帰らなかった浦島太郎
昔あるところに、浦島太郎が年老いた母親といっしょにくらしていました。
ある日のこと、カメがやってきて、「太郎さん、助けてもらったお礼に竜宮城へごあんないします」と言います。太郎はすかさず、「そんなら、おっかあもいっしょに連れて行ってけれ」ということで、太郎一人だと思っていたカメは、定員オーバーでふらふらになりながら、やっとの思いで竜宮城に到着。
さて、着いてみれば、そこは絵にも描けない美しさ。とにかく毎日が楽しくておもしろくて、月日のたつのも忘れてしまいます。
もう何年たったかわからなくなったころ、乙姫さまが言いました、「太郎さん、そろそろおうちに帰りますか？おみやげの玉手箱も用意しています」。でも、太郎は、「うんにゃ、まだ帰らねえだ」と言います。そして、その後も毎日楽しく、おもしろくくらしていました。
しばらくして、また乙姫さまが聞きました、「太郎さん、まだ帰らなくていいんですか？」。「うんにゃ、まだ帰らねえだ」と太郎。何度聞いても返ってくるのは同じ答えです。
そして… あれから何百年、いえ何千年たったでしょうか。浦島太郎とおっかあは、今でも竜宮城でくらしているそうな…。
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Taro Urashima Never Returns Home
A very remote time ago at a certain place, there was a young man named Urashima Taro, living with his old mother.
One day, the turtle he had saved once came and said, "Taro, Here's something I can do for you in return: How about a ride to the Dragon Palace?" Taro liked the offer and instantly asked, "Can I bring my ma along?" For the turtle, two passengers were over capacity, but who could refuse his hero's request? He agreed and managed to stagger through the deep sea, down to the palace.
There they are at the Dragon Palace, and it was such an amazing place that no words nor pictures could justify its beauty! And what fun to live there; so exciting that the visitors easily lost track of days and months.
One of those days when they had completely no idea of the time passage, the Dragon Princess asked Taro, "You may want to go home now. I have a special secret box as a go-away gift prepared for you." Taro answered, "Nope. I ain't going home yet," and he was back in his fun life.
When a certain period of extended time passed, the princess asked again, "Isn't it the time to leave, Taro?" "Nope. It ain't", he simply replied. No matter how many times she asked, she got the same answer: "Nope, nope, nope..."
No one knows how many centuries or millennia have elapsed since then because there is nobody on the right track of time. A little fish says that Urashima Taro and his mother are enjoying their life... even today... at the Dragon Palace.
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