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Translation Note: This translation has been slightly
modified with quote attribution and some picture
descriptions to make it understandable to readers who are
not in possession of the book. Enjoy.
MONONOKE
HIME
by Hayao MIYAZAKI
translation by Suma SUZUKI and Scott Ryan, 1993.
Cover:
Giant grinning cat wearing a red vest riding a wheel with a
girl on his back. The cat is being pulled by a team of mice,
which are reined to his hands.
Page 1:
A soldier, whose army had just lost a battle, got separated
from the others and lost his way in a forest.
Page 3:
After wandering for a long, long time, he saw a light
through the trees.
Page 4:
It was a house that filled the hollow trunk of an enormous
tree. The house seemed to be deserted, but there was a lot
of food on hand.
Page 5:
He started to eat ravenously. Then, suddenly, the soldier
got a spooky feeling.
Page 6:
The owner had returned.
Page 7:
The entire mountain belonged to a huge mountain lion, and
this was his lair.
Page 8:
"My food's inside you, but I'm still going to eat it," said
the mountain lion.
The soldier
begged for mercy. "If you let me live, I'll give you one
of my daughters to be your wife."
Page 9:
Mononoke {the mountain lion} paused with his knife and
thought for a moment. "Only one?" he said. "Hmm, all
right."
Page 10:
{Picture: Mononoke in strap-on bat wings.}
"Don't
forget your promise," said Mononoke after they left his
house.
Page 11:
"Boy, you're heavy!"
{Picture: Mononoke holding the terrified duke with his
hind claws as they glide high above a canyon.}
Page 12:
Meanwhile, at the soldier's house....
Page 13:
"Don't you know what happened to the duke?" asked the
soldier's wife. She was quite angry they had abandoned her
husband.
Page 14:
When they got to the duke's house, Mononoke dropped him from
high in the sky and yelled, "I'll come for your daughter at
the next full moon."
"AAAAAAAAHHHH!!!!"
replied the soldier.
Page 15:
The duke caught on the gable of his biggest roof. The people
in the manor were confused and frightened by his sudden
appearance. "The duke fell from the sky!" they said to each
other in fear.
"How
embarrassing," grumbled the duke.
Page 16:
The duke came in and told his family all that had happened to
him.
Page 17:
"You lost the battle, we have to give up our daughter, and
the enemy is approaching the border!" yelled his wife.
"Could anything possibly be worse?"
For safety, the
duchess left for her parents' house with their first and
second daughters. Only his kind-hearted third daughter
stayed behind to be with him.
Page 18:
The duke felt over-whelmed, backed into a corner. The enemy
was closing in and so was the night of the full moon. His
frustration was interrupted when the gargoyle from the roof
came crashing through the ceiling. Amazingly, it began to
speak.
"If you lend
me your body, I will make you stronger," it said.
The duke
readily agreed. His daughter tried to stop him, even
without knowing an evil spirit was making the offer, but
her father wouldn't listen.
Page 19:
In the days that followed, the duke's behavior started
changing. He wolfed down large amounts of food and began
wearing his ancestor's armor around the house. In the past
it had been too heavy for him.
Page 20:
The duke faced the enemy single-handedly....
Page 21:
He piled up mountains of dead bodies one after another. He
was now an unstoppable soldier of death.
Page 22:
Slowly, the duke was overtaken by the desire to do away with
his third daughter since she knew his secret. This would be
easy, thought the spirit. --Mononoke was coming.
Page 23:
As promised, Mononoke arrived to fetch the daughter at the
next full moon.
Page 24:
"You're barely suitable to be Mononoke's wife," hissed the
duke insultingly.
Page 25:
Mononoke readied to leave, but the daughter still worried
about her father. The separation was difficult for her.
Page 26:
Mononoke put her on his back and took her to his home, far
removed from human habitation.
Page 28:
They arrived at his den and prepared food.
"Well, today is
our wedding day. Let's celebrate."
"I can't marry
you until you save my father from that evil spirit," she
said softly.
Page 29:
Mononoke became angry at her unbending stubbornness.
Page 30: "If
you don't comply, I'm going to eat you up," snapped
Mononoke.
{Picture:
Mononoke putting lid on caldron with girl inside.}
"Don't come out until you're well done."
Page 31:
He waited for her reaction, but heard nothing.
He had tried
threatening her, he had tried cheering her up, but she
wouldn't budge. Finally Mononoke gave up. "All right, what
do you want me to do?" he sighed.
Page 32:
"Please help me. And, if we can draw the spirit out, I
promise to be your wife.
Mononoke
accepted her condition. "Well, that's life," he sighed, "but
don't forget your promise."
Page 33:
According to legend, beyond the mountains lived a great
turtle, who knew many things. Their great quest to rid her
father of the evil spirit had begun.
Page 34:
Mononoke assumed she'd soon give up, but her will remained
strong.
