Literary Tales: After Finishing the Rabbit and the Tortoise Edition

There may be few stories that we think we know as well as "The Tortoise and the Hare".

I, too,

had always thought so.

Effort overcomes talent.

If you walk without rushing,

you will catch up someday.

Since I was a child,

these are words I have heard many times.

Therefore,

I thought I had already finished reading the story of "The Tortoise and the Hare".

However,

the great writers

did not think so.

If it were Osamu Dazai,

he would wonder why the hare fell asleep.

If it were Ryunosuke Akutagawa,

he would doubt whether the tortoise really won.

Perhaps there are few stories that we think we know as well as "The Tortoise and the Hare".

I, too,

had always thought so.

If it were Natsume Soseki,

he would look at the life that remains after the competition,

rather than the victory or defeat.

If it were Yukio Mishima,

he would write about the moment when life burned most beautifully,

rather than the victory itself.

If it were Kenji Miyazawa,

he would have the rabbit and the tortoise,

as well as the wind and the grass,

all stand in the field as the same life.

Even though it is the same folktale,

not a single one of them,

turned it into the same story.

While writing,

I realized one thing.

The literary masters,

did not rewrite the folktale.

They were rewriting theway of readingthe folktale.

The story,

has not changed.

What changed was

the perspective of the reader.

That is why

folktales never grow old.

Every time the reader changes,

the story, too,

is reborn anew.

I did not

wish to imitate the great writers.

What I wanted to borrow

was not their prose,

but their way of looking at the world.

An eye that sees weakness.

An eye that doubts the truth.

An eye that gazes at life.

An eye that pursues beauty.

And,

an eye that quietly watches over life.

When you view a single folktale

through that gaze,

The scenery I was used to seeing

looked just a little bit different.

"The Hare and the Tortoise"

ends here.

However,

the story does not end.

For Momotaro,

for Urashima Taro,

for the Tongue-Cut Sparrow,

for the Kasajizo,

there is still,

scenery that no one has read yet,

surely remaining.

Perhaps folktales are not things that pass down answers,

but things that pass down questions.

That is why,

even if the times change,

even if the people change,

we will, time and time again,

continue to tell them.

Open the same story.

If,

after finishing this 'Literary Tales',

you happen to see a book of folktales at a bookstore,

or perhaps,

when the day comes that you read a folktale to a child,

if you think, even just for a moment,

'What kind of story would it be if someone else had written it?'

if you were to think such a thing,

there would be nothing that makes me happier.

A story,

does not end when you finish reading it.

When you encounter a new way of reading it,

it,

quietly begins again.

Afterword

'Literary Tales: The Tortoise and the Hare Edition' was an attempt to re-examine a single folktale through the eyes of five great writers.

Osamu Dazai focused on 'weakness'.

Ryunosuke Akutagawa focused on 'truth'.

Natsume Soseki focused on 'life'.

Yukio Mishima depicted "beauty."

Kenji Miyazawa depicted "life."

However, the true protagonist is not the literary master.

It is the "way of reading" of the reader themselves.

In conclusion

The AI Haiku Research Institute is a place for those who think quietly.
What you find here is a record for organizing the arrangement of thoughts.
So that you can return whenever you need to,
as many times as you like.
▶︎ AI Haiku Research Institute Membership

(In the institute's backyard, we think a little more slowly.)
👉 Information about this place is pinned.
If you would like to read the flow of June all at once, click here.
You will be able to see how the arrangement of thoughts was moving from a slightly more distant perspective.

📚 Literary Master Tales — The Rabbit and Tortoise Edition

What if Osamu Dazai, Ryunosuke Akutagawa, or Natsume Soseki had written "The Tortoise and the Hare"?
Please enjoy this collection of new fables, reborn with completely different endings for each literary master.
▶︎ Click here for the magazine

📚 Click here for a list of Kindle works