My work(Children's story)~2~ A white cat

  Now, I finished translating my work into English.
It is hard work for me. hahaha. ^ ^ ;
Please forgive my mistakes of English in the sentence.
I would like to write more Japanese stylish work next time.
  But I don't know what is really Japanese stylish work.

A white cat

 

  There was a poor monk. He was living at poor temple. The roof of his temple was broken by the wind in the summer. The sliding door at the entrance was blown away by the wind. Because the temple was broken, people did not use the temple at the funeral.

 “Oh, nobody visits my temple… nobody leaves the offering. What shall I do? ”

  The monk often spent a time with sorrow. When he feels sad, he always saw the scenery of the town from the precincts of the temple. But he kept getting up early, sweeping the precincts, and reading sutra.

 

 One day, when the monk was sweeping the precincts in the early morning, he found a white cat sitting on the tread of the stairs. He has not seen the white cat before, so he talked to the white cat.

“I haven’t seen you. Where were you from?”

“I came from the other world.”

 The monk got surprised to see the white cat answered like a man.

“Can you speak words?”

“Yes. Words… well, all cats can speak words of human being.  Every cat doesn’t feel like speaking human’s words. Man does not talk to the cat with your words earnestly. So, cats don’t answer earnestly.”

“Oh, cats can speak human’s language. I did not know that.”

 The white cat suddenly jumped up and turned around one time in the air. The white cat landed on the ground. Mysteriously, the monk felt something warm on his stomach. He touched his stomach and he found some onigiris there.

“I’ll give it.”

 The monk was so hungry that he was pleased. But he was happy because he could talk with a new friend.

 “Well, did you come from the other world? I have read a lot of sutra. But I did not know a white cat was living in the other world. And I did not know the cat comes to our world.  Can I ask something?”

 “Yes.”

 “Did you come to this temple to take me to the other world? Am I going to die soon?”

 The cat stretched his back and answered.

 “Yes. You are going to die soon. You have a serious illness.”

 “Oh, I see. It can’t be helped. I became old. You have a mysterious ability. So, you must be right. But…I have a daughter whose name is Okiku. She went to the village to get married a long time ago. I don’t know where she lives now. I want to take a look before I die. ”

“Oh, may I ask a favor of you? If so, your wish would be realized.”

The white cat said with smile.

“What do you want? I will do.”

“I have a daughter. She fell into the well in the village. Can you read a sutra for her?”

The monk showed his sadness in his face.

“I’m sorry to hear that. I will go to the well and read a sutra for her.”

The monk departed for the village. He arrived at the well and started to read the sutra.

He kept reading the sutra everyday so he could read it. There were some villagers who looked at the monk with strange eyes. But he did not care about that. He imagined his daughter fell into the well and died. And he became sad. He decided to read the longest sutra for the cat. His sutra continued until night.

 “It’s getting late. How can I go back to my temple…I am stranger here?”

 He wondered if he falls into the well. When he looked into the well, he found a light in the dark. The light became to get bigger and finally it came out from the well. He fell to the ground. He found a golden lump there.

“What’s this?”

When he picked up the golden lump, he found a white cat by the golden lump. The cat ran away on the path

 “It’s strange…”

 He was looking at the direction the cat went to. Suddenly, someone talked to him.

“Excuse me, what do you have in your hand?  Is it gold?”

When the monk turned around, a well-dressed man was there.

“Yeah, when I was reading a sutra here, this golden lump appeared from this well. It was strange”

“Yes, it’s strange. That can’t be so! Anyway, can you sell me the golden lump? I love something shining.”

“Do you? But this is not mine.”

“I don’t think so. How come is this here? I know you’re not thief. It is clear that it belongs to you. Well…please take this.”

The man gave a lot of oval gold coins to monk. The man took the golden lump and left the place. The monk did not know what was happening. He just decided to go back to his temple in the mountain. On the way to his temple, he found a kid on the road. The kid looked so poor and he was shivering in the cold.

“Hey, boy. Are you all right? You must not to be here. It’s too cold.”

“I was sent packing my house. I’m not cold.”

“I don’t think so. You’re shivering.”

The monk wondered how to deal with the situation. He just found a shop dealing in fabrics for kimono.

“Wait a moment.”

The monk stood in front of the door and knocked.

“Open it, please. I’ll get one. Please.”

A few minutes later, the light inside the shop was on, and a man appeared.

“What’s wrong with you? I am sorry, the shop is closed.”

“Could you sell me a kimono? Here’s money. I’ll get good one.”

 The owner of the shop graced at the coins and allowed the monk to come in.

 The owner went to the interior and came back with a kimono.

“How about this one?”

It was green colored kimono.

“Yes, I’ll get it.”

The monk paid money. He left the shop, and went to the place the kid was sitting.

The monk gave him the kimono.

“Boy, put on this kimono. You’ll spend a night. But you should go back to your home.

The kid took the kimono and said.

“Thanks, I don’t have money now. I give you this. I found this near the bridge, Tsukiyo-bashi.”

The kid gave the monk “kanzashi(ornamental hairpin)” and left there. It was red colored, and Japanese lacquer was painted. The monk thought he has seen the kanzashi before, but he could not remind what it is. The monk thought the kid went back to his home, so he felt relieved. It was dark night. The moon light was bright.

When he came to the Tsukiyo-bashi, the bush near the bridge rustled. The monk got tense because of the weird sound.   

“Oh, there must be beast there.”

“What?”

 Someone answered.

“Anyone there?”

 When the monk looked at the dark, he found a beautiful woman there. He realized that she was his daughter, who got married many years ago.

“Okiku.”

“Yes, my father.”

“Why are you here?”

He approached her.

“I was looking for the kanzashi you gave me. Maybe, I lost it around here. It got late.”

“This kanzashi must be yours.”

When he passed the kanzashi, she was delighted.

“I could meet my daughter again… ”

After his meeting with his daughter, he exchanged many mails with her and spent the rest of his life happily.