The yearning for a child exists in folktales as in life. In this old Japanese tale a poor rice farmer and his wife pray to the water god for a child. Even a frog or a mud snail son will do as long as it is their very own. And soon after that the wife gave birth to a mud snail. They lovingly placed it in a bowl of water on the narrow shelf of their family shrine and gave it fresh rice every day. For twenty years their son did not grow or speak. But when his father was too old to load his horse with the bags of rice he had to give the rich landowner tax, the mud snail suddenly said: "Father I will help you load the rice. Just put me on the horse between the bags." The rich man was so amazed to see a magical mud snail delivering the rice, he invited him in for a special feast and offered him one of his daughters in marriage. Here the tale becomes like Beauty and the Beast. The selfless younger daughter agrees to marry the mud snail. And because of her love, the mud snail is able to turn into a handsome young man. This tale is also illustrated by Fuku Akino.