A long, long time ago, in a
village near the sea, there
lived a young fisherman named,
Urashima Taro. Urashima Taro
lived with his aged mother and
was a devoted son who went
out to the sea every day to
catch fish to make a living
for him and his mother.

One day as he was walking
to the place where he usually,
fished, he saw three village
children mistreating a giant
turtle they had captured.

He called to them, "Children, children! Do not
hurt that turtle. Release him and let him return
to his home in the sea!" The children quickly
obeyed Urashima Taro. They untied the turtle
who scampered, as quickly as turtles can,
through the sand and back into the sea.

The next day, fishing as usual, Urashima Taro
looked into the water and saw that same turtle
who now raised his head and said, "I thank you
for rescuing me yesterday and I would like to
take you to a palace beneath the sea." "Climb on
my back, close your eyes and we will be on our
way." Urashima Taro thought this quite odd but
did exactly what the turtle said. Swoosh, the
turtle dove deep into the sea with Urashima
Taro clinging tightly to his shell.

In what seemed to be just a few seconds,
Urashima Taro blinked his eyes open and
realized that he was on the bottom of the sea,
looking at the most magnificent palace
he had ever seen.

Standing in front of the palace gate was a
beautiful princess, attended by her ladies in
waiting.The princess stepped forward and
offered her hand saying, "Thank you for saving
my loyal servant from harm. Please stay with us
for a while;" even the fish swam around
Urashima Taro to make him feel welcome.

"Come," said the princess, " Let me show you our garden."
She took his hand and led Urashima Taro into a room
with marble walls and four large windows.
The princess opened the window that faced
east and Urashima Taro beheld a wonderful
Spring scene with pink cherry blossoms
in full bloom and he even felt a gentle
Spring breeze touch his cheek. The
princess then opened the window
to the south and there for all to
see were the beautiful flowers
of Summer and a sky the color
of approaching Summer rain.

When the west window was opened, Urashima Taro viewed the wonder of an Autumn sky hanging low over the trees whose leaves were colored yellow and orange and red and coming into the room was a gust of cool autumn wind.

The last open window revealed a winter scene with large snowflakes falling silent on the trees and hills.Urashima Taro blinked a few times because before his very eyes, these scenes appeared and as if by magic, the views of the four beautiful gardens
changed from night to day and day to night many times.

Urashima Taro thought, at first, that he
must be dreaming - but when he pinched
himself, he knew that what he was
seeing was just as real as he was!

That same evening, the princess had
a banquet prepared and Urashima Taro
sampled many different delicacies, unusual
food and drink that he had never tasted
before or even seen before.

The princess' ladies in waiting called out
to him, "Urashima Taro, please dance
with us!" Urashima Taro was only too happy
to oblige and he danced late into the night as
if his feet had wings and he never tired at all.

Urashima Taro had never been this happy
in all of his life. He felt so much in a world
of wonder and delight that he had forgotten
all about his village and even his mother.
Three days had passed and suddenly, he
remembered his village and his mother who
he now missed very much. "Princess," he
said, "I am very grateful for all of your kindness
and hospitality but now it is time for me to
return home. My dear mother must be
getting very worried about me."

The princess understood Urashima Taro's
longing to return home and said, "Yes,
it is time for you to return to your own
world; take this lacquer box as a gift
from my world but do not ever open it!"

Urashima Taro bowed politely, thanked the
princess and once again, climbed upon the
turtle's back and with a swoosh, soon found
himself back on the surface and on
the shore of his village.

As he walked through the streets of the village,
he saw nothing that was familiar to him. He
could not find his mother and where their house
had once stood there was now nothing but a
pile of broken boards and rotting timbers.

All of the villagers were strangers to him.
He asked them about the woman and son
who lived in the house at the edge of the
sea but none answered until a very old man
stepped forward. "Oh yes, I remember a story
that my grandfather once told me about
a young fisherman named Urashima Taro
who went fishing one day, three-hundred
years ago but he never returned."

Urashima Taro was stunned. What to him had
seemed like three days in the palace of the
princess had actually been three-hundred
years and now, all the people he had known
and who had known him were gone!

Urashima Taro did not know what to do.
He held the gift the princess had given
him and as he recalled his days in the kingdom
beneath the sea, he lifted the lid
and opened the box!

Suddenly, a huge puff of smoke enveloped
Urashima Taro and when it cleared, Urashima
Taro was no longer the young fisherman
returned from the sea but a very old man
holding a black lacquer box.

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