【明報專訊】Once upon a time, there was a childless couple in a poor Japanese village. One day, the husband, a bamboo cutter (伐竹工人), found something mysterious inside a bamboo cane, which he had just cut in half. "Aaaaaaaa!" What was inside the bamboo scared him away. What was that?

It was a baby!

"What should I do?" He was kind, so he brought the infant home and told what had happened to his wife.

"What? A baby!" His wife seemed thrilled instead of terrified.

"Don't you feel frightened?" The old man didn't understand his wife's reaction.

"We have a daughter now!" The old lady pointed to the baby and her cheeks flushed with excitement. Not until his wife indicated the baby's sex did the old man know that.

"Well. Let's adopt her then." The lady said determinedly.

They named the baby Kaguya. As Kaguya grew up, the couple started feeling comfortable as she seemed to be a normal, beautiful kid. Her beauty amazed the people nearby. "The daughter of the bamboo cutter is so beautiful!" The villagers spread the message to other village. The message went viral and it finally reached the palace.

The princes learnt about Kaguya and couldn't wait to see this gorgeous lady. They paid several visits to Kaguya but she didn't even take a glimpse at them. The noble princes felt humiliated and told their father, the emperor. The emperor was so curious and he decided to see the girl. Kaguya's beauty captured his interest. He decided to take her home.

"No! You can't do that!" Kaguya insisted to stay.

"Then I must force you to do so!"

The emperor took her by force and imprisoned her. She wanted to see the old couple so much that she begged a kind jailer to fetch the couple a letter. The old couple read her words, knowing that Kaguya was a princess from the moon. She had no choice but to summon the guards from the moon to take her away. Otherwise, she would die in the emperor's palace. The couple was shedding tears while reading it.

Kaguya told them to go somewhere near the palace on the fifteenth night of August in the Japanese calendar. That night, they saw a magnificent lady rising from the palace, with her clothes shimmering in the moonlight. They knew that was their daughter. They knew they would never see her again.

That night, tears ran down Kaguya and the couples' faces, shining faintly but warmly. That was witnessed by the moon.

Adapted from a Japanese tale

■Food for thought

Familial relationships are valued at all times and in all countries. Get home and celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival with your family!

■Glossary

indicate (v) 指示

humiliated (adj) 感屈辱

jailer (n) 獄卒

summon (v) 召喚

[Smarties' Power English 第222期]