The Tale of the Shining Princess, 1980 edition, 18th century Japanese woodprints.

Adapted by Sally Fisher. Translated by Donald Keene. First edition thus, 1980. The Metropolitan Museum of Art and A Studio Book, The Viking Press. New York.

"Long ago in Japan there was an old man who made his living by cutting stalks of bamboo and making clever and useful things out of them. He and his wife a difficult and lonely life. Life was difficult because they had never had a child to bring some light and liveliness, or even something unexpected, into their days.

"Then late one afternoon as the forest grew dim and an early moon appeared, the bamboo cutter noticed a strange stalk of bamboo. it was glowing down near the root, as if there were a candle inside. He was mystified and leaned down to examine it. Inside the hollow bamboo was a tiny girl, no more than three inches tall! The bamboo cutter said to himself, "Since I am the only person in the world who would be here right now cutting this bamboo, I think this little child must be meant for me and my wife." He carried her home cupped in his hands, in just the way you would carry a baby bird."

The Tale of the Shining Princess is an adaptation of a classic Japanese folktale called Taketori Monogatari (The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter). It tells the story of a beautiful moon princess who is sent to Earth as a punishment and becomes the adopted daughter of a poor bamboo cutter and his wife. She attracts many suitors with her radiance and grace, but she rejects them all with impossible tasks. Eventually, she reveals her true identity and returns to her home in the moon, leaving behind her earthly parents and friends. The book is illustrated with reproductions of 18th-century woodblock prints from the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

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Condition*: Fine/Very Good. Dust jacket: Light edge wear; small chip front cover, upper edge; closed tear with crease on the back near head of the spine; corners lightly bumped. Gold-embossed red cloth cover boards. Pages are clean, complete, and undamaged.