Scene 1　　　　ALTによるReading (slow) 　　　ALTによるReading (fast)

    Once upon a time, there was an old man and an old woman.  One cold, snowy day in winter, the old man went to town to sell some firewood.  On his way home he saw a crane.  It was caught in a trap and couldn’t fly.  The old man felt sad, and he wanted to help the bird. 　“Don’t move,” he said to the crane.  “I’ll help you.”   The old man took the crane out of the trap, and the bird flew away toward the mountains.
    When he returned home, the old man told his wife about the crane.  Just then, the old couple heard a knock at the door.  “Who is that?” said the old woman.  When she opened the door, she saw a beautiful young woman standing outside.
　　“I am sorry for knocking at your door at night.  It is snowing very heavily, and I have lost my way.  Could I please stay with you tonight?” asked the young woman.
　　“We are very poor, and we don’t have a futon for you.  But please stay with us”, said the old woman.  This speech made the young woman quite happy. 
　　The snow fell heavily the next day and the day after.  So the woman spent several days with the old couple.  She was a kind young woman, and she did all the cooking and the washing for the man and his wife.   She also massaged their sore shoulders before bedtime.
　　The old couple didn’t have any children, and they thought of the young woman as their own daughter.
　　“I want to make some beautiful cloth,” the woman said to the old couple one day.  “Will you buy some thread for me?” she asked.
　　The old man soon went out to buy some thread for the woman.  After he returned, the young woman got ready to make the cloth.  Before she began weaving, she asked the old couple not to look into the room while she was working.
　　“We understand”, said the old couple.  “We won’t look into the room.  Please make some beautiful cloth.”


Scene ２　　　　ALTによるReading (slow)　　　ALTによるReading (fast)

　　The young woman then closed the door to the room.  She worked all day long.  She didn’t even leave the room at night.  She continued working for three days.  On the third night, the young woman came out of the room with a roll of cloth.  It was the most beautiful cloth ever seen.  
　　“This is called ‘crane’s cloth’,” the young woman said. “Please take the cloth to the town and sell it.  And please buy me some more thread.”
　　The next day the old man went to the town with the cloth.  He walked through the town, saying “Crane’s cloth for sale.  Crane’s cloth for sale.  Does anyone want crane’s cloth?” 
　　He sold the cloth for a lot of money, and he bought some more thread and other things.  Then he walked happily home.
　　The next day the young woman began making more cloth.  On the third day, the old woman said to her husband, “How is such beautiful cloth made? I want to look into the room.”
　　“Just a little!  Only a peep!” said her husband.
　　So the old couple very quietly opened the door and looked into the room.
　　The old couple saw only a crane in the room.  The crane was pulling out its feathers with its long bill and weaving them into the cloth.
　　That night, the young woman came out of the room with some new cloth.
　　“Mother and Father, I am the crane that was caught in the trap.  You helped me, and I came to your home to thank you.  But because you looked into the room and saw me working, I must go away.  I’ll never forget your kindness.  Thank you for letting me stay with you for such a long time.”
　　When she finished this speech, the young woman spread out her arms and became a crane.  The crane then flew up into the sky, made a circle over the old couple’s house, and flew away toward the mountains.        

＜注＞
grateful（感謝に満ちた），once upon a time（昔々），snowy（雪の降る），
firewood（まき），on one’s way home（帰る途中），crane（鶴），trap（わな），
toward（〜に向かって），couple（夫婦），knock（ノックの音，ノックをする），
outside（外に），heavily（激しく），lose one’s way（道に迷う），quite（とても），
the day after（その翌日に），several（いくつかの），massage（〜をマッサージする），
sore（痛い），shoulder（肩），daughter（娘），cloth（布），thread（糸），get ready（準備をする），
weave（織物を織る，〜を織る），all day long（一日中），even（〜さえ），a roll of（一巻きの），
happily（喜んで）， peep（のぞき見），pull out（引き抜く），feather（羽），bill（くちばし），
kindness（優しさ），let〜・・・（〜に・・・させる），spread out（〜を広げる），circle（円）