When Umé left the temple the pretty red shoes were lying at the feet of the Goddess Kwannon, and the child's face looked full of hope.
As they sat in the jinrikisha old Maru said, "One can never do too much for the honorable mother." Then she added proudly, "No other nation in the world can show such examples of filial love as Japan."
"What do you mean?" asked Umé, who could listen to a story now that her heart was lightened of its fear.
"I mean the example of the four and twenty paragons," replied the nurse. "The gods never gave me a son. If they had I should have prayed that he might be like the paragon who, when he himself was very old, became a baby so that his parents might not realize how old they had grown."
"But I thought we Japanese liked to become very old," said Umé, puzzled. "I always say 'Ohayo, old woman,' to the batter-cake woman at the corner, and she is gratefully pleased."
"That is true. But the paragon showed his filial affection by acting as a baby," persisted old Maru. "It was a noble thing to do."
"How many paragons were there?" asked Umé.
"Four and twenty," replied the old woman.
"Was one of them a little girl, and did she give up her red shoes?" asked Umé.
Old Maru looked doubtful. "It was a long time ago," she said. "I think no red shoes had been made in the world at that time."