広大かつ幽遠な森の真ん中に女性だけの民族が住んでいた。
彼女たちは水神の嗣として大昔から水神の泉を護り続けてきた。　　

ある日ひとりの青年旅人は里に迷い込んだ。彼は捕まれ殺されよう時、ひとりの娘が止めた。　
彼女の頼みより青年は死を免じていたが奴隷扱いされることになった。　
娘は毎日夜になるとこっそり青年に会いに行き、月を観ながら青年と外の世界の話を聞いた。　　　
突然ある日、娘は体調崩して倒れた。　
彼女は一族の存続のため己の体を子供産む器として捧げたこと青年は知った。　
長年使い果たされすでにボロボロの彼女はこれ以上子供産むと確実命の脅威になる。　

見ていられない青年は族長に頭下げ、彼女を連れてこの里から去り欲しいと頼んだ。　
その願いを叶える代わりに条件はある。ふたりが結婚し、子を産んで里に残せと、一族の役目の解除を認める。　
青年の躊躇にもかかわらず、娘は微笑んだ。

Within a vast yet remote forest there lived a tribe composed entirely of women. As heirs to the Water God the women had protected the Water God's Spring since ancient times. One day a young traveler wandered into the village. He was captured and about to be killed, when a young woman stayed his execution. By her wish the man was saved from death, but he lived in the village as a slave. Every night the girl would secretly visit him and, as they gazed upon the moon, listen to the traveler's stories about the outside world. One day the girl suddenly collapsed. The man learned that the girl's body was used as a vessel for bearing children in order to sustain the tribe. The many years had taken a toll on her body and further childbirth would certainly endanger her life. The man begged the village chief to let him take her away from the village. However, there was a condition attached. If the two would marry and leave their child to the village, the girl would be freed from her duty to the tribe. In spite of his hesitations, the girl simply smiled.

Note: translated by seabook