with the Split Tongue"
• A kind old man and his mean wife live in a mountain, and the old man saves a sparrow from a raven. He takes good care of the sparrow, but while he's gone his wife catches it and cuts its tongue, and it flies away. He searches for it for a long time, and after finally giving up, finds a little house with a maiden who says she is the sparrow, and who gives him food and drinks and a choice between a large chest and a small one. He takes the small one and goes home to find that it is filled with treasure. His wife is angry that he didn't pick the big chest, so she goes to the little house and demands a gift, and chooses the large chest. It turns out to be filled with snakes, who kill her.
• "The Cat's Elopement"
• A cat named Gon falls in love with a cat named Koma, but their owners each love their cat too much to sell it to the other. So the cats elope, but a dog attacks them, and Koma hides while Gon steels himself for a fight. Instead, the servant of a princess saves him and takes him to live with the kind princess. Gon kills a snake who is in love with the princess and annoys her constantly, so she takes excellent care of Gon. One day, he finds Koma being harassed by another tomcat, and saves her, then takes her back to the princess, who happily takes Koma in as well. The princess marries as well, and both couples have lots of children and live happily ever after.

Here are two more personal photos of my very lovey cat, Atticus. You're welcome.