Hello one and all!
A Japanese folk tale, The Mirror of Matsuyama, is the topic of discussion. It's quite unusual, because of the way in which it deals with emotions in such a clear and tender way. That is one of the reasons why I chose it in fact. Let me start with the story then...
The Mirror of Matsuyama
Once upon a time, in a remote part of Japan, there lived a husband and wife. Soon they had a daughter, who they doted on each and every day. The man had to go away on business in Kyoto, but he promised he would bring his daughter a gift if she behaved.
At last the man returned from his trip. He opened a bamboo basket, then presented to his daughter a doll and a lacquer box filled with cakes. To his wife he gave a intricate metal mirror. The woman had never seen a mirror, and she looked upon her own reflection with wonder and awe. Not long after this the wife became very sick.
She called her daughter into her room and said, "Dear child, when I am dead take every care of your father. You will miss me when I have left you. But take this mirror, and when you feel most lonely look into it and you will always see me."
She passed away as the last words left her lips.
After some time had passed the man overcame his grief at last and married again. The girl became sad but remembered her mother's words and peered into the mirror, and found her mother's face, young and beautiful, stare back at her.
One day the stepmother spied the child crouched in a corner of the room. The young girl was murmuring to herself and staring at an object. The woman detested the child, and as such she thought her stepdaughter must be doing black magic to curse her. So the new wife went to her husband and complained that the child had tried to kill her through witchcraft.
The man hurried to his daughter's room. When he burst in the youngling was startled and slipped the mirror into her sleeve. Her father became angered by the suspicious behaviour.
“What did you just hide in your sleeve?" he asked her.
“The mirror you gave to my mother, and which she gave to me on he deathbed. Every time I look into its shining surface I see the face of my dear mother, young and beautiful. My heart has ached so much lately but I take out the mirror, and mother’s face, with sweet, kind smile, brings me peace, and helps me to bear hard words and cross looks.”
The father, with a pang of sadness in his heart, realized that his daughter was still brokenhearted over the death of her mother. The stepmother was so moved by the story that she smothered the resentment she felt. The three of them then became a happy and loving family.
Thank you for reading!
A Japanese folk tale, The Mirror of Matsuyama, is the topic of discussion. It's quite unusual, because of the way in which it deals with emotions in such a clear and tender way. That is one of the reasons why I chose it in fact. Let me start with the story then...
The Mirror of Matsuyama
Once upon a time, in a remote part of Japan, there lived a husband and wife. Soon they had a daughter, who they doted on each and every day. The man had to go away on business in Kyoto, but he promised he would bring his daughter a gift if she behaved.
At last the man returned from his trip. He opened a bamboo basket, then presented to his daughter a doll and a lacquer box filled with cakes. To his wife he gave a intricate metal mirror. The woman had never seen a mirror, and she looked upon her own reflection with wonder and awe. Not long after this the wife became very sick.
She called her daughter into her room and said, "Dear child, when I am dead take every care of your father. You will miss me when I have left you. But take this mirror, and when you feel most lonely look into it and you will always see me."
She passed away as the last words left her lips.
After some time had passed the man overcame his grief at last and married again. The girl became sad but remembered her mother's words and peered into the mirror, and found her mother's face, young and beautiful, stare back at her.
One day the stepmother spied the child crouched in a corner of the room. The young girl was murmuring to herself and staring at an object. The woman detested the child, and as such she thought her stepdaughter must be doing black magic to curse her. So the new wife went to her husband and complained that the child had tried to kill her through witchcraft.
The man hurried to his daughter's room. When he burst in the youngling was startled and slipped the mirror into her sleeve. Her father became angered by the suspicious behaviour.
“What did you just hide in your sleeve?" he asked her.
“The mirror you gave to my mother, and which she gave to me on he deathbed. Every time I look into its shining surface I see the face of my dear mother, young and beautiful. My heart has ached so much lately but I take out the mirror, and mother’s face, with sweet, kind smile, brings me peace, and helps me to bear hard words and cross looks.”
The father, with a pang of sadness in his heart, realized that his daughter was still brokenhearted over the death of her mother. The stepmother was so moved by the story that she smothered the resentment she felt. The three of them then became a happy and loving family.
Thank you for reading!
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