Here are my favorite stories from the Japanese Fairy Tale (Lang) unit:
The Stonecutter: I liked this story because it had a good moral: be happy with what you have. This is a very relevant message even today. Our society is all about buying the newest TV, phone, car, clothes, shoes, basically everything. We can't be happy with what we have; we just bought the iPhone 6 but we're already getting ready for the iPhone 7. We need a bigger house, a bigger car, a bigger TV. The stonecutter is envious of what others have, but once he gets exactly what they have, he realizes that he still isn't happy. He keeps asking for more and more, but he still isn't happy, just like how buying more things doesn't make us happier (that's actually been scientifically proven). The ills of greed are actually a theme that ran through most of the stories in this first half of the unit.
The Envious Neighbor: This story was actually kind of sad but also continues the theme about what happens to greedy people. The neighbor kills the old couple's really sweet dog with an ax. Yes, you read that right. He chopped up a cute little dog with an ax!! Because the dog didn't lead the greedy neighbor to any gold in his garden. This guy is messed up. Thankfully, these Japanese fairy tales don't let evil doers get away with their evil deeds. While we don't get the details of what happens, we do get the satisfaction of knowing his life ends miserably because of his greed. The nice elderly couple lives happily ever after, although they did lose their beloved pet who was basically like a child to them.
The Sparrow with the Slit Tongue: This story also features a sadistic bad guy (or woman, in this case) who mutilates a loved pet (I'm realizing these stories are actually kind of dark). This time, it is a greedy wife that meets a much deserved end. She is an obnoxious person in general, but then she attacks her husband's pet bird and slits its tongue. The bird then escapes into the woods and the husband is heartbroken until he finds it again, but now it's a woman. This part reminds me of the Turkish fairy tales I read last week which included a lot of shape-shifting bird-ladies. Like the greedy neighbor in the previous story, the wife gets what's coming to her but we get the satisfaction of knowing the details this time. She manages to a get a large chest from the bird-woman, expecting it to be full of jewels, but is greeted instead by two snakes that bite her and poison her until she dies. Harsh? Maybe. But she did cut a harmless bird's tongue because she was jealous of it.
The Cat's Elopement: This story was so cute!! It's about kitty love, and I couldn't help imagining my cat, Sweetie, being the female cat. While the two kitty lovers do get separated at one point after being threatened by a dog, this story is actually a happy one for the most part, especially the ending which is basically "they all lived happily ever after." It's sort of like a cat version of Romeo and Juliet (but with a much happier ending) or Lady and the Tramp. I'd love to rewrite this story in a modern setting (maybe starring Sweetie!). Maybe she falls in love with another cat in the neighborhood, although I would hate for her to run away because they couldn't be together. I sympathize with the owners who won't sell their cats to each other (because they love their cats) so they could be together; I wouldn't sell Sweetie if someone offered. I don't think the cats needed to elope, though. The owners could have set up play dates for them so they could see each other, but I also understand that the two cats wanted to be together all the time. All in all, the two end up together in a nice palace with a caring princess owner. If cats could write fairy tales, I imagine they would write something like this.
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| The two cats explaining their story to the male cat's new princess owner
The Pink Fairy Book by Andrew Lang and illustrated by H. J. Ford (1897)
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