1,000 stairs

1,000 stairs

Long long ago, there lived two young demons in a mountain.
One night for the first time they came down in a village at the foot of the mountain.
“Woo. I want to drink Sake (Japanese liquor made from rice).”
“Woo, I want to drink Sake, too.”
Saying so, they entered a big house and sat down in a room.
Everyone in the house was so afraid that the owner offered all Sakes in the house to them.
The children didn’t stop crying.
“Where is the crying child? I’ll take you in the mountain and eat you.”

“Please forgive them. Please….” The mother pushed her children into a closet and implored them for forgiveness.
They entered another big house and sat down near the hearth.
“Woo. I want to drink Sake.”
“Woo, I want to drink Sake, too.”
They found a fat wife sleeping in the next room and woke her up and said to her,
“Why are you so fat?
I’m sure you are only eating and sleeping everyday.
I’ll take you in the mountain and eat you.”

“Please forgive me. I’ll work hard from now.”
She gave all drinks in the house to them and implored them for forgiveness.
They visited the big houses in the village one after another and drank until they came home in the mountain before sunrise.
Once they drink delicious Sake, they could no longer live without it.
After that every night they came down in the village from the mountain and visited the big houses.
“Woo. I want to drink Sake.”
“Woo, I want to drink Sake, too.”
The villagers were so afraid that they couldn’t have sound sleep every night.
“I can’t put up with them any more.”
Everyone thought so, but no one in the village was so strong as them.
Some of the villagers discussed the solution secretly.
Could they find any solutions?
On that night, an elder was waiting for them to come at the entrance of the village.
“Woo. I want to drink Sake.”
“Woo, I want to drink Sake, too.”
He went and sat in front of them and said to them,
“I’ll promise you.
If you build 1,000 stairs to a little shrine on the top of the mountain during this night,
we villagers offer you everything you want, for example, Sakes every day and a beautiful young lady every month and so on.
But you also must promise us.
If you can’t finish 1,000 stairs tonight, you never come down in the village again.”
“It’s a very easy job. We’ll promise you. You must promise me.” they said,laughing so loud.
They carried huge stones so easily like pebbles from a river.
How fast they were building stairs!
3, 7,15,69,176,309,328,419,508,690,742,881,997, 998 and nine hundred ninety nine.
When they carried the last one, they heard a cockcrow.
“Cock-a-doodle-doo.”
“Woo, it’s the first cry. It’ll be morning.”
“Woo, it’s the first cry. We must return.”
They stopped building stairs.
“Cock-a-doodle-doo.”
“Woo, it’s the second cry. It’ll be morning.”
“Woo, it’s the second cry. We must return.”
They couldn’t live under the sunshine.
“Cock-a-doodle-doo.”
“Woo, it’s the third cry. It’ll be morning.”
“Woo, it’s the third cry. We must return.”
They hurried home in the mountain without finishing stairs.
As you know, Someone imitated the cry of a cock.
They kept their promise and never came down in the village.
The village got peace back.

The end