The Bamboo Cutter and the Shining Child

Long ago, an old man and his wife lived in a small house at the edge of a bamboo forest. They had no children, and they were very poor. Each morning the old man went into the forest to cut bamboo and sell the wood. One day, deep among the green trunks, he saw a piece of bamboo that gave off a soft light. When he stepped closer, he heard a tiny voice from inside. He cut it open, and there, no bigger than his hand, sat a small girl. She looked up at him and smiled. The old man wrapped her in his coat and carried her home.

The old man and his wife were very happy. They had wanted a child for many years. They named the girl Kaguya, which means 'shining one.' She grew much faster than other children. In just three months, she was already a young woman. She was so beautiful that the room seemed to fill with light when she walked in. Strange things started to happen too. Whenever the old man cut a piece of bamboo, he found gold inside. Soon they were no longer poor. They built a bigger house and gave Kaguya fine clothes. But Kaguya rarely smiled. On clear nights, she sat by the window and looked up at the moon.

News of Kaguya's beauty traveled across the country. Princes and powerful men came to ask for her hand in marriage. To each one she gave an impossible task — to bring her a jewel from a dragon, a robe of fire-rat fur, a bowl from a faraway land. One by one, they failed. Even the Emperor sent her letters. She answered politely but said she could not marry anyone. The old man worried about her, especially when he saw her crying alone at night. At last he asked her what was wrong, and Kaguya looked at him with sad eyes and told him a strange thing.

'I am not from this world,' she said. 'I am from the city on the moon. I must return there at the next full moon of autumn.' The old man could not believe it. He hired soldiers to guard the house. On the night of the full moon, the soldiers stood outside with their bows and arrows. But when the moon rose, a soft light came down from the sky, and the soldiers could not move or speak. Figures in white robes walked down through the air. They placed a heavenly robe on Kaguya's shoulders. The moment she wore it, she forgot her sadness, and even the old man's face. He reached out, but he could not hold her. She rose with the moon people into the sky, and the house was quiet again, as it had been many years before.