Urashima Taro and the Sea Turtle

In Japan there lived a young fisherman called Urashima Taro. One day on the beach he saw some children tormenting a sea turtle. He gave the children a few coins, rescued the turtle and set it free in the sea.

A few days later, while he was fishing at sea, the same turtle swam up to his boat and spoke: "You saved me. The king of the sea invites you to his palace." Taro climbed onto the turtle's back, and together they went down into the deep. Pillars of coral, walls of pearl... The princess of the sea, Otohime, welcomed him. Taro stayed there for days; the fish danced, and each season could be seen through a different window.

At last Taro missed his family. "I must go back," he said. The princess gave him a small box: "Never open this box." The turtle left him on the shore.

But the village was completely different. The houses had changed, and the people were strangers. He asked an old man about his mother. The man said, "Urashima Taro? He was lost at sea three hundred years ago." The three days Taro had spent in the sea had been three hundred years on land.

Taro sat down on the beach and, in despair, opened the box. White smoke came out of it. In an instant Taro became an old man; because his years had been kept inside the box.

This tale is a little sad; the Japanese tell it to explain the value of time: every day you spend with the people you love is a treasure. Don't forget to hug them tonight.