Speaker 1: Welcome to Aaron Benky's Cabinet of Curiosities, a production of
Speaker 1: I Heart Radio and Grim and Mild. Our world is
Speaker 1: full of the unexplainable, and if history is an open book,
Speaker 1: all of these amazing tales are right there on display,
Speaker 1: just waiting for us to explore. Welcome to the Cabinet
Speaker 1: of Curiosities. Many folkloric and mythological objects do not appear
Speaker 1: in real life. Poseidon's trident, Paul Bunyan's acts, and King
Speaker 1: Arthur's sword ex Caliber. They're all known to just about everyone,
Speaker 1: yet they're nothing more than fiction. The same goes for
Speaker 1: certain structures. There have been no reports of a witch's
Speaker 1: house running through the Russian wilderness on chicken legs, and
Speaker 1: yet the tale of Bobby Yaga is one that's passed
Speaker 1: down from generation to generation. But sometimes an item or
Speaker 1: building jumps out of the story and into reality. In Japan,
Speaker 1: for example, there's a bridge with a tall tale behind it.
Speaker 1: About fifty miles from Tokyo in Yamanashi Prefecture is the
Speaker 1: city of Otsuki. It's history dates all the way back
Speaker 1: to the Goman period. Between fourteen thousand and three b
Speaker 1: c e. The city was nearly wiped off the map
Speaker 1: in nineteen two days before the end of World War Two,
Speaker 1: following a bombing by the United States, but it was
Speaker 1: able to bounce back after two other towns and four
Speaker 1: villages combined to form a new Otsuki in nineteen fifty four.
Speaker 1: Despite hundreds of years of change and turmoil, including near extinction,
Speaker 1: one of the city's lasting treasures is the Saruhashi Bridge,
Speaker 1: also known as the Monkey Bridge. It's listed as one
Speaker 1: of the six official Places of Scenic Beauty in Japan,
Speaker 1: and those who crossed the gorge know that it's a
Speaker 1: well earned designation. Although no one knows exactly when the
Speaker 1: bridge was built, an early military document from fourteen seventy
Speaker 1: nine does mention its existence. It is supported by four
Speaker 1: pairs of cantilever beams underneath, which are embedded directly into
Speaker 1: the cliff on each side. The beams are also tented
Speaker 1: with their own peaked roofs to keep the rain and
Speaker 1: other debris a way, while the actual center of the
Speaker 1: bridge is held up by an arch Of course, a
Speaker 1: bridge doesn't wind up in the cabinet of curiosity simply
Speaker 1: because it's beautiful. No, it's the reason for its nickname
Speaker 1: that elevates it from a basic way of crossing a
Speaker 1: river into an architectural marvel. According to the legend, the
Speaker 1: monkey Bridge earned its name in one of two ways.
Speaker 1: The first comes from a story that dates back to
Speaker 1: the seventh century, which told of a couple who desperately
Speaker 1: needed to cross the gorge with no bridge in place
Speaker 1: at the time. Monkeys living in the surrounding forest emerged
Speaker 1: and used their bodies to form a makeshift bridge so
Speaker 1: that the couple could cross safely. A gardener, am Shiracho,
Speaker 1: watched all of this happen, so he took it upon
Speaker 1: himself to build a permanent bridge so that others could
Speaker 1: cross the gorge easily and without any help from the
Speaker 1: local wildlife. The other tale isn't as romantic, but it
Speaker 1: does make more sense. Before the Saruhashi Bridge was installed,
Speaker 1: there was another, more dilapidated structure in its place. It
Speaker 1: was said to have been so dangerous that the only
Speaker 1: creature capable of crossing it was an agile monkey. Whether
Speaker 1: either of those tales is true remains to be seen,
Speaker 1: but the saru Haashi bridge is highly revered. It's one
Speaker 1: of Japan's three unique bridges, and its beauty has inspired
Speaker 1: numerous paintings over the last two centuries. Japan is rich
Speaker 1: in history and mythology, and much of its architecture incorporates both.
Speaker 1: The truth behind iconic bridges like the Monkey Bridge, though
Speaker 1: is not as magical as the stories convey, and yet
Speaker 1: their elegance and composition make them wonders of the world.
Speaker 1: Beauty and industrial construction don't have to be mutually exclusive.
Speaker 1: All it takes is a skilled builder, or in some cases,
Speaker 1: a bunch of monkeys. The bridge the gap between them.
Speaker 1: When an author dies, we have their books to remember
Speaker 1: them by. Mary Shelley wrote numerous novels and short stories,
Speaker 1: but the work she is best remembered for is Frankenstein,
Speaker 1: her story of a mad scientist who brings to life
Speaker 1: a creature made of cadaver parts. Frankenstein has been adapted
Speaker 1: into countless films and is considered by many as the
Speaker 1: birth of the science fiction genre. Shelley's legacy is more
Speaker 1: than just a catalog of literary works, though she paved
Speaker 1: the way for the films, books, and comics we enjoy today.
