A child'sStory, mukashi banashi

[JohnCBriggs]

Buellerさん,
That you for your help.
I too thought that he could "never" open the box and was surprised by what I read in this version. That is why I thought I was getting the Japanese wrong.
ありがとう　ございます
ジョン

[JohnCBriggs]

I had some help from a Japanese person on...
めずらしい　りょうりに　さかなたちの　おどり。
She translated this as
"there was rare food, and fishes were dancing in the sea"

The particle "ni" in this sentence could also be substituted for "to".

This is the same answer as Beullerさん gave.

Thanks
ジョン

[JohnCBriggs]

Perhaps someone can help with this
うらしまたろうが　りゅうぐうじょうに　いるあいだに　りくでは　なんじゅうねんも　たっていたのです。
So we have some kind of phrase like
" the time that Urashima Tarou was at the Palace of the Sea Godess."
then
" something about land"
Then
"decades have passed"
But I don't really understand the structure of the sentence and the reason for りくでは in the sentence.
ジョン

[JohnCBriggs]

Any guesses about りくでは?

[JohnCBriggs]

OK, I got someone else to help me with this. The translation should be
While Urasima Tarou had stayed in Palace of the Sea Goddess,
decades had passed on the land.

うらしまたろうが　りゅうぐうじょうに　いるあいだに　
りくでは　なんじゅうねんも　たっていたのです。
Thanks
John C. Briggs