Week 7: Extra Reading Diary

For this extra reading I chose to read Japanese Fairy Tales (Lang)

The Two Frogs

• There were two tree frogs. One was from Osaka and the other from Kioto. They both wanted to explore their country and wanted to visit Kioto or Osaka. 
• They made their way on the road to the other town and had to climb a mountain. When they arrived to the top they met each other and had the idea of standing up together to see if the town they travelled to was worth the journey.
• They did this, but with their eyes being in the back of their head they actually just looked back at their hometowns. They believed the two cities were mirror images of each other and decided to go back home. 

The Stone Cutter

• There was once a poor stone cutter that worked every day. He heard of a mountain spirit that made men wealthy, but never believed in it. 
• One day he became envious of another mans wealth and wished he was wealthy and the mountain spirit came to him and gave him his wish.
• However, he felt the desire for more and was transformed into a prince, then the sun, then the clouds, and finally the mountain which he felt was the most powerful.
• He then felt a piece of himself being taken by a stone cutter and wished that he could be human again. From then on he learned that he would not long for things he did not have.