Kurahashi Yumiko's Cruel Fairy Tales for Adults: The Blood Dyed Dress

The following is a selection from Kurahashi Yumiko's Cruel Fairy Tales for Adults. I don't believe this work has been officially translated into English, which is a shame because it's a wonderful book. I've been a fairy tale fanatic for as long as I can remember and when I went looking for Japanese fairy tales, Kurahashi's stories were one of the first things that popped up. Angela Carter's work might be the closest English language equivalent.

This selection, "The Blood Dyed Dress", was inspired by Oscar Wilde's "The Nightingale and the Rose."

The normal disclaimers apply. I am not a professional. I am still learning Japanese. This translation was done purely for fun. DO NOT USE THIS WORK FOR COMMERCIAL PURPOSES OR REPOST WITHOUT PERMISSION. ♥

Book: 大人のための残酷童話 ・ Cruel Fairy Tales for Adults

Author: 倉橋由美子 ・ Kurahashi Yumiko

Selection Title: 血で染めたドレス ・ The Blood Dyed Dress

A long time ago, a poor boy lived in Athens, Greece. His teacher’s daughter was so beautiful that it was said she might be Aphrodite’s niece or sister and the boy too had long been captivated by her. One time he had a chance to speak to the daughter without another pupil listening. When the boy was enumerating arguments to back up his theories he had a large talent, the pride of his teacher but, now, gifting words of love like a poet, he was completely unskilled. Then, spur of the moment, he got it in his head to buy the daughter’s favor. What came out of his mouth was that he wanted to give her something she desired for her birthday. Thereupon, the daughter’s eyes sparkled and she said, “What I’d like is a pure red dress. A dress so red it looks like it’s painted with blood from a living person. If you give me a present like that on my birthday, I’ll give you what you wish for.”

The boy was lost to the closeness of his desired object but all at once he darkened with despair. It wasn’t just that he was poor. He’d never be able to afford that high a price--for the boy had already made up his mind--and further still the color the daughter wished for was preposterous. And on top everything her birthday was drawing close, only three days away.

The mute girl from the house next door happened to catch sight of the aimlessly wandering boy. He was at a complete loss and had begun crying. But because this girl had secretly been in love with the boy for a long time, she fixed her gaze intently at the boy’s pitiful face.

“Ah, it’s you,” said the boy, when at last he noticed her. “I’ve been promised something good like out of a dream but at the same time I’ve been sentenced to death. And, you know, even if I try to tell you there’s nothing that can be done.”

Even while saying that, the boy couldn’t but tell the mute girl the whole story. The teacher’s daughter was so incredibly beautiful that one couldn’t help but love her an incredible amount. For the mute girl, his story was like a needle stabbing her heart but the boy assumed the expression of pain on her face was mirroring his pain and he continued.

“Enough already. No matter what I say to you who can’t speak it’s like applying for a loan from an innocent kitten. Ah, if only you miserable mute girl were to take the form of the goddess Athena--if that was the case, then you could grant my wish, couldn’t you. What a joke. Now all I can do is contemplate a philosopher-like suicide.”

The girl left the boy still laying out his difficult theories and took the path towards the temple. There she pleaded for Athena’s help with many prayers. If she could only communicate her love for the boy. She was tormented with her desire to gift him a dress woven from fabric painted with her own blood.

Athena appeared before the girl. Listening to the story the goddess shone with majesty and wisdom but was this her true true nature. She doesn’t really see the goodness of love nor did she appear to have a deep sympathy. Nevertheless the goddess gazed intently into the eyes of the girl and upon listening intently to the appeals of the unspeaking girl’s heart, she said these words.

“This is a regrettable topic you’ve raised and outside my natural domain. Asking me for Aphrodite’s son and making it so the boy cannot help but love you would be simple but I am not the best to use for that solution. You also don’t want the boy’s love acquired by borrowing Eros’s arrow, I think. The warning I can give is to stop loving something that doesn’t deserve you. If you desire, I can erase the love for that boy from your heart and leave it clean.”

The girl shook her head frantically.

“For that only please forgive me, Lady Athena. I cannot take the road of throwing love away. It’s enough now as long as my love can be on the side that person.”

“I understand but you will get nothing in return from that boy.”

“I believe in it, the power of love,” the girl cried. “I can throw my life away if it’s for love. However it’s done, please make a pure red dress from cloth dyed in my blood.”

“Your belief is wrong,” said Athena. “But if that is what you desire, I can grant it. However, you, you will experience a pain even greater than seeing hell and I, I will be no less hesitant in this work than the time I battled that arrogant Arachne.”

