Fables and Folktales: Urashima-Tarō

[@bazzfromthebackground3696]

Urashima: *Tosses turtle back* Princess: "Kind fisher, you have passed my test, and been deemed worthy to wed. Urashima: "Oh, ok." *Tosses princess back*

[@gutsmasterson2488]

The ol’ catch and release.

[@quillaja]

Does the tossed-back beautiful rich princess turn into an even more beautiful and richer princess?

[@jsc1jake512]

I assume that's just a normal Tuesday afternoon for mythological figures

[@samueljo7910]

I can see this happening like that one scene in Moana

[@ShaunCheah]

Sigma grindset.

[@jeremytewari3346]

Gotta admit, even though there’s the typical “dumbass ignores magic advice” element, the fact that the main conflict came from him not remembering how to get home on the ocean is a weirdly realistic problem.

[@NobodyC13]

Plus the magic wife didn't really explain what would happen if he opened the box.

[@victorsardaneta8727]

I mean, it wasn't really dumb. He was desperate, with no home of his own and no way of going back he really didnt have anything else to do.

[@astralpasta7014]

I never heard this version (where he forgets about the box thing, and can't remember where the palace is) so being ADHD watching this was like ah...ah....AHHHH.

[@Captain.Mystic]

I can barely remember where my minecraft base is half the time.

[@alexp6013]

@@Captain.Mystic yeah and I've tried but I've found no way to f3 in real life, so that's a bummer

[@leventemucsi9547]

My favorite part is Red getting into something deep and existential and then immediately jumping to a scene with snark and elevator music

[@TheGyldenaut]

I was being dumb for like 3-8 seconds thinking “whats a Snark, did they misspell shark?” then i thought “what would a shark and elevator music have to do with anything” then i remembered what Snark meant and also Shark would work well considering it’s a guy who marries the daughter of a sea god.

[@joganesha4151]

@@TheGyldenaut As I always say when I explain a meme to my brother, "It is beyond your dimension of comprehension mah boi". Now I think I know what it feels to be on the receiving end (Yes I also thought they said shark lol)

[@thejudgmentalcat]

She's keeping it real for us

[@Dvergenlied]

I, too, enjoy Red being Red and doing typically Red-like things. ;-)

[@hellocentral5551]

It is a staple of the OSP experience.

[@SavageGreywolf]

"ran off with a fish lady he just met that day" I mean in fairness if you were a medieval Japanese peasant and a beautiful magical princess showed up and said you could marry her and live in her dope castle that probably sounded like an amazing deal with zero downsides

[@peterwindhorst5775]

And if your grandson becomes the emperor tooo that might be a benefit too.

[@So_Indecisive]

True, I know I would

[@Klaaism]

Still seems like all pretty dope deal.

[@thomasfplm]

I just think that he should have asked to say goodbye to his family before going, because it was not very nice of him to just leave them like that.

[@TheMewtata]

Sounds like a great way to get Bluebeard-ed. Agree to run off with someone who has way more power than you, to their home turf, tell no one, you know basically nothing about them, AND logically they have bo real reason to desire you? You’re gonna get murdered in a VERY creative fashion.

[@unclearety9371]

it's remarkable how universal "ignores magic lady's magic advice" is

[@arturomacor3615]

One would imagine that after centuries of being told stories like this one people would learn, but apparently experience is the only teacher that makes the lesson stick.

[@thundercrash4775]

Well, "don't be an idiot and listen to your mother" is a pretty ubiquitous childhood experience.

[@ExeloMinish]

At least here he was freaking out and not just "oooooh but what if I did"

[@jordinagel1184]

It’s also remarkable how often magical beings give an object to a person/group, and insist that they not use it for its intended purpose (most commonly “don’t open this box”), which is especially egregious when said object is of no use.

[@thundercrash4775]

@@jordinagel1184 I would consider that both parties fault. One side rarely offers an explanation for "why" it shouldn't be used that way, and the other side never seems to "ask" for that explanation.

[@D0cSwiss]

I feel like the princess handing Urashima a box that will kill him the moment he opens it and not warning him about it is an even bigger red flag than not mentioning the time-distortion house

[@mjbull5156]

I would say more v that the box did not kill him. Rather, the unopened box was keeping him alive, and he broke it by opening it. That his wife had not explained what the box was for is the problem, and not telling him how to get back home, too.

[@otterpopgames9824]

I think the box was holding all the years in "normal world" he should have aged and by opening it all of those years rapidly came down on him

[@benjaminseidlitz4002]

Why did she even give him the box in the first place??

[@frantisekvrana3902]

@@benjaminseidlitz4002 My only guess is that it had to always be in the same frame of refenece as he was. So if it stayed in the palace, it would have no effect and he would age immediately upon leaving it.

[@janTesika]

I think it's supposed to be _keeping_ him from dying, and opening it broke the charm.

[@merrittanimation7721]

"Strap in Urashima, we're going near *the event horizon* " "I'm having second thoughts about this relationship"

[@TechBearSeattle]

"Wait, you mean that's NOT a euphemism for sex?"

[@merrittanimation7721]

@@TechBearSeattle "I thought you understood it was a physics term!" "I'm an early modern Japanese fisherman! Why would I know anything about physics?"

[@Punaparta]

@@merrittanimation7721 >early modern A quick scroll through Wikipedia suggests that the tale dates back to at least the Muromachi era, i.e. late medieval period. Not to mention the timeskip of several centuries implies that Taro himself should be even older than that.

[@merrittanimation7721]

@@Punaparta You provide a better term for "generic period of time after 1000 AD or so that changes from telling to telling"

[@alilweeb7684]

@@Punaparta you must be fun at parties

[@Potatosticks55]

“Hey honey before you go take this box!” “Oh what’s inside?” “Don’t open it.” “Why not?” “Just don’t.” “Then why give it to me?” “Plot.”

[@MADD3RALL]

Wasn't the magic n the box stopping him from suddenly aging the equivalent of centuries and therefore keeping him alive?

[@Prodigi50]

@@MADD3RALL Yes. But she could’ve just told him that.

[@maxinesenior596]

@@Prodigi50 or not given him the box.

[@timothymclean]

@@maxinesenior596 Unless the box had a limited range on its anti-aging effect. Probably shoulda explained that though.