Page 35:
It was tiring to have to protect her from the elements, but
his feelings for her began to run very deep.
Page 38:
They passed through the treacherous canyon of Haunted
Mountain. And walked through a forest whose trees had been
standing longer than the kingdom had been.
Page 39:
At last they found him.
Page 40:
The great turtle listened to her story, then spoke. "Evil
spirits inhabit people who harbor dangerous ambitions. I can
give you an object to suppress the spirit for a short time,
but it won't last unless your father has at least some shred
of humanity left.
Page 41:
"At the bottom of this lake lay many old treasures. The
object you need is amongst them," said the great turtle. They
dove down to look for it.
Page 42:
The object was an ancient bronze mirror, still polished and
shining after all this time.
Page 43:
After she climbed out, the great turtle gave her a last piece
of advice. "Your willpower will be the deciding
factor...."
Page 44:
They thanked the giant turtle and hurried to her father's
home.
Page 45:
Meanwhile, the evil spirit could sense the mirror was
approaching.
Page 46:
She gasped when she saw her old home. The small country manor
and its surrounding land had evolved into a monstrous castle.
The spirit's power had grown enormous.
Page 48:
The clatter of armor and clanking of metal could be
heard.
Page 49:
The fire from the forge seemed to burn the land.
Page 50:
The effects of a harsh government were present everywhere,
especially in the faces of the people.
Page 51:
Her father sent soldiers to his daughter.
Page 52:
But Mononoke fought to protect her from their steel.
Page 53:
"Keep your hands off my wife!" he bristled angrily.
Page 54:
Gradually, they were overwhelmed by the onslaught of
soldiers. Escape over a cliff was their only way out.
Page 55:
Even though Mononoke was injured, he continued protecting
her.
Page 56:
"I won't force you to be my wife any more," mumbled Mononoke.
"Why don't we just go home. I've had enough." A close bond
had developed between them.
Page 57:
After he fell asleep, she quietly took out the mirror.
Page 58:
In the moonlight, she saw a boy sleeping in the mirror. It
was the true appearance of Mononoke. He seemed to behave like
a wild animal.
Page 59:
And live like one too. One day he realized he had actually
become a wild animal.
Page 60:
She now knew his sad tale.
Page 61:
"...But I can't keep my promise to you. I'm going back to
my father's. Please forgive me."
Page 62:
Alone, she entered her father's castle.
Page 63:
"Step aside," she commanded. "The duke's daughter has
returned from the clutches of Mononoke." The soldiers obeyed
her authority without question.
Page 64:
The instant Mononoke awoke, he knew she was gone.
Page 65:
He raced to the village.
"Have you seen
the duke's third daughter?" roared Mononoke.
"T-t-t-t-to the
castle," the peasant quivered. "Alone."
"WHAT?!!"
Page 66:
Mononoke tore to the castle. He had completely forgotten to
disguise himself.
Page 67:
He leapt over the castle gate and continued in a straight
shot, oblivious of the soldiers.
Page 68:
Inside the castle, she moved swiftly to face her father.
Nothing in her former home was familiar to her.
Page 69:
Higher and higher she ventured.
Page 71:
At last father and daughter met.
Page 72:
"Any girl who would become Mononoke's wife so easily could
never stand up to me," sassed her father. "You pathetic
insect."
The evil spirit
possessed not only his body, but his mind as well.
Page 73:
The aura of the demon spirit sent a deep seated fear to the
pit of her stomach. She focused her mind elsewhere.
Page 74:
"Move it! Get out of the way," Mononoke bellowed. He could
sense something awful was going to happen.
Page 75:
The spirit stepped forward, wielding a sword. His daughter
held up the bronze mirror. In terror, the spirit drew
back.
Page 76:
She tackled her father and the mirror broke into pieces. The
evil spirit fled, for it was not longer anchored to the
father.
Page 78:
All that remained was a tired, weakened man drained by the
evil spirit. She hugged him tightly.
Page 79:
The evil spirit fled the father's body and transferred into a
nearby suit of armor.
Page 80:
It had been sucking the duke's blood to create its own
body.
Page 81:
Hellfire billowed from the demon's mouth toward father and
daughter.
Page 83:
At that exact moment, Mononoke jumped in the way.
Page 84:
He was engulfed by the full force of the blast, but still
stepped forward.
Page 85:
Realizing he couldn't win, the demon turned and ran. A
flaming Mononoke gave chase.
Page 86:
Fire blazed around the two of them as they battled with all
their might.
Page 87:
Out on the roof, right before her eyes...
Page 88:
...the evil spirit disintegrated with a cry of anguish and
Mononoke collapsed into a pile of cinders.
Page 89:
She ran to his side and burst into tears. Her brave warrior
had traded his own life for her father's.
Page 90:
"Don't cry," a voice said. "The great Mononoke would never
leave his beautiful wife."
