The Red Candle and the Mermaid

Jan. - Mar. 1996

Fairy Tales

Once upon a time, one girl lived near the sea.  She made candles.  Those candles were very beautiful, and also she was a very beautiful girl.  However, her appearance was a little dark, and she didn't have parents.  Everybody avoided her, but everybody expected her to make candles.  The candles were offered to the seaside temple.  If these candles were burning there, the sea would keep silent.  Her candle was special, because people thought she might be a mermaid.  Nobody knew her personality.  She painted a picture on the outside of the candles.  People thought that the marine god loved her candles.  One day, people decided that she should be banished to another village; then she stopped making beautiful candles, and she made only red-colored candles.  The marine god got really angry.  The sea was random.  A lot of people died, and she left this village.  Nobody knew where she'd gone.  People had to make red-colored candles forever.  Finally, this village's people believe this story.  People are making red candles even now.  It's a responsibility for them.

   -by Memei Ogawa

      -Hitomi Nakano, Japan