[@maxinesenior596]

@@timothymclean "have this box, you must keep it with you and not open it because nothing inside it can help, have it to remind you of me" or something

[@CMAlongi]

Story idea: someone with a terminal/chronic illness that has no cure in their contemporary time moves into one of these time-warp realities. After a couple years as they get sicker and sicker, they return to the regular world that's aged a few centuries in the hopes that it now has a cure for them. (It does have the cure, but the culture is now whack and/or the leaders are mean, so they storm back to the magical reality in a huff, wait a few minutes, and then march back, hoping it's better. They do this every time they get even a little salty at their local politics or sports team. "The Vikings lost AGAIN? Eff this, I'm leaving for another decades, and you guys better have a decent quarterback when I return!")

[@7OwlsWithALaptop]

In Critical Role there's an Archwizard that built himself pocket dimention where he controls the time flow, and then sped it up with the direct intention to just wait out until his enemies died out because he didn't want to deal with that shit

[@KianaWolf]

[80,000 years later] "I'm sure it worked *this* time..."

[@KiltedShepherd]

Reminds me of a Rick and Morty episode I saw once.

[@theMoporter]

"Feel like you're losing your best years to chronic illness? Then you've got nothing to lose!"

[@DragonsDungeon]

Doctor Who episode The Girl Who Waited, inciting incident is a virus that kills you in 24 hours, but these people built a place where you can live you entire life in 24 hours. So rather than dying that day, for you, you live a entire natural life why friends and family can watch and speak to you.

[@brycevo]

I once was told a slightly different version. He opens the box, and in it are a pair of baby shoes. She had guessed being a human, he'd open the box. Putting two and two together, he tries and tries to return, but keeps getting lost because he's being punished for his curiosity and distrust. But now being a father, he keeps trying to be with his family. Until, right before he seems to be dying of thirst, his wife sweeps him up and cares for him. Having learned his lesson, he was allowed to stay

[@Somber_Knight]

i like that version much more

[@blueteller]

Well, that's a much more reasonable ending than "she didn't tell why opening the box was a bad idea just for kicks"...

[@salvadortoscano2534]

I like this better :D

[@d.tsukuyomi1869]

Where'd you hear that? I want more of it!

[@marw9541]

Ah yes, the Disney version. Unfortunately an English invention given that baby shoes weren't exactly an old or Japanese thing

[@mattbauer899]

This whole "hour inside, year outside" scenario shows up in a lot of folklore. Oisin of Ireland, Taro of Japan, Honi of Jerusalem, and King Kakudmi of India all have this in common. Interestingly, there is another story like this from Hungary, where the husband actually listens to his immortal wife and successfully returns.

[@profezzordarke4362]

There are several Irish and Welsh variants of this story as well. Sometimes they are even invited to only a party with the Fae and then a return centuries later.

[@bobthemouse6668]

Also, in these stories they are often explicitly told NOT to do something, and then they do it. Orpheus pulls the same thing. He's told don't turn around and his wife can come back, but he does it anyway. Oisin is told don't get off the horse, Urashima is told not to open the box

[@DarkestElemental616]

Four for you Hungary, you go Hungary! (what is it called?)

[@jamesredmond7001]

Honestly it seems that the common thread here is husbands doing what their wives tell them not to do, and getting shafted because of it. Glad to know some things haven't changed. Side note, are there any tales where the role is inverted (I.e. it's the wife who's the normal human being and the husband who lives in a time-dilation)?

[@Passions5555]

@@jamesredmond7001 The Greek myth Eros and Psyche. She is told specifically not to open the box of beauty given to her by the queen of the dead as a trial of atonement for not listening to a cryptic request by her ethereal husband where he gets injured. Psyche opens the box anyway to use a little goddess beauty on herself (because in some versions she rapidly ages while going to visit the Queen of the dead) and it's filled with death itself which overwhelms her and her husband Eros has to go heal her from it.

[@Dyneamaeus]

Honestly, unlike some of these 'disobey and perish' folktales, I can't really blame the guy. He weathered one existential shock with remarkable calm, only proceeds to panic when the second shoe drops, and in that panic makes a mistake born largely of ignorance. Pretty relatable honestly, barring the existential doom sandwich.

[@YTDariuS-my6dg]

Yeah I never liked these stories, because the usual reason why they get "object x that will do bad thing if you y" is to test them, but the test ALWAYS involves a situation where they can't NOT do y, or doing y is inexplicably the only seemingly reasonable thing to do. Like imagine a hero, he gets a box, and is told by a Divine Being that he must never open it, either not being told why or being told only half the reason, like you'll lose all your new powers we're giving you. THEN they send a spy sorta character that will do their damn HARDEST to convince them to open the box. Think, "Your mother is dying! Your powers can't save her, but the thing in the box can!" So the hero opens the box, thinking I'd rather have a mom and no powers than powers and no mom, but he didn't get told that A) his mom is already dead / is fine, and more importantly B) he's gonna lose his powers because he's gonna be frickin DEAD

[@HoradeFidges]

@@YTDariuS-my6dg In this case, at least to me, seems that more than a test, the mist in the box was what was keeping him alive, and once its gone his age catches up to him, and the reason she didn't told him about the box was because she didn't want him to know about the time difference thing

[@clinton8421]

​@@HoradeFidges But he was going to find out about the time difference anyway when he realises that everyone he knows has long been dead.

[@zilesis1]

@@YTDariuS-my6dg yeah, but aren't the "power granters" in the old folk tales usually NOT morally good or morally ambiguous at best. of the folk tales i've heard, it's usually Villain A is being supre evil and the hero goes to stop them, but they realise it's a suicide mission. then they meat and NPC (either by doing a good deed like saving an animal, or just by being in the right place at the right time) who tells them that Villain A is only super powerful because they posess "object x". that if the hero steals object x they will also be granted amazing pwers, but they can never do "thing y" to the the object. so the hero steals object x, used its' power to defeat the villain and then the whole bit with them being tempted to do thing y plays out so it's still a test of character but A) the hero knows the object's iffy origin, which should give them the idea messing with it is not good and B) it's implied the object has a corruptive force which also helps tempt the hero the other scenario is that object x belongs to some magic waifu the hero wants to marry and they mess with the object in hopes i will keep the "fair lady" bound to them

[@YTDariuS-my6dg]

@@zilesis1 I think I understand your point somewhat. Assuming I do, I think I can agree with you to an extent. Well, that has little to do with this particular story (If I'm remembering things correctly) but I can see where you're coming from. I guess there's just such a big variety of stories and cultures that you can't really put them all in the same, heh, *box* and expect them all to play under the same rules.