{Picture: Smoldering pile of cinders with cat ears
sitting up, one eye open.}
Page 91:
They laughed and hugged with tears of happiness rolling down
their cheeks.
Page 92:
In his daughter's arms, the soldier passed away, but as a
human, not as a demon.
Page 93:
The people of the surrounding town, who had lived through
the oppression of the duke's iron fist, stormed the castle.
The gate was smashed and fire spread wildly. The monstrous
castle burned to the ground.
Page 94:
Mononoke gallivanted back to his mountain lair, his young
wife riding happily on his back.
O W A R I
(The End)
Page 96:
MIYAZAKI SPEAKS
The idea for Mononoke has been laying around on image
boards (the first step to creating an animated film) since
1980. The studio didn't accept it so it was never
animated.
I gave up on
the idea for Mononoke, but I still wanted to make a
historical story. But whenever I started to work on one,
the idea of beauty and the beast kept coming to mind.
Since I couldn't make a decent story come together, I
decided to focus my attention back on Mononoke.
With the help
of STUDIO GHIBLI's producer [Toshio] Suzuki, who agreed
to publish this story, and the staff, who formatted my work
for this book, the project was realized.
In the earlier
versions, Mononoke was going to be changed back into a
human, but I decided against it. The story is slotted to be
made into a movie starting in 1994 and some changes may be
made, but the ending will remain the same.
Page 99:
Hayao MIYAZAKI, born in 1941, Tokyo. Animation director.
After he graduated from Gakushin University, he started
working for Toei Animation Production Company. His most
famous work there was "Taiyo no Ouji -Horusu no
Daiboken" [Adventure of Horus, Prince of the Sun]. In
1982, he went freelance and made "Mirai Shounen
Konan" [Future Boy Conan], "Rupan Sansei
Kariosutoro no Shiro" [Lupin III: Castle Cagliostro],
and "Kaze no Tani no Naushika" [Nausicaa of the
Valley of Wind] (as director).
In 1985, he
co-founded Studio Ghibli. Here he has made such films as
"Tenkuu no Shiro Rapyuta" [Laputa: Castle in the
Sky], "Tonari no Totoro" [My Neighbor Totoro],
"Majo no Takkyuubin" [Witch's Delivery Service,
a.k.a. Kiki's Delivery Service], and "Kurenai no
Buta" [Crimson Pig a.k.a. Porco Rosso]. Books to his
credit are: "Totoro no Sumu Ie" [The House of
Totoro, which has photographs of the house and setting used
in the Totoro movie], "Hikotei Jidai" [The Era of
Flying Ships], and "Zasso Nouto" [Daydream
Notebook, a sketch book of ideas and vehicle designs
operated by pig soldiers], "Kaze no Tani no
Naushika" [manga from which the movie was taken],
"Shuna no Tabi" [The Journey of Shuna, a
watercolor story done while on hiatus from Nausicaa with a
similar setting minus the Sea of Corruption and big
insects], and "Toki ni ha Mukashi no Hanashi wo"
[Sometime (Let's) Tell Old Stories].
Page
100:
Author -
Miyazaki Hayao
© Copyright Nibariki 1993
Publisher - Toshio Suzuki
Published by Studio Ghibli
Studio Ghibli
1-4-25 Kajinocho
Koganei-shi, Tokyo 184
phone: 0422-53-2881
Book
Distributor:
Tokuma
Shoten
4-10-1 Shimbashi
Minato-ku, Tokyo 105-55
phone: 03-3433-6231
TRANSLATOR'S
AFTER THOUGHTS
The name of
the main character in this story seems to be "The Third
Princess," often shortened to "Third." I
felt this posed a couple of problems:
- If her
father was a duke, she wouldn't be a princess
by English royalty hierarchy, but translating her
title differently would be inconsistent with the
title of the book; and
-
"Third" sounds stupid in English as a
given name.
Instead of
making up a "better" name, I just avoided the issue
altogether by only referring to her as "she" or
"the daughter." In retrospect, maybe it would have
read better if I had just used her Japanese name, "San no
Hime" (and "San" for short). ...Nah, that
sounds worse, never mind.
-Scott Ryan,
1993
Note:
While transcribing this translation from the original
mailing list post, minor spelling and grammar changes were
made. If you want to read the original post,
go
here.
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![[Mononoke mainpage]](../../icons/mono.jpg){kind=icon}
"Mononoke Hime" (Princess Mononoke) is a 100-page
"beauty and the beast" story compiled from imageboards that had
apparently been laying around unused since 1980. Most of the large
30 x 30 cm pages of this book contain a single illustration with a caption
of dialog on the following page. A good number of illustrations even
spill across on to the opposing page. Unfortunately, this layout
design would be considerably more impressive if the illustrations didn't
have such a rough, unfinished feel to them. Clearly they were not
originally intended for public consumption.
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