Page 23 - Reading and Writing 6

Listen and Read

The Tale of the Moon Princess

Once upon a time, a childless woodcutter named Daiku found a sparkling
bamboo stem. He cut it open and found a beautiful little child sitting inside it.
He took the child to his wife, and the couple decided to adopt the little girl. They
named the girl Kaguyahime, which meant ‘fragrant princess.’

A strange thing happened the next day. Each time Daiku cut some bamboo, gold
came out of it. The poor couple soon became very rich. Kaguyahime grew up to
be a wondrously beautiful girl. News of her beauty spread far and wide.
The Emperor of Japan heard about the girl’s beauty and asked to see her. When
they met, he fell in love with her so quickly and so deeply that he asked for her
hand in marriage immediately. Kaguyahime refused to marry him, but the two
remained friends.

Kaguyahime’s parents often saw the girl looking at the moon with longing eyes.
One day, Daiku asked her, “Daughter, why do you look sorrowfully at the moon?”
Kaguyahime told Daiku that she did not belong in this world. She was a princess
from the land of the moon. She had been sent away from there to protect her
from a war that had been going on. The gold that he had found inside the
bamboo stems he cut down had been sent so that he could bring up
Kaguyahime comfortably.
Daiku and his wife felt sad because they knew that one day a beautiful star would
come and take their daughter back to the moon. They loved her so dearly and
could not bear to lose her. Soon the time came for the Moon Princess to return
to her real home. Before she left, she gave the Emperor a letter and the elixir of
immortality. When Kaguyahime left, the Emperor was heartbroken. He did not
want to live forever without her. So, he ordered his servants to burn the letter and
the elixir at the top of the highest mountain in Japan. From then on, the mountain
was named Fuji, which means ‘immortality.’ It is said that the smoke from the
letter is still rising from the top of Mount Fuji to this day.

After You Read

1 Work with a partner and discuss the following questions.

1 According to the passage, was there something strange about the girl from the
very beginning of the story?

2 What do you think about the Emperor’s love for Kaguyahime – was it true love?
Explain your answer.

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