[@sheolcodemonkey4027]

"Here's a box, don't open it under any circumstances" "Then why are you giving it to me?" "To teach you a lesson" "A lesson about what?" "Opening boxes I tell you not to open" "Wouldn't it be easier to just not give me the box?" "That's it, I'm dilating time"

[@TitanAnteus]

Wasn't the box keeping him alive?

[@MADD3RALL]

Wasn't the magic mist in the box there to keep him from aging? Didn't letting it out kill him???? Although that does feel like something you mention instead of the ominous warnings lmao

[@gus.smedstad]

My first thought on hearing the "here's a box, don't open it" was it was a jerk move on the part of the turtle princess. Let's assume for the moment that it wasn't a trap all along, just a magic preservative. That he broke by opening it. Maybe turtle princess could have, y'know, told him what it was? Being mysterious is still a jerk move. Of course, if this were something Irish and it was about the Fae, I'd just accept it. Because the Fae are pretty much like that all the time. It's their thing.

[@itsmeanunoriginaljoke431]

Yeah, I was thinking "Why are you giving this to me?".

[@jerri1918]

Maybe the box needs to be in close proximity to him in order to work, and telling him what it does would reveal the time dilation, which is being kept secret from him (?)

[@gamara204]

I like how he wasn't even that wrecked by his old life being dead as he was about not being abe to get back to his wife.

[@NothingisTrue2013]

It’s understandable, as he can do nothing about long dead friends and family, but his wife is actively waiting for him back home.

[@michaelscott6022]

Moral of the story: when a divine/otherworldly being gives you a box, DON'T OPEN IT. Looking at you, Pandora.

[@merrittanimation7721]

Looking at you too Psyche.

[@imuncreative3022]

Pandora has a little bit of an excuse. In the version I know she was specifically designed to open the hat box.

[@biswasbudhathoki8144]

@@imuncreative3022 that version was covered by Red

[@Brian-tn4cd]

Technically it was a jar (pithos)

[@patrickmcginty3234]

@@imuncreative3022 Also, didn't Pandora not get any warning about what would happen if she opened this seemingly random box?

[@clericofchaos1]

It's weird how many of these old stories start out with "I met a magical lady who wanted to marry me and immediately went 'OK! What could possibly be wrong with this scenario?"

[@5starradiant339]

I mean, in their defense, life was pretty boring. I can see how a giant magical marriage proposal would be appealing, at least it's something exciting happening

[@clericofchaos1]

@@5starradiant339 i agree, and i'm not saying it wouldn't be tempting but i really do think these guys should have a put just little extra thought into it first. Maybe asked a few basic questions to learn who and what they're dealing with, and then marry them...or don't if the price seems to high.

[@mjbull5156]

She is rich and beautiful, and then on the flip side, rejecting a goddess is an action fraught with danger in itself.

[@clericofchaos1]

@@mjbull5156 Well you don't have to outright reject her...maybe you can just be friends? HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! No, that'll totally work.

[@GanyuSimpingDegenerate]

I mean it's a better alternative to being a peasant living in the middle of nowhere and getting dysentery

[@AshtonPyr]

"The importance of following the instructions from people who know more than you." Basically any folktale if you have someone mystical and knowledgeable beyond the main character.

[@JaelinBezel]

But what if they want you to die like Aphrodite wanted Psyche to die?

[@Blacklight.2025]

That applies to real life as well! Cof* Cof* Anti-vaxxers Cof* Unconvencing Cof*

[@shadowclaw7210]

@Egypt Aleena or how about “So did |insert show that needs nest season| been released?”

[@Kalebfenoir]

"So, when you go back, here's a box of...something... Just don't open it. Ever. Okay? Or you can't come back." "... Deal. But can you like, get someone to add about fifty locks to this, make it from really heavy, worthless metal? And... on the off chance some thief steals it and opens it without me being around or being able to stop it, that doesn't count as me opening it right?" "True... Okay yeah. On that specific event, you're good. Now let's go see the Dragon Palace's metalworkers for those extra locks." No one seems to ever get that if you're given a mysterious MacGuffin with the warning to never open it, you should MAKE SURE it stays SHUT, and that you got a legal out if it gets stolen from you and opened without your consent!

[@dracosfire7247]

“Also, some way to find this place once I want to return would be nice”

[@ckl9390]

Key part is that this wasn't a real "instant-kill" box, but rather is was a containment vessel for magic that was stabilizing his experience of time. It has more in common with the one where the guy (sorry I can't remember the name) goes of to a fae's wedding for an evening and has to stay on his horse in the normal world because it's now centuries later and as soon as he touches the ground time will catch up with him.

[@R4yj4ck]

So when I was younger my mom found this book at the library called "Icarus at the Edge of Time" that I LOVED and it used that concept of time passing faster in the "outside world." The idea is that Icarus is part of a colonizing mission on their way to a new planet, and his is one of the generations that will spend their whole lives on the ship. Born, live, and die on it. But one day Icarus hears his father mention they're passing a black hole and goes out to fly by it for a bit of adventure, disregarding his father's warnings. So he goes out, even skimming the event horizon, but when he returns back to where the ship is, the ship isn't. Instead, there seems to be an interstellar highway. When someone finally stops to check on him, they tell him that mission was millennia ago.

[@AuthorMadican]

"She'll cut you off from your friends and family in a relativistic warp of time." Meh. "This also means you're cut off from all your video games and books." Sumimasen, princess.

[@hamsterdam1942]

On flip side it means you don't have to wait years for anticipated releases, and chances are, you'll have better specs avaliable and that godforsaken GPU market will finally fix itself

[@boxcarz]

@@hamsterdam1942 That, or WW3 will have ended the world in the meantime and you find yourself in the world of Ancient Mythology 2: Electric Boogaloo.

[@gzer0x]

“Also, Your fiancé’s house might be a relativistic anomaly that completely cuts you off from your friends and loved ones forever, which is just generally a red flag.”

[@doppelrutsch9540]

Hey that's a quote from the video I just watched! What are the odds.

[@odd-ysseusdoesstuff6347]

I mean it is A red flag

[@AccidentalNinja]

Joke's on you, I'm into that.

