Class 7 English Honeycomb Chapter 4 Important Questions

In nineteenth-century Japan, wealthy landowners were called as Daimios. They were the territorial magnates who dominated much of the country from about the 11th to the 19th century.

The couple had been kind and generous. As they had no children, they loved it as though it were a baby. The old dame made it a cushion of blue crape, and at mealtime, Muko for that was its name—would sit on it as snug as any cat. The kind people fed the pet with tidbits of fish from their chopsticks, and all the boiled rice it wanted.

The old couple took care of the dog as if it were a baby. The dog, too, was very much in love with the past couple. So the dumb creature loved its protectors like a being with a soul.

The old man was a farmer. He was a rice farmer, and he went daily with hoe or spade into the fields, working hard from morning until O Tento Sama (as the sun is called) had gone down behind the hills.

Like the good old couple, the dog was also good-natured. When the farmer used to go to the field in work, the dog used to follow him. The dog never harmed the white heron that walked in the footsteps of the old man to pick up the worms.

One day while working in the field, the dog came running to him, putting his paws against his legs and motioning with his head to some spot behind. The old man at first thought his pet was only playing and did not mind it.

At first, the old farmer did not mind the unusual behavior of the dog. But when the dog kept whining and running to and fro for some minutes, the old man followed the dog a few yards to a place where the animal began a vigorous scratching. Thinking it was possibly a buried bone or bit of fish, the old man struck his hoe in the earth. And at an instance came out a pile of gold coins.

After the good old couple got the unexpected treasure, they bought a piece of land, made a feast for their friends, and gave plentifully to their poor neighbors. As for the dog, they petted him till they nearly smothered him with kindness.

In the same village, there lived an evil old man and his wife, not a bit sensitive and kind, who had always kicked and scolded all dogs whenever any passed their house.

When the wicked old couple heard about the good luck of their neighbors, they coaxed the dog into their garden and set before him bits of fish and other dainties, hoping he would find the treasure for them. But the dog, being afraid of the cruel pair, would neither eat nor move.

When the wicked couple could not find any treasure directed by the dog, they went furious at the dog. The old man kicked and beat him to death, and the old woman finished the work by nearly chopping off his head with the sharp hoe. They then flung him into the hole and heaped the earth over his carcass.

Hearing the news of the demise of his pert, he mourned as if he had been his child. At night he went under the pine tree set up some bamboo tubes in the ground, such as are used before tombs, in which he put fresh flowers. Then he laid a cup of water and a tray of food on the grave and burned several costly sticks of incense. He mourned a great while over his pet, calling him many dear names as if he were alive.

The night when the good old man mourned a lot at the grave of the dead pet, the spirit of the dog appeared to him in a dream and said, to cut down the pine tree over his grave, and make from it a mortar for his rice pastry and a mill for his bean sauce.

As instructed by the spirit of the dog, the old man chopped down the tree and cut out of the middle of the trunk a section about two feet long. With great labor, partly by fire, partly by the chisel, he scraped out a hollow place as big as a small bowl. He then made a long-handled hammer of wood, such as is used for pounding rice.

When New Years’ time drew near, the good old farmer wished to make some rice pastry. When the rice was all boiled, granny put it into the mortar, the old man lifted his hammer to pound the mass into the dough, and the blows fell heavy and fast till the pastry was all ready for baking. Suddenly the whole weight turned into a heap of gold coins.

When the wicked hag secretly watched the good old couple getting rich with the mortar and the mill, they thought to give it a try. The next day the stingy and wicked neighbor came and borrowed the mortar and magic mill. They filled one with boiled rice and the other with beans. Then the old man began to pound and the woman to grind. But at the first blow and turn, the pastry and sauce turned into a foul mass of worms.

When the wicked old couple got nothing but a foul mass of worms, after using the mortar and the mill, they went furious. Out of anger, they chopped the mill into pieces to use as firewood.

After the wicked old couple chopped the mortar and the mill to use as firewood, the dog appeared in the dream of the good old man and told him how the wicked people had burned the mill made from the pine tree and instructed him to take the ashes of the mill, sprinkle them on the withered trees, and they will bloom again.

Guided by the spirit of the dog when the good old man went to ask for the ash from the wicked neighbors, he found the miserable old pair sitting at the edge of their square fireplace, in the middle of the floor, smoking, and spinning. From time to time they warmed their hands and feet with the blaze from some bits of the mill, while behind them lay a pile of the broken pieces.

When the good old man asked for the ash from the wicked old couple, the greedy couple turned up their noses at him and scolded him as if he were a thief. But they let him fill his basket with the ashes.

In the days of the daimios, it was the custom, when their lord passed by, for all the loyal people to shut up their high windows. They even pasted them fast with a slip of paper, so as not to commit the impertinence of looking down on his lordship. All the people along the road would fall upon their hands and knees and remain prostrate until the procession passed by.

Before the train of the Daimio, there was a competent man who used to control the people around. He marched ahead, crying out to the people by the way, “Get down on your knees! Get down on your knees!” And every one kneeled while the procession was passing.

When the tall competent man of the van caught sight of the aged man up in the tree? He was about to call out to him in an angry tone, but, seeing he was such an old fellow, he pretended not to notice him and passed him by.

When the daimio’s palanquin drew near, the old man, taking a pinch of ashes from his basket, scattered it over the tree. In a moment it burst into blossom. Seeing this, the Daimio was delighted and ordered the train to be stopped and got out to see the wonder. Calling the old man to him, he thanked him and ordered the presents of silk robes, sponge-cake, fans, and other rewards to be given to him. He even invited him to his castle.

When the greedy neighbor heard of the story of good old man and Daimio, he took some of the magic ashes and went out on the highway. There he waited until a daimio’s train came along, and, instead of kneeling down like the crowd, he climbed a withered cherry tree. He also desired to be privileged by the Daimio.