TitleThe Old Man Who Made the Dead Trees Blossom - T. Hasegawa versionAlternative TitleHanasaki jijiContributorThompson, David, 1835 - 1915 Eitaku, 1843-1890PublisherHasegawa Takejiro, TokyoDescription"When a dog began scratching at a certain spot, a kind - hearted old man, the master of the dog, dug there and found a quantity of gold. A neighboring greedy old couple borrowed the dog, which began scratching at another spot. But when they dug there, all they found was a lot of filthy stuff. In a fit of anger, the greedy old man killed the dog and buried it beside a tree. In his grief, the kind old man cut down the tree and made a mortar out of the wood. When he used the mortar to pound barley, the barley multiplied. Hearing of this, the greedy old man again borrowed the mortar, but the barley he pounded split apart. In another fit of anger, he broke the mortar to pieces and burned the pieces as fire wood. The kind old man scattered the ashes from the mortar, and the ashes made dead trees blossom. The prince of the country saw this and plentifully rewarded him. Eager to get the same kind of reward, the greedy old man sprinkled ashes, too, but they flew into the eyes of the prince, who punished him as a result." (Kyoto University of Foreign Studies, LanguageEnglish
The Old Man Who Made the Dead Trees Blossom - T. Hasegawa version (1885). Monash Uni, accessed 17/02/2026, https://collections.monash.edu/nodes/view/35920
