A long time ago, in one village there lived an old man and an old woman. They lived very poorly.
The last day of the old year has arrived. From the neighboring houses all you could hear was “boom!” yes “slap!” - they used wooden mallets to pound boiled rice to make a New Year's treat - mochi cakes.
- Do you hear, old woman, how the mallets are knocking? — the old man smiled. “I love it when they prepare flatbreads for the holiday!”
Meanwhile, in the house of the old man and the old woman there was only a handful of rice left - they couldn’t even make one flat cake from it. The old men thought and thought and decided to give this handful of rice to the mice - let them cook, pound and feed their hungry little mice.
- And you and I, old man, will celebrate the New Year without rice! - said the old woman.
That’s how kind the old man and old woman were! And from all sides they still heard “boom!” yes “slap!” - in the neighboring houses they were pounding boiled rice for flatbreads.
The old man looked into the mouse hole and said:
- Mice, mice, would you like to make some cakes for the New Year? We don't have much rice, but it's enough to fill your bellies! - Thank you, grandfather! - the mice squealed. - We love rice cakes so much! - Well, that's okay! - said the old woman. - But we, old man, need to celebrate the New Year somehow!
And the old man and the old woman decided to weave hats from rice straw, sell these hats in the city, and buy cakes for themselves with the proceeds. They got to work, and the mice helped them!
And in the end they wove five straw hats. The old man took the hats, put them on his back, said goodbye to everyone and went to the city.
It was snowing heavily.
- Grandfather, take care of yourself, come back soon! - the household shouted after him. “Thank you!” I will definitely buy you something delicious! - The old man waved goodbye to them.
An old man went out into the outskirts and looked, and there were statues of jizo deities standing, dusted with snow.
"Poor things! You must be chilly!" — the old man thought and carefully cleared the snow from the heads and shoulders of the stone sculptures.
Then he folded his hands in prayer and turned to the gods: “Thank you for helping us all year!” And I ask you: help us celebrate the New Year well! The old man said this and went on his way to the city. And the jizo statues still stood in a row, all six of them, and looked after him. But finally the old man got to the noisy, crowded city and began to offer his goods in a loud voice: “And here are the hats, straw hats!” Who wants hats?!
But people laden with New Year's shopping hurried past. No one even looked at the old man and his hats. And so the rest of the day was wasted. The old man did not sell anything, he began to get ready to go home. He walked for a long time in the twilight along a snow-covered road until he reached the outskirts of his village, where stone sculptures still stood under the snow.
- They're completely cold! - the old man felt sorry for them again. - But it’s okay, now I’ll cover you with hats! “With these words, he again cleared the snow from the statues and put a straw hat on each statue. One problem: the old man had only five hats, and the jizo had six! What to do? After thinking for a while, the old man took the towel with which he covered his head and tied it to the sixth jizo statue: “Well, now everything is in order, now everyone has a hat or a towel, and it will be at least a little warmer,” the old man thought, and his soul felt warmer.
- Old woman, welcome, I’m back! - said the old man on the threshold of his house. “Oh, you poor thing, how you worked hard and froze,” the old woman wailed, rushing to meet him. The old man told her everything without hiding about his misadventures. “You did the right thing,” the old woman encouraged him. “May the gods rejoice and send us a good New Year.”
Night came, and the old man and old woman went to bed. But suddenly someone’s screams and exclamations were heard outside. It was clear from everything that they were dragging something heavy through the loose snow:
- Hey-sa, yo-sa! Hey-sa, yo-sa! One-two - they took it! One-two - they took it! - Who could it be at such a late hour? “The old man looked out the window and saw six jizos pulling a sled with a load. But when he and the old woman ran out into the street, only gifts left by the deities were waiting for them. There was everything there - a bag of rice, vegetables, and a lot of other dishes. - How grateful we are to you! Was it worth the trouble? — the old man and the old woman wanted to thank their benefactors, but they saw only the quickly retreating figures of deities.
And then the first morning of the New Year arrived. From the supplies left by the jizo, the old man and the old woman prepared a hearty meal. “Oh, how delicious!” - heard every now and then in the house. - Thanks to our gods! Thanks to them, we celebrated the New Year wonderfully! This is how the story of straw hats for jizo statues ended happily.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru