Issun Bôshi – Leseprobe
Tiny and brave—these are the two most striking characteristics of Issun Bôshi. His mother had longed to have a child for so many years that she finally added “even if it is a very small one” to her wish. When the elderly couple did in fact bear a son, he turned out to be only one inch high. He was thus called Issun Bôshi, Japanese for one-inch boy. Although his parents raised him very lovingly, Issun Bôshi realized one day that he would not grow any taller. He then left his home to set off on a journey to find his place in the world. Because he saw himself as a swordfighter, a samurai, he made sure to take along the right equipment: a needle was his sword, a soup bowl was his boat, and a chopstick was its rudder. As in any proper fairy tale, Issun Bôshi is tested in several adventures. He handles himself so bravely that, in the end, he is rewarded with just the right princess.
Tiny and brave—these are the two most striking characteristics of Issun Bôshi. His mother had longed to have a child for so many years that she finally added “even if it is a very small one” to her wish. When the elderly couple did in fact bear a son, he turned out to be only one inch high. He was thus called Issun Bôshi, Japanese for one-inch boy.
Although his parents raised him very lovingly, Issun Bôshi realized one day that he would not grow any taller. He then left his home to set off on a journey to find his place in the world. Because he saw himself as a swordfighter, a samurai, he made sure to take along the right equipment: a needle was his sword, a soup bowl was his boat, and a chopstick was its rudder.
As in any proper fairy tale, Issun Bôshi is tested in several adventures. He handles himself so bravely that, in the end, he is rewarded with just the right princess.
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Icinori<br />
ISSUN<br />
B OSHI<br />
− The One-Inch Boy −<br />
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Icinori<br />
ISSUN<br />
B OSHI<br />
^<br />
− The One-Inch Boy −<br />
Translated by Nicholas Grindell<br />
ISSUN BÔSHI : THE ONE-INCH BOY<br />
by Icinori<br />
Translation from French by Nicholas Grindell & Co<br />
Proofreading by Kate Brown<br />
Published by Little Gestalten, Berlin 2014<br />
ISBN : 978-3-89955-718-3<br />
3rd printing, 2017<br />
Printed by Nino Druck GmbH, Neustadt/Weinstr.<br />
Made in Germany<br />
The French original edition ISSUN BÔSHI : L’ENFANT QUI N’ÉTAIT PAS PLUS HAUT QU’UN POUCE was published by Actes Sud Junior.<br />
© for the French edition : Actes Sud, 2013<br />
© for the English edition : Little Gestalten, an imprint of Die Gestalten Verlag GmbH & Co. KG, Berlin 2014<br />
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic<br />
or mechanical, including photocopy or any storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.<br />
Respect copyrights, encourage creativity !<br />
For more information, and to order books, please visit www.gestalten.com.<br />
Bibliographic information published by the Deutsche Nationalbibliothek.<br />
The Deutsche Nationalbibliothek lists this publication in the Deutsche Nationalbibliografie;<br />
detailed bibliographic data are available online at http ://dnb.d-nb.de.<br />
This book was printed on paper certified according to the FSC ® .
Once, in a country far away,<br />
there lived a peasant farmer and his wife.<br />
They had no children and every day, to lift their spirits<br />
on the walk to and from the fields, they sang :<br />
“We’d like a little boy, any size at all.<br />
We’d like him little, we’d like him small.<br />
We’d love him tiniest of all.”
A miracle happened.<br />
They had a child.<br />
But — and this hardly came as a surprise —<br />
he really was tiny.<br />
And they called him <strong>Issun</strong> <strong>Bôshi</strong>,<br />
“the One-Inch Boy.”
By the age of fifteen,<br />
there was no denying it :<br />
he still hadn’t grown;<br />
not an inch,<br />
not one tiny little bit.<br />
The years passed and <strong>Issun</strong> <strong>Bôshi</strong> became nimble and smart.<br />
He learned to dance, he learned to sing,<br />
and the country folk came to see the charming way<br />
he moved his little body.<br />
A hardworking boy, he helped his parents in the fields,<br />
and they repaid him richly in love and gratitude.
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