STORY: THE PEACH BOY

   An old couple living in the Japanese countryside was lonely because they had no children. As the old lady was washing their clothes in the river, a giant peach came floating down the stream. She brought him to her husband and when they prepared to cut it open, a baby boy sceamed from inside the peach. They reared him as their son. At age fifteen, he left to conquer the evil ogres at Ogre Island. His father gave him a sword and armor and his mother gave him dumpings. Along the way, he met a dog, a monkey and a pheasant; he gave each a dumping and they join him to fight the ogres. The pheasant pecked at their eyes, the monkeys clawed them and the dog bit them. The ogres succumbed to Momotaro and gave up their treasures. Momotaro returned homr, his family became rich and the ogres did not cause them any more harm.