A long, long time ago, there was a clear river beside a small village in Japan. This river was an important source of livelihood for the villagers. They fetched water, washed clothes here, and children also played by the river. However, recently, some terrifying legends about kappa had been spreading in the village.
In the legend, kappa is a kind of water - dwelling monster that would drag people by the river into the water. The villagers began to be afraid of this river and dared not go near it.
However, deep in the river, there lived a rather special kappa. This kappa was kind - hearted. It knew that the villagers had misunderstood it, but it didn't know how to make the villagers believe that it was friendly.
One day, a little girl accidentally fell into the river. The little girl couldn't swim and was struggling in the water. She was about to be submerged by the river. Seeing this, the kind - hearted kappa didn't hesitate at all and quickly swam towards the little girl and rescued her to the shore.
The kappa put the little girl on the grass on the shore. The little girl looked at the kappa in horror, thinking that she was about to be hurt. But the kappa smiled gently at the little girl and then turned around and jumped into the river.
The little girl returned to the village and told the villagers about how the kappa had saved her. But the villagers didn't believe her. They thought that the little girl was so frightened that she had hallucinations.
The kappa wasn't angry because of the villagers' disbelief. It wanted to prove its friendliness with more actions. So it began to catch a lot of fish in the river and then put the fish at the entrance of the village. The villagers were surprised to find these fish, but they still didn't think it was the kappa that did it.
As time went by, the kappa often helped the villagers secretly. It would put the villagers' lost items that it picked up in the river at conspicuous places on the shore. Also, during droughts, it would use its power to keep a certain amount of water in the river so that the crops wouldn't dry up.
Finally, one day, a villager saw with his own eyes that the kappa was helping an old man pick up things by the river. This villager told what he had seen to the other villagers, and the villagers began to believe that the kappa was kind.
Since then, the villagers were no longer afraid of the kappa. They accepted the kappa as a member of the village. The kappa was so happy that it shed a tear. This tear dropped into the river and caused beautiful ripples in circles. This tear represented that the kappa's kindness was finally recognized, and also represented the beginning of the wonderful friendship between humans and monsters. From then on, the kappa and the villagers lived happily together in this small village.
