The Bee and the Dream: A Japanese Tale

Shin spots a bee on the nose of her sleeping friend, Tasuke, who awakens to tell her that he has dreamed of a treasure in the city of Naniwa, but he decides not to pursue his vision, leaving Shin to go on her own adventure-filled journey to find the hidden treasure.

Kindergarten-Grade 3?This dramatic retelling of a Japanese folktale opens as two hard-working peasants lie down for a midday rest. Restless and wakeful, Shin witnesses a bee fly out of the sleeping Tasuke's nose. When Tasuke awakens, he claims no knowledge of the bee, but tells his friend of the dream he's had about digging up a jar of gold from a rich man's garden. Shin, intrigued, persuades Tasuke to sell him the dream. Using borrowed cash, Shin travels far to track down the treasure. The plot takes some surprising twists and turns, but eventually proves the maxim that ends the folktale: "If good fortune/is meant for you,/no matter what happens,/it will be yours." Rich in details of traditional Japanese life, Ono's carefully composed watercolors perfectly complement the text. The earthy, expressive paintings are gently humorous and authentic in style and content. According to the source note, the author borrowed five "ideophones"?sound words from an oral transcription of the tale in Richard Dorson's Folktales Told Around the World (Univ. of Chicago, 1978)?and relied on several other printed English sources, which she does not name. While variants of the tale appear in adult collections, this handsomely designed, well-written, and engaging picture-book version is unique.?Margaret A. Chang, North Adams State College, MA
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

This quietly charged retelling of a Japanese folktale builds on a tantalizing premise, that dreams do not always belong to their dreamers. As hardworking peasants Shin and Tasuke rest on a hillside, fidgety Shin watches his friend nap and is shocked to see a bee fly out of his nose. Shin's amazement at this odd occurrence recedes when he hears Tasuke's marvelous dream of a jar of gold buried in a certain faraway garden. Unable to convince Tasuke of the dream's significance, Shin offers to buy it. Then he embarks on the perilous journey to the garden, where a greedy aristocrat beats him to the jar and lets loose its contents?a swarm of bees. When the dejected Shin returns home, his exultant wife tells him of "angry bees" that flew through the house and left in their wake a drift of treasures. Newcomer Long's characters express a guileless humanity; Ono, a Japanese illustrator making her American debut, adds humor through her paintings' playful, fluid lines. A Japanese saying at the beginning of the tale, that it's lucky to see a bee fly from someone's nose, may mystify American readers, but the conclusion, "If good fortune is meant for you, no matter what happens, it will be yours," is at once appealingly clear and mystical. Ages 6-9.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

A Japanese folktale that illustrates how purchasing a friend's dream can lead to profit is sandwiched between two old sayings. ``When you see a bee fly from someone's nose, good fortune will be yours'' is the promise that opens the book. The bee in question flies from Tasuke's nose while he naps and dreams; fellow peasant Shin, obsessed by Tasuke's dream, buys it and follows its directions to a distant city, finding there a wealthy man with a flowering bush under which there is supposed to be a pot of gold. He turns up nothing and goes home in shame. The promise of reward is merely delayed, however, until Shin gets home, for ``If good fortune is meant for you, no matter what happens, it will be yours.'' An author's note describes the meticulous research that went into ensuring this tale's authenticity. Just as meticulous and quite full of humor are the illustrations: Shin's posture when he believes his fortune is lost has the slope of the truly wretched. (Picture book. 6-9) -- Copyright ©1996, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Ages 4^-8. Told with verve and humor, and beautifully illustrated in Japanese folk art style, this retelling of a folktale draws on authentic sources and tells a universal quest story. When a bee flies out of his sleeping friend's nose, Shin knows that it is a sign of good luck. He buys his friend's dream of buried treasure and travels on a long and difficult journey in search of that fortune. A rich man tries to grab the treasure, but all he digs up is a swarm of bees. Shin also finds nothing, but when he gets home, his wife tells him that a swarm of bees has brought shining treasure into their house. Children will love the surprising twists and turns of the story, with its naive but determined hero, who is honorable and brave. Kaoru Ono uses special paper, ink, and paints, and her combination of soft brush work, sharp line, and wild exaggeration perfectly expresses the dreaming action. The author provides a detailed source note for her story, which is rooted in particulars; it is also the archetypal tale of the traveler who searches everywhere for fortune and then finds it at home. Hazel Rochman