Wife from the sea

Wife from the sea

Long long ago, there lived a young man and his mother in a village, who were so poor that he had little food and no land.
They earned their money by selling mountain mushrooms.
One day on his way home after selling only a few flowers in a town, he was watching toward the sea on the beach.
He said to himself.
“It is no use taking these mushrooms out to my house. I’ll give these to the Gods and Goddesses living in the sea.”
He threw them far into the sea, which slowly sank in it.
Then a big turtle put the head out of the sea and said to the man,
“I thank you for your giving us many mushrooms. I’m a messenger from a Dragon king. We would like to invite you to the Dragon castle under the sea.”
“I’d like to, but I hear it’s far away and it will take a long time to go.”
“Never mind. If you ride on my back and close your eyes, you’ll find yourself be in the Dragon castle.”
He rode on the back of the turtle and closed his eyes.
Without breathing he reached to the Dragon castle.
The turtle advised him,
“If you are asked by the king what you want, you should tell him you want a beautiful wife.”
He had enjoyed wonderful dinners, sea music, dancing of breams and flatfishes for three days.
When he left there, the kind said to him,
“I’ll give you a souvenir. What do you want?”
“I would like to have a beautiful wife.” said he as he was told by the turtle.
Both he and a beautiful lady left there riding on the turtle’s back.
To his surprise, three years had already passed while he was enjoying himself under the sea for three days.
His mother had been sick in bed for two years.
“Mom. I’m sorry. It’s my fault. I went into the sea leaving you alone.”
The lady, seeing him crying, said to him,
“Please stop crying. I’ll make your mother better again.”
She sent her breath to the sick mother a few times, when the sick opened her eyes, took a breath and stood up until at last she was in good health.
They had no house to live in together.
He cut down the trees and prepared some site in a forest.
The lady, taking a small wooden hammer out of one of her sleeves and swinging it, said in a loud voice.
“A big house. Come out.”
They were standing in front of a huge and wonderful house.
She also produced rice, clothes and so on out of the hammer.
Soon they became rich and she became famous as the most beautiful and wonderful wife in the country.
The rumor went to the lord, who called the young man to his castle and ordered him.
“I would like to have your wife as one of my wives. If you can’t bring me a hundred straw bags by tomorrow, bring your wife instead.”
He was at a loss what to do and talked to his wife about it.
“There’s no need to worry. It’s very easy.” said she.
She went to the seashore and prayed it for God, clapping her hands, when straw-bags flew up from the sea to his house one after another up to a hundred ones.
The young man said to the lord,
“I prepared a thousand straw bags for you. Come to my house.”
The lord, not believing it, collected fifty horses up to carry the bags from the man’s house to his castle.
The young man and his wife had had peaceful lives for three months.
One day, the lord called the young man again to his castle and ordered him,
“I do would like to have your wife as one of my wives. If you can’t bring me a thousand straw slippers by tomorrow, bring your wife instead.”

He was at a loss what to do and talked to his wife about it.
“There’s no need to worry. It’s very easy.” said she.
She went to the seashore again and prayed it for God, clapping her hands, when straw slippers flew up from the sea to his house one after another up to a thousand ones.
The young man went to the castle with a joy and said to the lord,
“I prepared a thousand straw slippers for you. Come to my house.”
The lord, not believing it, collected his men to carry a thousand straw slippers from the man’s house to his castle.
The young man and his wife had had peaceful lives for another three months.
On the last day of the year, the lord called the young man again to his castle and ordered him,
“I do indeed would like to have your wife as one of my wives. I’ll visit your house for dinner with a thousand men of mine. If you can’t prepare a thousand dishes and a thousand bottles of SAKE, give me your wife instead.”

On the very day, she went to the seashore again and prayed it for God, clapping her hands, when a thousand dishes and a thousand bottles of SAKE flew up from the sea to the garden of his house.
Soon the lord and his men came to his house.
They sat down in front of their dishes and SAKE bottles in the garden.
The lord said to the beautiful wife,
“I would like to have you as one of my wives. Could you show me your performance? If you can’t show it to me, you’ll have to marry me.”
“What kind of performance do you want to see?” asked the wife.

“I hear you have magic power. Show me a kind of magic.”
She took out a big box and a tiny one from each of her sleeves.
“First of all, I’ll open this small one.”
On opening it, hundreds of dancers came out of it, singing and dancing.

“Why don’t you open the big box?” said the lord to her.
“It’s dangerous to open it. Even I don’t know who will come out of it. If you open it, you may be killed” said the wife.
“I have a thousand men here. So No matter who may come out, I will kill them. Open the box at once.”
As soon as she opened the big one, thousands of strong soldiers with swords jumped up out of it.
The lord and his men were killed on the spot.

The end