Yatagarasu Series
Volume 1:
Ravens Shouldn't
Wear Kimono
Author: Chisato Abe
Prologue
Listen to this chapter!
Once upon a time, the mountain god descended upon this land.
Water overflowed from the mountain peaks. Trees blossomed and
fruited. Ears of rice bowed heavily under the weight of the ripe
grain.
And when the mountain god saw the fertility of the area,
he commanded a golden raven to prepare the land for his
purposes.
So the golden raven divided the land among his four
children.
To his first child, he gave the eastern part, which was covered
in wildflowers.
To his second child, he gave the southern part, which was full
of orchards.
To his third child, he gave the western part, which was rich
with rice and grain.
To his fourth child, he gave the northern part, where clear
water flowed continuously from the mountains.
The four children promised the golden raven that they would
protect the land that had been given to them, and that their
descendants would protect the land after them.
This was the beginning of the four families and the four lands,
and the beginning of the imperial family--and the golden
raven.
Prologue
I was only five or six when I decided that she was the one for
me.
It was a morning in the middle of spring on a day of pleasant
weather. My best friend and frequent companion in crime, Sumi, came
to me and told me that the cherry blossoms were in bloom. I remember
seeing them on the other side of the cliff, so bright and white that
they looked like a hazy cloud.
Sumi and I often played outside on the cliffs that marked the
border between our land and the neighboring one. Adults told us not
to go there, but we never listened. We ran through the trees along
the cliffs, laughing and chasing each other.
But then Sumi fell.
Sumi must have been distracted by the fact that there were no more
trees in sight. The branches parted, revealing the sky. My friend
tumbled down the cliff with a loud and awful sound.
I didn’t even take the time to remove my kimono
before I transformed into a bird and hurriedly flew down the cliff.
When I turned back into a human and ran over to Sumi, my friend was
swearing up a storm. I burst out laughing because at least Sumi was
all right.
My laughter echoed in the narrow valley. Sumi, who had been holding
their head in anger, suddenly looked over my shoulder and closed
their mouth. I followed Sumi’s gaze and saw the cherry blossoms
there.
This cliff marked the border between lands. From here, Sumi and I
could see the cherry blossoms blooming across the border. There was
a girl standing there, on the other side of the cliffs under the
trees.
I noticed her hair ornament first: it was gold and shone brightly
in the sun. Her hair was a soft and generous brown, which was
unusual. She gazed upon me and Sumi with pale, almost transparent
eyes. Her long sleeves were a light pink that matched the cherry
blossoms well.
The wind blew, scattering cherry blossoms across a pale blue
sky.
- Adapted from the Tale of Yamauchi, an ancient
memoir of a pilgrimage to the eastern land
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