The Incredible Flying Duck Hunter (Japanese Tall Tale - over-life-size story) Aug 25 - Aug 27, 2014 N = Narrator / G = Gonbei / F = Farmer Act-1. N ： What I am going to tell you is a true story. 　　 It may not sound like it's true, but it is. 　　 A long, long time ago there was a duck hunter by the name of Gonbei. 　　 He was such a poor shot that people laughed at him. 　　 In fact, even the ducks acted friendly towards him. 　　 He was one miserable guy. G ： Oh, I wish I could catch a hundred ducks at a time. 　　 That would make me a great hunter. 　　 Then the ducks would be afraid of me, and I would get some respect. N ： So he spent days trying to come up with a way to catch a hundred ducks at a time. 　　 Then one summer day, he hit upon a great idea. G ： A-ha! I got it! Sake is the key! N ： So Gonbei bought a keg of sake, 　　 carried it up the mountain in back of his house, and poured it into a pond. 　　 Then he went back home and went to bed. 　　 Then Gonbei got up before dawn 　　 and headed back to the pond with a hundred ropes. 　　 When he got there he saw a flock of ducks sleeping in a drunken stupor. 　　 Gonbei grinned from ear to ear. G ： Hee-hee-hee! Just as I thought! N ： Then he counted them. Guess how many he counted. 100? 　　 Guess again! Remember, this is a true story! 　　 I'm not making this up. There were - G ： 99! One short! Oh well, that's better than no ducks at all! 　　 Now I'm going to tie a rope around each duck's leg. N ： After he did that, Gonbei picked up all the ropes and pulled them. G ： Come on, ducks! N ： And the 99 drunken ducks came staggering after him. G ： Hey, hey, hey! Here I come! Gonbei, the duck hunter! N ： But when the sun rose, the ducks began to sober up. G ： Uh-oh. N ： And then they all took off at once! G ： Oh, so you think you can get away! 　　 Well, you can't outsmart me! Act-2: N ： Gonbei pulled the ropes back, but he was no match for the 99 ducks. 　　 They pulled Gonbei up in the air. 　　 And he went higher and faster until he couldn't hang on any longer. G ： I'm losing my grip! Help! I'm fallinnnnnnnng! N ： Gonbei fell through the air towards a giant millet field 　　 where every millet stalk was as tall as a fire lookout tower. 　　 Farmers in the field looked up towards the voice in the sky. F1 ： Look! Up in the sky! F2 ： It's a duck! F3 ： It's a crane! F1,2,3 ： It's a man! N ： The workers in the field were all flabbergasted 　　 to see a man come falling from the sky. 　　 And then they were even more surprised 　　 when they saw him hit one of the giant millet stalks. 　　 which bent, snapped back, and sent him high up in the sky again! F1 ： Look! There he goes! F2,3 ： Where are you going, mister? G ： I wish I knewwwwwwww! N ： Gonbei flew over the field, then a hill, then a mountain, 　　 and finally landed in the yard of an umbrella store in a strange town. G ： Ouch! N ： There were some umbrellas freshly waxed 　　 and laid out in the sun to dry. 　　 Then out of nowhere came a little tornado. 　　 And it blew him high up in the air along with one of the umbrellas. G ： Oh, no! Not again! N ： He flew over snowcapped mountains and endless rice paddies. 　　 Then in the distance he saw a big town. G ： Oh, wow! Would you look at all the temples and tall buildings! 　　 It must be the capital! Act-3: N = Narrator / G = Gonbei / TP = Town People / TM = Town Man N ： He was floating over the town when his umbrella gave out and he began his descent. G ： Help! I'm falling agaaainnnn! N ： Luckily, he landed on top of a three-story pagoda. G ： It was not three, it was five. N ： And finally he landed on top of this FIVE-story pagoda. G ： Whew! I see a lot of people down there ... 　　 they're all looking at me! N ： Naturally, people gathered 　　 and wondered how a man could have gotten up to the top of the big pagoda. TP ： Hello up there! Are you all right? G ： Well, no! I need to get down but I don't know how! N ： One of the people ran to a store 　　 and came back carrying a huge furoshiki - a cloth wrapper. 　　 He showed it to the people and said: TM ： Look, we can catch him with this. Let's all hold the cloth up. N ： The townspeople agreed. 　　 The man then looked up and shouted toward Gonbei. TM ： Okay, man! You can jump and we'll catch you with this furoshiki! G ： Are you kidding? I would go right through that furoshiki! TM ： Kyoto furoshikis never tear! G ： Okay! I trust you ... and the furoshiki! 　　 Here goes nothing! One-two-three-ahhhhhhhhhh! N ： So Gonbei jumped off the top of the pagoda right into the middle of the furoshiki, 　　 and the furoshiki didn't tear! 　　 But the people holding up the furoshiki fell toward the center and knocked heads. 　　 Sparks flew. The sparks flew onto the pagoda and started a fire! 　　 Unfortunately, the pagoda burned down. 　　 Pretty soon the whole capital was on fire. 　　 Regrettably, the whole town was reduced to ashes. 　　 Well, that's it for the story. How was it? 　　 You think it's another tall tale? No way! It's true. 　　 How can I be so sure? 　　 Because I heard this whole tale from Gonbei in person. G ： Yap, that's right. Understading Questions: Q1. What did Gonbei pour into the pond? Q2. What town did the tornado carry Gonbei to? Q3. How did Gonbei get down from the top of the five-story pagoda? Comment: Very "tall" Amazing Tale! A1. He poured sake into it. A2. It carried him to the capital. A3. He jumped off into the furoshiki that the townspeople were holding up.