The Bamboo Cutter and the Moon Child · Part 1 of 2
The Child in the Bamboo
A shining child, five impossible quests, and a farewell to the moon
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Page 1
Long ago in Japan, an old bamboo cutter and his wife earned a small living by making and selling things from bamboo. He cut the stems in the woods and hills.
They had no children, and both wished for a child to love and care for. Their house was quiet.
Page 2
One morning he saw light shining from a hollow bamboo stem, and inside it stood a tiny girl only three inches tall. The glow lit the green grove.
He carried her home to his wife, who kept her safe in a little basket; the happy couple raised her as their daughter. They had longed for a child for so many years.
Page 3
After that, the cutter found gold and jewels inside bamboo, so the family became wealthy and moved into a fine new house. The treasures appeared among the stems he cut.
In only three months, the tiny girl grew into a young woman whose gentle light brightened the house. Her parents dressed her in beautiful kimonos.
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