"The Grateful Crane"

AE2A
Rika Nishioka

This is a fairy tale in Japan.

Once upon a time, there was an honest young man. One day, when he walked in a forest, he found a crane which was caught in a trap. He was sorry for the crane, so he released it from the trap. After few days and nights, a beautiful woman visited his house. She said to him, “I lost my way, so could you lodge me in your house?”, and he let her stay at his home. The next day, she began to weave in gratitude. The textiles which she made were beautiful, and they could be sold at a high price. She kept weaving for several days in a shed without eating food. “How about having a rest and eating something?” he asked her, but she didn’t reply. He couldn’t see her because she told him to please never peep inside while she wove. However, he worried about her, so he opened the door of the shed. He couldn’t believe because the person who had been weaving was the crane which he had saved from a trap several days ago. The crane pulled out feathers one by one with her bill, and she made cloth with her own wings. She had to leave him because he saw her identify. Finally, she flew up to the sky, and he cried to her to come back because he loved her.

There is another version of this story here.
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