Classic story

Princess Kaguya

A Japanese tale
8 chapters
about 32 min

Listen freeOur AI voices · free account Listen freeOpen it in your library In your voiceWith a paid plan →In your voiceWith a paid plan →

Read an excerpt

A poor old bamboo-cutter discovers a tiny, radiant girl inside a glowing stalk of bamboo. He brings her home to his wife, and they lovingly raise her as their own daughter, Princess Moonlight. As she grows, she becomes incredibly beautiful and emits a soft light that fills the house. Her fame spreads far and wide, attracting many suitors who wish to marry her. The old man tries to help these men by fulfilling their impossible requests for rare treasures. However, the Princess sees through their lies and rejects each one because their gifts are fake or stolen. This leaves the suitors humiliated and angry, creating tension in the household. Despite her popularity, the Princess remains sad and distant, knowing her true origins are not human. One night, a mysterious cloud descends from the moon, carrying celestial beings who claim her. A chief messenger demands that she return to the moon immediately. The old couple pleads for her to stay, but her destiny is sealed. The Princess sadly leaves her foster parents and gives them a final gift before ascending in a flying chariot. She sends a letter and a vial of elixir to the Emperor as a farewell gesture. The Emperor burns the elixir on Mount Fuji, creating a lasting legend. Thus, the moon-child returns to her celestial home, leaving behind only memories.

How it begins

Long, long ago, there lived an old bamboo wood-cutter. He was very poor and sad also, for no child had Heaven sent to cheer his old age, and in his heart there was no hope of rest from work till he died and was laid in the quiet grave. Every morning he went forth into the woods and hills wherever the bamboo reared its lithe green plumes against the sky. When he had made his choice, he would cut down these feathers of the forest, and splitting them lengthwise, or cutting them into joints, would carry the bamboo wood home and make it into various articles for the household, and he and his old wife gained a small livelihood by…

Every story, fully told

No recording needed: every story comes with all of this, on every plan — the free preview included.

A voice for every character
The narrator tells the story, and each character speaks in an AI voice of their own, so you always know who is talking.
The mood of every line
The reading follows the mood of each line: quicker when something exciting happens, slower when it's sad or sleepy, with pauses that let the big moments land.
Pictures of every place
Each chapter is illustrated with the places where it happens — a forest, a castle, a little cottage — and the pictures change as the story moves on.
Read along
The words light up as they are spoken, each speaker appears beside their lines, and music plays in the background.

Paid plan

Your AI voice, for any character

Record one short passage, then choose who reads in your AI voice: just the narrator, a few characters or the whole cast. The others keep their own AI voices, and only the parts in your voice use your plan's monthly rendering time.

Listen free Listen free

Princess Kaguya

How it begins

Every story, fully told

A voice for every character

The mood of every line

Pictures of every place

Read along

Your AI voice, for any character

More stories like this