Sleep Stories For Kids–The Tea-Kettle, A Japanese Fairy Tale
We’ve got something international and a little different this time. It’s a Japanese fairy tale (in English) about a magic Tea Kettle that comes alive. It’s a very gentle and heartwarming tale. Have a listen and see what happens. Ending Music from Freesound-SweetDreams
Transcript
Hi,
This is Stefania,
And we've got a new story.
Something a little bit different.
This is a Japanese fairy tale.
A fairy tale from Japan.
It's called The Tea Kettle.
Let's begin.
Long ago,
As I've heard tell,
There dwelt at the temple of Morinji in the province of Kotsuke,
A holy priest.
Now,
There were three things about this reverend man.
First,
He was wrapped up in meditations and observances and the forms and doctrines.
He was a great one for the sacred sutras and knew strange and mystical things.
Then,
He had a fine,
Exquisite—very special—taste of his own,
And nothing pleased him so much as the ancient tea ceremony of the cha no yu,
Thus the Japanese word for a special Japanese tea ceremony.
And for the third thing about him,
He knew both sides of a copper corn well enough,
And he loved a bargain.
None so pleased as he when he happened upon an ancient tea kettle,
Lying rusty and dirty and half-forgotten in the corner of a poor shop in a back street of his town.
An ugly bit of old metal,
Says the holy man to the shopkeeper,
But it would do well enough to boil my humble drop of water of an evening.
I'll give you three rin,
Old Japanese coins,
Three rin for it.
This he did,
And took the kettle home,
Rejoicing for it was of bronze.
Fine work,
The very thing for the tea ceremony.
A novice cleaned and scoured the tea kettle,
And it came out as pretty as you please.
The priest turned it this way and that,
And upside down,
And looked into it,
Tapped it with his fingers,
And he said,
A bargain.
He cried,
A bargain,
And he rubbed his hands.
He set the kettle upon a box covered over with a purple cloth,
And looked at it so long that first he was inclined to rub his eyes many times,
Then to close them all together,
And his head dropped forward,
And he slept.
And then,
Believe me,
The wonderful thing happened.
The tea kettle moved,
Though no hand was near it.
A hairy head with two bright eyes looked out of the spout.
The lid jumped up and down.
Four brown and hairy paws appeared,
And a fine bushy tail.
In a minute,
The kettle was down from the box and going round and round looking at things.
A very comfortable room to be sure,
Says the tea kettle.
Pleased enough to find himself so well lodged in such a comfortable place to stay,
It soon began to dance and to caper nimbly and to sing at the top of his voice.
The Euphro-Novices were studying in the next room.
The old man is lively,
They said.
Only hawk to him.
What can he be at?
And they laughed in their sleeves.
Heaven's mercy,
The noise that the tea kettle made.
Bang,
Bang,
Thud,
Thud,
Thud.
The novices soon stopped laughing.
One of them slid aside,
The Karakami-Proton,
And peeped through.
Ah,
The devil,
And all's in it,
He cried.
Here's the master's old tea kettle,
Turned into a sort of badger.
The gods protect us from witchcraft,
Or for certain we shall be lost.
And I claimed it not in our sense,
Said another novice,
And he fell to reciting the holy sutras,
Prayers on his knees.
A third laughed.
I'm for a nearer view of the hobgoblin,
He said.
So the three of them left their books in a twinkling and gave chase to the tea kettle to catch it.
But could they catch up with the tea kettle?
Not a bit of it.
It danced and it leapt and it flew up into the air.
The novices rushed here and there,
Slipping on the mats.
They grew breathless.
Laughed the tea kettle,
And catch me if you can,
Laughed the wonderful tea kettle.
Presently,
The priest awoke.
All rosy,
The holy man.
And what's the meaning of this racket,
He says,
Disturbing me and my holy meditations and all.
Master,
Master,
Cried the novices,
Panting and mopping their brows.
Your tea kettle is bewitched.
It was a badger,
No less,
And the dance it has been giving us,
You'd never believe.
Stuff.
Stuff and nonsense,
Says the priest,
Bewitched.
Not a bit of it.
There it rests on his box,
Good quiet thing,
Just where I put it.
Sure enough,
It did.
Looking as hard and cold and innocent as you please,
There was not a hair of a badger near it.
It was the novices that looked foolish.
Unlikely story indeed,
Says the priest.
I have heard of the pestle that took wings to itself and flew away,
Parting company with a mortar.
That is easily to be understood by any man.
But a kettle that has turned into a badger,
No,
No.
To your books,
My sons,
And pray to be preserved from the perils of illusion.
That very night,
The holy man filled the kettle with water from the spring and set it on the hibachi,
The little stove,
To boil for his cup of tea.
When the water began to boil,
Ah,
Ah,
The kettle cried,
Ah,
Ah,
The heat,
The heat,
And it lost no time at all but hopped off the fire as quick as you please.
Sorcery,
Cried the priest,
Black magic,
Mercy on me,
Help,
Help,
Help.
