The Story of the Old Man Who Made Withered Trees To Flower
Title: Apple Tree Flower
Author: Audriusa
URL: Wikipedia
"Yes,
I am also versed in the art of storytelling," Nobunaga said to the
young geisha. "I will tell you this story so you can understand what I
am trying to do. This is a story that was told to me by my father when
he first became leader of the Oda clan."
One upon a time there were two
poor old men who were neighbors. One was a kind old man and the other
was an angry mean old man. Now it happened that the kind old man had a
dog whom he and his wife loved very much. They went so far as to deny
themselves food because they loved the dog so much. One day as the old
man was returning from the fields, the dog barked and clasped hold of
his kimono and dragged him to a field with a tree. There the dog began
to bark and paw at the ground as if something were beneath it. The old
man looked at the dog and began to dig. Well the old man finished
digging he found a pile of old and valuable coins. The old man took the
coins to his wife and became rich in a day. The dog looked at the
elderly couple as if to say, "Even though I am a dog, I can repay you
for your kindness."
Unbeknown to the kind old man,
his neighbor had seen the dog lead him to the tree and also saw the
coins the kind old man had dug up. The mean old man devised a plan to
become rich as well and asked the kind old man to lend him the dog for
a short time.
The kind man felt this was
strange as the mean old man had constantly kicked and yelled at the dog
in the past, but his kindness was so great the he reluctantly
allowed the mean old man to take his dog.
The mean old man took the dog to
a tree on his property and commanded the dog to take him to any
valuable coins on his property. The dog began to dig in the middle of a
field beneath a tree. The mean old man threw the dog out of the way and
began to dig himself. He came upon no gold or coins but upon an old
refuse heap. So angry was the man the he killed the dog and threw his
body in the hole.
After several days the kind old
man began to worry about his dog and went to his neighbor. His neighbor
told him he had killed the dog. The kind man wept bitterly and begged
to know where his dog was. The mean old man's heart felt a pang for the
first time in a long time so he gave the kind old man the tree which
the dog was buried under.
The kind old man cut down the
tree and made a mortar of it. The kind old man's wife began to mix rice
in the mortar in order to make cakes for the small altar that had been
erected where the tree once stood. As she made the cakes she noticed
that she did not run out of ingredients. Thus the kind old man and
woman were rewarded by a never-ending supply of cakes.
Again the neighbor saw this and
was jealous. He asked the kind old man to lend him the mortar. The mean
old man immediately broke in and threw it into the fireplace of the
kind old man.
The kind man gathered the ashes
and kept them with him. One day some of the ash accidentally fell
in his garden and the ground sprang to life even though it was in the
midst of winter. It so happened that a samurai who was a retainer of
the mighty emperor passed by.
"The emperor has a most lovely
tree in his garden that is ill. Can you save it?"
The old man went with the
samurai and saved the emperor's tree. The emperor declared that the man
would forever more be known as Hana-Saka-Jijii or the man who could
make withered trees to blossom. The emperor said that Hana-Saka-Jijii
was to be respected by all.
Now the kind old man's neighbor
grew jealous of the prosperity that Hana-Saka-Jijii enjoyed and one
night crept into Hana-Saka-Jijii's house and stole some of the ashes.
He took those ashes to the capital and proclaimed that Hana-Saka-Jijii
was his disciple and that he, the mean old man, should have all the
honor of saving the emperor's tree.
The emperor decided to put this
man to the test and had him attempt to save another tree in his garden
that was wilted. The man sprinkled the ashes on the tree and nothing
happened, thus the king knew he was lying and had him thrown in jail.
Hana-Saka-Jijii lived his
remaining days in peace and prosperity.
"Why have you told me this
story?" the young geisha demanded.
"Japan is like the tree of the
emperor, sick and wilted. I am like the kind old man, who had endured
much hardship in order to heal this tree. The Akechi are like the mean
old man, who is jealous of the honor and prosperity of the kind old
man," Nobunaga said.
The young geisha looked at him
in disgust. She rose to strike him but he was quicker than she. With a
sword pressed to her neck she thought it was her end.
"Young woman, I have enjoyed our
time together and would hate to destroy such a lovely geisha. It is
daylight and I am off to fulfill my destiny." With that Nobunaga left
leaving the young geisha with black colored tears running down her
carefully white painted face.
Author's Notes: I chose this
story because it allowed Nobunaga to present what he felt like were the
characteristic of Japan and the Oda and Akechi clans. I
chose to take out some details regarding what happened to the mortar. I
shortened a lot of the details in explaining how the kind old man saved
the tree of the emperor and how the mean old man was caught in his lie.
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Bibliograhpy: "The
Story of the Man Who Made Withered Trees To Flower" Japanese
Fairy Tales. Yei Theodora Ozaki. Published in 1908.
