"Princess Haise, a story of old Japan.Many, many years ago there lived in Nara, the ancient Capital of Japan, a wise State minister, by namePrince Toyonari Fujiwara. His wife was a noble, good, and beautiful woman called Princess Murasaki (Violet). They had been married by their respective families according to Japanese custom when very young, and had lived together happily ever since. They had, however, one cause for great sorrow, for as the years went by no child was born to them. This made them very unhappy, for they both longed to see a child of their own who would grow up to gladden their old age, carry on the family name, and keep up the ancestral rites when they were dead.The Prince and his lovely wife, after long consultation and much thought, determined to make a pilgrimage to the temple of Hase-no-Kwannon (Goddess of Mercy at Hase), for they believed, according to the beautiful tradition of their religion, that the Mother of Mercy, Kwannon, comes to answer the prayers of
At the time when the Tang dynasty reigned over the Middle Kingdom, there were master swordsmen of various kinds. Those who came first were the saints of the sword. They were able to take different shapes at will, and their swords were like strokes of lightning. Yet these master swordsmen were men of lofty mind, and did not lightly mingle in the quarrels of the world. The second kind of master swordsmen were the sword heroes. It was their custom to slay the unjust, and to come to the aid of the oppressed. They wore a hidden dagger at their side and carried a leather bag at their belt. By magic means they were able to turn human heads into flowing water. They could fly over roofs and walk up and down walls, and they came and went and left no trace. The swordsmen of the lowest sort were the mere bought slayers. They hired themselves out to those who wished to do away with their enemies. And death was an everyday matter to them.Old Dragon beard must have been a master swordsman standing
There was once upon a time a couple of needy folk who lived in a wretched hut, in which there was nothing but black want; so they had neither food to eat nor wood to burn. But if they had next to nothing of all else they had the blessing of God so far as children were concerned, and every year brought them one more. The man was not overpleased at this. He was always going about grumbling and growling, and saying that it seemed to him that there might be such a thing as having too many of these good gifts; so shortly before another baby was born he went away into the wood for some firewood, saying that he did not want to see the new child; he would hear him quite soon enough when he began to squall for some food.As soon as this baby was born it began to look about the room.'Ah, my dear mother!' said he, 'give me some of my brothers' old clothes, and food enough for a few days, and I will go out into the world and seek my fortune, for, so far as I can see, you have children enough.'
"Mannikin."This evening also, Minnikin begged for leave to go down to the sea-shore.'Oh, what can you do there?' answered the kitchen-maid.However, he begged until at last he got leave to go, but he was forced to promise that he would be back again in the kitchen when the roast had to be turned.Almost immediately after he had got down to the sea-shore the Troll came with a great whizzing and whirring, and he was much, much bigger than either of the two former ones, and he had fifteen heads.'Fire!' roared the Troll.'Fire yourself!' said Minnikin.'Can you fight?' screamed the Troll.'If not, I can learn,' said Minnikin.'l will teach you,' yelled the Troll, and struck at him with his iron club so that the earth flew up fifteen yards high into the air.'Fie!' said Minnikin. 'That was not much of a blow. Now I will let you see one of my blows.'So saying he grasped his sword, and cut at the Troll in such a way that all his fifteen heads danced away over the sands.Then the Princess
"The star child."Once upon a time two poor Woodcutters were making their way home through a great pine-forest. It was winter, and a night of bitter cold. The snow lay thick upon the ground, and upon the branches of the trees: the frost kept snapping the little twigs on either side of them, as they passed: and when they came to the Mountain-Torrent she was hanging motionless in air, for the Ice-King had kissed her.So cold was it that even the animals and the birds did not know what to make of it.'Ugh!' snarled the Wolf, as he limped through the brushwood with his tail between his legs, 'this is perfectly monstrous weather. Why doesn't the Government look to it?''Weet! weet! weet!' twittered the green Linnets, 'the old Earth is dead and they have laid her out in her white shroud.''The Earth is going to be married, and this is her bridal dress,' whispered the Turtle-doves to each other. Their little pink feet were quite frost-bitten, but they felt that it was their duty to take a ro
And one evening he came to the gate of a strong-walled city that stood by a river, and, weary and footsore though he was, he made to enter in. But the soldiers who stood on guard dropped their halberts across the entrance, and said roughly to him, 'What is thy business in the city?'I am seeking for my mother,' he answered, 'and I pray ye to suffer me to pass, for it may be that she is in this city:But they mocked at him, and one of them wagged a black beard, and set down his shield and cried,'Of a truth, thy mother will not be merry when she sees thee, for thou art more ill-favoured than the toad of the marsh, or the adder that crawls in the fen. Get thee gone. Get thee gone. Thy mother dwells not in this city.'And another, who held a yellow banner in his hand, said to him, 'Who is thy mother, and wherefore art thou seeking for her?'And he answered, 'My mother is a beggar even as I am, and I have treated her evilly, and I pray ye to suffer me to pass that she may give me her forg
"Vee wag mo naman akong iwan dito. Wuy? Vee??" Tawag nito sakin pero hindi ko siya pinansin.Umayos lang ako sa pag higa at tinalikuran siya. Pero tawag parin ito ng tawag sa pangalan ko kaya nilingon ko siya at kunot noo siyang tinignan ngayon. "Patulogin mo nalang kaya muna ako okay? Ang sabi diba magpahinga ako?!""Bakit hindi naman kita pinapasayaw o pinapa tambling dyan ah, uupo ka lang naman sa tabi ko tsk." Sabi nito.Tatabi tapos magsasalita. Grabe na eh, ubos na ubos na yong laway ko sa kakakwento no. Pwede naman sigurong magpahinga muna ako, I mean, ayoko na sa kwento-kwento na yan pagod na yong bunganga ko."Matutulog na ako. Goodnight!""Anong goodnight?" Napapikit ako ng mariin at sabay tampal ng mahina sa noo ko."Este goodafternight pala tsee!" Sabay tinalikuran siya at nag tago sa kumot."Wag ka muna matulog kakain ka pa Ms. Vee." Dinig kong sabi nito."Wala pa naman yong pagkain sa harapan ko." Saad ko. Pinikit ko na ang mga mata ko. Ilang minuto pa lang yata ang lum
Kinuha niya yong tray na hawak ko at tinalikuran ako. Napanganga ako habang nakatingin sakanyang naglakad papalayo sakin at di man lang ako nilingon kahit isang saglit.What the hell? Ang sabi ko tulungan niya ako ah?! Ba't yong tray lang, I mean, ano yong tray tutulungan niya? Gagu pano naman ako bakla! Ako na nga itong nag mamagandang loob na sabay kami kumain para hindi siya kumain mag isa dito tapos gaganitohin niya lang ako!?Tsk, ba't nga ba kase ako makikisabay sakanya kumain? Medyo nabaliw lang yata ako kanina eh, kaya ko 'yon nasabi sakanya!Para na yatang sasabog itong ulo ko sa inis. "Napaka gentleman naman mas inuna pa yong tray kesa sakin shuta!" Sabi ko at nakayuko para tignan itong aapakan ko. Baka pag di ako naka focus dito eh, mahulog ako dyan at magpa gulong-gulong tang*na na talaga pag nangyari 'yon. Dahan-dahan na akong bumaba sa hagdan at napatigil ng may makitang dalawang paa sa harapan ko.Unti-unti akong tumingala at nag tama naman ang paningin naming dalawa.