|
Once upon a time, there lived a poor but kind old man and his wife. On one |
|
New Year's Eve something happened. The both of them, the old man and |
|
woman, made bamboo hats. They intended to buy New Year’s sticky rice |
|
cakes by bringing them to town and selling them. |
|
“As there are 5 bamboo hats, we should be able to buy sticky rice cakes.” |
|
“Please do so. After that, please be careful, as it will snow tonight.” |
|
The old man left with 5 hats, and as soon as the old man left the house it |
|
started to snow. As the snow fall gradually became stronger, the old man |
|
hurried along the street. As he came to the end of the village, there were 6 |
|
Jizousama lined up. Snow had accumulated on the head and shoulders |
|
of the Jizousama. Upon seeing this, the old man could not continue on like |
|
this. |
|
“Jizousama. It’s cold and snow is falling. Please wear this bamboo hat. “ |
|
The old man put the bamboo hats he was going to sell on the Jizousama. |
|
However, there were only 5 hats, and 6 Jizousama. The old man then took |
|
off his own hat and placed it on the last Jizousama. |
|
When he returned home, his wife said, “she was surprised. |
|
“Well, well. That was quite fast. And, what happened to the bamboo hats?” |
|
The old man spoke about the Jizousama. The old woman smiled and said, |
|
“Well, well. That was a good thing you did. We don’t need sticky rice |
|
cakes.” Later that night, in the middle of the night they heard a strange |
|
noise. |
|
"Where is that old man's house? |
|
We came to pay gratitude for the bamboo hats. |
|
Where is that old man's house? |
|
We came to pay gratitude for the bamboo hats.” |
|
The singing voices drew closer, and when they finally came to the old |
| man’s house, quiet! Then there was a sound of someone placing something, |
| and just like that vanished. |
| When the old man opened the door, he could see the disappearing outlines |
| of the last Jizousama he gave the bamboo hats to. |
| And in front of the house was a huge stack of sticky rice cakes and food. |