Many years ago in the place of Nara, there was Prince Tayonari Fujiwara. His wife was Princess Murasaki. They had been married by their families when they were very young and they lived happily with each other. However, there was one cause of great sorrow for the couple. They did not have any children.
Prince and his lovely wife, after long consultation, decided to visit the temple of the Goddess of Mercy at Hase.
They believed that the Mother of Mercy would come to answer the prayer of mortals in the form that the mortals needed the most and they were sure that the Goddess would bless them with what they wanted.
So Prince Tayonari and his wife went to the temple of the Goddess of Mercy at Hase.
After that, a daughter was born to princess Murasaki and the royal couple were very happy.
They decided to call the girl Hase-Hime or the Princess of Hase because she was a gift of the Kwannon at that place.
However, when the little girl was five years old, princess Murasaki fell ill. None of the doctors could save her.
The mother knew that she was counting her days and she called her little daughter beside her. “Your mother will not be able to live with you any longer. You must remember that you must grow up to be a good girl. Do not give trouble to any one of your family. If your father marries again, someone will fill my place as your mother. Look upon your father's wife as your mother and be good to her.”
Hase-Hime listened to her mother and she promised to do as she was told.
After this Princess Murasaki breathed her last.
Sometime later, Prince Toyonari married again and he married a woman by name Princess Terute. Terute was a very cruel woman. Terute could not shake away the feeling that Hase- Hime was not her own child. She did not love her stepdaughter at all and she was very unkind to the little girl.
Adapted from Japanese Folk Tales
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