Once, there was a beautiful and good girl who was the daughter of a Samurai. Her name was O Cho San. O Cho San’s father was dead and her mother was ill. O Cho San worked very hard to support her mother.
O Cho San worked very well and she had no trouble finding work.
Once, a nobleman of the place needed a maid and he came to O Cho San.
O Cho San nodded. “What would my job be?”
The nobleman shrugged. “All the work of a maid. But..” The nobleman looked grave. “There is one extra work though. My father had some precious porcelain plates.”
O Cho San smiled in an assured tone. “I have washed porcelain dishes even before this. I will be careful.”
The nobleman shook his head. “It is not that simple. These porcelain plates are priceless. My ancestor in fact made a law that whoever broke a plate had to have a finger cut.”
O Cho San was surprised.
The nobleman still looked grave. “Those plates have to be washed with care and this law made by my ancestor still holds good.”
O Cho San was nervous. But she finally agreed to the nobleman’s offer because the man paid a lot of money and O Cho San needed the money to take care of her mother. She consoled herself because she was sure that the chances that the nobleman used the precious porcelain everyday was impossible.
So O Cho San went to work for the nobleman.
She worked so well that soon all the people in the nobleman’s house were pleased with her.
However, there was a problem for O Cho San.
Adapted from Japanese Folktales
No comments:
Post a Comment