Once Upon a Time / #BokeSociety

( #ShortShort Body: 1117 characters)

Once upon a time, in a certain place, there lived an old man and an old woman who were very fond of each other. Since they had no children, they spent their days feeling a little lonely.

One day, while the old woman was doing laundry at the river, a large peach came floating down from upstream. The old man, who had come to help with the laundry, joined forces with her to pull the peach out of the river. They then carried the peach home in their arms. The laundry was abandoned.

“Still, that looks like a delicious peach.”
“Old man, let’s have this peach for lunch today.”
“With the recent abnormal weather, fruit prices have skyrocketed, so I can’t afford any at all.”
“We’re lacking vitamins, so a peach is a welcome treat.”

As the old woman was about to cut the peach with a large kitchen knife, she heard the sound of a baby crying from inside. When she carefully cut the peach open, a peach-like boy emerged from within. It was a close call; she almost committed a murder.

“From the pe-pe-peach, a ba-ba-baby...”
“Old woman, calm down. You sound like you’re doing a tongue twister.”
“The pe-pe-peach... the plu-plu-plum... a peach is a peach, isn’t it...”
“That’s right. Let’s name this child ‘Momotaro’.”
“How cute. God has given us a son, hasn’t He?”
“Though he might be more of a grandson than a son.”

The old man and the old woman cherished Momotaro very much. Momotaro grew up healthy in both mind and body.

When Momotaro reached adulthood at 18, the old man and the old woman had become even older than when they had first found him. They were unable to work, and living on their pension alone had become financially precarious.

Momotaro decided to go overseas to do business and repay the old man and the old woman for their kindness. When Momotaro said, “Old man, old woman, I’m going to Onigashima to do business and earn money. Please wait for me,” the old woman made him some kibi-dango (millet dumplings) to take with him.

On his journey, Momotaro added a pheasant, a monkey, and a dog to his party. The contract fee, of course, was the old woman’s kibi-dango. It became a very lively journey with chirping, chattering, and barking.

Upon arriving at Onigashima, Momotaro’s group negotiated with the red-faced, well-built foreigners using gestures and secured a contract for the exclusive sale of the old woman’s kibi-dango.

Momotaro received a hefty down payment and returned to the old man and the old woman. The three of them mass-produced the kibi-dango made by the old woman and exported them to Onigashima, and thanks in part to the weak yen at the time, they lived a wealthy life on the proceeds.

Incidentally, the pheasant contributed to Momotaro’s shop by writing promotional articles as a correspondent, but the monkey left, and the dog disappeared.

I am Hareruya ( ´ ▽ ` )ﾉ.
I am participating in this project.
Thank you as always. I look forward to working with you.

Organizer: #Bone-san
Project: #BokeSociety
Theme: #Folktales

Well then, that’s all for today.
Hareruya ( ´ ▽ ` )ﾉ.

Likes, comments, follows, article shares, and tips (support) are all very welcome. I look forward to them.

#Itsuki-san, thank you as always.
#Lively Squad archive is here.