The Swan Prince

Chapter 4: Eitaro's dream

When Eitaro woke, he felt wind rushing past and opened his eyes. He was in the net, surrounded by flapping wings. Below, there was nothing but water. He realized they were over the sea.

Beside him was a branch of red berries Jozuna had picked so Eitaro had berries for breakfast and for lunch and supper too.
They spent all day flying clouds blew by and waves bobbed below. At last, as the sun began to sink, he saw a smudge of land on the horizon.

As dusk felt they landed once again, the swans shed their feathers.
"This is our home now," Junko told Eitaro, showing him a cave carpeted with soft, green moss.
"I hope there will be more than berries to eat..." said Eitaro.

That night, Eitaro dreamed he was still flying through the clouds.

In the dream, one of the clouds took on the shape of a castle. A handsome fairy of the castle and spoke.
"Eitaro," the fairy said. "If you are brave, you can save your sisters from the King's spell."
"How?" pleaded Eitaro.
"By making each one a kimono of nettles," the fairy replied. "When they put on the kimonos, the spell will be broken."

"But you must make the kimonos in silence," the fairy warned. "If you speak even a word before the spell is ended, your sisters will die."
Eitaro reached out to touch a nettle. It stung his fingers—and he woke with a start.

"It was only a dream," thought Eitaro. "But what if it's true? I have to try..."
His sisters were still as he tiptoed out. Nettles seemed to grow everywhere in this strange new land. Bravely, he picked a huge armful. They stung his hands, but he didn't make a sound.

When he got back to the cave, it was broad daylight and his sisters had flown away. He set to work at once, stripping the nettle stems and weaving them together.

By evening, his fingers were covered in blisters, but Eitaro didn't mind. He had almost finished the fine kimono.

The princesses returned at sunset, they understood at once what Eitaro was trying to do. They fed him, but he could not reply.
Princess Jozuna wept to see his sore fingers where her tears touch his skin it healed at once.