英语故事:《Urashima Taro》(4)

　　So the next time he saw the queen, Taro approached her and said, "Thank you very much for your kindness, little Queen Otohime. I have never spent such happy days before. I love your palace and all your little friends. But now I feel a longing to see my home again. I must say good-by."

　　Otohime was sorry to hear Taro speak these words. She cried bitterly to think of his leaving her kingdom, and all her little maidservants tried to persuade Taro to remain with them forever.

　　Taro did not wish to see the queen cry, but he would not change his mind.

　　The time came for Taro to leave. The big turtle prepared to carry Taro to the land above the sea, and he awaited him at the gates of the palace.

　　Otohime, brushing away tears like pearls from her eyes, said to Taro, "I am sorry you are leaving my palace, Taro. But I do not wish you to be unhappy. Do not forget me, even though you go back to your own country and people."

　　Then Otohime showed Taro a jewel-encrusted chest and said, "I wish to give you this as a token of farewell. It will bring great luck to you if you keep it. But one thing you must remember. You must never, never open it. Do not forget my words, Taro-san. It will only bring you luck if you keep it unopened."

　　Then the queen handed the chest to Taro.

　　Taro was delighted with his gift and he thanked the queen many times.

　　Then, holding the precious chest in his hand, Taro got on the turtle's back and amid a swirl of water and bubbles they sped to the surface of the sea.

　　They reached the beach, and Taro bid good-by to the turtle. Then Taro set out for home.

　　When he arrived at the gates of his native village, he was surprised to see that everything was changed.

　　Nothing was the same as before he had gone to the Coral Palace. Not one familiar face remained, and Taro felt like a stranger. Taro asked many people about his old friends, but hardly anyone seemed even to have heard of them. Only one or two old men remembered Taro's friends. These old men had heard their grandfathers speak of them, but that was many, many years ago.

　　With disappointment and sorrow heavy in his heart, Taro looked for the home where he had once lived. But even that was no longer there, and strange people now lived on the site in a new house. Taro felt very lonely in this strange town where he was but a puzzling stranger to all the inhabitants.

　　Taro plodded his weary way to the seashore and sat upon a rock where he could see the waves roll in.

　　Suddenly he remembered the chest the queen had given him. Taro was so lonely he forgot the words of the little queen, and he began to open the chest. When the lid was open, a column of white smoke arose from the chest. The smoke was strange and surrounded Taro. And when the smoke disappeared, Taro had become an old man with hair as white as snow. For Taro had really been under the sea for many years, and now time had caught up with him.