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The Tale of the Robe of Feathers

[Source: F. Hadland Davis, Myths and Legends of Japan

(London: G. G. Harrap and Company, 1913), pp. 127-129.]

Once, a fisherman sat down to enjoy the shore. There he saw, hanging from a pine, a beautiful robe of pure white feathers. No sooner had he taken the robe, then a beautiful maiden from the sea requested he return the robe to her.

The maiden proclaimed that she could not return to her celestial home without the robe, but the hard-hearted fisherman refused to be swayed. The robe was a marvel he intended to keep.

But after further pleading he relented. “I will return it to you, if you will dance for me.”

The maiden agreed. “I will dance the movements that make the Palace of the Moon turn round, but I cannot dance without my feathers.”

The fisherman was at first suspicious, but seeing that she was a heavenly being who would keep her promise, he trusted her.

When she had put on her garment, she danced and sang of the Palace of the Moon. Soon, she lifted into the air, white of her robe shining against the sky. She rose, playing and singing, beyond the mountains and into the ether, until she reached the glorious Palace of the Moon.