A long time ago, an old man and an old woman lived in this world. They were honest and kind people, but the problem was that they had no children. That’s why they kept a dog named Shiro. They loved her like their own child, and Shiro served them faithfully and devotedly for his love and affection.
And next door there also lived an old man and an old woman. But these people were greedy and evil, they hated Shiro and always scolded him or tried to hit him with something.
One day a kind old man was digging up his field, and Shiro was running on his heels. He ran and ran, sniffed the ground, then suddenly grabbed the owner by the half with his teeth and dragged him to the far corner of the field where an old elm tree grew. Shiro dragged the old man to the tree and let him scrape the ground with his paws. He scratches and barks, as if he wants to say: “The swarm is here! Roy is here!
“What kind of parable?” - thought the old man. He dug with a hoe - something rang. He began to dig further and dug up a whole bunch of gold. The old man got scared and quickly called the old woman. The two of them somehow moved the treasure to their house. This is how good people unexpectedly became rich...
A greedy neighbor found out about this and was overcome by envy. He went to the old man and asked him to give him a dog for a while. The old man, in his simplicity, take it and give it. The neighbor tied a rope around Shiro's neck and dragged him to his field.
“I must have gold here too.” Search! Search! - he shouted and pulled the rope so hard that poor Shiro scratched the ground with his paws in pain.
- Yeah, that means it’s here! The neighbor took up the hoe. He dug and dug, but except for stones and fragments of tiles, he dug up nothing. However, he did not give up on his idea: he began to dig deeper. But then suddenly a thick stench came out from under the ground and the pit filled with sewage.
- Ugh, what disgusting! - the greedy old man shouted beside himself with anger. - Here's to you for this!
He swung his hoe and hit the dog on the head. Shiro just yelped and stretched out on the ground.
No matter how much the old man and woman grieved afterward, there was nothing to do. They carried Shiro into the garden, dug a hole there and buried him with tears. And on top of this place they planted a small pine tree.
The pine tree began to grow by leaps and bounds and soon turned into a huge powerful tree.
“Let me do something to remember Shiro!” - thought the old man. He cut down a pine tree and hollowed out a mortar from it.
“Let’s bake some rice cakes,” he said to the old woman. “Our Shiro loved them so much!”
And so the two of them began to pound the rice in a mortar. But what a wonder! No matter how much they pound, the rice in the mortar only adds more. It began to pour over the edge and soon covered the entire kitchen.
The greedy neighbors found out about this, and their envy became worse than ever. They went, without shame, again to the old man and the old woman, asking him to lend them a mortar. And the old man and the old woman are kind people: how can you not lend money if the neighbors ask!
The neighbor brought the mortar home, poured rice into it, and began pounding it with his old woman. But instead of rice, a bad smell suddenly came out of the mortar and sewage poured out - the whole kitchen was dirty.
The greedy neighbors got angry, broke the mortar into small pieces and burned it.
A kind old man came to get his mortar, and all that was left was a pile of ashes. He was sad, but there was nothing to do. He collected the ashes in a basket and sadly walked home.
“Look, old woman, what’s left of Shiro’s pine tree!”
The old man took the ashes into the garden and wanted to pour them into the place where Shiro was buried, but then the wind blew and scattered a handful of ashes throughout the garden. Ash fell on the branches of plums and cherries that were frozen under the snow, and suddenly - what miracles! - Before the old man’s eyes they were covered with flowers. It was the middle of winter, and real spring had arrived in the old man’s garden.
The old man even clapped his hands with joy.
- Oh, how good. So, perhaps, if I want, everything around me will bloom!
He collected the remains of the ashes in a basket and went to the city. He walks down the street and shouts:
I am Hanasaka's grandfather! I am the grandfather of “Cherry Blossoms Bloom”! Wherever I go, there are cherry blossoms in the garden!
Just at this time the governor of the province was returning from hunting with his retinue. He heard the old man, called him to him and said:
- I've never seen anything like this before. Come on, try it! Let these dried cherry branches bloom.
The old man quickly climbed the tree with the basket.
- Bloom, golden, blossom, silver! - he shouted and poured a handful of ash onto the branches. At that same moment, before the prince’s eyes, the entire tree was covered with lush flowers.
- Amazing thing! — the ruler was amazed. “Unprecedented beauty!” “He praised the old man and generously gave him gifts.
The greedy neighbor heard about this, and envy took over him again. He scraped up the ashes that remained from the mortar into a basket, and also went to the city. He walks down the street and shouts:
I am Hanasaka's grandfather!
I am the grandfather of “Cherry Blossoms Bloom”!
Where will I go?
There are cherry blossoms in the garden!
Just at this time the ruler passed by again
- Oh, is that you, the flower sower? Well, show us again how your trees bloom!
The greedy old man climbed the cherry tree with a smug look. He climbed to the very top and let’s throw ashes at random and say:
- Bloom, golden, blossom, silver!
A strong wind blew and carried the ashes in all directions. The prince and his retinue got it here. Ash filled their nose, eyes, and mouth. An unimaginable commotion arose here: who was rubbing his eyes, who was sneezing, who was coughing, who was shaking himself off. The ruler got angry:
- Oh, you lying old man! How dare you laugh at me?!
He ordered to seize the old man, beat him thoroughly and throw him into prison - so that he would not deceive people next time.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru