The Old Man who Made Flowers on Trees

1.    A Home for Shiro
Long, long ago, there was an old woodcutter who lived in small village by the side of a great forest. One morning, he was going to work as he did every day, when he saw a little dog. It was lying by the side of the path and was thin and weak. The dog was nearly dead from cold and hunger. The old man felt very sorry for the poor little dog.
He picked it up and put it in carefully inside. When his wife saw him returned so early and hurried, the old lady went out to meet him. She asked why he had come back so soon. He took out the dog and showed to her.
“You poor little dog!” she cried. “Who has been so cruel to you?” “How clever you look with your clear bright eyes and pointed ears! Two old people like us would like to have you in this house,”
“Yes, yes.” Said the old man who liked the idea of keeping the dog.  They went inside and lay it down comfortably. They looked after him well and soon the dog grow well and strong. The old man and his wife called Shiro which means white.
The old man and his wife had no children. They loved Shiro like a son and Shiro followed them wherever they went.

2 Shiro discovered gold coins
One day, in winter, the old man went to his field to dig some vegetables. Shiro was always happy when they did things like this. He ran beside him, jumped and played around with him as they went. When they reached the field, he ran around even more wildly. He barked with excitement as he jumped to the bush.
Suddenly, he stopped. His ears became more pointed and he looked as though he was listening for something. Then, he put his nose to the ground and moved slowly to the corner of the field. He smelled at a little pile of earth. All at once, he began digging and barking loudly. The old man at the other end of the field heard him. He thought Shiro must have found something very unusual and hurried over to see what it was. He began to dig where Shiro had been digging. He had hardly begun when hundreds of gold coins poured into the air, like water from a fountain. The old man was very surprised and hurried away to bring his wife to see what he had found.

3  A Wicked Neighbor
Unfortunately, the old man lived in a bad neighborhood. Their neighbor was a wicked and greedy man. He also heard Shiro’s barking. From his field which was next to the old man’s, he saw what happened. He was very jealous and wanted some gold for himself. He pretended to be friendly, so the old man gave the dog to his neighbor. As they said goodbye, he told Shiro to be a good dog. But, Shiro would not follow his new master. Shiro lay down on the ground and shook with fear. The neighbor was gentle at first, then he shouted but he only made Shiro more afraid. He grew more and more angry. The cruel neighbor tied ropes around the dog’s neck and dragged him to a corner that the poor dog could hardly lie down. It was so tight around his throat that his own master could hear his weak barks.
“Now then,” shouted the cruel neighbor, “Where is it buried? Find it for me or I will kill you.”

Shiro is badly hurt and dies
He dug in the ground before Shiro’ nose. As he dug, he hit against something hard. The man stood still. The neighbor thought he had found gold. The next moment, he was digging the earth with both hands. But, he found old bits of cloth, wooden shoes, and broken bricks. The dog was very frighten underneath the tree. He was badly hurt, but the rope was broken and he was able to run away. Shiro was in great pain and soon his master heard his cries and hurried over. When he saw what had happened, the old man was very unhappy. He took Shiro gently in his arms.
“Shiro, my poor Shiro, what terrible things has happened to you? Will you ever forgive me? Will you ever forgive my cruel mistake?” the old man cried. But, Shiro could not do nothing, he held him more tightly. The old man returned home sadly with his dog.

4 A Giant Tree
The old man and woman were very sad. They did not sleep that night. Early next morning, they buried the little dog in the corner of the field where Shiro had found gold. The old man put a stone over the place and beside it; he planted a young pine tree. Every day, the old man and his wife went to the place where he was buried. They stood with bent heads and thought of their friend.
The tree grew more quickly than any tree had ever grown. In a week’s time, it had branches. In two weeks, two people could not put their arms around it.  By the end of a month, it was so tall that its top leaves seemed to touch the sky. Each day, as he looked at it, the old man said, “Wife, our little Shiro is dead, but it is as if he lived in this tree. He could not be killed. He is still here. I am sure of it.” And they both look at the tree.
Other people soon heard of the growing tree. Every day, came from mountains and valleys far away and stood around it. Its highest branches were now partly hidden by the cloud. They stretched their necks to see them. They shook their heads and whispered to each other that it could not be true. But, when they lifted their heads and looked again, they saw that it was flowers growing on the trees.

5 Ashes and Flowers
Next day, the old man came to ask his neighbour to give him the bowl. But, the neighbor gave him unfriendly greeting. “The bowl was cracked and useless. It broke as soon as I started to use it, so I cut it up and burn it to ashes. If they are any use to you help yourself. There they are!”
The old man was very sad. He was not angry, only very sad indeed. “First, my dear Shiro. Now, my wonderful bowl,” he said to himself. The old man brought nothing only ashes to put them back where Shiro was buried. Then, a wonderful thing happened. Where ever they touch the branches leaves appeared flowers. It liked in spring.
“Look! Look! Old Flower man can make flower grow on trees.”

An important visitor
It happened that the most important man was visiting the village. He had many servants with him. When he heard the shout of the old man and the crowd of people around him, then he stopped his horse and told his servant to ask what was happening. By this time, the old man who was very happy climbed a cherry tree full of pink and white flowers.
“Wonderful! Really wonderful! A man can make flowers grow where he is wishing. Old man, I shall reward you,” and he got down from his horse. A servant brought a bag filled with gold coins. The old man could hardly believe to what had happened to him and he soon got home to tell her about the ashes and the most important man. He hurried along holding the bag tightly very happy and smiling.
The greedy neighbor fails again. He saw everything that had happened and was very unhappy. Immediately, he began spreading ash on the branches, but no flowers grew. Instead, the ash covered the most important man and all his servants in a clouds dust. The servants dragged the greedy neighbor.
The greedy man asked the important man to forgive him for what he had done. They slowly changed their ways. They became gentle and good friends. On every festival all four went to the place where Shiro was buried. They prayed and offered mochi-cakes, so that he should live on in peace. For the rest of their days, they were very kind to each other and to the people of the village. All ended well.