:43:00
It was loaded to the hilt
with exotic treasure...
:43:02
...lacquered handrails, ornamented
golden posts bound for Heaven and Hell.
:43:06
With voices ringing
and cheerful demeanor,...
:43:10
...the ordinary tanuki,
dreaming of their heavenly destination,...
:43:14
...boarded as though beginning a regular
voyage. It was such a sorrowful sight.
:43:22
Under the shadow of the moon,...
:43:24
...the treasure ship rocked and floated...
:43:27
...gently down Tama River.
:43:29
They were carried
along by the current,...
:43:31
...as if being pulled along a set of tracks.
:43:34
With the sail raised
and stretched taut by the wind,...
:43:37
...they boarded the ship
for Nigitatsu and waited for the moon.
:43:40
There was
much merriment onboard the ship...
:43:42
...as it was propelled along by the tide.
:43:48
Under the shadow of the moon, the
sounds of their beating belly-drums,...
:43:53
...bells, shamisen, flutes,
taiko, and tanuki merriment,...
:43:55
...continued throughout
that fantastic night.
:43:57
The ship of ordinary tanuki,
loaded with gold, silver and coral,...
:44:02
...slowly departed from the shore.
:44:04
Although it was not the Mud Ship,...
:44:06
...the tanuki left behind
could do nothing but weep.
:44:11
The shimmering field of silver grass
seemed like a dream on a spring night.
:44:16
They looked up at the Moon Bunny
as Amitabha beckoned them to paradise.
:44:21
However, the more they strove towards
paradise, the closer they came to death.
:44:25
With a ``doom doom,''
they sailed to their deaths.
:44:28
The ordinary tanuki
sailed to their deaths.
:44:30
It was a trip
from which they would never return.
:44:32
And with a ``doom doom,''
they sailed to their deaths.
:44:35
The poor tanuki
were on their way to death.
:44:37
With a ``doom doom,''
they sailed to their deaths.
:44:44
Oh, man.
We're no match for the humans.