Susanoo and the Yamata no Orochi - Japanese

Once upon a time, in a pretty village, lived a girl named Kushinada-hime. Her home had green fields and a sparkly river. But one day, everyone was very, very sad. Oh no! A big, rumbling monster was coming to their village. This story is called Susanoo and the Yamata no Orochi. The monster was so big and so long. It had eight big heads to look around. It had eight long tails that wiggled and wagged. Stomp, stomp, stomp! The ground shook when the monster moved. Kushinada-hime was scared. Her parents were scared, too. They did not know how to stop the big, scary monster.

Then, a brave hero came to the village. His name was Susanoo. He was strong and smart. Susanoo saw that everyone was sad. He said, 'Do not worry. I have a clever plan!'. He asked Kushinada-hime’s family to make a special drink. It was a sleepy drink for the monster. They put the drink in eight big bowls. One bowl for each head! Soon, the Yamata no Orochi came. Crash! Boom! It saw the bowls. Slurp, slurp, slurp! It drank all the sleepy drink. The monster’s eight heads felt so sleepy. Its many eyes closed. The monster fell fast asleep. Zzzzzzz! Eight loud snores rumbled like thunder.

While the monster was sleeping, snore, snore, snore, brave Susanoo made sure it would never scare anyone again. The village was safe! Hooray! Everyone cheered for the hero, Susanoo. They were so happy and safe. This old story from Japan shows that being clever and brave can help solve big problems. Even when you feel scared, a smart idea can make everything okay. Now everyone in the village could play by the sparkly river again, happy and safe forever.