This happened many, many years ago. One ship was returning from Miyago Island to the capital of Naha. There was a lot of goods on that ship - the inhabitants of the island sent rich gifts to their sovereign.
The sailors are sitting on the deck, admiring the sea.
“What glorious weather it’s been today!” - they are happy. - The sea is calm, the sun is shining welcomingly!
Suddenly, for no apparent reason, a flute began to ring over the sea, at first quietly, and then louder and louder.
- Who plays the flute at sea? — the sailors were surprised. There was one sailor among them, just a boy, his name was Kana.
He was very smart.
“I don’t like these sounds of the flute,” he said. “No way, the God of the wind is frolicking.” There would be no trouble.
-What are you talking about? - the sailors were surprised. - Let the God of the wind do what he wants, we are already very close to the shore. You can see our island in the distance.
Kana didn’t answer, he just began to watch the sky carefully. And suddenly clouds appeared in the sky, and then clouds, one darker than the other. The wind blew, so strong that it rocked the ship from side to side.
“No way, the storm is starting,” the sailors became worried.
And the wind was getting stronger, the waves were getting higher, and the rain was pouring down like buckets. The sailors were scared. “If only I could make it to the shore,” they think. “If only I could make it!”
A high wave rose here and washed away all the goods from the deck.
“Hold the bags!” some shout.
- Hold on yourself, there will be another wave soon! - others shout.
The rain lashes, the waves rise, they carry the ship across the sea like a feather. “Well, that’s it, our end has come,” the sailors decided. “There is no salvation for us now.”
The sailors fought the storm all night. And by morning the wind died down. They look - they can’t see their native island, only an unfamiliar land can be seen in the distance.
“The gods took pity on us,” said Kana. “They did not let us perish in the depths of the sea.”
The sailors headed to an unknown island. We went ashore and looked around. What a miracle this island is: there are flowers all around, birds are singing, dragonflies are flying. What a blessing!
“It can’t be that people don’t live on such a beautiful island,” the sailors decided. “We should go look for human habitation.”
They rested on the shore and went deeper into the island.
“Hey, hey!” they shout. “Are there people on the island?” Respond! Show yourself!
Suddenly they hear drums thundering in the distance: “Bon-bon, pon-pon!” The sailors rejoiced and ran to the sound of the drums. They ran out into the clearing and stopped dead in their tracks: monsters were sitting in the clearing, beating drums. They saw people, jumped up from their seats and shouted joyfully:
- These are the little people the gods sent us! We'll have a nice dinner!
- Oh! But we ended up on the island of cannibals, the sailors realized.
They wanted to run back into the forest, but to no avail! The cannibals grabbed them and dragged them to the village.
And I must say that the monsters from that island were so scary: they had horns on their heads, bird wings sticking out of their necks, black mouths that looked like they were smeared with mascara, and sea shells inserted into their ears! Once you see it, you won’t forget it for the rest of your life!
The cannibals dragged the sailors to the village and ordered the women to bring a cauldron and light a fire.
“Now we’ll cook people,” they say. The cannibals danced around the sailors and began to shout:
- Eh, let's eat!
- Eh, let's try!
- These are delicious!
The sailors are standing - neither alive nor dead. The elder came out of the house, looked at the sailors for a long time and pointed at Kan:
- I like this one! - he says. “I want to eat it!”
The monsters ran up to Kana, grabbed him by the hands, and dragged him to the cauldron. Just as they were about to throw him into boiling water, a loud female voice rang out in the crowd:
- Stop! Stop! Don't throw it into the cauldron!
The sailors are watching - a girl of unprecedented beauty has left the elder’s house. The cannibals parted and made way for her. That girl was the daughter of an elder, her name was Mamuya.
- Stop! - Mamuya repeated. “It’s no good to kill a person today, the stars don’t dictate!” Tomorrow please!
“Well, since the stars don’t dictate, we won’t eat it today, we’ll leave it until tomorrow,” the cannibals agreed.
They did not dare to contradict Mamuya. The monsters knew that the girl had been given great power to know the future. Mamuya ordered the sailors to follow her. She took them out of the village and led them across the field. “It would be a pity to die at the hands of a beautiful girl,” the sailors think. “If the monsters ate it, it wouldn’t be so offensive!” Mamuya led them to the bank of a mountain river and pointed to a hut that stood some distance away.
“Go to bed, no one will touch you here,” said the girl. “Tomorrow I will come to you.”
The next morning, just before dawn, two monsters appeared to the sailors and brought meat.
