The Grateful Crane 1

Long, long ago, there was a good and honest man, whose name was Yohyo. He lived in a small village and worked as a woodcutter.

One cold day in winter, when deep snow lay on the ground, Yohyo was returning home from his work in the forest. Over his shoulder he carrid a sack of wood, and as it was near evening and it was getting very cold, he hurried on across the snow-coverd fields. Suddenly he saw something black lying in the snow-something that moved and cried. He stopped, and putting down his sack, he went to see what it was. As he got near, the object in the snow cried again, and he could see that it was a crane-a large and beautiful bird with long legs.

When the crane saw Yohyo coming closer, it struggled to rise and he could see that one of its wings was hurt.

"You pour thing!" he cried. "Come, let me help you. If you stay out here in the snow, you will die."

The crane stopped struggling and let Yohyo pick it up. Gently and carefully, he stroked the crane's feathers, and carrying it under one arm, he set off for home again.

Yohyo was a kind man with a gentle heart and he felt sorry for the beautiful crane. He looked after it until it was well again, and then he set it free to fly off into the sky.

One night, a few days later, Yohyo heard someone knocking ant the door. When he opened the door, he found a women standing in the snow. By the light of his lamp, Yohyo could see that she was young and beautiful, and shaking with cold. Yohyo stared at her in surprise.

"I have lost my way in the snow," she said, in a sweet and gentle voice. "My I come into your house and stay for the night?"

"Yes, yes, of course! Come in at once, out of the snow," cried Yohyo.

He build up the fire again with fresh wood, and brought the young woman rice an hot soup. Her name was Otsu and she was as king and gentle as Yohyo homself.

The next day there was a storm and so Otsu stayed on at the house and Yohyo grew to love her. Otsu, also, loved him for his gentle heart, and soon they were married.

Yohyo and Otsu were happy together, although Yohyo earned only a little money and they were very poor. One night, just before New Year' Eve, they were sitting together as usual, when Otsu noticed that her husband was worrying about something.

"My dear husband," she said. "What are you worrying about? Please tell me."

"Well…" sighed Yohyo. "It is nearly New Year' Eve, but I cannot make any preparation for the feast because I have no money. I have not even enough money to buy rice and cakes. How I wish I had some money…"

Otsu listened to him silently.

"Yohyo, I will weave for you," she said. "You can take the cloth that I weave and sell it at the market to earn some money."

"But, please do not look into the other room, while I am working, promise me that you will not look in?"

Yohyo promised, and Otsu went into the other room and began to weave some cloth. She was working for hours ang Yohyo get tired of waiting, but he was patient. At last Otsu came out with a piece of beautiful cloth in her hands. It was the most beautiful cloth that Yohyo had ever seen.