Thursday, September 20, 2012

Parasol Guardian (Kasa Jizo)

Long long ago, there was an old couple on the outside of the village.  They were not rich but they  both had good warm hearts.
   Today was the end of the last day in December.  He had to earn some money to prepare the New Year's celebration.  They had made some straw parasols the previous night.  So he went to sell them in the village early in the morning, while he wife cleaned their old home.
   Since he'd got to the village, he tried to sell the parasols.  The atmosphere in the village was very active and noisy; the people who were there were moving busily.  He made an effort to sell them, but he couldn't sell anything in the end.
   It was getting dark when he gave up selling them.  He felt very sad, because he knew his wife was waiting for him and something.  He thought about the next day (New Year's day) for a while, and he started to walk to his house.  It began to snow at that time.
   While returning, he found six guardians standing.  All their heads were covered with snow.  He thought they looked very cold.  So he stopped to wipe the snow off their heads, and he covered their heads with his parasols.  But he had only five parasols, lacking one.  He thought and he gave his own parasol to the guardians.  He felt very happy and he hurried to walk home.
   When he got to his house, he talked about that story to his wife.  She didn't get angry; she felt happy, too.
   The next morning, they found much gold and food outside of their house.  The six guardians had give it to them, because they were thankful for the old man's kindness.  So this old couple spent a good New Year.

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