あまぐも わたぼ English ver

 Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version) 

免責：英語が正しいとは限りません。　English, grammar, etc. may not always be correct.

The Rain Cloud Watabo

Once upon a time, in the village of sweets, there was a little boy named "Watabo", the cotton candy Boy.

The village of sweets was a peaceful and beautiful village, and everyone lived happily and joyfully, smiling and laughing. It was very important for the sweets to be big and sweet.

But from the time he was a little boy, Watabo always had wrinkles between his eyes and never smiled. As he grew older, he became darker and darker.

His parents, worried that he would not be able to become a white and beautiful candy cane, asked him.

"Why do you always have such a scary look in your eyes?　You'll never be a good cotton candy."

"I don't want to be a cotton candy," he replied, startling them.

"What are you going to do?"

"I'm going to become a cloud. I'm going to be a great, strong Rain Cloud."

His father and mother looked at each other.

"Raincloud?　That's impossible. You were born to be a cotton candy.  All you have to do is think about becoming a sweet white cotton candy. You were born to be a cotton candy."

They were laughing so hard.  Watabo couldn't stand it any longer and ran out of the house.

 

When he reached the field, he saw many clouds in the sky, flowing freely toward the north.

(The clouds and I are so much alike, why can't I be a cloud?)

"Hello, Mr clouds!”

"Who is it?　Who's calling us?"

The clouds voice ware slow, but They were very loud and echoed through the surrounding mountains.

"It's me, the cotton candy Watabo."

"What is it? 　Your voice is too small to be heard from here. Can't you speak a little louder?"

Every time the cloud spoke a word, the wind blew, and the trees shook.

Watabo shouted, clinging tightly to the stone to keep it from flying away.

“I want to be a rain cloud when I grow up. How can I become one?"

The clouds laughed out loud.

"No, you can't!  What do you think you can do as you are so small?

 

The clouds laughed so much that the wind blew around the candy village all day long.

 

Watabo was so disappointed. He thought about it all night and decided.

I'm going on a journey. I really want to be Rain Cloud!

His parents tried to calm him down, but they can not change Watabo’s mind.

 

Dad turned his back and did not say anything. Mom made several sugar rice balls and brought them to him.

 

"Be careful. Don't soak your body in water. You will melt away."

She said this repeatedly as she watched Watabo's back over and over again.

 

Watabo left the village, but he had no idea where he was going. Anyway, he headed south.

(It seems that Lord Rain Cloud is traveling from the south to the north. If I headed south, I might be able to meet him.)

 

Eventually, he had eaten rice balls.

Even so, Watambo kept walking south, but he was so hungry and dizzy. 

he finally sat down on the root of a tree and could not move.

 

After a while, Watabo noticed that someone was shaking his body. He opened his eyes and saw a mouse peering at him.

"Are you all right?　You don't look familiar."

"I'm a cotton candy Watabo."

"I'm Sankichi. You don't wake up so often, I thought you were dead."

"I'm dying of hunger."

"What?  You're hungry?"

Sankichi said and gave Watabo a piece of sugar.

 

From that day on, Watabo and Sankichi became friends. Sankichi's father, mother, and friends were also exceedingly kind to him.

 

When Watabo told Sankichi that he wanted to become a rain cloud, 

Sankichi said, "That's great!　I'm sure Watabo can become one!"

He told Watabo that he, too, dreamed of becoming a great mouse. 

Watabo was so happy that he decided to stay at Sankichi's house and wait for the rain cloud to come.

Toward the end of the summer, the rats suddenly heard thunder rumbling in their village.

An autumn storm was coming.

Watabo was happy that he could now talk to the rain clouds. But the rain did not stop falling in the night. There was no way he could go outside and talk to the rain clouds if it were raining so much.

If the cotton candy gets wet, he will melt and disappear.

 

The next day it continued to rain, and finally the river began to overflow,

"There may be a big flood coming. Let's run to the top of the hill."

Sankichi's father said.

The rats ran for the hill.

Watabo put on his straw hat and hurried up the hill.

 

At that moment, the water came pouring in.

Sankichi jumped into the water to save his mother who had failed to escape.

"Don't go!"

The rats shouted,  but Watabo went into the water and softly wrapped himself around them.

 

"Hold on tight. My body floats on water."

The water flowed faster and faster, pushing the three of them downstream.

 

The next thing he knew, his friends were surrounding him.

(Thank God! I'm alive.)

Sankichi thought.

But he can't see Watabo.

”Where is Watabo?”　

 The others shook their heads in silence.

”I do not know. He was gone when we came.”

"Watabo, Watabo. Where are you?”

Sankichi shouted, but there was no reply.

The rats cried. They thought that Watabo had melted into the water.

They cried for the gentle and brave Watabo.

Sankichi's tears fell into the puddle.

Then...

Sunlight shone through the rain clouds and reflected on the water. They could see the water droplets turning into steam and rising into the sky.

"Sankichi, I'm here...”

He heard Watabo's voice.

"Where are you?　Come out!"

Sankichi shouted.

 

"My body has melted into water.

But I had a talk with Rain Cloud. I will go up into the sky with the water and become his apprentice.”

”One day, I will come to this village to bring rain. The blessed rain. Until then, everyone, take care.”

Watabo's voice echoed through the air, becoming quieter and quieter.

Sankichi and the others waved their hands at the water droplets that were forever glittering up into the sky.

 

The end.

Illustration：© T

Youtube： read-aloud version （Japanese）

#children's fiction  #picture books  #dreams