Nevertheless, the mute girl did not retract her appeal for a great work from the goddess. Naturally, the goddess was a little displeased. Why is it that all humans insist on wishing for things from gods, only telling their own circumstances. And in addition it’s not enough to worship. Isn’t it typical that the people who seek to solicit things from the gods are only those with no merit. Rethinking what should be in the capacity of a god’s work, Athena set about the burdensome task.

“According to your request, I have to make the dress that appears to be painted the color of a living human’s blood. However the vibrant color will only show if there is a sacrifice.”

“Lady Athena, all I have to offer is my own life. Whatever agony, whatever pain, I will endure it.”

“Well then this will take some time and, in that time, no matter the agony you experience you will not breathe your last breath, rather you will wish that you were dead. In order for fresh blood to flow, you need to be alive.”

The goddess, to emphasize her words, thrust the end of a thread held in her fingers through the mute girl’s heart. Immediately, fingers moving faster than the eyes can see, she pushed the thread through the heart and reeled it back dyed pure red. The goddess began to weave the thread. The thread was sucked into the girl’s pulsing heart and left it freshly dyed. There was no metaphor for the pain of the thread passing through the the heart. There was so much pain that a voiceless scream couldn’t even emerge from the throat of the girl who couldn’t speak. Only her tear filled eyes kept a lookout and she endured a cold sweat over her whole body. From time to time she felt faint but she could hear the goddess’s scolding voice from the distance.

Athena had planned to help the girl if, before her life was extinguished and she was lost to the pain, she completely abandoned that love and the gift and pleaded for her life. Her heart’s ears pricked up to listen for the girl’s unvoiced shrieks but the girl’s heart was so hard it may as well have been locked shut and she had not one word to say to the goddess.

The girl’s heart continued to move like a small spinning wheel, the thread is reeled back dyed red from the heart. However as soon as the strength of the turns of the spinning wheel weakened, it began to make a helpless rattling sound. All through the night the thread was dyed. The girl’s blood was steadily sucked up into the thread until there was almost nothing left. Athena encouraged the girl, only a little more, and at last the cloth dyed with blood was completed. The girl’s heart came to a stop like a windmill without wind.

Athena without delay sewed a pure red dress out of that cloth, then she transformed into the mute girl’s body and carried the dress to where the boy was. With eyes still full of undried tears, she fixed her gaze on the boy. With the goddess’s power she was able to speak directly to boy’s heart but she didn’t do it, the mute girl’s big eyes said everything.

“What’s wrong, your eyes are scary,” said the boy. “And you look pale. You totally look like a vampire has sucked out all your blood.”

Athena, in the form of the mute girl, knew that up until now the boy had done nothing, fumbling around like a dog chasing his own tail, simply passing time fruitlessly wallowing in despair, and she felt such sorrow that she couldn’t even bring herself to be angry. However, because of the mute girl’s wish that been brought to fruition, she gave the completed blood soaked dress to the boy.

The boy was in such ecstasy that he jumped for joy. He was overjoyed at his own good luck, happy that the teacher’s daughter was practically already his. When he noticed the sad looking mute girl standing there he blurted out something like, “You are even better than Athena. How did you come by this amazing dress?”

Athena, in the form of the girl, pointed at the heart that didn’t even have one drop of blood left in it.

“Is that so, this is because of your grace, isn’t it. It’s a gift of your love to me, isn’t it. I’m so grateful.”

The boy thought it was only natural that the mute girl loved him and thought nothing of receiving a gift from that love. Even so, with an overabundance of excitement he hugged the girl and went to mark her cheek with the gift of a kiss but Athena smoothly slipped away and disappeared just like that.

When the boy triumphantly presented the pure red dress on the daughter’s birthday, the daughter knit her brow and cleared the dress away.

“Gross, that is a disgusting color. Doesn’t it look like it’s been dyed in blood.”

“That is what you said, you said you wanted a pure red dress exactly that color.”

“I did not say anything about that disgusting color. Whatever. I hate it. That color doesn’t suit me at all.”

Of course, the boy flew into a rage and let out an angry yell.

“You haughty young girl! Do you know how hard it was for me to get this. This is a real blood dyed dress.”

The boy ran out in a huff and threw the dress away by the roadside. Without looking back he walked off giving one last parting shot.

“I’m going to change teachers. I’m going to find a teacher who has a daughter with a better personality.”

The forsaken blood dyed dress was trampled underfoot by people walking by and soon it was like an old rag. A dog picked it up and took it somewhere.