The Grateful Crane Fairy Tale

Long ago, at the foot of Japan's snowy mountains, a poor old man and an old woman lived in a little house. They had no children. The old man gathered firewood in the forest and sold it in town, and that was how they lived. Though they were poor, they were kind and simple-hearted.

One bitter winter the old man was walking to town to sell his firewood. The snow was falling so thickly that he could not see the road. Suddenly he heard a pitiful cry. He looked and saw a snow-white crane lying in the snow. Its leg was caught in a hunter's trap. The crane was beating its wings but could not get free.

"Poor bird, winter is hard for you too, just as it is for us," said the old man, and he carefully untangled the trap and set the crane free. The crane rose into the sky, circled three times above the old man and flew far away.

That evening the snow fell even harder. The old man and woman were sitting by the hearth when someone knocked softly at the door. They opened it, and there in the snow stood a beautiful young girl. She was dressed in white, and her eyes were very kind.

"Forgive me, I am lost. I cannot find my way in this blizzard. Please let me stay the night," said the girl. The old couple welcomed her warmly, sat her by the hearth and shared everything they had.

The next morning the blizzard had still not stopped. The girl began to help the old couple: she cooked, cleaned the house and mended the old man's worn-out clothes. Her hands were skilful and her manner gentle. After a week she said, "You have no children. Take me as your daughter and let me stay." The old couple were overjoyed and called her their daughter.

One day the girl said, "Give me a room of my own and a loom. I will weave cloth for you. I ask only one thing: while I am weaving, never look into the room." The old couple promised.

The girl went into the room and closed the door, and the clatter of the loom could be heard inside. She wove for three days without even coming out to eat. On the third day she came out, tired, holding a wonderful cloth that shimmered like silver. The old couple had never seen anything so beautiful in their lives.

The old man took the cloth to town, and the merchants bid against each other until a rich man bought it for a great deal of gold. The old couple's life grew easier: they bought warm clothes and plenty of food for the winter.

Some time later the merchant asked for another cloth just like it. Feeling embarrassed, the old man told his daughter. The girl nodded silently and went back into the room. But this time she stayed inside for a long while. The clatter of the loom grew slower, and heavy sighs could be heard through the door.

The old woman grew very worried. "Has our daughter fallen ill?" She could not bear it any longer. She forgot her promise and peeped through a crack in the door.

There was no girl in the room! At the loom sat a large white crane. With its beak it was plucking out its feathers one by one and weaving them into the cloth. It had very few feathers left and had grown very weak. The old woman was frightened and cried out.

The loom fell silent. The door opened, and out came the girl as before. There were tears in her eyes. "Grandfather, Grandmother, I am the crane you freed from the trap in winter. I wanted to thank you. But you have seen my secret. Now I cannot stay among people," she said.

The girl handed the old couple her last piece of cloth, stepped over the threshold and turned into a crane. She rose into the sky, circled three times over the house and vanished into the clouds.

The old man and woman watched her go for a long time, weeping. They kept the crane's cloth all their lives and never sold it. And from that day on they never forgot that a promise must not be broken, especially one given to someone who loves you.