Japanese fairy tales
Lovers of Pine
It happened in ancient times when the capital of Japan was still the
city of Nara that there lived in a village near the sea, a young man
named Iratsuko and a girl named Iratsume. They were both very beautiful
people which caused many people to gossip about them.
“It would be good if the Iratsuko and Iratsume fell in love,” people would say.
But the two of them didn’t notice each other at all. Iratsuko
heard what people were saying but he only waved his hand while Iratsume
only smiled as she continued on her way.
One evening while the people of the village were staging a big
celebration they gathered in the forest glade and began to sing, dance
and compose poems.
Then the young man approached Iratsume.
“Turn to look at me,” he asked her. “You are
beautiful, like a young pine. Give me some sign that you love me.”
“Do not befit me to listen to such speeches,” she said
blushing. “I confess however that I have loved you for a long
time. People noticed us, which lead to conversations which in turn made
me curious.”
Then everyone began to eavesdrop on their conversation.
“When are you going to be married?” the people called.
“Leave us in peace. Do not look at us, do not touch us”
Iratsuko said with anger as he grabbed the girl by the hand and ran
into the forest.
“It’s not like we hurt them,” the people said shaking
their head. “We were just happy at their good fortune in finding
each other at last.”
The two lovers ran into the woods and sat down under an old pine tree.
“Those people never give you a moment’s peace,” Iratsuko snarled.
“It’s true, people are forever sticking their noses into others business,” Iratsume agreed.
It was dark and quite, with only the moon in the sky for light and the
gentle sound of the leaves falling from the trees. The two of them sat
up all night by the old pine and didn’t notice that morning had
come. When the sun rose over the mountain they looked around, they
could hear roosters in the distance and a dog barking.
“Let’s go back to the village,” Iratsuko said, but as
he tried to rise he found that he was rooted to the ground.
“I’ll help you!” Iratsume exclaimed, but her feet were rooted to the ground as well.
“What’s happened to us!?” the two lovers exclaimed in surprise.
Meanwhile the rest of the villagers came into the forest to search for
Irasuko and Iratsume. And lo and behold at the edge of the woods they
found two young pine trees. The people gasped when they saw these pines.
“Look, look! It’s Iratsuko and Iratsume. They have turned into pine trees,” the people cried.
Iratsume and Iratsuko heard this and grew frightened for they realized
that they must surely have become pine trees. So they were now
two pine trees at the edge of the forest. Sometimes farmers come into
the woods and sit under them while asking, “How are you my pretty
Iratsume? And is Iratsuko feeling well?”
That’s when the pine creaks and the pines wave and the tree seems
to say. “Again you break our peace! We get no salvation from you.
Do not look at us, do not touch us.”
So the farmers sigh and eventually go away. So the pine Iratsume is
called “do not look at me,” and the pine Iratsuko is
called, “do not touch me.”
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