Dogs

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Long, long ago, in ancient Japan there lived an old couple that had a dog for a pet. Because they had no children of their own they treated their dog especially nice, giving it a little bed near them and feeding it choice scraps of food from their own dishes. Their little dog followed them everywhere. One day the old couple were working in their garden when their dog began to dig into the ground. The old couple was surprised to find that the dog had dug up a pot filled with gold coins. Joyous and happy the old couple bought food for themselves and their neighbors. But one of their neighbors became jealous of the old couple’s good fortune. This neighbor was mean and bad tempered. The neighbor reasoned that if the dog had found gold once before it could do it again. By trickery, he borrowed the little dog. Although the little dog was led up and down the neighbor garden, it did not find any gold. At the end of the day the mean neighbor only managed to dig up a very dead cat. When at last he lost his temper and tried to hit the little dog, it vanished! When the old couple came for their dog, the neighbor told them that it was dead and that he had buried it under their pine tree. The old couple was heartbroken. But that night, their little dog came to them in a dream. The old couple then realized that their dog was a magic creature and had not died. Their little dog asked them to cut down the pine tree that the neighbor claimed he had buried the dog under. Then he asked the old man to make a wooden bowl from the tree and for the old woman to put one grain of rice in the bowl. This they did. Imagine their surprise when the bowl overflowed with rice. There was so much rice that the old couple were able to sell some of it and live quite comfortably. The mean and spiteful neighbor, jealous of the old couple, bullied the old couple into letting him borrow the bowl and put some rice in it. But the rice turned black and sour. The neighbor full of rage dashed the bowl down on the ground where it shattered into pieces. The neighbor then burnt the pieces into ashes. That night the old couple dreamt of their little dog again. The little dog told them to get the ashes of the bowl and sprinkle some on the dead cherry tree in their garden. The old man went to the wicked neighbor’s house the next morning and obtained the ashes of the bowl. When he sprinkled some of the ashes over the dead cherry tree a remarkable thing happened. The cherry tree began to bud new green leaves and fragrant blossoms. In time the news of this incredible feat traveled to the ears of the Prince. The Prince summoned the old couple to his court and commanded the old man to make the dead trees in his garden come to life. The old man sprinkled some of the ashes on the Prince’s dead trees and sure enough they began to bloom. The Prince was so taken by this miracle that he rewarded the old couple handsomely. No longer would they have to work hard to feed and clothes themselves. As for the envious neighbor he could not leave things alone. He reasoned that the pine tree ashes should work for him too. So he loaded up a sack of the ashes from the pine tree and took them to the Prince. After shaking the ashes over a dead branch of a tree the only thing that happened was that a strong wind scattered the ashes over everyone. The Prince was so angry over this that he had the luckless neighbor punished.