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Princess Mononoke Film ComicThe Ocean Band
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You may prefer the version with Japanese.
The Ocean Band
Once there was a ship sailing the wide, wide sea. All the crew who worked the ship loved music, so they all formed a band. In the evening, all hands who were free lined up on deck and performed a concert. As the sea glittered in the sunset, the music resounded, and it was very lovely.
By the way, as they were doing this, the sailors noticed something funny.
Every time the music began, three whales surfaced above the waves. At first they remained at a distance, but they got closer day by day and at last they came up right beside the boat. Then they would move their enormous bodies and spout in time with the music.
It wasn't just whales. Swift sharks came along, and dolphins, bonito, tuna and little fish. Anyhow, a surprisingly large number of fish gathered together. The band was inspired by them, every day, and vigorously played their instruments.
However, one day as evening approached, it seemed to them that the sky suddenly became dark, and a dreadful storm came up. That night was terrible. The were in the middle of pitch darkness, with the wind and sea making a thundering howl. From above them huge waves, one after another, dashed at them, flinging the boat up and down. The boat was creaking loudly.
And then the engine died, and water came pouring in through a hole somewhere. They all worked desperately to stop the water. The force of the water was strong, but though many times they thought all was lost, the ship mysteriously did not sink.
Thank heavens! At last the storm subsided and morning came. Then they could see blue sky through a gap in the clouds. All of them were busily cleaning off the water and repairing the hole, when suddenly one of the men on deck shouted to the others:
"Hey, come look at this! It's amazing! There are whales under the ship!"
So there were! It looked like the three whales were carrying the ship on their shoulders, having come under it. Besides that, the sharks, dolphins, and a lot of other fish also had packed together to boost up the ship from below so that it would not sink.
"Hey guys, thanks a bunch! You did us a big favor, but would you keep it up a little longer? We're plugging the hole as fast as we can."
At this, the whales replied by spouting a little bit of salt water.
"Whoo. We don't mind. You're welcome. But the ship's a heavy problem. This is the first time we've carried something on our backs. By the way, we missed the concert last night."
"Yeah, because of the storm we didn't do it. When we finish work, you can have a nice long one."
When the boat repairs were all done, it was day, and everyone from the captain to the cabin boy brought the musical instruments and lined up on deck. The ones there were not enough instruments for brought things like plates and buckets.
Well then, after that, they performed a concert with all the music they knew, on and on. Because it was music straight from the heart, it was truly wonderful. The whales, dolphins, small fishes, and even the ferocious sharks were listening with rapture. Before long, a whale spoke up in a deep voice.
"Good, isn't it? Absolutely good. We can listen as much as we want and never get tired of it. How good it would be if we could do it for ourselves!"
At this, the sailors tried saying, "In that case, shall we give you each one of these instruments?"
"Really? Thanks a lot! We'd be so happy if we got them."
"Fine, fine. It's nothing compared to the help you gave us, saving the ship. Out of all these which do you want?"
"If it were up to us, those you play by blowing would be good. Because you seem to have such a good feeling when you play them."
Then, the sailors threw a bugle to each of the whales.
After this, the sharks butted up their heads to the ship. "Hey, aren't you going to give us something too? Look, we want those blowing instuments you were making delicate, sweet sounds with. That'll be good."
"Fine, fine. No sweat." Saying this, the sailors threw them piccolos and so forth.
The dolphins also jumped up with a splash. "We'd also like something, if we may. If it were up to us, we really like the ones you play with a bow. They make a sound like 'eeeee'."
"Fine, fine. Here you are." The sailors threw them things like violins, violas, and chellos, and the dolphins, again leaping, deftly caught them.
In this way, each fish got an instrument. The little fishes also were thrown triangles and castanets.
The sailors called, "Ok, try them out please. Do you know how to play them?"
"Yes, we've been watching carefully with the intention of learning, but we're not sure. Well, we'll try it," said the whales, and played a "BLAT!". Alas, after that came an awful din.
BLAT-BLAT, SQUEAK-SQUEAK, DING-DING, KACHUNK-KACHUNK. It was almost enough that they thought their ears would be deafened.
But in a short time the sound balanced out. Then, mysterious music such as they had never heard before resounded across the waves. The sailors forgot everything, listening enraptured. With the sunset, the sea was lit up in pink and green. Not long after, the fishes' music quietly came to an end. First saying, "Thank you. Many, many thanks. And now, goodbye," the whales dove into the water with a "sploosh."
Saying, "Well, be seeing you sometime," the sharks also dove with a splash.
Saying, "Goodbye. We really enjoyed it," the dolphins also disappeared into the waves. All the other fish went back to their homes somewhere in the wide, wide sea.
After this, whenever ships came though this area, mysterious music echoed from somewhere in the sea.
They said it was truly wonderful on evenings with beautiful sunsets, and other such times.
Illustration: Miyoshi Akasaka
