Classic Poem

Seasons when the spring sun
is misted over
and I go out on the shore
of Suminoe
and see the fishing boats
bobbing there,
I think of things
that happened long ago.
That boy Urashima
of Mizunoe,
proud of his bonito catch,
his catch of sea bream,
for seven whole days
never came home
but rowed on and on
beyond the slope of the sea,
rowed until
by chance
he met the
sea god's daughter.
And when they'd spoken friendly words,
showed themselves of one mind,
they exchanged their vows,
journeying all the way
to the Timeless Land,
and there in the sea god's palace,
in a wonderful chamber
within the inmost wall,
hand in hand,
they went in and lived together.
There, never growing old,
never dying,
they might have remained
for ages on end.
But this fellow,
a fool in the world's ways,
spoke up
and said to his wife:
" I must go home
for a little while
and tell my father and mother
what's happened —
I'll be back again
the very next day! "
When he'd said this,
his wife replied:
" If you want to return
to the Timeless Land
and see me once more
as I am now,
never open this comb box,
whatever may come! " —
how many times
she warned him of it.
When he'd come home
to Suminoe
he looked for his house
but could see no house,
looked for his village
but could see no village.
Strange! he thought,
when only three years
have gone by
since I left my home —
could the house have vanished
fence and all?
Perhaps if I try
opening this box,
the house will be there
as it was before —
He opened the jeweled comb box
just a crack
and a white cloud
came out of the box
and went trailing away
toward the Timeless Land.
He jumped up, ran after it,
shouting, waving his sleeve.
He rolled on the ground,
stamped his foot in anger.
And then in a moment,
his wits deserted him,
his boyish skin
grew wrinkled all over,
his black hair
turned utterly white.
Before long
even his breathing ceased
and in the end
all life went out of him.
That boy Urashima
of Mizunoe —
I see the place where his house once stood.

ENVOY

He could have lived forever
in the Timeless Land —
what a fool,
that fellow —
and he did it all himself