Mountain God

2014年01月29日

Mountain God

Grateful Crane
Long long ago, there lived a mother and her son in a village.
When he was 15 years old, he said to his mother.
“Mom. I owe what I am to you. Now I am 15 years old, so I’ll work and help you.”
One day he went to a mountain to gather woods instead of his mother with a lunch box made by her.
He put the lunch box on a big stone and gathered woods.
Soon a strange old man appeared from somewhere and began to eat it without his permission.
He thought the old man was so poor and has nothing to eat.
He allowed him to eat his lunch.
“Old man, please help yourself to it.” said the boy to the old man.
“Thank you so much. I’m so hungry.” said the old man, eating up the lunch.
Coming home with woods on his back, he told his mother the whole story.
His mother said to him,
“You did a wonderful thing. I’ll make two lunch boxes tomorrow, one is for you, the other that old man.”
On the next day, he left his house for the mountain with two lunch boxes.
He put it on the same big stone and gathered woods.
Soon the strange old man appeared from somewhere and began to eat both of them.

Thinking that the old man was very, very hungry because of his poverty and that I could eat it if I came home, the boy said to him,
“Old man, please help yourself to it.” said the boy to the old man.
“Thank you so much. I’m so hungry.” said the old man, eating them up.
On the next day, he also went to the mountain to gather woods with two lunch boxes and met the strange old man again, who said to him,
“Young Boy. It is very kind of you to give me your lunch boxes. I have something to tell you. Listen to me. To tell the truth, I am a mountain God living here.”
The boy sat down in front of the old man, listening to him.
“If you go toward West, you’ll get to a place called ‘Izumo’(sacred place in Japan), where you will find a wonderful shrine you have never seen.
What you have to do is only to visit the shrine.
You will be asked some wishes by a few people on your way there.
Listen to their wishes and ask God for them.” said he and vanished all at once.
Coming home, he told his mother the whole story.
For his adventure, his mother prepared for it.
He visited a Choja(Millionaire) house to borrow some money for the long trip.
“I’ll visit a wonderful shrine in ‘Izumo.’ It’ll take a long time and cost much money to reach there, so would you lend me some money?”
“That’s wonderful. Of course, I’ll lend you money. By the way, I have a favor to ask of you. My daughter has been ill for three years. Why don’t you ask God for her recovery from illness instead of me.”
“No problem at all.” he borrowed much money and started for ‘Izumo.’
He walked and walked until he stayed at a small inn.
“Where are you going to?” asked the master of the inn.
“I’m going to visit a wonderful shrine in ‘Izumo.’”
“That’s wonderful. Then I have a favor to ask of you. I have three fine pine trees, two of which have begun to die. I don’t know why. So why don’t you ask God for the recovery of the trees instead of me?”
“No problem at all.”said the boy to the master.
After he walked for a few hours on the next day, he came across a big river. There was neither a boat nor a bridge to cross it. When he was worried about what he should do, a strange old woman came to him.
“Young Boy, where are you going to?”
“I’m going to visit a wonderful shrine in ‘Izumo.’”
“That’s wonderful. Then I have a favor to ask of you. To tell the truth, I am not a human being but an Angel from Heaven. I’ve lived on earth for more than a thousand year. But I haven’t known yet how to return to Heaven. So why don’t you ask God how to return to Heaven instead of me?”
“No problem at all.”said the boy to the Angel.
“Then hold on to my shoulders.” said she to the boy.
She flew over the river with him on her back to the opposite bank.
A few hours’walk brought him to a beautiful shrine in a forest.
To his surprise, he found the mountain God he had given lunch boxes standing at the entrance.
“Welcome to this shrine. Weren’t you asked some wishes by a few people on your way here?” said the old man to him.
First of all, he talked to him about illness of the Choja’s daughter.

“It’s a piece of cake. What he has to do is only to invite all youngsters in his village and make his daughter hand a sake cup to her favorite youngster of them, who shall have a fortune and marry her. If so, it will not be long before she gets over her illness. Weren’t you asked another wish?”
He talked to the old man about the dead pine trees.
“It’s a piece of cake. There is a pot full of gold buried under each of the dead trees. What he has to do is only to dig them up and give one pot to a stranger. If so, the two dead trees will come alive well enough to have beautiful blossoms again.”
He talked to the old man about the Angel who didn’t know how to return to Heaven.
“It’s a piece of cake. She wears a heavy necklace made of lead. It’s too heavy for her to fly to Heaven. What she has to do is only to give it to a man.”
On finishing his speech, he vanished all at once.
He visited the shrine and prayed his happiness and his mother’s good health for God.
On his way home, he found the Angel standing near the big river.
“Did you ask my wish for God?” asked the Angel.
“Why not? But before telling you, you must send me to the other bank of the river.” said the boy, crossing the river on her back.
“If you give your necklace to a man, you can fly to Heaven.”
On giving her necklace to the young boy, the Angel flew to the sky.
He put on the necklace and he walked for a few hours until he reached the small inn where he had stayed before.
He talked to the master the story the old man had told him.
The master dug up the root of the dead trees to find two pots full of gold, one of which was given to the young man.
The two trees had many leaves, buds and many blossoms in a moment.
He came home with the necklace around his neck and the pot under his arm and visited the Choja’s house.
“Did you ask my wish for God?” asked the Choja.
“Why not?” and he talked to the Choja the story the old man had told him.
The Choja invited all youngsters in his village and tried to make his daughter hand a sake cup to her favorite youngster.
She handed it to the young man at once, who would not receive it.
The Choja said to the young man, “It’s God’s order. You must receive it.”
No sooner had he received the cup from her hand than the Choja’s daughter looked well in a moment and she began to dance in a joy.
The young man got married to the daughter and had a happy life with her.

The end