Sadly the princess shook her head , but she answered slowly , ` One way there is to bring you safely back , but I fear you will never agree to the conditions of the bargain . ' ' I will do anything that will bring me back to you , ' exclaimed Uraschimataro , looking at her tenderly , but the princess was silent : she knew too well that when he left her she would see his face no more . Then she took from a shelf a tiny golden box , and gave it to Uraschimataro , praying him to keep it carefully , and above all things never to open it . ` If you can do this , ' she said as she bade him farewell , ` your friend the turtle will meet you at the shore , and will carry you back to me . ' Uraschimataro thanked her from his heart , and swore solemnly to do her bidding . He hid the box safely in his garments , seated himself on the back of the turtle , and vanished in the ocean path , waving his hand to the princess . Three days and three nights they swam through the sea , and at length Uraschimataro arrived at the beach which lay before his old home . The turtle bade him farewell , and was gone in a moment . Uraschimataro drew near to the village with quick and joyful steps . He saw the smoke curling through the roof , and the thatch where green plants had thickly sprouted . He heard the children shouting and calling , and from a window that he passed came the twang of the koto , and everything seemed to cry a welcome for his return . Yet suddenly he felt a pang at his heart as he wandered down the street . After all , everything was changed . Neither men nor houses were those he once knew . Quickly he saw his old home ; yes , it was still there , but it had a strange look . Anxiously he knocked at the door , and asked the woman who opened it after his parents . But she did not know their names , and could give him no news of them . Still more disturbed , he rushed to the burying ground , the only place that could tell him what he wished to know . Here at any rate he would find out what it all meant . And he was right .
In a moment he stood before the grave of his parents , and the date written on the stone was almost exactly the date when they had lost their son , and he had forsaken them for the Daughter XXXXX the Sea .
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