As we march towards Winter, we thought it a nice opportunity to re-tell another one of our favourite Japanese fairy-tales, the story of “The Grateful Crane”. Set during the harsh, cold months of a Japanese Winter, this legend is a bittersweet tale of love, loss, magic and mystery. We hope you enjoy it. (As always with our blogs and articles, you can click on any of the images below to take a closer look at the piece in question.)

One cold, frosty afternoon, a poor and simple farm labourer was making his way home along the frozen river when he heard a commotion coming from a nearby bush.

He went over to take a look and discovered a wounded Crane that had been shot down by local hunters. The man was taken by the beauty of the bird and without hesitation, calmly pulled out the arrow that had caused the injury. He soothed the creature and rubbed some ointment into the wound.

After a short while, the Crane recovered sufficiently to spread her wings and fly off into the sky to join her feathered friends. The farm hand watched the bird disappear into the evening dusk and continued on his way home.

Once back at his humble dwelling, he consumed half a bowl of rice and took himself off to bed. A few hours later he was woken from his slumbers by a tap-tapping at the door. He wondered if it was the icy wind causing the door to shake or worse, a ghost or an evil spirit trying to force its way into his home so he took a knife and went to the door to investigate.

He was shocked to find an impossibly beautiful young lady standing on the door-step shivering in the cold. Temporarily paralysed by the vision of serenity standing at the entrance to his house, he finally gathered himself and invited her to come in from the cold.

The two didn’t speak but he showed her to his bed where she slept while he lay on the floor by the ashes of the fire. After several days, he summed up the courage to ask her to be his wife and she replied, saying that she was waiting for him to ask and would be glad to accept.

The man was happier than he had ever been but at the same time worried about how he would provide for his new wife on his lowly wage as a farm labourer. It was a long, cold Winter and after a few weeks they ran out of food. The man became very upset and exclaimed to his partner that he had nothing to offer and nothing to sell.

She listened calmly and when he had finished crying she simply said “Do not worry dear husband. I shall weave a cloth and you can take it to sell. We will then be able to afford the rice we need to eat.”

“But”, said the man, “we have no thread to weave.”

“Do not worry my husband” she replied. “I will take care of that. I will weave in your little spare room but the only condition I have is that you must never look inside that room while I am at work.”

Confused, but desperate, the man agreed.

The next day, the woman emerged from the room with the most beautiful cloth that the man had ever seen.

It was decorated with embroideries of delicate flowers and song birds and was of such quality it seemed fit for a Princess or Deity. The farmer, amazed and full of gratitude, took the cloth to the market and returned with a large sum of money.

The couple had enough money to survive several Winters.

Eventually though, the money was spent and the couple were poor again. Once more, the farmer was full of despair but his beautiful companion simply said “Do not worry my love. I will make another cloth for you to sell. But, once again, whatever you do, do not look inside the room until I come out.”

While she was gone, the farmer counted his blessings. He pondered on how he had been so lucky to have found such a wife. Beautiful, kind, calm and talented. He thought back to the day that she had turned up on his doorstep and became increasingly curious about the mystery that shrouded his partner. Before long, the curiosity became too much and he opened the door, just an inch, to take a look inside.

What he saw made no sense to him at all. Instead of his wife, he saw the long-forgotten Crane that he had saved just hours before his wife came to his door.

The bird was busy creating yet another beautiful cloth and as she worked, she plucked feathers from her own body, wincing in pain each time but persevering in order to create her masterpiece. This beautiful bird sacrificing herself in order to pay the debt she felt she owed to the farm hand.

The man let out a gasp of shock and the bird looked up and saw him. She shed a single tear and then for the second time in front of the man, she flapped her wings and flew out of the open window up and into the sky never to return.

The man was overcome with the guilt and grief of what he had done and what he had lost. He never re-married and lived the rest of his days alone and in poverty.

We hope you enjoyed the read. Unfortunately, it’s not uncommon for Japanese folk stories not to have a typical happy ending. You can browse through over 100 blogs and articles inspired by our collection of Oriental Art by clicking here.