Long ago there lived in a small fishing village by the southern shores of Japan a young fisherman named Urashima Taro. We will call him Taro in our story.
One bright day while he was walking along the seashore with his fishing pole, Taro saw a group of children jumping and running about. All of the children seemed very excited. They were shouting with glee and seemed to be standing over some object lying on the beach. When Taro came nearer to the children, he saw that they were tormenting a little turtle. They threw stones at it, and then each one took his turn kicking the poor turtle.
Taro felt great sympathy for the unfortunate turtle. He turned to the children and said, "Please don't be cruel to the little turtle. You should be kind to animals. If you will set the turtle free, I will give each of you some money."
So Taro bought the turtle's freedom from the thoughtless children. Then he took it to the water's edge and set it free. Soon the turtle disappeared into the blue waves and in a moment Taro could see it no more.
After a few days Taro again went fishing by the seashore. He cast his line into the water and, as he did so, he was surprised to see a big turtle appear from out of the waves.
The huge turtle approached Taro and said, "Hello, Taro-san! Don't you remember me?"
Taro stared at the turtle, and to his great surprise he saw that it was the same turtle whose life he had saved by rescuing it from the naughty children a few days before. But now the turtle was very large and looked very old.
Smiling at Taro, the turtle continued, "Thank you very much for your kindness to me the other day. You rescued me from those bad children. I wish to reward you for your kindness. If you wish to go, I will take you to the Coral Palace. It is a beautiful palace in the middle of a kingdom down under the sea. Please get on my back, Taro. Then we will begin our journey."
Taro was delighted with the invitation from the turtle. He jumped on the hard-shell back, and they started for the Coral Palace.