The Fountain of Youth is a Japanese fairy tale

Fairy tale

A fairy tale is a type of short story that typically features such folkloric characters, such as fairies, goblins, elves, trolls, dwarves, giants or gnomes, and usually magic or enchantments. However, only a small number of the stories refer to fairies...

 collected by Lafcadio Hearn

Lafcadio Hearn

Patrick Lafcadio Hearn , known also by the Japanese name , was an international writer, known best for his books about Japan, especially his collections of Japanese legends and ghost stories, such as Kwaidan: Stories and Studies of Strange Things...

in Japanese Fairy Tales.

Synopsis

An old couple lived in the mountains. The man cut wood, and the woman wove, every day. One day, the man found a spring and drank from it. He became a young man. Delighted, he ran home. His wife said a young man needed a young wife, so she would go and drink, but they should not both be away, so he should wait. He did wait, but when she did not come back, he went after her. He found a baby by the spring; his wife had drunk too eagerly. Saddened, he carried her back.