[@megabyte01]

Seriously, find any excuse to move on if you encounter someone trying to cut you off from your friends and loved ones like that.

[@SuperAmaton]

SCP Foundation open UP!

[@insanecat6]

I've read a children's book version of this story where instead of marrying the princess he is just treated as an honored guest. That version also didn't have quiet as much time pass so instead of dying when he opened the box he just aged into an old man which may or may not be worse as it would give him enough time to actually regret things and have to process his grief.

[@acemarvel1564]

The perfect story to teach future adventurers

[@15oClock]

"Hey bros, the Elven queen said I'm hot and she wants me to go to her kingdom!" "Does it exist in the same plane of reality as ours?" "Um…" "Take a rain check."

[@acemarvel1564]

@@15oClock I meant metaphorically

[@alilweeb7684]

I mean, not really. Time dilation isnt as severe unless u standing near the event horizon of a black hole. that planet in interstellar is(1h=7 ye) is wayy overtuned

[@Punaparta]

@@alilweeb7684 YoU mUsT bE fUn At PaRtIeS

[@alilweeb7684]

@@Punaparta lmaoo, also mine is useful yours was historical pandering

[@iusedtobebob]

Weird, the version of the story I heard when I was younger was Urashima saw a few kids bullying a turtle, so he chased them away. Turns out the turtle was basically a taxi driver to the palace under the sea. The rest is the same.

[@fcv1_]

Well thats because its a folktale. The longer it exists, the more it changes. May be at some point it had more reasonable plot :/

[@jturn103]

Same that is how l read the story as a kid

[@timothysteele7346]

I love how red acts like the whole "you're fiance's house can distort time" thing is normal like she's experienced it before Jesus this is my first comment to ever get this much likes THANKS!

[@biswasbudhathoki8144]

Maybe she is experiencing it considering how fast she appears to talk

[@odd-ysseusdoesstuff6347]

I mean, she IS canon Loki, and she and Blue DID already exist even before the Library of Alexandria was burnt so… yea

[@timothysteele7346]

@@biswasbudhathoki8144 I never thought that to be possible but now that I hear it IT MAKES SO MUCH SENSE!

[@timothysteele7346]

@@odd-ysseusdoesstuff6347 wait she's Loki? I didn't know that

[@odd-ysseusdoesstuff6347]

@@timothysteele7346 I suggest you watch their “We’re Sorry” April Fools episode

[@dumpsterhag]

You singing "maybe this time" after all of that absolutely killed me 💀 I can just imagine the spooky magic lady being like "aw, drat, another husband killed by his own curiosity and foolishness. Maybe I should just try tinder"

[@timothymclean]

I swear, this marriage was doomed to fail. She didn't communicate that a year inside her home is more than a century outside, he didn't communicate that he was bad at following fairy-tale instructions, there was just a lot of bad communication all around.

[@tarod3]

She also gave him a magic death box without telling him.

[@timothymclean]

@@tarod3 I assumed it was a magic keep-him-from-experiencing-the-ravages-of-time box that he broke.

[@lphphd5298]

To be fair, he was a moron, he just went with the pretty godess without telling his own family. And literally left his wife without asking how to get back

[@sweetbunnybun]

maybe she didnt know that

[@Healermain15]

@@lphphd5298 He is very consistently bad at long term planning. Which is an issue when you want to shack up for a thousand years.

[@LunDruid]

Red: "Maybe those magical otherworlds simply reside close to the event horizon... Or maybe it's fiction and we don't need to read too far into it." Me: "Yeah, but where's the fun in that?!"

[@mjbull5156]

The otherworldly realm has high concentration of magic. Magic, if it existed, would be another fundamental force, like gravity. So like where there are high concentration of gravity, there iscacstrong time dilation effect.

[@frantisekvrana3902]

@@mjbull5156 That actually makes sense. Although, that would also imply that worlds with faster time, such as Narnia have a lower energy density instead.

[@cosmetanoia5018]

You should do pre-islamic Arabian mythology!! It’s fascinating and as extensive as Greek mythology!!

[@altairauditore3782]

As i am completely uneducated (in the relevant history/geography/politic)here, which region is that? egypt, babylon, northern africa, persia, or turkey?

[@cosmetanoia5018]

@@altairauditore3782 well the same question would pose for Greek mythology really. It’s regional. Ancient Egyptian mythology GROSSLY predates Arabian mythology, and they weren’t Arab. They were middle eastern! Same w persia, turkey, babylon, and most of north africa. They arent arab. Arab means the main language of the country is arabic. So mostly the arabian penninsula

[@peterp.9327]

@@altairauditore3782 Arabia, as in east of Egypt, south of Babylon. (expansion of arab people and culture into those other regions is tied in with the rise and spread of islam aka post-islamic)

[@Landis963]

There was that one she did on the Zoroastrian legend of Johnny Snakeshoulders.

[@peterp.9327]

@@Landis963 That'd be Persian/Iranian

[@Bluecho4]

I love that Red figured out how to distort images for a time dilation-y visual effect, and used it as much as possible in this video. Proud of her.

[@luigiboi4244]

Ah yes, the classic folktail involving existential cosmic anxiety.

[@TheRealPentigan]

Another lesson: Remember to get a proper map and/or wayfinding artifact when undergoing a voyage away from your otherworldly palatial estate so you can actually find your way back.

[@jocosesonata]

Time and reality warping is a rather obscure type of red flags, so you can't really fault anyone for not immediately recognizing it. If I had a nickel for every time I missed the signs, I would have two nickels. It's not a lot, but it is weird that it happened twice.

[@brigidtheirish]

I understood that reference!

[@MatthewSmith-sz1yq]

I loved the absolutely insane math involved in interstellar. While they did get time dilation correct, they didn't quite get the numbers correct. I can't remember exactly what it was, but the planet where 7 years passed each hour would need to be practically ON the event horizon for that to happen.

[@John_Weiss]

Yep. That stuff kinda happens when writers understand the physics enough to get the details right, but not enough math to check if what they're writing is even remotely physically possible.

