by
Kumi-chan Japan
Once upon a time, there was a boy named Taro Urashima. One day, he was walking on the beach and saw a couple of kids beating a sea turtle. He knew that if he asked those kids to stop, he would be the one being hurt by them later. But, he could not let them keep hurting the sea turtle. He wanted to save it. So, he gently asked the kids to stop beating it. As he imagined, instead of beating the sea turtle, those kids ended up hurting Taro himself. But, Taro was happy becuase that way he protected a innocent sea turtle. Bad kids left after beating Taro. Suddenly, Taro heard a weak voice from somewhere. He looked around, but didnt see anybody but a sea turtle. It was the sea turtle which was talking to him. it said "Thank you very much for saving me. Would you come with me to the underworld?" Taro was surprised, but decided to follow the sea turtle. The sea turtle asked Taro to ride on its back and they went into the sea.
Taro was amazed because the underworld was so beautiful. There was a huge castle-like building and were many beautiful angels welcoming Taro. They served delicious meals and Taro ate them until he could not eat any more.
After the meal, he played with angels and had fun a lot. He had stayed there for 5 days. He did not want to leave the place, but he thought he should go back to where he lived because his family was waiting for him.
This time, one of the angels took him to the beach, and right before they said good bye, she gave him a little box and said "Please do not open this box until you get old." Taro agreed with her and they finally said good bye.
Taro was curious. After coming back from the underworld, things looked different. He saw some buildings and people that he had never seen before. Anyway, he decided to go back to his home.
Surprise!There were very old woman and man living in his home. Taro did not ask anything to them and just left the house. He went back to the beach again and sat down on the sand. Suddently he remembered about the box the angel gave him. He wondered what was inside. Even though the angel asked him not to open it, Taro really wanted to see what was inside it. So, he opened it....
Wow, there was some smoke coming out of the box and Taro was fully covered by smoke. Next moment, he became an very old man.
Then Taro realized, he just felt that he spent only 5 days in underworld, but the truth was that he had spent more than 50 years in there. Also, he realized that old woman and man living in his home were his mother and father who were 50 years older than he thought they were.
Taro was ashamed. He was too happy to realize he was spending long years in underworld.
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