, also called , is a Japanese folk tale.

Algernon Bertram Freeman-Mitford Algernon Bertram Mitford, 1st Baron Redesdale, (24 February 183717 August 1916) was a British diplomat, traveller, collector and writer, who wrote as A.B. Mitford. Mitford was a noted Japanologist and travelled extensively in East Asia and ...

collected it in ''Tales of Old Japan'' (1871), as "The Story of the Old Man Who Made Withered Trees to Blossom". Rev. David Thomson translated it as "The Old Man Who Made the Dead Trees Blossom" for

Hasegawa Takejirō was an innovative Japanese publisher specializing in books in European languages on Japanese subjects. Hasegawa employed leading foreign residents as translators and noted Japanese artists as illustrators, and became a leading purveyor of export ...

's ''Japanese Fairy Tale Series'' (1885).

Andrew Lang Andrew Lang (31 March 1844 – 20 July 1912) was a Scottish poet, novelist, literary critic, and contributor to the field of anthropology. He is best known as a collector of folk and fairy tales. The Andrew Lang lectures at the University ...

included it as "The Envious Neighbor" in ''

The Violet Fairy Book ''The Langs' Fairy Books'' are a series of 25 collections of true and fictional stories for children published between 1889 and 1913 by Andrew Lang and his wife, Leonora Blanche Alleyne. The best known books of the series are the 12 collections ...

'' (1901), adapting it from a German text in ''Japanische Märchen'' compiled by (the original German title being ''Der neidische Nachbar'').

Synopsis

An old childless couple loved their dog. One day, it dug in the garden, and they found a box of gold coins there. A neighbor thought the dog must have the ability to find treasure, and managed to borrow the dog. When it dug in his garden, there were only bones, so he killed the dog in rage. He told the couple that the dog had just dropped dead. They grieved and buried it under the fig tree where they had found the treasure. One night, the dog's master dreamed that the dog told him to chop down the tree and make a mortar from it. He told his wife, who said they must do as the dog asked. When they did, the rice put into the mortar turned into gold. The neighbor borrowed it, but the rice turned to foul-smelling berries, and he and his wife smashed and burned the mortar. That night, in a dream, the dog told his master to take the ashes and sprinkle them on certain cherry trees. When he did, the cherry trees came into bloom, and the ''

daimyō were powerful Japanese magnates, feudal lords who, from the 10th century to the early Meiji era, Meiji period in the middle 19th century, ruled most of Japan from their vast, hereditary land holdings. They were subordinate to the shogun and n ...

'' (feudal landlord), passing by, marveled and gave him many gifts. The neighbor tried to do the same, but the ashes blew into the daimyō's eyes, so he threw him into prison; when he was let out, his village would not let him live there anymore, and he could not, with his wicked ways, find a new home.

References

External links

* {{Japanese folklore long Japanese fairy tales Japanese folklore Dogs in literature Daimyo