Speaker 1: Much like Shelley, there was another author whose novels broke
Speaker 1: ground and influenced those who followed him. Robert Louis Stevenson,
Speaker 1: the man behind Treasure Island, is why pirate tropes like
Speaker 1: X marks the spot and parrots on the shoulders are
Speaker 1: there in the first place. But Stevenson left behind more
Speaker 1: than his books, and his legacy goes beyond the pirate genre.
Speaker 1: He practically created. A piece of the author lives to
Speaker 1: this day, and one lucky person still owns it. In
Speaker 1: a twelve year old girl named Annie I'd moved to
Speaker 1: the island of Samoa in the South Pacific. Her father,
Speaker 1: Henry Clay I'd, had been appointed American Land Commissioner there
Speaker 1: by President Benjamin Harrison. While in Samoa, Henry met Robert
Speaker 1: Louis Stevenson, the author. His wife and her children from
Speaker 1: her first marriage had moved to the island so Stevenson
Speaker 1: could recover from the Scottish climate that had been making
Speaker 1: him sick. The two men became fast friends. Stevenson was
Speaker 1: quite involved in Samoa and politics, and advocated for the
Speaker 1: rights of Polynesians in the press. He wrote letters to
Speaker 1: various international publication about his concerns for those at the
Speaker 1: mercy of colonizing countries like England and the United states.
Speaker 1: He had lived in Samoa since eighteen eighty nine, two
Speaker 1: years before I'd arrived, and he had seen firsthand the
Speaker 1: havoc that great powers were doing to the region. Despite
Speaker 1: i'd being on one side of the conflict and Stevenson
Speaker 1: on the other, a friendship bloomed between them. It was
Speaker 1: during one of their conversations when Henry talked to his
Speaker 1: friend about some trouble he was having with his daughter Annie.
Speaker 1: She had been sad because she had been born on
Speaker 1: December Christmas Day and had never had a proper birthday celebration.
Speaker 1: The festivities had always been directed towards the birth of well,
Speaker 1: someone else. Sure, she received Christmas presents, but she had
Speaker 1: never felt the joy of opening gifts specifically given to
Speaker 1: her for her birthday. But on June nine, Annie received
Speaker 1: the greatest gift of all. It had arrived in the
Speaker 1: form of an official document delivered to her father. It read,
Speaker 1: in short, I, Robert Louis Stevenson, have transferred and do
Speaker 1: hereby transfer to the said a h i'd all and
Speaker 1: whole of my rights and privileges on the day of
Speaker 1: November formerly my birthday. In other words, Robert Louis Stevenson
Speaker 1: had given his own birthday No. To twelve year old
Speaker 1: Annie I'd. The contract also directed her to use it
Speaker 1: with moderation and humanity, and that if she didn't, then
Speaker 1: the rights to Stevenson's birthday would revert to the President
Speaker 1: of the United States. The documents also made Annie his
Speaker 1: named daughter. She didn't leave her parents or live with him,
Speaker 1: but Stevenson, in his contract did engage the girl to
Speaker 1: adopt the name Louisa, at least in private, he added,
Speaker 1: and she did. She also celebrated November as her birthday
Speaker 1: for years to come. When she got older, she and
Speaker 1: her family moved back to the United States, and she
Speaker 1: eventually married a U. S congressman. A couple didn't have
Speaker 1: any children, so Annie passed the birthday down to her niece.
Speaker 1: The niece held onto it until her death, when it
Speaker 1: eventually found its way to her granddaughter, Heather fin of Ireland.
Speaker 1: Heather was born on February four but also pops open
Speaker 1: a bottle of champagne every November to celebrate. It's safe
Speaker 1: to say that Heather will leave the November thirteen declaration
Speaker 1: to the next in line for now, though Stevenson's memory
Speaker 1: lives on, not as an author or political agitator, but
Speaker 1: as someone who just wanted to give his friend's daughter
Speaker 1: the one thing she had never received a birthday gift.
Speaker 1: I hope you've enjoyed today's guided tour of the Cabinet
Speaker 1: of Curiosities. Subscribe for free on Apple Podcasts, or learn
Speaker 1: more about the show by visiting Curiosities podcast dot com.
Speaker 1: The show was created by me Aaron Manky in partnership
Speaker 1: with how Stuff Works. I make another award winning show
Speaker 1: called Lore, which is a podcast, book series, and television show,
Speaker 1: and you can learn all about it over at the
Speaker 1: World of Lore dot Come and until next time, stay curious.
Speaker 1: H