When I was looking for material for the class assignment, I rediscovered the old kid's story in Japan. When I was small, I was very moved by this story. As a kid, I simply sympathized with the main character "Red Demon" in loneliness due to losing his best friend. When I reread it, the simple kid's story started to reveal new aspect which I wouldn't even have imagined when I was a kid. I was impressed with the Blue Demon's altruism, and I infer that the story might represent the metaphor of the difficulty of understanding the different cultures. I guess this could be a universal story. Now I post the English translation of the summery by myself. I hope you'll enjoy it!
Red Demon cried
In the mountains, there was a Red Demon, who wanted to make friend with humans. One day, he stood a notice board in front of his house which read, "The house of the devil of a friendly spirit. Anybody is welcome. Delicious sweets and tea are available."
However, none of the suspicious human-being came to visit him. Red Demon felt sad, mortified that no human being trusted him and finally pulled the notice out from wrath. Then, his friend Blue Demon came to visit him. Blue Demon listened to his story and made the following plan for him.
'Blue Demon goes to human's village and rampages. Then Red Demon comes out to rebuke him. If he does so, humans will know that Red Demon is kind and good.'
Red Demon was reluctant to the plan and told Blue Demon that he would feel sorry for him. But Blue Demon Dragged him out to the village. The plan was successful. People of the village came to Red Demon's place with an easy mind. Everyday, humans came from their village to the mountain in company with three to five of them. Thus, Red Demon became a friend of man. Red Demon was very happy. But as the time went by, it occurred to his mind that he hadn't seen Blue Demon since the day of the rampage.
One day, Red Demon tried to visit his house. But the door of his house was firmly closed. Suddenly, he caught sight of the paper posted on the side of the door and something was written on it. it went like this:
"Dear Red Demon, get along with people, please enjoy your life. If I still go out with you, you too may look like a bad demon. So, I am on a journey. But I will not forget you forever. Bye-bye, take care of yourself. Always your friend, Blue Demon."
In silence, Red Demon read it, and read it twice and three times. Then putting his hand on the door and pressing face on his hand, he sobbed and tears streamed down.
