Author's Notes: The "poem" at the beginning of this chapter is actually the lyrics to the opening song in the English version. At the beginning of each chapter, I plan to have at least one stanza of a song from either the English or the Japanese version, and I will choose which sections of the song best fit whatever chapter I am writing. For this one, the opening theme of the English version seemed best.
Chapter 1: The Innocence of Youth
Chirin, come. Come and play
And chase all the clouds away.
Little one on the run,
How far will you roam?
Chirin, come. Come and play.
Let your dreams carry you away.
Hear the bell you love so well
That brings you back home.
Run and play in the snow.
For now that's all the life you know.
Seasons pass. You will see
That life's not all that free.
Chirin, where are you now?
I hear that too-familiar sound.
Chirin, ring. Ring your bell.
Let me know all is well.
When we are young, we don't know a lot of things, but the small amount of knowledge we do possess makes us happy: knowing our home, our friends, how to get places, and maybe how to get back. The world is a strange, new place, a great puzzle. Sights and sounds and smells are its pieces. We see things we know nothing about, things that surprise us and sometimes sadden us. But, as we explore and grow, the time comes when we learn. We learn about the world, and we grow older.
In the lovely meadow nestled between the mountains, new life was brimming all over. One of the young ones was Chirin. Chirin was a small, cute lamb born in early spring, when there were still a few patches of snow on the ground. His back was covered with curly, white fleece. He had more energy than all the other lambs in the pasture put together. He wore a golden bell around his neck, and although Chirin liked the sound, it was there to help his mother find him if he got lost or fell when he didn't watch where he was going. With this ringing bell, Chirin's mother could find him even if he were to fall into a deep gorge.
One bright, warm spring day, Chirin was walking along the meadow, wandering away from the other sheep. Everything was still new and strange to him, young as he was, and he was looking around in awe. He turned about and walked backward to gaze at all the flowers, sneezing at their sweet fragrance, before turning back around and marching on.
An orange butterfly flew overhead, and Chirin watched it with wonder, sneezing again. He turned and kept going only to stop as he realized the butterfly had landed on his head! He shook his head to get rid of it, making his golden bell ring with that beautiful sound he loved so well.
He immediately spun around to face the butterfly, making the bell jingle again. The butterfly flew right up to him and landed on his nose. Crossing his eyes to stare at, Chirin could feel his nose tickling and felt another sneeze coming. He let it out and shook his head, making the butterfly leave him again. But the butterfly was persistent and landed on his nose yet again. Chirin wished he would stop; that tickled! He reared up on his hind legs and kicked the air with his front hooves, trying to swat the butterfly off. The butterfly left, but Chirin lost his balance and fell over on his belly.
When Chirin saw the butterfly was flying away, he trotted after it, his bell jingling as he went. Even if the butterfly tickled him, it was a fun little creature and so strange! Chirin wanted to know more about it.
The butterfly sped up, and Chirin broke into a run, keeping close. But suddenly the butterfly changed direction and started heading back the other way. Chirin rear up on his hind legs, reaching for it, but he missed. He tried to turn and follow but gasped when he felt himself falling over backward. He landed on his back in a bed of flowers. But to his great delight, a whole bunch of orange butterflies sprang up from the flowers, flying in all directions around him! He laughed happily and leapt to his feet, but most of the butterflies had already flown away.
Not the least bit upset about losing the butterflies, Chirin was excited thanks to the wonders he'd seen. He giggled some more and started leaping around in pure joy. Then he followed two of the butterflies, who were heading back toward the other sheep. Here, I come! he thought.
All of the other sheep, including the other lambs, were grazing quietly. One of the lambs turned and watched as Chirin approached, seeming startled when Chirin came somersaulting down the hill toward them. Chirin was all smirks. He followed a butterfly underneath one of the ewes, crawling under and the pulling himself free. Coming through! he thought. The ewe lifted her head in surprise, watching as the lamb with the ringing bell went skipping away.
Chirin changed course and then leapt on top of on of the grazing lambs, crushing it into the ground. He then leapt onto one of the adults, scrambling when he almost lost his footing, and adult raised her head and blinked in surprise.
