Peach Boy “Momotaro”

Peach Boy “Momotaro”

Long, long ago, there lived an old man and his old wife in a village.
He went to the mountain to gather woods.
When she went to the river to wash clothes, a big peach came floating down the river.
“What a big peach this is! I’ll take it home.” she said and came home with it on her back.
When she began to cut it, to their surprise, the peach cut apart of itself and a big baby came out from it.
“Oh, my God!”
They were very surprised, but very happy to be blessed with him.
“What shall we call him?” she asked.
“He was born from the peach. How about calling him Momo-Taro,’Peach Boy’.” he said.
“That’s a good name.”
Momo-Taro grew and grew quickly to be a strong and kind-hearted boy.

One day he said to his parents.
“I hear there live a few bad ogres in the Ogre’s Island.”
“Oh, yes. They sometimes come to our village and do many bad evil things. But we are at a loss what to do.”
“Then I’ll go there and defeat them. My mother, please make me some millet dumplings.”
She made him the most delicious dumplings in Japan.
He carried them in a bag around his waist and left his house for the Ogre’s Island.
On his way, he met a dog.
“Mr.Momo-Taro, what do you have in your bag?”
“I have the most delicious dumplings in Japan.”
“If you give me one, I’ll follow you.”

He gave one dumpling and the dog became his follower with pleasure.
When he and the dog made their way, a monkey came toward him.
“Mr.Momo-Taro,what do you have in your bag?”
“I have the most delicious dumplings in Japan.”
“If you give me one, I’ll follow you.” He gave one dumpling and the monkey became one of his men with pleasure.
When they were walking, a pheasant flew over toward them.
“Mr.Momo-Taro,what do you have in your bag?”
“I have the most delicious dumplings in Japan.”
“If you give me one, I’ll follow you.” He also gave one dumpling and the pheasant became one of his men with pleasure.

“That must be the Ogre’s Island.” the dog said.
“We can see the castle.” the monkey said.
“I’ll fly and see what it is like.” the pheasant said and flew away to the island.
They reached the island at last.
In front of the castle’s gate, there was a big ogre standing.
Momo-Taro picked up a big stone and threw it at him.
The monkey climbed up the gate quickly to open it.
The pheasant attacked the ogre’s eyes.
“We can’t do anything.” the ogre said and they ran away.
“Help!” they said in the castle and they ran away.
The huge boss came out.
“Hey,little boy. I’ll kill you.” the ogre said, swinging his iron bar.
“Are you the boss?” said Momo-Taro,jumping on the bar quickly and lightly.
He attacked the enemy so quickly that the enemy couldn’t catch him.
“Bad ogre, you did evil things to the villagers. I’ll never forgive you. Get my punch!”
“I’m sorry. Forgive me, forgive me. I give up, I give up.”
“Are you sure? Do you promise?”
“We are sure. We promise. I’ll never tell a lie. I’ll give you our treasures.”
Momo-Taro got many treasures in the castle. Gold, silver, textile and so on.
He and the dog pulled the cart full of many treasures while the monkey and the pheasant pushed it.
It was a very wonderful day for them.

The end