Gildenmyth
The Sleeping Almanac
The Moon Princess Kaguya · The Original Tale
The voice you hear is the creator's own. He cloned it from recordings of his own voice, so every story is told in his voice. If you enjoy falling asleep to it, follow the show so each new story arrives on its own, and leave a rating on Apple Podcasts so other people can find it.
A slow, calm 3 hour sleep story for the night of the full moon, to help you fall asleep and stay asleep. Tonight the storyteller reaches the last page of the old book, and she has saved it for this exact night: The Moon Princess, from The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter, the tenth century Japanese story sometimes called the oldest fairy tale of all. An old bamboo cutter finds a stalk glowing in his grove, and inside it a princess small enough to rest in his two hands. She grows into a lady so gentle that five grand suitors are set five impossible tasks and refused without one unkind word, an emperor becomes her friend by letter, and when the moon at last sends its shining procession down for her, she leaves behind a letter and a gift, carried to the summit of the highest mountain in Japan.
Settle in, close your eyes, and let it drift over you. The pacing is slow, the voice is soft, and the music never spikes. There is a farewell in it, but it is the gentlest farewell in any storybook, told with far more moonlight than sorrow. There is nothing here to fear. You do not have to watch. You do not have to remember any of it in the morning.
Episode 12 of 12 · The Storybook Season
Where this sits: Part 12 of 12 in The Storybook Season, one storyteller, one lantern, and one complete famous tale each night, each told from its original source. Tonight, the princess the moon calls home, told on the night of the full moon, the last tale of the season. Every episode stands on its own, and any night is a fine night to begin.
Chapters
- 0:00Welcome
- 3:25The Grove of Green Light
- 12:51The Smallest Princess in the World
- 22:57The Five Suitors
- 33:35The Stone Bowl of the Buddha
- 40:38The Jeweled Branch of Horai
- 51:45The Robe of the Fire Rat
- 59:10The Jewel in the Dragon's Neck
- 1:06:56The Swallow's Shell
- 1:16:22The Emperor's Letters
- 1:24:31The Fifteenth Night of the Eighth Month
- 1:38:04The Smoke of the Mountain
- 1:45:16Goodnight. And the Lamp at the Edge of Morning
This show uses AI tools (research, narration, visuals) under human editorial direction. Every episode is reviewed before release.