He could see one of the butterflies just a short distance away. It was flying away. Chirin thought, if the butterfly could fly, couldn't he? He leapt off the sheep after the butterfly. With a cry of delight, he flapped his legs and ears on either side of him like wings. Hey, I'm flying! he thought excitedly.
But he didn't fly; he let out a cry as he crashed to the ground.
Three other lambs watched him fall, and one of them leapt back when he landed. But Chirin wasn't hurt; dazed, perhaps, but not hurt. He was simply happy with this latest adventure and decided to lie there until he got his breath back.
When he didn't move, the other lambs watched in interest, and one who leapt back stepped forward again, lowering its nose curiously.
But just then, the ground moved underneath Chirin. Chirin's eyes widened in surprise. "Ooh?" he said. He felt himself lifted up, dirt being thrown up under him, and then felt this lump of ground move out from under him and start down a path. "Hmm?" Chirin said, turning around and watching it. The ground was moving! Chirin smiled and leaped after the moving ground, following its path, giggling when he caught up with it and started sidestepping along so he could watch it. He tripped doing this but was too interested in the dirt and too delighted as this strange discovery to give pause; he was up and following again right after. This was way cooler than butterflies!
The other lambs watched but didn't follow.
Chirin finally was curious enough to try to stop the moving dirt. If he got in front of it, could he stop it? He'd have to see. He ran ahead of it and plopped himself in its path, falling down on top of the overturned earth.
The dirt stopped moving forward, but the mound of earth continued to grow higher. Chirin plopped back on his haunches, studying the phenomenon in amazement. The only way the dirt could do that, he decided, was if someone was underneath the dirt! He'd have to dig them out! Without giving it further thought, he started digging with all his might.
A fourth lamb had come to watch Chirin's strange game, getting up on top of one of the other three. And that fourth one was now getting dirt thrown in its face. It fell back, and the one underneath him lifted his head, then getting dirt in his face. They all blinked in surprise, staring at Chirin. They couldn't imagine what game he was playing.
Chirin at last dug so far down that he was able to get himself in the hole! But then something struck him the face! Chirin jerked back in surprise and surfaced again, sighing at the new pain in his nose. Next to him, a black mole popped out of the hole, looking very angry. It chattered in frustration, shaking a claw at him. It was so angry that it flipped in the air and kept chattering. When at last it was finished telling Chirin what it thought of him, it grabbed a handful of dirt and slammed it on top of its head so hard that Chirin cringed at the sound. Having buried itself again, the mole kept digging.
Chirin put a hoof behind his head shyly at this little misadventure. Oh, well! he thought.
Time for a new adventure! Chirin leapt out of the hole and went running in little bounds up a hill away from the other sheep, his bell jingling. When he topped the hill, he ran in a circle among the blue flowers, simply running for the fun of it. Then he continued on his way. Delighted, for no other reason than the fact that he was here and alive, he closed his eyes, prancing along in a fantasy.
Because he had his eyes closed, he did not look where he was going, and soon tripped off a sharp drop and fell about two feet down to the other sloping side of the hill. He tumbled down the hill in a ball of white fur, his bell ringing crazily, before he finally struck the fencepost, stopping his tumble. He gasped and plopped to the ground, head aching.
As he was getting up, he looked up at the fence to acknowledge it but then turned back to it quickly. He had never wandered this far out in the pasture before; he had never seen this fence. It was another strange and new thing, and Chirin didn't quite know what to make of it.
But then he felt himself being watched, and he turned and let out a happy gasp. "Mama!" he cried.
His mother was standing a few feet away; Chirin's bell had told her he would be here, and she had felt the need to come. "Hello, Chirin," she said, her eyes filled with love.
Chirin leapt to his feet giggling and ran to his mother, jumping up in front of her and laughing. It was always so wonderful to have her near! "Did you see my somersault?" he asked.
"Very good!" his mother praised him.
Hoping she would play with him, Chirin ran up and rammed his head into her shoulder. His mother laughed at his playfulness but remained quiet and calm.
