Long, long ago, there lived an old man, an old woman, and their son. Now the son was of an age where he should be out working in the rice fields, but he did nothing but sleep from morning to night. He lay around the house like this for three years. People started calling him Netaro, the "Sleeping Boy."

His old mother was worried. "Get up!" she told him. "Go out and help in the fields! If you don't do any work, you'll never find anyone willing to marry you."

But a sleepy "mmm" was all that Netaro said.

The old man was angry with Netaro. He shouted at his son: "This is no time to sleep! We've had no rain this season, and the fields are looking terrible. Go fetch some water from the river and water the fields. If you don't help out a little, we'll have no rice to eat!"

Once again, though, "mmm" was all Netaro had to say.