The Goddess of Mercy
Long long ago, there lived a gentle-minded girl in the suburb of a village.
As her parents had been dead, she lived alone with her villagers helping her.
One day she found a Buddhist priest laying himself on the side of a street.
“Mr. Priest. What’s the matter with you?” said she, touching his forehead.
“It’s too bad! You have a fever.”
She handed him into her small hut and made him take a rest in bed.
She wanted to make rice porridge for him, but she had no rice at home.
She visited one house in her neighborhood to get a little rice.
“Excuse me, but would you share a little rice with me?”
“Of course, but please help me when I plant rice seedlings.”
“I know. Thank you very much.”
She visited another house in her neighborhood.
“Excuse me, but would you share a little medicine with me?”
“Of course, but please help me when I plant rice seedlings.”
“I know. Thank you very much.”
She visited each house to share some Miso(soy bean paste), Tofu(soy bean curd), fish, vegetable, milk and so on.
“Excuse me, but would you share ….with me?”
“Of course, but please help me when I plant rice seedlings?”
“I know. Thank you very much.”
After all, she visited twenty houses and took care of the sick priest for three days and nights.
When the priest in good health left her house, he gave her a little statue.
“Thank you for your kind nursing. I am fine now.
I’ll give you this Kannon-sama(The Goddess of Mercy) as a token of my gratitude.”
When one of her neighbors came to her, a few weeks had passed.
“It is tomorrow, the day when I plant rice seedlings. I’m waiting for you to help me.”
Her neighbors came to her one after another.
“It is tomorrow, the day when I plant rice seedlings. I’m waiting for you to help me.”
After all, twenty neighbors in all came to her house.
“Oh, what shall I do? I can never help twenty neighbors to plant rice at the same time in a day.
Dear, Kannon-sama. Please help me. What shall I do?”
She prayed to her very hard sitting in front of the little statue.
By the way, the priest was also praying on the top of a mountain, when it suddenly became dark and a beautiful figure of Kannon-sama appeared in the sky.
“Mr. Priest. Listen to me. Now the girl who you are looked after by is in great trouble.
Take nineteen young ladies to her village and help her.”
Saying so, the Goddess of Mercy disappeared.
The priest visited one of the houses in a nearby village to ask young ladies.
“Young Lady. Why don’t you go and help to plant rice seedlings in a village over the mountain?”
“Of course, I’ll do it if you ask me to do.”
The priest visited another house in the village to ask young ladies.
“Young Lady. Why don’t you go and help to plant rice seedlings in a village over the mountain?”
“Of course, I’ll do it if you ask me to do.”
After all, he visited nineteen houses in all to ask young ladies.
On the night before the rice-seedling, the girl thought in front of the little statue.
“I can’t help every house.
I’ll help the very neighbor tomorrow.
If I work hard, Kannon-sam is sure to help me.
Tomorrow is another day.”
It began to rain outside in the night.
In the dark morning of the next day, she got up early and left home in Mino(straw-overcoat) and Mino-kasa(straw hat).
The priest and the nineteen ladies in Mino and Mino-kasa also arrived at the village.
They visited each house to help plant rice seedlings.
“Thank you very much for your helping.” said the nineteen villagers to them.
The girl and the nineteen ladies worked very hard at each rice paddy, while the priest was praying to Kannon statue at the girl’s house.
In the evening the girl came home tired, and the nineteen ladies and the priest left the village.
On the next morning, the nineteen villagers came to her.
“I’m sorry, but…”she tried to say.
“Thank you very much for helping me yesterday.”
They brought her many things as a token of their gratitude.
She didn’t know what happened to them yesterday until she looked at the wet little statue.
“Ah, I see. Kannon-sama helped them plant rice seedlings instead of me.”
She knelt down in front of the statue and prayed to the Goddess deeply.
The very neighbor came to her.
“Thank you very much for your help yesterday. By the way, May I ask a favor of you?”
“What?”
“Would you mind marry me?”
She smiled at him, so did the Goddess of Mercy.
The end