He was frightened out of his wits,
The dear good man.
All the novices came running to see what was the matter.
The tea kettle,
The tea kettle is bewitched,
He gasped.
It was a badger,
Assuredly it was a badger.
It both speaks and leaps about the room.
Hey,
Master,
Said a novice,
See where it rests upon his box,
Good quiet thing.
And sure enough,
So it did.
Most reverent sir,
Said the novice,
Let us all pray to be preserved from the perils of illusion.
The priest then sold the tea kettle to a tanker and got from it twenty copper coins.
Do you remember?
He paid three,
So he made a bit of money there.
It's a fine bit of bronze,
Says the priest,
Mind I'm giving it away to you,
I'm sure I cannot tell what for.
Ah,
He was the one for bargains.
The tanker was a happy man and carried home the kettle.
He turned it this way and that and upside down and looked into it.
A pretty piece,
Says the tanker,
A very good bargain.
And when he went to bed that night,
He put the kettle by him to see it first thing in the morning.
He awoke at midnight and felt looking at the kettle by the bright light of the moon.
Presently,
It moved,
Though there was no hand near it.
Strange,
Said the tanker,
But he was a man who took things as they came.
A hairy head with two bright eyes looked out of the kettle spout.
Then the lid jumped up and down,
Four brown and hairy paws appeared and a fine bushy tail.
It came quite close to the tanker and laid a paw upon him.
Well,
Says the tanker,
I am not wicked,
Says the tea kettle.
No,
Says the tanker,
But I like to be well treated.
I am a badger tea kettle.
So it seems,
Says the tanker.
At the temple,
They called me names and beat me and set me on fire.
I can't stand it,
You know.
I like your spirit,
Says the tanker.
I think I shall settle down with you.
Shall I keep you in a lacquer box,
Says the tanker?
Not a bit of it.
Keep me with you.
Let us have a talk now and again.
I am very fond of a pipe.
I like rice to eat and beans and sweet things.
A cup of sake?
Sometimes,
Says the tanker.
Well,
Now that you mention it,
I'm willing,
Says the tanker.
Thank you kindly,
Says the tea kettle.
And as a beginning,
Would you object to my sharing your bed?
The night has turned a little chilly.
Not the least in the world,
Says the tanker.
The tanker and the tea kettle became the best of friends.
They ate and talked together.
The kettle knew a thing or two and was very good company.
One day.
.
.
Are you poor,
Says the kettle?
Yes,
Says the tanker,
Middling poor.
Well,
I have a happy thought.
For a tea kettle,
I am out of the way.
Really well,
Very accomplished.
I believe you,
Says the tanker.
My name is Bum-Bu-Ku-Cha-Ga-Ma.
I am the very prince of badger tea kettles.
Your servant,
My lord,
Says the tanker.
If you'll take my advice,
Says the tea kettle,
You'll carry me round as a show.
I really am out of the way.
Unique,
And it's my opinion,
You make a mint of money.
That would be hard work for you,
My dear Bum-Bu-Ku,
Says the tanker.
Not at all.
Let us start forthwith,
Right away,
Says the tea kettle.
So,
They did.
The tanker bought hangings for a theater curtain,
And he called the show Bum-Bu-Ku-Cha-Ga-Ma.
How the people flocked to see the fun,
For the wonderful and most accomplished tea kettle danced and sang and walked the tightrope.
As to the manner born,
It played such tricks and had such droll ways that the people laughed till their sides ached.
It was a treat to see the tea kettle bow as gracefully as a lord and thank the people for their patience.
The Bum-Bu-Ku-Cha-Ga-Ma was the talk of the countryside,
And all the gentry,
Fancy people,
Came to see it as well as the commonality.
Not so fancy people.
As for the tanker,
He waved a fan and took the money.
You may believe that he grew fat and rich.
He even went to court,
Where the great ladies and the royal princesses made much of the wonderful tea kettle.
At last,
The tanker retired from business,
And to him the kettle came with tears in his bright eyes.
I'm much afraid.
It's time to leave you,
It says.
No,
Don't say that,
Bum-Bu-Ku,
Dear,
Says the tanker.
We'll be so happy together now we are rich.
I've come to the end of my time,
Says the tea kettle.
You'll not see old Bum-Bu-Ku anymore,
Henceforth.
I shall be an ordinary kettle,
Nothing more or less.
Oh,
My dear Bum-Bu-Ku,
What shall I do?
Cried the poor tanker in tears.
I think I should like to be given to the temple of Morinji as a very sacred treasure,
Says the tea kettle.
It never spoke or moved again.
So the tanker presented it as a very sacred treasure to the temple and half of his wealth with it.
And the tea kettle?
The tea kettle was held in wondrous fame for many a year.
Some persons even worshipped it.
And the tea kettle,
I believe he was happy.
And the tanker as well.
Because he could go to the temple whenever he wanted to and look at the tea kettle and think of their happy times together.
And that must have made him feel a lot better.
Bye for now.
Sleep well.
