The Punishment of Curiosity

by Courtney Gentry

Today was my last day on vacation with Grandma Hisayo.  I was sad, but I was happy with all the opportunities I had.  I was able to meet my great-uncle and listen to several great stories!  I am definitely going to plan on coming back to Japan someday!

Grandma Hisayo and I were packing our bags and getting ready to go with her sister, who would be transporting us to the airport.  We would pick up our pictures on the way.  I’ll have many stories to tell my family and friends when I arrive home.

We finished lunch and went to load my great-aunt’s car with our luggage.  It was a very beautiful day out, so we rode in the car with the windows rolled down.  I could smell the cherry blossoms from my great-aunt’s garden. 

We stopped at the store and picked up the pictures and were on the way again.  After riding for several miles, I began to detect a foul stench.  It smelled like dead fish or the sewer.  I also noticed small village huts down the road with many people who looked poor.  They looked like they hadn’t bathed in ages, and all the little children looked scrawny.  I felt bad for these people.

“Grandma Hisayo, why do all these people look poor?  Can they not find work or better living conditions elsewhere?”

“Oh, some people have been that way all their lives.  Some have succeeded in leaving the village and finding work, but most of them do not leave.  That little village is called Okikurumi,” Grandma Hisayo explained.  “There is a legend that explains why these people have always been poor and miserable.”

“Please share that legend with me!” I said.  I was eager to hear a story on the way to the airport. 

“Okay!”  Grandma Hisayo said.  “These people are supposed to belong to a very ancient clan that goes back to the very early days of the earth.”

“The crust of the earth was so thin and hot, so people could not leave their huts to go get food.

Okikurumi was their god, and he would fish for them and send his wife, Turesh, to carry the food to the people so they would not starve.  He only had two rules…the people could not look at Turesh’s face and they could not ask any questions. 

The people were doing a good job of obeying the orders until one day when an Aino man decided that he could not stand it.  He wanted to see who was feeding him every day.  So he decided that he would wait until Turesh reached his hut, and he would grab her hand when she handed him the food through the window.

This he did.  He grabbed her so hard that she fell through the window into his hut.  Before he had a chance to look at her face, she turned into a dragon!  She was kicking and screaming!  It was seconds before she vanished.  The sky became dark, and thunder shook the earth.  The Aino man’s hut was struck by lightning and burned down.

When Okikurumi found out about this, he was so angry and left the village.  Nobody knows where he went or if he will ever come back.  They blame their misfortunes as a punishment for their ancestor’s curiosity.  They named the village after the god, hoping that he will return someday and provide them with food.”

“Wow, that is an awesome story!” I said.  “But do they not know that they can control their future?”

“I’m not sure they do,” Grandma Hisayo answered.  “I think they feel as if the village is cursed.  They will carry bad luck with them to the next place they go.”

We arrived at the airport and hugged my great-aunt goodbye and thanked her for the hospitality.  I took one last look behind my shoulder…but it would not be my very last one because I would return someday!

 
Sayonara!  Thanks for reading my Storybook!  I hope you've enjoyed reading these stories as much as I've enjoyed writing them!