Seven Ainu folk tales as taken down in Hokkaidō in 1886 and rendered in English by Basil Hall Chamberlain in Aino Folk-Tales (London, 1888) — the opening episode of a new shelf, drawn from the tales told to Chamberlain by Penri of Piratori, Ishanashte, Kannariki and Kuteashguru, and freshly rendered for this series.
Disclosure: this performance is narrated by AI-generated voices.
Snowballs pelted by the children of the sky become the first hares, white-bodied and black-eared. The owl of the land and the tortoise of the sea marry their children, and settle who eats the river fish. A man overhears two foxes plotting a horse-swap, runs the trick himself, and buys his life back with a promise. Two foxes in human shape trade counterfeit treasures in a village that is itself a counterfeit, and are sent home to fruit and friendship. A puppy, a fox-cub and a rat dance before an ogre while the stolen charm is nibbled out of its box. The fox outruns and outroars the tiger without moving a paw. And one man's curiosity, reaching through a window, costs a whole people their provider.
Stories in this episode:
0:35 Introduction
1:52 The Origin of the Hare
3:26 The Owl and the Tortoise
4:28 How a Man Got the Better of Two Foxes
8:53 The Two Foxes, the Mole, and the Crows
12:36 The Stolen Charm
16:31 The Fox and the Tiger
18:58 The Punishment of Curiosity
Source: Aino Folk-Tales (London, 1888) by Basil Hall Chamberlain — public domain; fresh in-house English rendering. Narrated by Lulu.
Music: "Istanbul Cello Nocturne" (instrumental) — opening and closing theme, with a short excerpt between stories.
Ainu folk tales, Ainu Tales, Basil Hall Chamberlain, Aino Folk-Tales, Hokkaido folklore, fairy tales, animal tales, trickster tales, KacheliTV
