Delighted, they agreed.
But poverty weighed heavily on them. Winter was harsh, and soon they had barely a handful of rice left. Seeing their worry, the girl said, “Father, Mother, do not fret. I can weave. But you must promise me one thing: you must never look into the room while I am weaving.” tsuru no ongaeshi story
What she saw made her gasp.
But the girl was not finished. She wove again, producing an even more magnificent fabric—embroidered with cranes flying across a silver sky. It sold for an even greater sum. Delighted, they agreed
But temptation gnawed at them. One night, after the girl had shut herself in the weaving room, the old woman could resist no longer. She crept to the sliding door, made a small hole in the paper screen, and peeked inside. Seeing their worry, the girl said, “Father, Mother,
Long ago, in a snowy, mountainous village in Japan, there lived a poor but kind-hearted old man and his wife. One winter evening, as the man was walking home through the heavy snow, he heard a faint, desperate cry. Following the sound, he found a beautiful white crane trapped in a hunter’s snare. Its wings were tangled, and it struggled helplessly.
“We promised,” the old man reminded her.