Journey with Story - A Storytelling Podcast for Kids
Jul 16, 2026 · 10 min · 5 segments
A tale from Japan about a beautiful little princess who has a very bad habit that ends up causiing her quite a bit of bother. An episode from Journey with Story, a storytelling podcast for kids ages…
[gentle music] Once upon a time, there was a beautiful princess who had a very bad habit.
Every night before she slept, she would lie in bed and pick her teeth with a toothpick.
That wasn't so bad, but after she was done, instead of throwing away the used toothpicks as she should have, she would stick them between the cracks of the straw mats where she slept.
Now, this was not a very clean habit, and since the princess did this every night, the cracks of her straw mats were soon filled with dozens and dozens of used toothpicks.
Some were fighting, some were singing, and some were dancing, but all of them were making a great deal of noise.
Though they didn't bother the princess, they made so much noise all night that she couldn't sleep at all.
And when she finally did doze off, she suddenly woke up again because it was so quiet.
The princess was very afraid, but she was ashamed to tell the lord, her father, because he wouldn't have believed her.
Yet when she went to bed the following night, the tiny warriors appeared again, and again the night after that.
In fact, the tiny warriors made so much noise every night that the princess couldn't get any sleep, and each day she became a little paler.
The princess's father kept asking her what the matter was, and finally she told him.
At first, he didn't believe her story, but he finally decided to see for himself.
He told her to sleep in his room that night, and he would stand watch in hers, and so he did But though he remained awake all night and watched and waited, the tiny warriors did not come.
While waiting, however, the princess's father noticed a toothpick on the straw mat.
He picked it up and looked carefully at it, then called the princess to him the next morning.
[gentle music] Once upon a time, there was a beautiful princess who had a very bad habit.
Every night before she slept, she would lie in bed and pick her teeth with a toothpick.
That wasn't so bad, but after she was done, instead of throwing away the used toothpicks as she should have, she would stick them between the cracks of the straw mats where she slept.
Now, this was not a very clean habit, and since the princess did this every night, the cracks of her straw mats were soon filled with dozens and dozens of used toothpicks.
Some were fighting, some were singing, and some were dancing, but all of them were making a great deal of noise.
Though they didn't bother the princess, they made so much noise all night that she couldn't sleep at all.
And when she finally did doze off, she suddenly woke up again because it was so quiet.
The princess was very afraid, but she was ashamed to tell the lord, her father, because he wouldn't have believed her.
Yet when she went to bed the following night, the tiny warriors appeared again, and again the night after that.
In fact, the tiny warriors made so much noise every night that the princess couldn't get any sleep, and each day she became a little paler.
The princess's father kept asking her what the matter was, and finally she told him.
At first, he didn't believe her story, but he finally decided to see for himself.
He told her to sleep in his room that night, and he would stand watch in hers, and so he did But though he remained awake all night and watched and waited, the tiny warriors did not come.
While waiting, however, the princess's father noticed a toothpick on the straw mat.
He picked it up and looked carefully at it, then called the princess to him the next morning.
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