The Mission of the Jellyfish
Why The Jellyfish has no bones
Kurage no Otsukai -くらげのお使い
Long ago, in the Dragon Palace beneath the sea, the Dragon Queen fell gravely ill. No medicine worked, until an octopus reported that only the live liver of a land‑dwelling monkey could cure her.
The Dragon King needed a messenger who could travel both land and sea, so he sent a jellyfish, who, in those days, still had bones, a face, and legs. Confused about his task, the jellyfish asked nearby fish what a monkey looked like and how to catch one. They advised him to trick it with promises of the Dragon King’s splendid palace.
After three days of swimming south, the jellyfish reached Monkey Island and found a red‑faced monkey in a pine tree. He praised the Dragon Palace, its gold and coral halls, its endless feasts, and invited the monkey to visit. Tempted, the monkey climbed onto the jellyfish’s back, and they set off across the sea.
During the journey, the jellyfish foolishly asked whether the monkey had a “live liver,” revealing the Queen’s illness. Realizing the danger, the monkey calmly lied: he had left his liver drying on a tree branch back on the island. Panicked, the jellyfish turned around.
The moment they reached shore, the monkey leapt into the trees and shouted, “You fool! No creature leaves its liver behind!”
Defeated, the jellyfish returned alone to the Dragon Palace. When the Dragon King learned how easily he had been tricked, he flew into a rage and ordered the sea creatures to beat the jellyfish until his bones were crushed.
From that day on, the jellyfish became the boneless, faceless creature we know today.
Note:
There are different versions of the Japanese folktale Kurage no Otsukai (The Jellyfish's Errand/Messenger), which is directly linked to the Urashima Tarō legend.