Long, long ago, in a certain place, there lived an old man who made his living cutting bamboo.
One day, when the old man went into the bamboo grove, he found a wondrous stalk of bamboo glowing at its root.
When he cut it open, out came a tiny, lovely little girl.
The old man and the old woman named the child "Princess Kaguya" and raised her with the greatest care.
Princess Kaguya grew more and more beautiful, and word of her spread throughout the whole land.
Many men came asking to marry her, but Princess Kaguya sent each one off in search of an impossible treasure, and married no one at all.
In the end even the Emperor himself sought her hand, but she refused him too.
When autumn came at last, Princess Kaguya began to gaze at the moon and weep.
At last she confessed, "I am a person of the Moon Capital. On the night of the full moon I must return to the moon."
On the night of the full moon, the Emperor set many soldiers to guard the house, but when the heavenly beings descended with the moonlight, not one of them could move.
Weeping, Princess Kaguya bade farewell to the old man and the old woman, and returned to the moon.
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