“It fares well, my brother,” said Kazuma sadly; and to himself he whispered, “the lily of forgetfulness.”
Then after his brother had gone to the palace he wept much and said, “My brother’s heart has grown like a stone. He has forgotten my father and all that he has for him is the lily of forgetfulness. I too shall plant a flower, but mine shall be the aster for memory; for I shall never, never, forget my honorable father. Each day I will tend the aster with my own hands; for it is a sacred flower, the flower of remembrance.”
Then he did as he said, and every day he tended the plants and prayed beside his father’s grave. And every day he loved his father more and more.
“EVERY DAY HE TENDED THE PLANTS”
One day when he was tending the flower he heard a strange sound. He listened and there seemed to come from the grave a whispering voice. It said to him, “O Kazuma, I am sent to guard the spirit of your honorable father. Long have you remembered your parent when your brother had forgotten him. You have planted for him the sacred asters of remembrance, and here they have bloomed in purple beauty. All these things I have noticed and I am well pleased with your filial piety. So, fear me not, faithful son. To you I shall be a spirit of kindness so long as you live. I can read the future, and ever I shall whisper to you in dreams of the night, and I shall direct you in the paths which you should follow to meet success. Farewell!”
The voice ceased and Kazuma stood amazed before the asters and the day lilies of his brother. He returned home greatly wondering, and told his wife all that had happened.
That night, in sleep, the spirit came to him and told him all that he should do to meet success; and when day came he obeyed the voice, and all was well with him. And so it continued, for success waited upon him at every turn, and his wife bore him many sons and all his life he was happy and fortunate.
THE PRINCESS AND THE FOX BABY
A little princess sat beneath the cherry blooms in the royal garden. It was spring and the whole garden was a mass of radiant pink bloom, as soft as the sunset glow on the snows of Fuji San.