A long time ago, in a small village, there lived a poor old man and his wife. The old man was weaving “kasa” - large straw hats for sale, and his old woman was busy with the housework. One day, on the very eve of the New Year, the old woman looked into the rice stall and saw that there was only one measly handful of rice left. That day the snow fell so deep that they could not collect straw for their hats. The old lady sighed and put water on the fire to cook the rest of the rice.
Then a mouse appeared from a hole in the wall. “How hungry I am!” - he cried. Father Mouse and Mother Mouse said to the little mouse: “Be patient, Little Mouse, you know that this is a poor people’s house and they rarely eat their fill.”
“Poor little mouse,” said the old man, “We are so poor that even our mice are hungry.” Out of pity, he gave half of the remaining rice to the mice, and they had dinner together.
The next morning, the mice got out of the house, trampled the snow and collected a huge armful of straw.
The mice carried the straw into the house with a cheerful squeak. “This is in gratitude for the rice you shared with us last night.”
The touched old man almost cried with happiness. Now they will weave a lot of hats, sell them in the city and buy a lot of delicious food for the New Year. The old man and the old woman set to work together, and the mice helped them as best they could. When there was no more straw left and the last hat was ready, the old man put the hats behind his back and walked towards the city through the deep white snow.
As grandfather approached the outskirts of the city, he noticed that the stone statues of Jizo-sama (the Buddha who protects the common people) stood with their heads covered in snow. “Jizou-sama, you must be very cold.” With these words, the Old Man took off his headband and carefully swept the snow from each statue.
And the New Year's bustle reigned in the city. There were only a few minutes left before the holiday; a noisy, cheerful crowd was already preparing to celebrate the New Year. An old man, surrounded by a crowd, shouted: “Straw hats! Wonderful hats! But who needs a great straw hat!” But no one bought a single hat from him. Soon, the streets were empty and the night watch bell rang. The old man, without selling a single hat, shouldered them and walked sadly towards the house. “I have nothing that I can sacrifice to Jizo-sama,” he thought sadly.
In sadness, the old man walked home along the snow-covered streets and finally reached the outskirts. As he passed the Jizo-sama statues, he saw that they were again covered with snow. He again removed the bandage from his head and again carefully swept the snow from each of the statues. "I haven't sold a single hat, I haven't bought any apples or cheesecakes, I have nothing to offer you. Accept from me at least hats against bad weather on this festive night. With these words, he put a hat on the head of each statue. There were only six statues, and the old man only had five hats. The old man thought for a while, then took his bandage and carefully wrapped it around the head of the sixth statue. He returned home completely empty hands.
When he came home, the mice saw that he did not have a single hat behind his back. They rejoiced, thinking that he must have sold all the hats. “Forgive me. I couldn’t sell anything,” said the old man and told his wife and mice everything that had happened to him. The old woman, obedient, consoled her husband: “You have done a good deed. Let’s eat corned beef instead of cheesecakes, and instead of tea, boil water and celebrate the coming New Year.”
And suddenly, at midnight, they heard loud shouts from the street: “New Year has come! New Year has come! Where is the old hat seller’s house?” Surprisingly, these were the voices of the Jizo-sama statues, which approached the very house of the old people. The statues carried sleighs loaded to the top with rice, miso (a tasty bean paste), apples and other sweets. "Thank you for your beautiful hats, dear hat seller. In gratitude for your kindness, we leave you these gifts. Happy New Year!" With these words, the Jizo-sama statues returned to the outskirts of the city.
Now they had a lot of food, much more than the old people could eat. They asked the mice to invite other animals to visit. Together they prepared a luxurious festive dinner. Then the old man put special New Year's rice cakes in a box and took them to the Jizo-sama statues. "Now I can make a sacrifice for you. Thank you."
The old man returned home and, together with his wife, mice, and their friends, cheerfully celebrated the New Year.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru