Momotaro by Ryūnosuke Akutagawa. Short summary

5 seconds

The hero Momotaro took over the island of devils and destroyed most of them, giving life to only a few. But for some reason they didn’t appreciate such a noble deed.

1 minute

On a distant island grows a huge fairy tree. Its fruit contains the bones of babies. One day a wise raven pecked one peach, the fruit was carried by the river and nailed to the people’s dwelling.

A child, Momotaro, sprang from it. He grew up very willful and strong, and when he became an adult, he went off to conquer the mountain of devils Onigashima. On his way he took a dog, a monkey and a pheasant for half a tortilla.

The dwelling of the devils was paradise. They raised children, married devils, and lived their lives. But Momotaru came and killed most of them, the monkey raped their women, the dog mauled the little devils.

Momotaro returned to the people as a hero. But for some reason the devils hated him and tried to take revenge. They killed his assistants, a monkey and a pheasant, and set his palace on fire several times. And no one understood why they disliked the hero who gave life to some of them.

And somewhere far away the peach tree with the heroes continues to grow, waiting for the sacred raven to give the earth another happiness.