Seeing that she wasn't going to play, Chirin decided to be content with just nuzzling her. He smiled ear to ear as he rubbed his head against her soft fleece, his bell ringing and helping his heart to swell with love.
"Chirin," Chirin's mother said to him, nuzzling the top of his head, "listen to me. Heed my words and remember them." She turned back to the fence. "I don't want you playing outside the fence."
Chirin stopped nuzzling and looked at her in surprise. "Past the fence?" he repeated, looking at the fence. The thought had never crossed his mind before.
"Yes," his mother answered.
"Why not?" Chirin asked.
"Chirin, it is very scary out there!" his mother answered. "The world can be a dangerous place! If we stay behind the fence, we'll be safe. Look, do you see that mountain?" She pointed her nose up at a rocky, nearly-barren mountain beyond the fence. Other mountains, just as immense, stood around and behind it.
"Uh-huh," Chirin answered.
"An old wolf lives in those rocky mountains," his mother said. "He attacks defenseless sheep to feast on our tender meat. His favorite food is baby lamb."
To Chirin, this made no sense. "Oh, yuck!" he exclaimed, turning to drop his head to the grass and clover at his feet. "He is silly!"
"Why?" his mother asked him, turning to look at him.
"It is hard to eat us," Chirin explain, munching on some clover. "You'd get a mouth full of fleece! What would he want to eat lamb for? Clover leaves are much taster!"
Chirin's mother shook her head at his naiveté. "But wolves eat sheep," she said.
"I see," Chirin said, although really he didn't. He kept munching on some clover, putting the wolf out of his mind. "But clover tastes much better, and if he ever comes around, I'll tell him that!"
"You'll do no such thing," his mother said, shaking her head. "I don't want you ever to go near him."
"Well, he doesn't scare me!" Chirin said, trying to sound brave. After all, this wolf must be joke! No one could really want to eat lamb!
Just then, a gray rabbit popped up out of the ground, his mouth full of clover. "Boo!" he said.
"Ooh!" Chirin gasped, blinking in surprise, and he ran to hide under his mother. The stranger had startled him.
Seeing him, the rabbit leapt toward him, looking interested. "I love clover," he said. "Yup, yup!" He knelt to the ground again and started munching more clover.
"Are you listening?" Chirin's mother asked, drawing his attention back to her. "Do you promise me, Chirin?"
"Huh?" Chirin asked.
"Do you promise me never to go outside that fence?" his mother asked.
Chirin, however, was watching the rabbit again. "I love it, I love it, I love it!" the rabbit was muttering. With a mouth full of clover, the rabbit lifted his head and regarded Chirin again with a friendly expression. Chirin smiled in delight at seeing that the creature was friendly.
Just then, the rabbit ran off and stopped a short distance away, looking over his shoulder as if to see if Chirin was following. "Come on, let's play!" he exclaimed.
"Please, Chirin!" Chirin's mother said to him, reminding him that she had asked him a question.
"Yup!" Chirin answered happily. And with that, he bounded after the rabbit, who had taken off again. "Hey, wait up!" he called after the rabbit.
"Chirin!" his mother called after him.
But Chirin had already disappeared in the grasses with the rabbit. The two popped up again from the grass, looking right at each other. "Come on, let's play!" the rabbit repeated. Then they disappeared and appeared again ever further away, doing the same thing. "Hurry!" the rabbit yelled.
Again they disappeared into the grass and popped out again. "Wait!" Chirin said.
"Over here!" the rabbit yelled as he hopped, jumping up into the air. He then disappeared, and Chirin disappeared after him, and they appeared again, further away. "Hurry!" the rabbit yelled.
The fifth time, the rabbit hopped out of the grass first, bounding away, and Chirin was bounding after him. "Wow, this is fun!" the rabbit yelled. Chirin laughed as he ran after him.
Chirin's mother chuckled to herself and shook her head in exasperation, gazing after her son lovingly. Chirin was just so full of energy! Sometimes she wondered if he was ever really listening.