“Try our treat,” they say and smile slyly.
The sailors were very hungry. When they saw the meat, their mouths began to water. They were about to taste it when Mamuya ran into the hut.
- Don't eat! - shouts. - This meat is poisoned! They cooked it in an infusion of poisonous herbs. If you eat a piece, you will immediately turn into oxen and then the cannibals will plow your field for the rest of your life.
The sailors got scared and threw the meat into the far corner of the hut. They began to thank Mamuya.
“We never thought,” they say, “that we would find human participation on this terrible island.”
The girl turned to Kana:
“I liked you very much, that’s why I decided to save you and your comrades.”
Mamuya and Kan fell in love with each other.
“You can’t stay on our island,” said Mamuya. “If you are saved, then come for me, I don’t want to live among cannibals all my life.”
“Don’t be afraid,” answered Kana. “If we are saved, I will definitely figure out how to take you away from here.”
In the evening Mamuya came to the sailors again and said:
“Everyone in the village thinks that you have turned into oxen.” Tomorrow many of you will be slaughtered and eaten, so tonight you need to escape from the island. As soon as the moon rises, I will send my maid, she will lead you out of the village. And I’ll leave the boat by the sea, so run! May the gods help you!
“Thank you,” said Kana. “I will never forget you and will definitely come for you.”
Late at night, as Mamuya said, her maid came to the sailors and led them to the sea. And there, indeed, the boat was waiting and there was a reliable helmsman. As soon as they got into the boat, they saw Mamuya running along the path.
“Take food and water,” he says. And then she turned to Kana: “Here’s a stalk of magic bamboo, it will protect you from everything.” This bamboo grows only on our island. If a big wave overtakes you in the sea, break one knee, and the wave will not destroy you.
The sailors set off. But the sea is rough, the waves are rising, and the boat might be covered. The sailors were afraid: the sea wanted to destroy us again, but Kana calmed them down.
“I have a wonderful remedy for waves and storms,” he says. He broke one piece of bamboo, threw it into the sea, and at that same moment the waves calmed down and the wind died down.
The sailors sailed all night, and as it began to get light, they saw that the island of cannibals remained far behind.
“We were saved thanks to the fact that Kana was among us,” the sailors began to say. “If we return home alive, be our captain.”
The sun rose over the sea. The good mood returned to the sailors—all the terrible things were behind them. Suddenly he sees Kan, a black cloud appeared on the horizon, it began to grow, grow and get closer and closer.
“It’s not a cloud,” Kana exclaimed. “The cannibals set off in pursuit of us in a high-speed boat.”
“What should we do now?” the sailors began to ask.
“Trust me, we’ll figure something out,” Kana reassured them. He looked around and saw that there was a small island lying in the middle of the sea, overgrown with forest.
“Row to that island,” he ordered his friends. The sailors made their way through the coral reefs that surrounded the island, jumped out onto the sandy shore and ran faster towards the forest.
- Stop! - Kana stopped them. “You and I acted thoughtlessly—we left our footprints on the coastal sand.” When the cannibals reach the island, they will immediately understand where to look for us. We should return to the shore and cover up our tracks.
Kahn sent two sailors ashore to confuse the tracks. As soon as they ran back into the forest, the cannibals swam to the island.
“You won’t leave!” they shout. “The island is small, uninhabited, there’s nowhere to hide!”
The cannibals rushed to scour the island. And Kana and her friends found a large hole in the forest, they were sitting there, not breathing. Kan waited for the cannibals to go further into the forest and said to his friends:
“Now is the time for us to run away from this island.” The sailors rushed ashore and boarded the boat on which the monsters had arrived.
- This is incredible! - they say. “This boat is magical, or something, - you can’t see the rudder.”
They tied their boat to it and ordered:
“Carry us, miracle boat, from here to our native shores.” The magic boat flew with unprecedented speed, barely touching the water. The sailors are surprised:
- There are such miracles in the world! No one can catch up with us now!
What happened to the cannibals? They searched the entire island and returned to the shore again. They see that the boats have disappeared, as if they never existed. They realized then that Kana had outwitted them. The cannibals screamed, howled, stamped their feet, but what can you do? So they remained on a desert island to await their death.
And the sailors returned to the capital safe and sound. They told the sovereign about the island of cannibals. The ruler ordered to gather brave souls and go to that island. Kana also swam with them. Mamuya greeted him joyfully. Together they returned to the capital and lived happily ever after. And the magic bamboo saved them many times from storms and typhoons.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru