But the girl was not finished. She wove again, producing an even more magnificent fabric—embroidered with cranes flying across a silver sky. It sold for an even greater sum.
There was no girl. In the lamplight stood a slender white crane, plucking its own feathers and weaving them into the loom. The beautiful cloth was made from its own body. The crane’s legs were bare and bleeding; its once-glorious wings were thinning and raw. It was the same crane her husband had saved. tsuru no ongaeshi story
The old couple never saw her again. They kept the last piece of cloth she had woven as a treasure, but more than the riches, they mourned the loss of their dear, grateful daughter. And they never broke a promise again. But the girl was not finished
At that moment, the crane turned and saw the old woman’s eye at the hole. A single tear rolled down its beak. There was no girl
What she saw made her gasp.
But temptation gnawed at them. One night, after the girl had shut herself in the weaving room, the old woman could resist no longer. She crept to the sliding door, made a small hole in the paper screen, and peeked inside.