Once upon a time, there lived an old man and his wife all alone in a small village. They had no children. One day the old man was walking along the road when he heard the sound of wings. Following the sound he found a beautiful white crane caught in a snare.
"Oh, you poor thing!" he said. "I will help you out." He set the crane free and it flew into sky. That night there was a knock on their door. When the old lady opened the door, a young voice said, "May I come in?" It was a girl of twelve. The girl said, "I have lost my way. Please let me stay in your house tonight."
The old people were very happy to have a young girl in their midst. When the girl told them that she did not have parents, the old couple wanted to adopt her. The girl agreed. So the little girl happily stayed with them.
Every day, the old man wove some cloth and it at the market and the old lady helped him. The girl saw how hard the old people worked, to live. So she said to her new parents, "If you will promise not to look at me even once while I work, I'll weave some cloth in the weaving room." After that, they only heard the sound of the loom during the day and in the night the girl gave them the most beautiful piece of cloth they had ever seen. Everyone wanted to see and purchase the fine and beautiful cloth. Soon, the old man and his wife started to live more comfortably.
The old woman was curious and wanted to see her daughter make the cloth. So one day she peeped through the window of the weaving room and saw a arrange sight. There, sitting on the loom was not her daughter but a beautiful white crane, using its own white feather to weave cloth.
That night when they were sitting together for dinner the crane-girl said, "I am the crane you saved long ago. I have been weaving cloth to repay your kindness, but now that you know my secret I cannot stay here any longer."
The old people were very sad and their eyes filled with tears. They understood the crane, and knew they had to let go of their crane-daughter. "Goodbye and good luck," said the girl and changed into a beautiful white crane. The old couple sadly watched her flying away.
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