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THE MOON PRINCESS
Illustrations for a children's book. The ancient story of the Moon Princess, also called "The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter" or "The Tale of Princess Kaguya", is dated to the 10'th century and considered the oldest extant Japanese prose narrative. The story details the life of a mysterious girl called Kaguya-hime, who was discovered as a baby inside the stalk of a glowing bamboo plant. As the magical Kaguya gorws up, her worried parents plead her to choose a prince, but rebellious Kaguya who doesn't want to get married gives three chosen princes to impossible missions, declaring that the one who will succeed will be the one who wins her heart. Knowing all along none of them will prevail. The fairytail has a sad ending (not too surprising due to it's name) which is rare amongst books for children.
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