Japanese
Long,long ago there was a candy shop in a village. Several children were playing and singing together in front of it.
"One candy for my baby."
"Two candies for my parents."
"Three candies for my friends."
One day a pregnant lady whose face was pale passed the shop.
On that night, there was a knock on the door of the shop. The master opened it and found a pregnant beautiful lady standing there.
"Excuse me, would you mind selling me a candy for this coin?"
The lady handed out 100 yen to him and he handed a candy for the money.
On the second night, she came to buy a candy again. Her face was paler than yesterday.
"Would you come to me in the day, not in the night?" said the master.
"I'm sorry, but would you mind selling me a candy for this coin?"
She begged him for a candy desperately but weakly.
On the third night, she came again. Her face was paler than before.
"Where are you from? Where are you living? You are a stranger here in this village."
"I came here a few days ago." said she, weakly with her hair covering her face.
On the fourth, fifty, sixth day, she never failed to visit him. Her face became much paler day by day.
On the seventh day, she said to him, crying weakly,
"I'm sorry, I have no money today. But would you mind giving me a candy? I do need a candy."
When the master said 'No', she tore one of her Kimono's sleeves and handed it out to him. He, surprised, gave a candy unwillingly.
"Thank you for your kindness."
He was watching her going somewhere and decided to follow her secretly.
She came to the stairs in front of a mountain temple. She slowly climbed up the stairs, passed through the gate, walked at the side of the temple and reached the graveyard. She suddenly disappeared where a new dust was piled. Then he heard the crying of a baby from somewhere.
He ran to a Buddhist priest of the temple and told him the story.
"..... That's what I saw tonight. This sleeve belonged to her."
The priest, looking at the sleeve, said to the master.
"I remember this Kimono. Well, a week ago, a young lady visited me and told me she felt ill, so she would like to stay there because she had no money to stay at an inn. So I gave her a lodging for the night in this temple. She told me she was going to return her parents' home to give birth to a baby. I heard her husband died and she showed me a beautiful baby clothes. But, to my surprise, I found her dead in the next morning. I didn't know where she came from, who she was. So I had a funeral and buried her here with the baby clothes and six coins."
"Priest, What did you say? Six coins! She visited me seven times to buy a candy."
The master said to the priest, trembling.
"Why don't you dig out her grave?"
On the next day they dug out her grave while the priest was chanting a prayer to the Buddha.
Opening her coffin, everybody here cried out. "Oh, my God!"
They found a baby wrapped in a beautiful baby clothes in the arm of the dead lady.
"Priest, It's she who came to buy me a candy."
"I see. Her Kimono loses one sleeve."
Then the baby began to cry suddenly.
"Oh, you are alive!"
The priest took him out of the coffin and said,
"Mother gave a candy for each day to her baby instead of milk. We'll bring him up in this temple."
The rumor went about far in the country. The candy shop also became so famous that many people came to buy candies.
"One candy for my baby."
"Two candies for my parents."
"Three candies for my friends."
Several years had passed. The baby grew up to be a clever boy. He went to the capital and trained himself and studies much until he became a well-known Buddhist priest.
(corrected:20002/8/15)
