鶴の恩返し
昔むかし、あるところにおじいさんとあばあさんが住んでいました。ある冬の日、おじいさんが町に薪を売りに出かけた帰りに、罠にかかった一羽の鶴を見つけ、可哀想に思ったおじいさんはその鶴を罠か らはずして逃がしてあげました。ある雪の夜、美しい娘がふたりの家へ現れました。道に迷ったので雪が落ち着くまでの間一晩泊めて欲しいと言うその娘をおじいさんとおばああさんは快く家に入れてあげました。。しかし雪はなかなか降り止まず、娘は老夫婦の家に留まっていました。その間、娘はおじいさん、おばあさんの世話をし、彼らをとても喜ばせました。
ある日娘が「布を織りたいので糸を買ってきて欲しい」と言うのでおじいさんは糸を買って与えました。。はたおりを始める時、娘は「絶対に部屋を覗かないと約束して下さい」と夫婦に言い残し、布を織り始めました。布を一反織り終わると、娘は「これを売って、また糸を買ってきて欲しい」とおじいさんに頼みました。娘が織った布は大変美しく、たちまち町で評判となり、そのおじいさんとおばあさんはそれを売るたびに大変なお金持ちになりました。。
娘がどのように布を織っているのだろうかと奇妙に思いながらも、娘の見ないでくださいという言いつけを守っていたのですが、だんだんとやせ細っていく娘を心配したおじいさんとおばあさんは娘が布を織っているところを覗いてしまいました。娘の姿があるはずの部屋の中には、一羽の鶴がい てその鶴は布に自分の羽根を織り込み、布を織っていたのでした。機織を終えたその娘は自分が以前おじいさんに助けてもらった鶴だと告白し、姿を見られた以上はここにはもいられませんと告げ、両手を広げ鶴になり、 老夫婦に見送られ空へと帰っていきました。
Long long time ago,there an old couple living somewhere. One winter day, an old man left house to sell firewood in town. On his way to town, he found a crane caught trapped in pain. He felt pity and got rid of the trap off the crane and release it. One snowy day,One beautiful woman showed up their house and told them she got lost, asked for staying one night to avoid severe snow outside. Listening her situation,the couple invited her into the house pleasantly,but as the snow storm kept going outside, her stay got longer,and for that time, the woman started helping,taking care the old couple,and they became very happy having her in the house.
One day, the woman said to the old couple” I would like to weave cloth. Please buy some thread for me”,so the old man went to town and obtained some thread and gave it to the woman. Before she started working she said “ while I am working, please never come to look inside the room and keep this promise”and the woman started weaving and after awhile she showed up with beautiful cloth in her hands, and told them to buy more thread selling the cloth. The cloth was so beautiful that whenever they sold them, it became very popular and it made the couple very rich.
The couple always wondered how the woman is weaving such beautiful cloth,but they kept their promise not to look inside the room while she was working, weaving cloth.
However, as time goes on, the woman was becoming obviously weak and skinny,so the couple was very worried about her one day, and peaked the room while she was working on weaving.
When they looked inside the room, there was not the woman, but a skinny crane weaving the cloth applying own feather into the thread cloth.
When the woman come out from the room,she confessed that she was the crane who was saved by the old man the one winter day . And she said “after revealing who I am,because of you seeing how I was weaving the cloth, I can not stay here anymore”,and she opened her wings and turn herself into a crane,and flew away in front of the old couple.
