Yei Theodora Ozaki was an early 20th century translator of Japanese short stories and fairy tales Her translations were fairly liberal but have been popular and were reprinted several times after her death. According to A Biographical Sketch by site_link Mrs Hugh Fraser included in the introductory material to Warriors of old Japan and other stories Ozaki came from an unusual background She was the daughter of Baron Ozaki one of the first Japanese men to study in the West and Bathia Catherine Morrison daughter of William Morrison one of their teachers Her parents separated after five years of marriage and her mother retained custody of their three daughters until they became teenagers At that time Yei was sent to live in Japan with h Yei Theodora Ozaki was an early 20th century translator of Japanese short stories and fairy tales Her translations were fairly liberal but have been popular and were reprinted several times after her death. According to A Biographical Sketch by site_link Mrs Hugh Fraser included in the introductory material to Warriors of old Japan and other stories Ozaki came from an unusual background She was the daughter of Baron Ozaki one of the first Japanese men to study in the West and Bathia Catherine Morrison daughter of William Morrison one of their teachers Her parents separated after five years of marriage and her mother retained custody of their three daughters until they became teenagers At that time Yei was sent to live in Japan with her father which she enjoyed Later she refused an arranged marriage left her father s house and became a teacher and secretary to earn money Over the years she traveled back and forth between Japan and Europe as her employment and family duties took her and lived in places as diverse as Italy and the drafty upper floor of a Buddhist temple. All this time her letters were frequently misdelivered to the unrelated Japanese politician site_link Yukio Ozaki and his to her In 1904 they finally met and soon married site_link Helt best rt och undrande vem eller vad det var som s tydligt hade kallat honom vid namn spanade han i alla riktningar och uppt ckte slutligen att en sk ldpadda helt of rm rkt n rmade sig b tens sida Till sin f rv ning fann Urashima att det var samma sk ldpadda som han dagen f rut r ddat Se goddag herr Sk ldpadda sade Urashima Var det ni som nyss ropade p mig Sk ldpaddan nickade flera g nger p huvudet I denna samling noveller blandas traditionell japansk kultur med det vernaturliga F rutom fiskarens m te sk ldpaddan ber ttas det ocks om guldgossen Kintaros ventyr historien om prinsessan Hase och mannen som fick vissnade tr d att blomma Dessa folksagor m lar en sp nnande bild av japanska kultur och historia Yei Theodora Ozaki 1871 1932 gjorde sig k nd som vers ttare av japanska folksagor Hennes vers ttningar blev om ttligt popul ra under hennes livstid och l ses fortfarande med uppskattning in i v ra dagar Japanska sagor ber ttade f r v sterlandetJapanese fairytales for westerners. This was another book club selection and I find it a little difficult to review it since I mostly read it while on Malaria treatment a lot of nausea It was an okay read but I felt like after two or three stories I ve read them all Again not sure if it s the book or the fact that I was ill. The book requires no previous knowledge of Japan or Japanese since it s translated to explain Japanese culture stories and mythology I read the collection from the Brothers Grimm a while ago and it is interesting how many fairytales are similar and use the same or similar tropes Yei Theodora Ozaki