A slow, calm 3 hour sleep story for the night of the full moon, to help you fall asleep and stay asleep. Tonight the storyteller reaches the last page of the old book, and she has saved it for this exact night: The Moon Princess, from The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter, the tenth century Japanese story sometimes called the oldest fairy tale of all. An old bamboo cutter finds a stalk glowing in his grove, and inside it a princess small enough to rest in his two hands. She grows into a lady so gentle that five grand suitors are set five impossible tasks and refused without one unkind word, an emperor becomes her friend by letter, and when the moon at last sends its shining procession down for her, she leaves behind a letter and a gift, carried to the summit of the highest mountain in Japan.
Settle in, close your eyes, and let it drift over you. The pacing is slow, the voice is soft, and the music never spikes. There is a farewell in it, but it is the gentlest farewell in any storybook, told with far more moonlight than sorrow. There is nothing here to fear. You do not have to watch. You do not have to remember any of it in the morning.
Episode 12 of 12 · The Storybook Season
Where this sits: Part 12 of 12 in The Storybook Season, one storyteller, one lantern, and one complete famous tale each night, each told from its original source. Tonight, the princess the moon calls home, told on the night of the full moon, the last tale of the season. Every episode stands on its own, and any night is a fine night to begin.
Chapters:
0:00 Welcome
3:26 The Grove of Green Light
12:53 The Smallest Princess in the World
23:04 The Five Suitors
33:48 The Stone Bowl of the Buddha
40:50 The Jeweled Branch of Horai
51:45 The Robe of the Fire Rat
59:02 The Jewel in the Dragon's Neck
1:06:53 The Swallow's Shell
1:16:20 The Emperor's Letters
1:24:32 The Fifteenth Night of the Eighth Month
1:38:09 The Smoke of the Mountain
1:45:18 Goodnight. And the Lamp at the Edge of Morning
Watch the illustrated version on YouTube: add the link after the YouTube upload.
New episodes every Sunday, Tuesday, and Thursday.
🕯 Sleep stories from history, Kingdoms at Dusk: https://kingdomsatdusk.com
📜 All our worlds: https://gildenmyth.com
🕊 Goddess sleep meditations, The Tender Hour: https://www.youtube.com/@TheTenderHourChannel
🎙 David's interview podcast, Conversations That Count: https://www.youtube.com/@ConversationsThatCount-CTC
🎧 Also on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3J6lZ10GvK07qCv3aQxnkR and Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/conversations-that-count-a31f16a6-3131-4c8f-982f-19d52407e8eb/id1890348796
This show uses AI tools (research, narration, visuals) under human editorial direction. Every episode is reviewed before release.