[@whiteraven181]

Ah, The Lovecraft Effect

[@TheFlamingGamerYT]

Ah, the stories of people being transported to other worlds, and them coming back to see time has still be going forward, or was the same when they come back. I like when time does move forward when said hero is transported to another world, because then there could be more serious repercussions/conflicts the hero would need to face when they return home. Always appreciating the uploads from you guys

[@biswasbudhathoki8144]

The hero doesn't always solve the conflict you know. Like Urashima here

[@fullmoontales1749]

Actually in most of these stories, I think, they just die due to their age catching up, as here Then there was that king invited tot eh dwarf's wedding who didn't disobey the instructions but is now functionally undead (from the Wild Hunt video I think)

[@georgiag812]

It’s really cool to see the similarities!! The irish story i grew up with Tir na nÓg is pretty similar too except instead of opening a box, it’s getting off the Magic Horse and touching the normal world ground that got our guy rapidly ageing.

[@biswasbudhathoki8144]

@Addilyn Sara Moral: after giving the magical items proper explanation should be given like its advantages, disadvantages, uses, misuses, its properties, its effects, etc. etc.

[@biswasbudhathoki8144]

I mean Urashima was just a normal person. Of course he would open it.

[@cellochicita]

I looked up this myth after playing that Olympic Google Doodle game, and I got interested in what Japanese myths they were referencing. If it helps any, Urashima is apparently hanging out with his wife and synchronized swimming his days away

[@tntguardian6455]

1:17 This is a note that should be given to any folktale character going on a quest: listen to the person giving advice or you won't like what comes next. Looking at you Lindworm

[@twistedtachyon5877]

Percival: "Eh, I'm pretty sure you're boned either way."

[@ELSTERLING]

OSP uploads: A valid reason to drop everything for several minutes.

[@caderschatzman1708]

Oh, another folklore one! This is going to be fun! Edit: That was not fun. That was sad.

[@biswasbudhathoki8144]

With Red as narrator it was good for me.

[@biswasbudhathoki8144]

Also a good tragedy is a fine literature.

[@andrewollmann304]

The Japanese have some really sad folktales. “The Crane’s Gift” is super depressing, as is “Minokichi and the Yuki-Onna,” but then you have super charming ones like “The Peddler and the Jizo Statues,” so they’re not all super-sad.

[@hirobeez]

There is another different level to this story, where the ending seems to have changed in recent history (maybe even because of regional versions), where he doesn't just die, but becomes a crane and meets his wife again as a bird. As far as I remember, no one seems to actually know why it became more tragic, but I guess it makes for a better story to tell with the drama and all that. I think I've also heard of a version he turns into a turtle himself... But that may be me just misremembering. And also, it seems that the "turns into something in the end" is a thing that confuses modern Japanese people because everyone seems to think to themselves "...what?", because as it usually is, the ending probably symbolizes some sociopolitical moral of the time that version was in vogue.

[@terral-ferma2731]

Remember kids, don’t go into the feywild, time barely works there.

[@angeldude101]

Can confirm. Whenever I'm doing something for a while, the next time I look at the clock either only 10 minutes have passed, or about 4-5 hours. There isn't really an in-between.

[@pyrosianheir]

Love that whiplash from heavy physics concepts to "but don't think about it too hard. It's just stories."

[@michaelflattery2298]

This is extremely similar to the story of "Oisín i dTir na nÓg" that I grew up with. Except instead of "don't open the box" the otherworldly wife's warning was "stay on my magical horse than can run across the sea" and in some versions at least he doesn't intentionally get off the horse but the strap on the saddle breaks when he tries to help some of farmers move a giant boulder (Oisín is a great warrior and hero as well as a renowned poet so I get why the otherworldly lady was into him tbf). If folks have seen OSP's Celtic myth videos, this is the same Oisín who was born to the lady turned into a dear by the bad guy Red got frustrated trying to pronounce.

[@ruga-ventoj]

Yeah, Red referenced this in one of the drawings. Guy gets off a horse and then pops into bones.

[@seandelaney8336]

This was exactly what I was going to say. Very similar story elements!

[@kyramccone]

I have Irish blood and read that story years ago. My brother liked it because the wife was cursed to have a pig's head until she could find a man to marry her in the version I know.

[@Sam-hz3tr]

I just got to the end of this with my 8 year old, to which he exclaimed with a puzzled look, "why even give him the box?!" 😄

[@urielsantos9546]

OOH I remember reading this story in a children's book my parents gave me when I was younger!! Its really nice to see it animated!

[@benjaminschroeder5465]

Do you still have that book or remember what it was called? Because it sounds kinda cultured

[@urielsantos9546]

@@benjaminschroeder5465 Yes, I still have it but I sadly don't remember the name :(. It was a book with around 50 stories from around the world, if I find it I'll try to post the name here.

[@urielsantos9546]

@@benjaminschroeder5465 Hmmm, from what I could find it was only released in portuguese. It's called "Volta ao mundo em 52 histórias."

[@Punaparta]

@@urielsantos9546 Uh... "52 stories from around the world"? I don't speak a joão of Portuguese.

[@urielsantos9546]

@@Punaparta I think that more accurate translation would be "a trip around the world in 52 stories" (unless you're sayin that that is the title of the english release).

[@timothymcqueen3408]

Every time you talk about fictional tropes I think of a million shows I want you to watch.

[@lostbirdinacruelworld7535]

The Tale of Urashima Taro from Japan and the Tale of [Oisín] in [Tir na nÓg] from Ireland are really similar. This is very interesting because they're both islands, and from the opposite side of the world, I don't know if there is a secret connection?

[@PandoraSystem]

Islands have a weird relationship with time, not in a relativistic or causal sense but in an evolutionary (both ecological and cultural) sense. Like many things, island time tends to be exaggerated relative to mainland time - longer periods of stability, punctuated by more intense periods of change. That could easily inspire the idea of hundreds of years' passage (and all the changes therewith) being witnessed by one unfortunate human.

[@finndelimatamay1983]

@@PandoraSystem that is a really cool observation. Thank you for giving me something to spend my whole dinner thinking over.

[@parthiaball]

2:48 well that was a trippy 10 seconds, I loved it!

[@imuncreative3022]

I've seen the version of Saiki K. It's almost as sarcastic as this one. But I love Reds drawings for this!

[@wangshuping137]

Offu Teruhashi

[@LadySunami]

Upvoting you as a fellow Saiki K fan!

