Tale of the Akitsubame River

Author's note:  I tried to keep within the traditional voice and style of a Japanese folk tale, which has a more classic feel to the writing.  Growing up listening to stories from Vietnam, I've developed a fondness for folk and fairy tales, and wanted to try my hand at it.  The ending however, is not so traditional.  Enjoy!

---------------------

It is said that on the day Lady Suzume was born, a little cliff swallow flew into the daimyo's household and watched over the birth.  Every morning from then on, Suzume's mother, and later Suzume herself, would go out and feed the swallows with bits of rice and seeds on the small pavilion built over the creek in the garden. The creek was part of the river that ran throughout the daimyo's han.

Exceptionally beautiful, Suzume was the only child of the daimyo, Lord Kimura.  Even before she came of age, Lord Kimura was approached by many nobles seeking her hand in marriage.  Suzume listened to her father and never questioned that one day, he would match her with someone that would bring prosperity to both households.  She looked forward to fulfilling her duty as the daimyo's daughter.

One morning, Suzume rode on horseback into the forest.  The horse inadvertently stepped into a rabbit hole and reared, tossing Suzume from its back right before it fell to the ground.  It would have surely crushed Suzume in its fall if it had not been for the man who ran out from the forest and caught her in his arms, saving her. 

When Suzume gazed into his face, she fell instantly in love.  Kurou was a poor farmer who barely had enough money to clothe himself, let alone, dare even entertain the thought of being with the daimyo's daughter.  Yet, he too fell hopelessly in love.

Suzume spent weeks pining away for Kurou.  Although they had only gazed upon each other briefly, she knew that she wanted to be with him and no other.  She would sit for hours in the garden pavilion thinking of him while she fed the swallows, growing listless and unresponsive.

Lord Kimura worried that his daughter would waste away, and decided to quickly marry her to a good household, thinking that a new husband would distract her from whatever depression she had fallen into.  Although Suzume was adamantly against the marriage, she had no choice.

On the morning of her wedding, Suzume sat for the last time on the pavilion.  Ornate jewelry sparkled in her elaborately decorated hair, and, looking ever so elegant and beautiful in her wedding kimono, she began to cry.

"Suzume-chan, why are you so so sad?" a soft, lilting voice asked her.  When the girl looked up, a little swallow flew down from the clouds and landed gently in her lap. 

"I have seen you since the day of your birth, and you are named after me." the little bird said.  "You should not be so sad.  Soon you will be married to a good husband who will give you a promising future."

At the thought of being married, Suzume began another torrent of tears.  "I would rather live in the poorest hut with Kurou than to marry." she said, sobbing. 

The bird hopped around her, flapping its wings this way and that.  "Sssh, Suzume.  Sssh.  All things are possible with true love." it said. 

Looking back at the bird, the girl replied, "What do you mean, little tsubame?"

Landing gently onto Suzume's hand, it said, "If you are willing to sacrifice your life, I will take you to Kurou, where you will be together with him forever."  It paused for a moment, regarding the girl with its bright eyes.  "You would have to give up your fine clothes, your station, and all the comforts of being here.  You would no longer be the daimyo's pretty daughter, but only a peasant."

"Little tsubame, if it means I will be with the one I love, than I am willing to do anything." she said.  With that, Suzume jumped into the river and drowned.

Kurou, upon hearing of Suzume's death, went almost mad with grief.  The daimyo had awarded the poor farmer with a generous amount of money and land for saving his daughter.  Despite this, the man plodded desolately in his rice fields day after day with the knowledge that he would be without Suzume. 

Kurou had a very good heart, and he could not leave this world without making sure that those he left behind were well taken care of.  He sold everything and gave the money to his elderly father to live out his days in relative comfort.

With only a loincloth as his last possession, Kurou wandered the forest near his home, tearing at his hair in grief before he found himself kneeling in the mud at the river's edge.  He made a last prayer before leaving the world.

Just as he was about to throw himself into the water, he heard the cheerful twitterings of a swallow.  It alighted a few steps away from him and spoke.

"Kurou, what are you doing?" it asked.

"I am about to leave the mortal world," he said, "So that I may join Suzume in the afterlife." 

The swallow hopped a little closer.  "You would leave everything to be with her?" the bird asked.  "After all, you are far better off now then you were.  Kurou, why not marry a nice girl from the village, and live a good life?"

"Tsubame." he replied.  "When Suzume was to be married, I found some peace in knowing that she would be alive and well - cared for more than I could ever provide for her." he said.  "Now that Suzume is dead, there is no place in this world for me."

With a series of loud chirpings, the bird suddenly flew high into the air, and when it returned, it brought Suzume back with it. 

"In whatever world you share, you will share it together." the bird said, and flew off to leave the lovers together in their joy.

Kurou and Suzume lived out their days in their humble home by the river.  They lived a prosperous and happy life filled with love.  When they died, they were forever united together in the otherworld.

To this day, people bring offerings to the swallows in the hopes that the birds will carry their messages to their loved ones in the after life - and perhaps too, in the hopes that the love that they share would transcend the worlds of the living and the dead.