Little Naga wants to be a brave samurai. In order to achieve this he seeks advice from a famous painter of his village, who encourages him to first learn to appreciate beauty and kindness. The maestro gives him a hair from his paintbrush and Naga takes his courteous leave. On the way he meets a mouse that, in reply to his question as to which is the greatest virtue, answers with the word ?prudence?, at the same time as he gives Naga a whisker from his face. After walking for a long time, he arrives at the seaside, where he asks an old and enormous turtle the same question. The turtle answers with the word ?patience?, explaining that she is very slow and has to live a great number of years. She gives him a scale from one of her legs. On his journey, Naga gets an eagle feather, a cat whisker, a hair from the moustache of a warrior, another from a fox, a hair from the tail of a monkey, a bamboo leaf, a nightingale feather and the breath of a dragon, all accompanied by the virtues of their respective owners. Finally, he arrives before the wise man, Hideki San, who tells him that to be a good warrior he lacks meekness. Naga becomes a master in letters, so as to teach his fellow men of the virtues he has learned on his travels. In this way, he is a writer, a poet and teacher, and succeeds in doing with his life something more useful and beautiful than simply fighting for the emperor.
