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Ah— Okay!

Um, it might take a long time to read the whole thing again, so I'll summarize.

This is a fairy tale from Yan. The protagonist is a girl named Dusk Beauty.

She was living a happy life with her husband.

Until one day, her husband went missing.

She must have been very sad.

Yes, the book says Dusk Beauty searched everywhere for her husband, but no one knew where he was.

She went home and cried under the willow tree her husband had planted himself.

A wise elder in the village saw Dusk Beauty weeping everyday and came up with an idea.

The old man said—

*Cough* *cough*... Mhmm.

'Child, you have a pair of sharp eyes that can see thousands of miles away. Why not ascend the mountain to the west?'

'From there you can gaze upon the wide earth. Only there will you have a chance to find your husband.'

Dusk Beauty agreed with the wise elder's suggestion, and decided to leave the town and head to the mountain at the edge of the land.

This mountain, the tallest of them all, was called Mount T'ien by the people of Yan.

That sounds so cool.

The meaning of Mount Sky is 'a mountain as tall as the skies.' There is no mountain taller than it in all of Yan.

After much tribulation, Dusk Beauty reached the mountain peak and looked out over the vast land. But after three days and three nights, even as her eyes reddened from the strain, there was no sign of her husband.

With years of her effort ending up fruitless, Dusk Beauty could not help but weep, and her tears flowing down the mountain formed a river.

How sad...

Mom said I was like that when I cried as a kid.

*Sigh*.

The surging tears shocked the gods within the mountains. They couldn't believe the river which had appeared out of nowhere.

Upon seeing the source of the river, they were even more surprised. The gods decided to send their leader, the god of Mount Sky, to talk with the girl.

The kind god listened to Dusk Beauty's story and pitied her. Thus, the god of Mount Sky said:

'Lofty heights of Mount Sky, lie yet dwarfed by the twin moons. Ascend thee to the moons, and thy husband shall thee find soon.'

Huh?

Oh, sorry. It's sort of poetic and old-tymey, isn't it? Let me explain.

It means that even though the mountain was very tall, its height could not compare to the twin moons in the sky. So, if she could fly to the moons, she would definitely be able to find her husband.

Oh.

Dusk Beauty accepted the mountain god's suggestion, and asked for help. After the gods discussed it, they taught her a way...

One night, everyone was going about their business as usual, when suddenly, a bright light rose from the western mountains and rushed towards the moon.

This light became brighter and brighter, brighter and brighter, and at one point it even became brighter than the moon.

Finally, this light landed on the moon, and a big and brilliant sparkle rose out of it. The night sky grew bright, and it was hard to even see the stars.

(Whisper) Mousse, can we see fireworks like that now?!

(Whisper) Of course not!

Upon seeing such a thing, everyone panicked, thinking it meant something terrible.

But the elder recalled the story of Dusk Beauty and told everyone this meant she had found her husband. He told them not to be afraid, and to celebrate instead.

The people were convinced, so they brought out their wine and food, and celebrated the departure of Dusk Beauty.

From then on, everyone would bring food and gather together to feast once a year. They put the foods that Dusk Beauty liked on an altar.

They did it every year, without fail.

As time passed, it became a traditional festival.

Even after Dusk Beauty left, the river continued to flow down from Mount Sky, so the people decided to name the river after her, calling it the Dusk River.

Later on, the village slowly developed into a city. The edge of the city was next to the Dusk River, so naturally the city was called Dusk City.

Is that why there's so much yummy food today?

That's right.

Actually, today is the day of a Higashi festival as well.

The shrines will be very busy today. Dad's always swamped the whole day.

Though the most lively shrine is always Miss Tsukinogi's shrine. They say the god of her shrine is the chief god, so they have a huge festival, with a lot of people.

People from all over Higashi travel to Miss Tsukinogi's shrine.

Are there similar stories from Higashi then?

There are.

Well, it's not really a story, it's actually part of the liturgy. Dad's always reciting it during the ceremonies, he even has to dance along with the music at the same time. It's really fun.

The story goes something like this.

There was once a poor, old couple who lived working in the fields. One day, all of a sudden, a woman descended from the sky.

The woman handed a jeweled pot to the old man. When he opened it, there were more gold and riches than he'd ever seen in his whole life.

The woman asked the old man to accept the treasures, and to help her look for a husband. The treasures would be a gift to the old man in return.

The old man brought the woman home and discussed the matter with his wife. Upon hearing such a thing, she was ecstatic.

Thus, the old couple hired people to repair their home and invited the woman to stay.

Then, they spread the news about the woman looking for a husband.

The news passed quickly from person to person, and soon everyone in Higashi knew about it.

But the woman was very picky and most of the hopefuls failed to catch her eye. For those that did, she would ask them to retrieve a treasure for her. If they succeeded, she would marry them.

Do the people of the East all marry like that?

They used to, long ago.

Now... It's hard to say.

At least, Dad and Mom didn't get married like that.

Mmm, let's continue.

The woman never asked for the same item twice, but no one was able to fulfill her requests.

'As long as you can bring me one treasure, I will become your wife.'

Many ears heard these words.

But even the important people from the capital couldn't do it.

There were even five dignitaries from the capital who asked for her hand in marriage, and were only too helpless in the face of her requests.

One of them even lost his life search of the treasure.

After that, even though everyone was still interested in the woman, no one dared to court her.

Scary...

Three brothers, all hunters who lived on a mountain, heard this news and were intrigued.

The eldest and second brother were interested, but the third brother believed it was just a ploy to trick people.

But he couldn't convince his brothers and so he set out with them to travel to the old man's house.

Unexpectedly, the woman didn't turn them away, and instead gave them her requests.

'As long as you can bring me one treasure, I will become your wife.'

Mhmm.

The woman asked the eldest brother for a never-melting ice crystal, from the far north.

From the second brother, she asked for an everlasting flame from the south.

She would marry whoever brought her the treasure first.

Just as the third brother was to listen to his request, the woman fell silent.

Leaving the old man's house, the two brothers found the requests extraordinarily difficult and impossible to complete.

But neither of them were willing to return to a life of hardship in the mountains.

After some discussion, they decided on a deadline.

Three years.

After three years, no matter if they found the treasure or not, they would return to this place.

The third brother told his older brothers not to let the woman bewitch them.

But his pleas fell on deaf ears and his brothers went their separate ways as soon as they had agreed on the deadline.

Feeling resentful as he was confused by his elders, the third brother left the village as well.

So, did they find their treasures?

Three years later, the eldest brother and second brother reunited in the village.

Both of them had found their treasures.

Wow, so they could go and get married!

Over the course of their treasure hunt, the both of them had become famous and important people.

But they had pledged their loyalty to different lords, in different factions.

With their treasures in hand, the two brothers led armies that clashed against each other.