The Moonbeam Princess, A Japanese Fairy Tale.

[Music] one night long ago the moon shone over japan and a sparkling moonbeam flew down to a grove of bamboo next morning a kind-hearted woodcutter made his way to the forest it was his job to cut and sell bamboo [Music] what was that light he wondered [Music] there in the bamboo a baby a tiny baby girl [Music] the man carried the child out of the woods he brought her home to his wife and they decided to care for her as their own daughter they wondered how she may have come to be in the bamboo but they had no idea [Music] to care for the child the woodcutter knew he would have to work hard bright and early he began to cut bamboo when all of a sudden in the bamboo gold appeared [Music] with the gold he was rich enough to build a finer house and to care for his new daughter as if she were a princess and so the years passed the woodcutter and his wife became wealthier [Music] and the little girl grew [Music] so 23 years passed [Music] and the little girl became a beautiful young lady so beautiful in fact that young men came from near and far to have just a glimpse of her [Music] three of the young men were princess and each vowed that he would marry the beautiful lady [Music] when they came to call on the woodcutter he asked who are you gentlemen and why have you come the young men explained i am prince ishizukuri i am prince otomo and i am prince miyushi each of us wishes to marry the beautiful lady the old man not knowing what to do went to ask his daughter [Music] father and daughter spoke for a long time my daughter will marry the man who brings to her one of three rare and precious gifts the bowl used by the great lord buddha the five-colored jewel of the dragon of horai mountain and a jewel twig from the tree at top mount kuru mamochi [Music] prince ishizukuri set out first thinking only of the lady and the gift he would bring her the bowl of the great lord buddha he traveled for nearly two years but he found nothing and then one day he was lost in a sandstorm when the prince awakened he found himself before a strange cave [Music] [Music] deep within the cave was a temple and on the walls the statues of gods and demons at the head of them all a great statue of the lord buddha guarding the goal [Music] hello [Music] was the statue alive would it let the prince escape with the bowl [Music] the stairs were magically removed by the demons he fell and that was the end of prince ishizukuri prince o'toomel traveled by sea thinking of the lady and of the jewel he would have to take from the dragon of horri mountain [Music] what was happening a storm was approaching a storm such as otomo had never seen [Music] [Applause] [Music] me and then up in the sky otomo saw the dragon otomo ordered his men fight for your lives dragon struck with lightning and great waves could otomo win his men were lost all the men he was the last to be destroyed and that was how prince otomo met his end prince miyushi was a very different kind of man to win the lady he would have to bring a jeweled twig from mount kurumamochi [Music] but mount kurumamochi was far away and the trip was dangerous he had a scheme in mind instead of going to the mountain he waited till nightfall no one was watching and went to the shop of a silversmith [Music] the prince asked the smith can you make such a jewel twig [Music] and the smith agreed to try [Music] [Applause] [Music] the twig was beautiful a masterpiece but when the smith asked for the money he'd then promised the prince seized the twig and struck him down [Music] miushi brought the stolen twig to the lady along with a made-up story about how he'd gotten it he said he had traveled hundreds of miles and battled fierce demons [Music] he said he had conquered an enchanted tree the great bats had carried him high in the sky until he had found the jewel twig it was a grand story but miyushi hadn't expected the silversmith to come and tell the truth that he had made the twig miyushi was caught when the silversmith tried to take his twig miyushi drew his sword [Music] the twig was destroyed and miyushi was defeated time passed the seasons changed and one night as the moon shone down the lady was seen to be weeping when the woodcutter and his wife asked why she explained that many years ago before they had found her she had been a princess on the moon the moon with its beautiful cities and its gardens of magic moon flowers [Music] of course she had been just a baby princess and very careless about flowers once when the gardeners were planting she danced through the blossoms the flower bed was ruined [Music] the gardeners rushed to the palace and the kings had a soldier the king was told what the little princess had done and this was her punishment to be sent far away to earth [Music] far away from her beautiful home on the moon she had drifted gently closer and closer to the earth [Music] and so she had arrived at the bamboo grove where the woodcutter had found her but now she was sad the time had come for her to return to the moon the woodcutter did not want to lose his daughter or to have her unhappy he went to the emperor of japan and begged his help and so the next night when the full moon shone over japan the emperor called up his army and sent them to guard the princess [Music] they arrived at the house set up fortifications and boarded up windows and doors the emperor soldiers stood guard on the rooftops [Music] the woodcutter waited the princess and the emperor waited suddenly they saw a bright glow coming from the moon [Music] a moon cloud carrying spirit people from the moon we have come for our princess they said the emperor's men replied with arrows [Music] okay [Music] but their arrows were gently returned with no harm to the soldiers [Music] thank you for taking care of our princess said the moon people and they set a moonbeam down to the house and toured the princess [Music] slowly she was carried up the moonbeam how sad everyone was to see her go the princess saw that all her friends on earth were unhappy so she turned back for a moment and through a shining ball of light scattering into brilliant fragments the light touched the earth and became flowers hundreds of magical flowers with this gift of flowers the people would find happiness again [Music] now it was time for the princess to leave goodbye she said goodbye i'll never forget you [Music] goodbye [Music] and so the moonbeam princess returned to her home [Music] you