Japanese Fairy Tale Series #16- The Wooden Bowl

8/14/2019 Japanese Fairy Tale Series #16- The Wooden Bowl

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Xjince upon a time there lived an oldcouple who had seen better days. Formerlythey had been well to do, but misfortunecame upon them, through no fault of theirown, and in their old age they had becomeso poor that they were only just able toearn their daily bread.One joy however remained to them, This


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was their only child, a good and gentlemaiden, of such wonderful beauty, that, inall that land bhe had no equal.At length the father fell sick and died,

and the mother and her daughter had towork harder than ever. Soon the motherfelt her strength failing her, and great washer sorrow at the thought of leaving herchild aluno in the world.

The beauty of the maidenwas so Jhdl^^l^^ dazzling

that it be-came the

cause

of muchthongbt and anxiety to the dying mother,


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She knew that in one so pow and friend-less as her child, it would be likely toprove a .misfortune instead of a blessing,

Feeling her end to be very near, themother called the maiden to her bedside,and, with many words of love and warning,entreated her to continue pure, and good,and true, as she had ever been, She toldher that her beauty was a perilous giftwhich might become her ruin, and com-manded her to hide it, as much as possible,from the sight of all men,That she might do this the better,

ff^fc the mother placedon her daughter's head

a lacqueredwooden bowl, which she earned


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her on no account to take off. The bow]overshadowed the maiden's face, so that itwas impossible to tell how much beauty washidden beneath it,

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After her mother's death, the poor childwas indeed forlorn; but she had a brave

heart, and at once


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set about

earning her livingby bard work in the fields.

As she was nevei seen without

W. }to> * *


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the wooden bowl, which indeed appeared avery funny head-dress, sbe soon begaa tobe talked about, and was known in allthe country round as the Maid with theBowl on her Head.

Proud and bad j>eople scorned and lathedat her, and theidle young


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naen of the village made fun of her, tryingto peep under the bowl, and even to pull ito# her head. But it seemed firmly fixed,and none of them succeeded in taking itoff, or in getting more than a glimpse ofthe beautiful face beneath.

The poor girl bore all this rude usagepatiently, was always diligent at her work,and when evening came, crept quietly to herlonely home. Now. one day, when she was atwork in the harvest field of a rich fanner,who owned most of the land in that part,the master himself drew near. He wasstruck by the gentle and modest behaviour*f the young girl, and by her quickness anddiligence at her work.

Ha. vim- watched her all that day, hft wasso much pleased with her, thai he kept her


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in work until the end ofharvest. After that, winterhaving now come on, hetook her into his own houseto wait upon his wife, who

had long been sick,and seldom left

her bed.


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Now the poor orphan,fyJL^ - fl had a happy home once

more, for both the farmerand his wife were very kind

to her. As they had no daughterof their own, she became more like the

child of the house than a hired servantAnd indeed, no child could have made agentler or more tender nurse to a sickmother, than did this little inaid to her

mistress.After some time the master's eldest son

came home on a visit to his father andmother. He had been living in Kioto, therich and gay city of the Mikado, where hehad studied and learned much. Weariedwith feasting and pleasure, he was gladto come back for a little while to the


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quie( hi'-me of his childhood. But weekafter week passed, and, to the surprise ofhis Mends, he showed no desire to returnto the more stirring life of the town.

The truth is, that no sooner had he Beteyes on the Maid with the Bowl on her Head,than he was filled with curiosity to knowall ahout her. He linked who and what shewas. and why *he was always seen withsuch a curious and unbecoming-

head-dress.


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Fe was touched by her sad story, butcould not help laughing at her old fancy ofwearing the bowl on her head. But, as hesaw day by day, her goodness and gentlemanners, he laughed no more. And, oneday, having managedto take a sly peep

=t%A-under thebowl, he saw

enoughuf her beauty to make him

fall deeply in tove with her.


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From that moment he vowed that nonei other than the Maid with the Bowl should

be his wife. His relations,

however, -4.v r would not

hear of

_!match.

"No doubt- girl was all very well in her way,"

a


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theysaid, =7$ "but after all,

she was only aservant, and no fit

mate for the son ofthe honse.They had always said she was being madetoo much of, and would one day or anotherturn against her benefactors. Now theirwords were coming true, and besides, whydid she persist in wearing that rediculousthing on her head? Doubtless to get a re-putation for beauty, which most likely shedid not possess. Indeed, they were almostcertain that she was quite plain looking."

The two old maiden aunts of tbe youngman were especially bitter, and never lostan opportunity of repeating the hard and


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unkind thinjr* which were *aid about thepoor orphan. Her mistress even, who hdbeen so good to her, now seemed to turnagainst her, and she had no friend leftexcept her master, who would really have"been pleased to welcome her as his daughter,but did not dare to say as muck Iheyoung man however, remained firm to hispurpose. As for all the stories which theybrought him, he gave his aunts to under-

stand that he consideredthem little better

than a pack of illnatnred inventions.At last seeing him so steadfast in bis

determination, and that their opposition onlymade him the more obstinate, they werefain to give in, though with a bad grace.A difficulty now arose where it was least

to have been expected. The poor little


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Maiil with the Bowl on her Head upset alltheir calculations, by gratefully but firmlyrefusing the hand of her master's son, andno persuasion on his part could induce herto change her mind.

Great was the astonishment and anger ofthe relations. That they should be madefools of in this way was beyond all bearing.TTImt did the ungrateful ynnrg minx expect,that her Master's son wasn't good enough forher? Little did they know her true andloyal heart. She loved him clearly, but shewould not bring discord and strife into thehome which had sheltered her in her poverty ;for she had marked the cold looks of hermistress, and very well understood what theymeant. Rather than bring trouble into that

happy home she would leave it at once, and


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for ever. She told no one, and shed manybitter tears in secre^ yet she remained trueto her purpose.

Then, that night when &he had criedherself to sleep, her mother appeared to herin a dream, and told her that she might,without scruple, yield to the prayers of herlover, and to the wishes of her own heart.She woke up full of joy, and, when the youngman once more entreated her, she answeredyes, with all her heart, " We told you so,"said the mother and the aunts, bat the youngman was too happy to mind them. So thewedding day was fixed, and thegrandest

preparationswere made for the

feast Some


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unpleasant remarks were doubtless to beheard about the beggar maid and her woodenbowl, but the young man took no notice ofthem, and only congratulated himself uponMs good fortune Now, when the weddingday had at last come, and all the companywere assembled, and ready to assist at theceremony, it seemed high time that the bowlshould be removed from the head of thebride. She tried to take it off, but found, toher dismay, that it stuck fast, nor could herutmost efforts even succeed in moving it:and, when some of the relations persisted intrying to pull off the bowl, it uttered loudcries and groans as of pain.The bridegroom comforted and consoled

the maiden, and insisted that they shouldgo on with the ceremony without more ado.


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And now came the moment when the wiaecups were brought in, and the bride andbridegroom must drink together the " threetimes three", in token that they were nowbecome man and wife. Hardly had the biideput her lips to the Sake, cup, when thewooden bowl burstM'ith a loud ^^^noise,and


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fell in a thousand pieces upon the floor.And, with the bowl, fell a shower of preciousstones, pearls, and diamonds, rubies andemeralds, which had been hidden beneathit, besides gold and silver in abundance,which now became the marriage portionof the maiden.Bat what astonished the wedding guestsmore even than this vast treasure, was thewonderful beauty of the bride, made fullyknown for the first time to her husbandand to all the world,

Never was there each a merry wedding,such a proud and happy bridegroom,

or

guch a lovely bride.


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Japanese Fairy Tale Series #16- The Wooden Bowl