Legend of Mononoke

There was a time, long, long ago
when people killed the Great God of the Forest.

Human Face. Body of a stag.
Horns atop his head like the trunks of massive trees.
For what reason did the humans take his life?

The human population was large.
Much of the ancient forests had been cut.
Here and there, stands of the old forest remained
Defying the humans' attempt to penetrate it.

Great wise beasts, wolves, boars and others
Desperately guarded the last sanctuaries.
They were feared as rampaging gods.
They revered the Great God of the Forest.

The clan called Tatara were makers of iron,
And it was the Tatara who fought battle
After savage battle
With the raging gods of the forest.

Their leader was a woman, the Lady Eboshi.
Determined to clear the open forest.
And to those that served her
Gonza, who would follow her through the gates of hell
Otoki and Kohroku.

And the mysterious priest, Jiko, who is sworn
To capture the head of the Great God of the Forest.

The old woman, the Oracle, the far-seeing and wise
Lived in a village remote and hidden from time.

Nago, Moro, and Okkotonushi, fierce-eyed and terrible
Rampaging gods who guarded the forest.
who follow the Great God of the Forest. And the tiny wookland spirits, the Kodama.

The girl San was born a human
But she was raised by Moro the wolf
To be the Princess Mononoke, the defender of the forest.
She loathed the humans who invaded their land.
The youth Ashitaka, delivered by fate
Into the midst of the last desperate battle
Between the humans and the rampaging gods
On a journey to cleanse from his body a scar
And escape its slow curse of death.

Ashitaka and San,
Met in the midst of the carnage and chaos of battle.

What hope could there be for feelings of love
Born of a place steeped in hatred and killing?

In the weaving of this epic tapestry,
Which current will prevail.
THe battle between forest and human
Or the love between warrior and princess?