Chapter Text
1.
In a certain village, a fisherwoman happened upon a crane with an arrow through its wing. She removed the arrow and cleaned the wound, feeding the bird bits of fish until it regained enough strength to fly away. When she arrived home that night, a strange woman stood at her door. “Take me as your wife,” the woman said, “and I will ease your burdens.” The fisherwoman was a practical type, and she saw the reason in sharing her work with another. The two were married by mutual agreement. The fisherwoman’s wife asked for help setting up a weaving room. Once it was done, she told the fisherwoman that she must never look inside. Each day as the fisher netted her catch, the weaver toiled away in her hidden room. She emerged with raw, red skin and fine shawls that always fetched a good price when the fisherwoman brought them to market. The fisherwoman soothed the weaver’s rough skin with cool mud and poultices, but each day of weaving left it once again bloodied. The fisher begged to help with her labor, since it hurt her so. With each refusal, the fisherwoman’s worry increased. One day, desperate to know what her wife did in that room without ever buying a single spool of thread, the fisherwoman crept home early and peeked through the crack in the door. Inside the room was a crane. As the fisher watched, the crane plucked downy feathers from its breast and fed the fibers into a drop spindle. When the thread was spun, the crane transformed into the fisherwoman’s wife to work the loom. The fisher’s gasp gave her away. Her crane wife opened the door and led her into the room, their feet crunching over discarded quills. “I am the crane you rescued,” the weaver said. “I wanted to repay you, but staying human has its price. I am sorry. Now that you know, I must leave.” She transformed once more into a crane and flew away, leaving her distraught wife with a spool of downy thread and a shawl half finished on the loom. Day and night, the fisherwoman worked to finish the shawl. Her slow, uneven rows contrasted those made by her wife’s practiced hands. At last, she draped the finished shawl around her shoulders and let its magic overcome her. In the form of a crane, she flew off to reunite with her wife. It is said that they are still together today, spearing glittering fish with their beaks and feeding them to each other.