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Long,
long ago, in ancient Japan there lived an old couple that had a dog for
their pet. Since they had no children of their own they treated their dog
like a child, giving it a little bed near them and feeding it scraps of
food from their own plate. Their little dog would follow them everywhere
they went. One day the old couple was working in their garden when their
dog began to dig in the ground. The old couple was surprised to find that
the dog had dug up a pot filled with gold coins. Joyous and cheerful the
old couple bought food for themselves and their neighbors. But one of
their neighbors became jealous of the old couple’s good fortune. This
neighbor was mean and bad tempered. The neighbor reasoned that if the dog
had found gold once before he could do it again. By trickery, he borrowed
the little dog. Although the little dog was led up and down the neighbor
garden, he did not find any gold. When at last he lost his temper and
tried to hit the little dog, it vanished! When the old couple came for
their dog, the neighbor told them that it was dead and that he had buried
it under their pine tree. The old couple was heartbroken. But that night,
their little dog came to them in a dream. It was only then that the old
couple realized that their dog was a magic creature and had not actually
died. Their little dog asked them to cut down the pine tree that the
neighbor claimed he had buried the dog under. Then he asked the old man to
make a wooden bowl from the tree and for the old woman to put one grain of
rice in the bowl. After they did that, imagine their surprise when the
bowl overflowed with rice. There was so much rice that the old couple were
able to sell some of it and live quite comfortably. The mean and spiteful
neighbor, jealous of the old couple, bullied the old couple into letting
him borrow the bowl and put some rice in it. But the rice turned black and
sour. The neighbor full of rage dashed the bowl down on the ground where
it shattered into pieces. The neighbor then burnt the pieces into ashes.
That night the old couple dreamt of their little dog again. The little dog
told them to get the ashes of the bowl and shower the dead cherry tree in
their garden. The old man went to the wicked neighbor’s house the next
morning and obtained the ashes of the bowl. When he sprinkled some of the
ashes over the dead cherry tree a remarkable thing happened. The dead
cherry tree began to bud new green leaves and fragrant blossoms. The news
of this incredible accomplishment traveled to the ears of the Prince. The
Prince summoned the old couple to his court and commanded the old man to
make the dead trees in his garden come to life. The old man sprinkled some
of the ashes on the Prince’s dead trees and sure enough they began to
bloom. The Prince was so taken by this miracle that he rewarded the old
couple generously. No longer would they have to work hard to feed and
clothe themselves. As for the envious neighbor he wouldn’t stop there.
He reasoned that the pine tree ashes should work for him too. So he loaded
up a sack of the ashes from the pine tree and took them to the Prince.
After shaking the ashes over a dead branch of a tree the only thing that
happened was that a strong wind scattered the ashes over everyone. The
Prince was so angry over this that he had the luckless neighbor punished.
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