[@TheShinyFeraligatr]

"That's basically the only time pop culture ever used this." anyone who's seen Gunbuster: *WELCOME BACK*

[@gojicandle8188]

I knew someone would know

[@blacksage2375]

Yeah uhh late 80s Japan is maybe a bit of a stretch for *pop* culture. Sure it was Gainax but like pre-NGE Gainax. Time dilation isn't entirely unknown to fiction its just ya know big budge Hollywood movies by famous directors get a lot more exposure.

[@retroanimemike]

There is a LOT of time dilation in Gunbuster, but I missed any reference to Urashima Taro if there was one.

[@TheShinyFeraligatr]

@@blacksage2375 Yeah, but we don't talk about shit things like the benders big figures in Hollywood get up to, we talk about good things here.

[@HaakonTheRayquaza]

other versions of the story says that; some children were torturing a turtle Urashima Taro stopped them and released the turtle, instead of the whole accidentally catching a turtle

[@syabilaazri7834]

By the way, if you big fan of Tokusatsu, try to watch Ultra Q the turtle episode or even Kamen Rider Den-o

[@HaakonTheRayquaza]

@@syabilaazri7834 I'm not a fan

[@tengu5949]

@@syabilaazri7834 I am, thanks for the recommendation.

[@nicodalusong149]

Here's the version I'm familiar with.

[@burntpopcorn2993]

These videos are always the highlight of my day

[@TheRealLemur]

So... this tale is almost exactly one to one as "Oisín in Tír na Nóg" and it was so weird for me, culturally, to hear an old folk tale i've known all my life play out in a different culture and... be exactly the same beat for beat...

[@cooltrainervaultboy-39]

Wouldn't be surprised actually. Tons of countries and cultures have their own rendition of the same stories and ideas without having made contact with those who share the eerily similar stories. Cinderella being one such story. And I think the lightbulb being another case. Hell, the topic of shared stories and ideas dispite never making contact to trade such stories and ideas should be a video Red should do.

[@taylor_green_9]

Hey! I'd love to see a video on colour-related tropes. Not any specific tropes, because there are way too many, but an overview of how they work and the principles behind them

[@jacksonbrown396]

There’s an Irish folktale called tír na nóg that is wierdly similar to this maybe you should check it out

[@biswasbudhathoki8144]

Which one is older one? Japanese or Irish version

[@joemerl1145]

Starring Oisin from the "Finn MacCool" video! Before this I hadn't realized that time dilation appeared in other cultures.

[@odd-ysseusdoesstuff6347]

Was it the myth where a guy was invited to a Dwarf’s wedding, and 400 years passed? Yea, it’s here, I forgot the name of the vid tho, but it’s in Miscellaneous Myths

[@GhostBear3067]

There are a lot of those in Celtic mythology

[@fightingfitz214]

Its specifically the story of Oisin and Niamh, tir na nog is just the irish name for the Otherworld

[@dragolingrand8607]

I actually heard a version were the turtle was being picked on or is practically abused by a group of kids. And the fisherman stops the kids from hurting a poor turtle. And the dragon princess (aka the turtle) offers him a chance to see the underwater palace as a gift for saving her from her tormentors.

[@mslabo102s2]

That's the version I think most Japanese grew up with.

[@dragolingrand8607]

@@mslabo102s2 thanks for your input.

[@anshulkarkera8911]

Trope talk idea : How in romance stories there is always a balcony separating the lovers

[@galvaton10000]

On the album "A Night at the Opera" there is a song called '39. The song is about space travel, time dilation, and the travelers, although gone for only a year, return to an Earth that has aged decades. Great song

[@michaellevesley3578]

There's an Irish version of this myth where a warrior and a fairy princess fall in love and they go to her world (Tír na nÓg or "land of the young"). After a few years he gets homesick and want to visit home. His wife gives him a horse and tells him he can go but not to ever get off the horse. He returns to Ireland, but finds that it's hundreds of years in the future. He's sad but decides to return to his wife. However he meets some farmers trying to plough a field, but there is a massive rock in the way. He bends down to pick the rock up ( he has super strength I guess). But as he does he falls off the horse and as soon as he touches the ground he ages into an extremely old man and dies shortly afterwards. He meets st Patrick before he dies apparently, but I think that was a alter christian addition.

[@BFedie518]

Pretty sure that's what was being referenced at 0:24.

[@finndelimatamay1983]

@@BFedie518 Wow. How did I not see that the first time round? (thanks for pointing it out)

[@michaellevesley3578]

@@BFedie518 No. I was referring to the story of Oisín and Niamh. Not mentioned in the wild hunt video. But it is a common trope.

[@SingingSpock]

The Ender Quartet (Ender’s Game and the three books that follow it) *does* deal a lot with relativistic time, it’s revealed near the beginning of the second book that Ender, while only in his 30s, has experienced millennia of human history because he travels at light speed so much

[@Kenkire]

Moral: If a magical person gives you a box: DON'T OPEN IT! god.

[@TheMightyDM]

Counter Moral: If you are a magical fairytale being and you give a magic box to a naturally inquisitive human, put an unbreakable padlock on that thing.

[@Kenkire]

@@TheMightyDM Yeah. Like that.

[@SharkSalesman90]

@Diana Averie I got that reference

[@SharkSalesman90]

What do you mean it has happened two times?

[@Kenkire]

@@SharkSalesman90 LOL

[@saradrawsstuff]

0:11 HECK YEAH INFINITY TRAIN

[@Laughlin_ONeill2010]

YEAH!!!

[@flavoredchin]

Red, have you done a rant on the "curtains are fucking blue" meme before? Because it's making me unnecessarily frustrated.

[@keinkanal7382]

You mean people dismissing the necessity of literary analysis just because not everything has a deep meaning necessarily, but they project their bad learning experience onto all media having no deep meaning needed to be analysed?

[@CraftsmanOfAwsomenes]

“I was forced to do analysis of a book I didn’t want to read in high school so now I use a strawman argument to say analysis is pointless”

[@balrogdahomie]

With you on that front. I’m a big fan of death of the author as a media analysis mechanism, and the insistence some people have that any interpretation beyond or outside of what the author intended is pointless, is super frustrating Explanation Point has a good video on it, I believe called “Turn Ur Brain Off: the purpose of media analysis”. I highly recommend it.

[@KrytenKoro]

Imo, the literary analysis defenders are completely missing the point the meme users are trying to make, to a both obnoxious and ironic degree. 1) they're deliberately ignoring the context of the actual meme: high school English teachers, who absolutely DO insist their interpretation is both the only valid one AND what the author meant. They comprehensively fail to anchor the discussion both in the distinction between interpretation and intent, and they fail to actually follow their own claim about interpretations being valid. And those teachers absolutely deserve to be raked over the coals for that, and internet randos mocking "shallow stembros" should shut the fuck up because they're being massive hypocrites. 2) they overstate the use of literary analysis to an insane degree. Yes, you can interrogate what the story meant to you*. And that's not unimportant! But as soon as you start claiming that it informs about the world the author wrote it in, or truth in general, you're making testable claims. And those claims better the fuck hold up to the evidence. Most rants defending literary analysis tend to play fast and loose with this conflation. They don't acknowledge that, in this usage, literary analysis consists of *guesses*, and that authorial intent *does become very important, as do cultural differences. The wedding wasn't in the snow because snow means purity, it was in the snow because that's the tradition for the author's culture. 3) in line with 2, while definitely many authors pack meaning into every choice they make, not all do. Sometimes they just picked the first word to pop into their head, and all the choice actually means is that they had seen blue curtains recently. Sometimes theyre lazy on Google, and Slade isn't actually intended to be a HALO gamer. Maybe the gaping plot hole isn't meant to communicate the fragility of casaupity, it could just be that the author is human and fallible. Literary analysis needs to be much more honest about allowing for those to be the case. 4) esp. considering that the whole deal with death of the author is that communication can mean different things between giver and recipient, defenders of literary analysis need to not complain about semantic criticisms, ever. It's literally their whole deal, about how important it is why you decide to say exactly what you said, and way, way too often, do you see the defenders trying to wave off the complaint about "when we say authors meaning were really talking about readers interpretation, but it still can decide what the story means even if it makes claims that are historically implausible". No, fuck that, you better be damn precise with your description of your process if you want to not be laughed out of academia when you insist that the authors were so much more precise. Tldr: literary analysis is definitely useful and important, but too many of it's everyday defenders are pretentious hypocrites, liars, and bullies who are poisoning the discussion.

[@keinkanal7382]

​@@KrytenKoro I wish I could agree with what you said, except that the reason why there's so many defenders whom you call "pretentious hypocrites, liars, and bullies" is because for the longest of time this meme was literally spouted as soon as someone insinuated that media could have a deeper meaning to immediately shut down a possible discussion.

[@Abell_lledA]

One doesn’t experience self transcendence, the illusion of self only dissipates.🎈

[@matthewmccallion3311]

This is basically the same story as the Irish Celtic folk tale of Oisín and Tír na nÓg. It always astounds me how much overlap can be found between cultures despite vast distances between them!

[@finndelimatamay1983]

Why do you think it is? I know certain myths are born of a kind of universal fear, like fear of the sea, or thunder, or predators... But time distortion? Where does that fear come from?

[@TheLordTash]

​@@finndelimatamay1983 It almost certainly stems from seafarers being afraid of what they might encounter when they return home from a long fishing/exploring expedition. For all they know, their wife was stolen without any way of figuring out where she disappeared to, their house was looted, and their children died. And it probably did happen to a lot of sailors. You can see elements of that in other stories, like the Odyssey, where a bunch of vultures were ready to steal everything he had because he wasn't around to protect it. It's still a fear that military men have to this day.

[@ProfessM]

I love it when you guys cover tales I've heard before and go into versions but I super love it when I hear one I've never heard before!

[@Ekami-chan]

Okami version where Urashima just got old with his earthly wife was so cute...

[@carlosroo5460]

Name?

[@Lerasium]

@@carlosroo5460 that is a very vague question. if you care to know General information in the video game Okami there is sideqiest based on this myth is found in North Ryoshima Coast

[@christianfarren1179]

1:10 When has that *ever* stopped us before?

[@shinyninja8107]

So the dude fishes up a turtle, throws it back, it turns out to be a goddess and he’s told that can now be her husband. As you do.

[@nervnerd]

You mean you don't have a dragon wife? Huh...I feel I need to talk to my dragon wife about this...

[@stephenthomson3120]

There was a chapter in the manga Love Hina where everyone in the story starts asking Keitaro Urashima if he was named after Taro in this story and he has a bunch of flashbacks about how people had asked him that all the way through school and he always hated to be asked that.

[@jean-paulaudette9246]

'And he finally found his way back, only to learn he'd been gone for a century, and his descendants were absolute jerks, who hated him for abandoning them.'

[@mastermuffles7097]

I'm very happy OSP used Infinity Train as an example. It needs more recognition.

[@BonaparteBardithion]

1:00 Wasn't this a key element in the original _Planet of the Apes_ film? Also, Queen's _'39_ is about this. Had that song going through my head through the entirety of _Interstellar._

[@AHGrayLensman]

Only Brian May would think to write a folk song about relativistic time dilation.

[@janeoathdragon5793]

My favorite version of this trope is definitely when time moves either 1 to 1 or when the normal world only moves slightly slower so a character that's been gone for years may only have been gone for months, I like it when the other worldly adventure feels like it has some consequence in the character's original world such as aging and or a missing person's search

[@ValueNetwork]

So… do we get a explanation for why this random Princess became a turtle, Swam around for a bit in the sea until she found the first Man she could find, then immediately took him to her magical world without any hesitation. It’s implied she knows about the time dilation thing so why doesn’t she give him a map so he can go get his things and travel between worlds

[@journeyrivenburgh1052]

This is a really cool trope in mythology! I remember reading stories like this when I was really young, and I always thought they were interesting. A personal favorite of mine is a Romanian folktale about a prince who encounters death, and run off with his horse to find a place where neither old age nor death can find him, eventually walking to the edge of the earth and living with the north wind for a thousand years.

[@kemsatofficial]

This is a lot like the Irish/Celtic story you did a while back. Crazy that two cultures a world apart came up with the same thing.

[@Just_Some_Guy_with_a_Mustache]

Okay, but at what point does a middle-aged, silver-haired samurai battling diabetes come in with his friends (comprised of an alien girl, a hostess, her girl friend who has a crush on her, a living pair of glasses, a MADAO, and Zura) to join the resistance comprised of turtle-men to fight Princess Otomhime, who only kidnapped them to maintain her youth?

[@nny-diocre5737]

also finding Urashima's body kept frozen in the Dragon Palace, which was a spaceship hundreds of years ago then turned into an underwater tourist spot.

[@CoolVictor2002]

Mind if I reel you in? 🚅🐢

[@syabilaazri7834]

@@CoolVictor2002 i suprise there not a lot of Kamen Rider joke in here...but this story does explain why Urataro is a flity lying turtle and why he appear at the end of episode 4 like still in sand alone

[@TheGabygael]

i like to think that people from the future travelled back in time using the theory of relativity to their advantage and used this trope as a way to explain their mechanics of time travel and it solidified into folklore

[@kabobawsome]

"Also, your fiancé’s house might be a relativistic anomaly that completely cuts you off from your friends and loved ones forever, which is just generally a red flag." "I am telling you, we are not getting married while you live in that house. You're either going to have to move in with me or into an apartment first." "What was that? All I heard was a high pitched noise for a sec."

[@Nickle_King]

Sad thing is, he probably could have gotten back just by finding another turtle and asking for directions. Might have started an Odyssey style journey if that turtle isn’t trustworthy, but it would have been better than disobeying your magical wife’s advice.

[@BillyBob-xx5jr]

Well tbf, he uses an old fishing boat, with the most steering I imagine it has is paddling, that likely wouldn't survive sailing for more than a few days, especially given "Palace of the Ocean King" is probably in deep water, likely in dangerous territory with storms, waves, and probably man eating sharks too, not to mention he himself likely never travelled that far off shore. He most likely wouldn't have been able to get a better boat or supplies for a trip either, as even if he brought money with him, the chances of it being inflated to hell or just not being accepted after 300 years is very probable.

[@Nickle_King]

@@BillyBob-xx5jr dude. I over think things a lot. This is REALLY overthinking something.

[@pariote6102]

After a video packed with love and death, it’s always nice to cool down with a serenade from Red

[@odd-ysseusdoesstuff6347]

3:47 ah yes, me and my fiancé are living well in the otherworld, it’s been 4 years since I proposed, but, dang, does time flies by

[@renatocorvaro6924]

"Or maybe it's fiction and we don't need to read too far into it." *proceeds to read too far into it*

[@uria3679]

Who hopes Red talks about the Myth where Aphrodite and Hermes had a affair and a son?

[@jean-paulaudette9246]

Just a quick in-and-out

[@timothysteele7346]

I didn't know that myth was a thing but now I wanna see red make it a video

[@DahliaRose1585]

is that the one with hermaphroditus (the ever original name) because i learned about that due to a biology class, and it vaguely traumatised me

[@Great_Olaf5]

I mean, how much even is there to that? I thought it was just one of those "And this is a thing that happened" myths.

[@carlosroo5460]

You know, with all those incest mangas out there, I'm surprise none of them are about the Greek Gods.

[@angrybrony]

man, a infinity train clip and atlantis the lost impire ost? fucking perfection.

[@lemmetalkaboutthis]

I just _love_ how Red keeps using the Epic Atlantis Music™ any time anything mildly epic and water-related happens

[@ElectariumTunic]

Is this from the Disney movie Atlantis, or from something else Atlantis?

[@lemmetalkaboutthis]

@@ElectariumTunic yah the Disney one, she uses it quite often

[@thartmann9284]

Red: Does some really frickin' sweet artwork, including a detailed imitation of a Japanese woodblock print a la "The Great Wave off Kanagawa" around 2:42 Also Red: hehe distort and zoom effect go *brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr*

[@grapeshot]

I remember that anime Ah My Goddess. And Belldandy was explaining that one day in their version of Heaven could equal several hundred years on Earth.

[@chrisnunamaker9177]

The worst part is that the dilation was variable for some reason so she could go to heaven and be back in an hour or a century with no warning.

[@fearnot6526]

Everyone keeps harping on about not opening the mystery box, meanwhile I’m wondering why his wife gave it to him in lieu of a map back to the palace.

[@kamen.rider.decade]

1:23 "Mind if I reeled you in?" --- Urashima Taro, most likely

[@syabilaazri7834]

That might explain why he always get girls around him. He try to find the love that he lost at the sea....Also, he the one who first dissappear when the time line get mess up and the one who call Ryoutaro using the phone

[@baileyravenwick]

This is like my ADHD where I think I'm only doing something for 10 minutes then like 2 hours have passed.

[@joeevans5770]

He drowned on a fishing trip and never came home. Something about that sentence is funny

[@Enixon869]

in fairness it's Japanese folklore, there's probably about five different kinds of hungry ghost he could have came back home as after drowning

[@noahdoney]

You could also add the moral of "tell your husband where your magically hidden house is"

[@Dusxio]

And now I'm wondering if the Theory of Relativity, is why fights take so long in Dragon Ball Z...

[@John_Weiss]

…Dragon Ball Z, which I refer to as, "Dragon Ball Constipation," for that very reason. One character spends 3 episodes straining before finally releasing … his attack.

[@ohno8398]

I absolutely adored the editing in this one!

[@amnplays3211]

Plot twist : The wife knew that he would open the box and wanted to get rid of the husband since he was getting homesick.

[@carlosroo5460]

Let me guess. Your favorite genre is Grimdark?

[@readmachine18]

I always love OSP's music choices for these videos--that Atlantis mucic? PERFECT ;p

[@Silversnakesinthesun]

Lessons from folklore: leave the women in the ocean for the lesbians, no man has ever interacted with them successfully

[@timothymclean]

If the ocean women were lesbians, they'd find land women themselves. I assume.

[@lphphd5298]

@@timothymclean they do, and live a happy married life. We just dont hear about them because of that.

[@timothymclean]

@@lphphd5298 My point being that straight ocean women probably wouldn't appreciate being left for the lesbians. They're willing to take the risk of a dumpster-fire land man. Why there aren't any ocean men around in most of these fairy tales is a question for the ages.

[@carlosroo5460]

I don't know, that preach of Pirates of Caribbean 4 seem to had hit the Jackpot.

[@timothymclean]

@@carlosroo5460 _struggles to remember which one PotC 4 was_ _struggles to remember who "that preach" was_ Oh, right, the missionary guy who existed solely for a boring romance subplot. Maybe we should try to find a better example

[@rasmusn.e.m1064]

Me: Watches horror movies while sounding like a tree falling in a forest on a planet without an atmosphere. Also me: Has literal full-body shakes after hearing this story.