Reading Notes: Japanese Fairy Tales (Part A)

This week I read some of the Japanese Fairy Tales and a couple were very fascinating to me.  The first one that caught my attention was The Two Frogs.  The two frogs live in opposite cities, Kioto and Osaka. They each wish to see the other city so they set out on a long journey.  After climbing a mountain halfway, they meet each and explain their journey.  They decide to hold on to each other and stand up as tall as they can, pointing their noses towards the city they are traveling to.  They do this thinking they will see the city they are trying to journey to and decide if it is worth it.  However, a frogs eyes are in the back of its head so they simply looked at their own cities and decided it wasn't worth the journey and they went home.  I just thought this story was very cute and it would be interesting to figure out a way to retell it with a more modern twist.
'The Two Frogs' The Violet Fairy Book by Andrew Lang and illustrated by H. J. Ford (1901)

Image: epitree

The second story that caught my attention was The Sparrow and the Slit Tongue. This story originally caught my attention simply because I love birds, especially sparrows.  Because of my love for birds, I really want to find a way to retell this story, hopefully by adding a more modern twist to it.  The story also interested me, because it had little bits that reminded me of some of the Grimm fairy tales.  The transformation of the little sparrow into a young maiden reminded me of the witch in Beauty and the Beast.  The man offered her hospitality when she was a simple sparrow, so he was rewarded.  The woman was cruel to the simple sparrow, so she was punished, like the prince by the witch.
'The Sparrow and the Slit Tongue' The Pink Fairy Book by Andrew Lang and illustrated by H. J. Ford (1897)

Image: Sparrow