Long, long ago there was a powerful spirit, called Prince
Susano. Once when he was travelling across the mountains, he heard some people
crying. The crying came from a house where an old couple lived. He asked them
what made them cry.
“A giant snake with eight heads lives near us. Every year
the snake comes here and takes one of our daughters away. It has already taken
seven of our daughters and we have only one left. Tonight the giant snake will
come again and take her too,” sobbed the old man.
“Don’t worry anymore,” said the prince. “I’ll kill the
giant snake. I have a good plan. Please ask all the villagers
to come here.”
The prince told the villagers to build a very strong
fence with eight doors. In the front of each door, they put a huge jar and
filled it with strong wine. Everyone worked hard and soon the smell of wine
filled the air.
The prince Susano then spoke to the young girl, “Nothing
will happen to you. He quickly changed her into a small comb and put the
comb into his hair. When everything was ready, he hid the old couple and the
villagers in a safe place. Then he stood alone with his sword, waiting for the
snake.
At midnight, he heard a strange sound and saw a giant
snake with eight heads. Then the snake smelled the wine. It stretched its eight
heads through the eight gates and drank from the eight jars. Because the wine
was so strong, the snake soon became dizzy.
The prince was watching from behind a tree. “Now is the
right moment,” he thought. He jumped out and cut off the snake’s eight heads
one by one, until the snake was dead. The prince also cut off the snake’s tail
so that it could not come alive again.
When he was sure that snake was dead, the prince took the
comb from his hair and breathed on it. At once the old couple’s daughter came
alive again and stood before him. She knelt down and thanked the prince. The
old couple and all villagers also thanked the prince for killing the horrible
snake.
“Now we can all live in peace again. We would be very
happy if you stayed and lived with us,” said the old man.
The prince then decided to stay and live in the
mountains. He asked the daughter to be his bride and live with him in a
beautiful palace at Izume. They lived happily together there for a long time.
-FIN-
Read the Indonesian translation HERE
Author: Lise Pordes
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