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THE STORYOF THE

AGEDMOTHERA

Japanese Folktale by

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MATSUO BASHO

Long, long agothere lived at

the foot of themountain a

poor farmer andhis aged,

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widowedmother. Theyowned a bit of

land whichsupplied them

with food,and their

humble were

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peacefulandhappy.Shini

ng wasgoverned by adespotic leaderwho though awarrior, hada great and

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cowardlyshrinking fromanything

suggestive offailing healthand strength.This caused

him to send out

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acruelproclamation.

The entireprovince wasgiven strictorders to

immediately putto death all

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agedpeople.Those werebarbarousdays, and

the custom ofabandoning old

people todie was

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notcommon.The poor

farmer loved hisaged motherwith tender

reverence, andthe order

filled hisheart

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with sorrow. Butno one

ever thought asecond time

about obeyingthe mandate ofthegovernor, sowith many deep

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hopeless sighs,the youth

prepared forwhat at

that timewasconsidered

the kindestmode of

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death. Just atsundown, whenhis days work

was ended,he took aquantity of

unwhitened ricewhich

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isprincipal foodfor poor,

cooked anddried it, andtying it in a

square cloth,swung

and bundle

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aroundhis neckalong with

a gourd filledwith cool, sweetwater. Then he

liftedhis helpless old

mother tohis

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back and statedon his painful

journey up themountain. Theroad was long

and steep;thenarrowed

road was

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crossed andrecrossed bymany pathsmade by thehunters andwoodcutters.

Insome place,they mingled in

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a confusedpuzzled, but hegave no heed.One path or

another,itmattered not.On he went,

climbing blindly

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upward ever upwardtowards thehigh bare

summitof whatis known as

Obatsuyama,the mountain of

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theabandoning of

aged. Theeyes of the oldmother were

not so dim butthat they noted

the reckless

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hastening fromonepath to

another, andher loving heartgrew anxious.

Her son did notknow

the mountains

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manypaths andhis return might

be one ofdanger, so shestretched forth

her handand snappingthetwigs from

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brushes as theypassed, she

quietly droppeda handful every

few steps ofthe way sothatthey climbed,

the narrow path

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behind themwas dotted at

frequentlyintervals with

tiny pilesof twigs. At lastthe summit wasreached. Weary

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and heartsick, the youthgently releasedhis burdenand

silentlyprepared a

place of comfortas his last

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duty to theloved one.

Gathering fallenpineneedle, he

made a softcushion and

tenderlylifting his old

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mother therein,he wrapped her

paddedcoatmore closely

about thestooping

shoulders andwith tearful

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eyes and anaching heart

saidfarewell. The trembling

mothers voice

was full ofunselfish love

as she gave her

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last injunction.Let notthine

eyes beblinded, myson. A Shesaid. The

mountain roadis full

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of dangers.LOOK

carefullyandfollow the pathwhich holds thepiles of twigs.

They will guideyou to

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the familiar wayfartherdown.

The sons

surprised eyeslooked back

over the path,then at the poor

old, shriveled

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handsallscratched

and soiled bytheir work of

love. His heartsmote him andbowing to thegrounds, he

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criedaloud: oh,

Honorablemother, thykindness

thrusts myheart! I will

not leave thee.Together we

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willfollow thepath of twigs,and together

we willdie!Once more

he shoulderedhis burden (howlight it seemed

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no) andhastened down

thepath,throughthe shadows

and themoonlight, tothe little hut in

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the valley.Beneath

the kitchen floorwasa walled

closet for food,which was

covered andhidden from

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view. Therethe son his

mother,supplying her witheverything

needful andcontinually

watching and

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fearing. Timepassed, and

hewasbeginning to

feel safe whenagain thegovernorsent forth

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heralds bearingan

unreasonableorder, seeminglyas a boast ofhis power. Hisdemand was

that his subject

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should presenthim witha ropeof ashes. Theentire provincetrembled withdread. The

order must beobeyed yet who

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in allShiningcould make a

rope ofashes?One

night, ingreat distress,

the sonwhispered the

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news to hishidden mother.

Wait! shesaid. Iwill think.I will think Onthe second day

she told himwhat to do.

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Make ropetwisted straw,shesaid. Thenstretch it upon

a row of flatstones and

burn it there onthe windless

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night. Hecalledthe

people togetherand did as she

said andwhen the blaze

and died,

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behold uponthe stones with

every twist andfiber showing

perfectly. Lay arope of

whitheadashes. The

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governor waspleased at thewit of the youth

and praisedgreatly, but hedemanded to

knowwhere hehad obtained

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his wisdom.Alas! Alas!

cried thefarmer, the

truth must betold! andwithdeep bows he

related his

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story. Thegovernor

listened andthen meditated

in silence.Finally helifted

his head.Shining needs

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more thanstrength

of youth, hesaid gravely.

Ah, that Ishouldhaveforgotten the

well-know

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saying, with

the crown ofsnow, there

cometha wisdom! That

veryhour thecruel law wasabolished, and

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custom driftedinto as far a

past that onlylegends remain