Issun Boshi - Little One-Inch

There was once a married couple who had no children. One day they went to a shrine and prayed, saying: "Oh, please give us a child. We want a child so very badly." On their way home they heard a tiny crying sound coming from a clump of grass. They looked in the grass, and there they found a tiny little baby boy, wrapped in a bright red blanket. "This is the child that has come in answer to our prayers," they said. So they took the little baby home with them and raised him as their own son.

Now this baby boy was so tiny that he wasn't as large as a person's thumb, and even as he grew older he stayed the same size. he was just about an inch tall, so they named him Little One-Inch.

One day, when he had grown older, Little One-Inch said to his parents: "I thank you very much for raising me so carefully. But now I must go out into the world and make my fortune."

They tried to keep him from going, saying he was too tiny to go out into the world. But he insisted, so finally his parents said: "All right, we'll get you ready for the journey." So they gave him a needle to use as a sword, a wooden bowl to use as a boat, and a chopstick to use as an oar.

Little One-Inch got in his boat and waved goodbye to his parents, promising to come back when he'd made his fortune. Then he went floating down the river in his rice-bowl boat, paddling with his chopstick.

He floated for many, many miles, and then suddenly his boat was turned over. it was a frog in the river that had hit the boat. Little One-Inch was a very good swimmer. He swam to the bank and found himself standing before a great lord's house.

Little One-Inch looked at the house and saw that it must belong to a very wealthy lord. So he walked boldly up to the front door and called out. A manservant came to the door but he couldn't see anyone.

"Here I am, down here," cried Little One-Inch. "Look down here."

The servant looked down at the floor by the front door. At first all he saw was the pair of wooden sandals that the lord used when he went out walking. Then the servant looked closer and saw the tiny figure of Little One-Inch standing beside the sandals. He was so surprised that he hurried off to tell the lord.

The lord came to the front door himself and looked at Little One-Inch, who was standing there very proudly, with his needle-sword at his hip. "Why, hello there, little knight," said the lord. "What do you want here?"

"I've come out into the world to seek my fortune," said Little One-Inch. "And if you'll have me, I pray that you let me become one of your guards. I may be small, but I can fight very well with this fine sword I have."

The lord was very amused to hear a tiny boy use such bold words. "All right, all right," he said, "you can come and be a playmate for my daughter, the princess."

So after that Little One-Inch became the constant companion of the princess. They became very good friends, reading books and playing together every day. The princess made a bed for Little One-Inch in one of her jewel boxes.

On day the princess and Little One-Inch went to visit a temple near the lord's house. Suddenly a terrible green devil appeared, carrying a magic hammer. When the devil saw the princess he started trying to catch her. Little One-Inch drew his sword and began sticking the devil's toes with it. But the devil's skin was so thick that the tiny needle-sword wouldn't even go through it. The devil was getting nearer and nearer to the princess. So Little One-Inch climbed up the devil's body and out onto his arm. Then he waved the sword at the devil's nose. This made the devil so angry that he opened his mouth to give a big roar.

At that moment Little One-Inch gave a big leap and jumped right into the devil's mouth. Then he began cutting the devil's tongue with his sword. Now the devil's tongue was very tender and the needle hurt very much. He was so surprised at this that he spit Little One-Inch out onto the ground and went running away. He even dropped his magic hammer.

The princess ran and picked up the magic hammer. "Now we can make a wish," she said. Then she shook the hammer in the air and said: "Please let Little One-Inch grow taller."

And, sure enough, each time the princess shook the hammer Little One-Inch grew one inch taller. She kept right on shaking it until Little One-Inch was just as tall as she was. They were both very happy about this, and the lord was happy too when he heard what had happened.

When they were a few years older Little One-Inch and the princess were married and they lived happily ever after.