Long time ago, there was a woodcutter who lived alone with his old mother up in the mountains. One day he was chopping wood when a deer dashed out of the forest and threw itself at his feet.
“Please,” said the deer, “you must hide me. A hunter is after me and he will surely kill me if you do not save me.”
The woodcutter let the deer hide in the pile of wood he had just cut, and when the hunter appeared and asked if a deer had run by, the woodcutter pointed toward the other side of the forest.
When the hunter had run off and it was safe, the deer emerged from the wood pile. “You have saved my life,” he said. I owe you a debt of gratitude, and I shall repay the favor. There is a secret lake up in the mountain. Go there on a night when the moon is full and you will see three heavenly maidens come down to bathe there. When they have removed their clothes, you must hide the clothes of the youngest. Keep her clothes hidden and give them back to her only after she has borne you three children.”
So, on the night of the next full moon, the woodcutter went to the secret lake, and just as the deer had said, three maidens came down from the Heavenly Kingdom to bathe. As the deer had instructed, he hide the youngest maiden’s clothes and waited hidden among the trees.
When the heavenly maidens had finished bathing, they emerged from the water to put on their clothes, but the youngest could not find hers. When she sought her clothes over and over with no luck, she wept because she could not go back to the Heavenly Kingdom without them. The woodcutter waited until the two older maidens had ascended into the sky and the he came out from his hiding place and asked the distraught maiden what was troubling her. He offered her his shirt and invited her to come back with him to his home.
Having no choice, the heavenly maiden went with the woodcutter and lived with him as his wife. It was not long before they had a child. They were happy, but each day the heavenly maiden would sigh and lament the loss of her clothes. The following year, they had another child, and the woodcutter felt sorry for her. When she mentioned her lost clothes again, telling him that she would never be able to return to Heaven, he decided don’t care about the deer’s warning and gave herself clothes. She immediately put them on, took a child under each arm, and she flew into the sky. That is how the woodcutter lost his wife.
The woodcutter was heartbroken. When the deer saw him again in the woods, asked the woodcutter, “Why did you return her clothes before she had the third child?”
“I could not bear her sorrow,” said the woodcutter. “I wanted to cheer her up, not caring about your warning.”
“Go back to the lake during the next full moon,” said the deer. “The heavenly maidens no longer come down themselves, but they will send down a bucket on a long chain to draw the water. It will come down three times. Let it go twice, but on the third time, you must pour out the water and climb inside. Then it will take you up to the Heavenly Kingdom.”
The woodcutter thanked the deer and did exactly as he instructed, and that is how he joined his wife and two children in Heaven. He lived there happily for a long time, but one day he realized he had not seen his mother. “I have been here too long. I must go down to the mortal world and visit mommy,” he said to his wife. Though he promised to return after his visit, the heavenly maiden was distraught.
“Please,” she begged him. “Anything but that. You may look down and see her and know that she is doing well, but if you return to the mortal world, you can never come back..”
“It is my duty as a son,” said the woodcutter. “I promise it will only be a brief visit. I will return.”
“Then I will send you down on a flying horse,” said the heavenly maiden. “You may visit your mother, but you must not dismount for any reason. The moment your foot touches the mortal earth, you cannot return. Promise me that you will not touch the earth.”
The woodcutter promised, and he flew down to the earth on the back of a magical horse, which landed right at the door of his mother’s home.
“Aigu!” she cried when she saw him. “Where have you been all these long years?”
The woodcutter told her how he had gone to the Heavenly Kingdom to be with his wife and children, and how he had come to visit her because he missed her. And then he explained that he could not dismount from the horse and that he would have to leave soon.
The woodcutter’s mother sobbed. “Every day that you have been gone, I cooked for you and set you a table. In time I thought you must be dead, but I did not give up hope, and now you have come. Please, my son, come in and eat a meal I have prepared for you before you leave forever.”
“Mommy,” said the woodcutter, “If I step upon the earth, I cannot ever return to Heaven.”
“Please,” she said, “I have made your favorite pumpkin soup. I will bring you a bowl and you can eat it on horseback.”
The woodcutter could not refuse his mother’s plea. When she returned with the bowl of pumpkin soup, he took it, and in his haste he ate too quickly. The soup was hot, and it burned the woodcutter’s mouth. He spat it out, screaming out in pain, and when the hot soup burned the horse and it reared up, throwing the poor woodcutter to the ground, he could get up back to the horse, the horse had already flown back to Heaven without him. There was no way to return.
They say the woodcutter died of a broken heart. His spirit became a rooster, and that is why each dawn the cock crows, Pagkuuuuuk! Pagkuuuuk!—it sounds like it is crying “Pumpkin soup! Pumpkin soup! I can’t return because of the pumpkin soup!”
reproduced courtesy of Suzanne Crowder Han and Hollymrewritten by Heinz Insu Fenkl
The Ass in the Lion's Skin
An Ass once found a Lion's skin which the hunters had left out in the sun to dry. He put it on and went towards his native village. All fled at his approach, both men and animals, and he was a proud Ass that day. In his delight he lifted up his voice and brayed, but then everyone knew him, and his owner came up and gave him a sound cudgeling for the fright he had caused. And shortly afterward a Fox came up to him and said: "Ah, I knew you by your voice."
Fine clothes may disguise, but silly words will disclose a fool.
Fine clothes may disguise, but silly words will disclose a fool.
The Bat and the Weasels
A Bat who fell upon the ground and was caught by a Weasel pleaded to be spared his life. The Weasel refused, saying that he was by nature the enemy of all birds. The Bat assured him that he was not a bird, but a mouse, and thus was set free. Shortly afterwards the Bat again fell to the ground and was caught by another Weasel,whom he likewise entreated not to eat him. The Weasel said that he had a special hostility to mice. The Bat assured him that he was not a mouse, but a bat, and thus a second time escaped.
It is wise to turn circumstances to good account.
The Fox and the Hedgehog
"By no means," replied the Fox; "pray do not molest them." "How is this?' said the Hedgehog; "do you not want to be rid of them?' "No," returned the Fox, "for these flies which you see are full of blood, and sting me but little, and if you rid me of these which are already satiated, others more hungry will come in their place, and will drink up all the blood I have left
