Japanese

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The Priest's Cane
Long, long ago a poor woman was sewing alone at her house in a mountain village. An old priest came to her home and asked her for a cup of water.
"Excuse me, but I'm so thirsty after a long walk. Would you give me a cup of water.?"
"Of course, yes. But now we have run out of water. I'll bring it immediately in the river. You can take a rest here."
On saying so, she ran down the mountain to the river with a wooden bucket and brought a bucket of water an hour later.
The priest was so moved by her kindness and said to her,
"Thank you very much for your kindness. I'll make you free from such painful labor."
After saying so, he stood in front of her house and struck the ground with his cane. To her surprise, water sprang up from there.
The old priest went away without her noticing it.

The Waterless River
Long, long ago a young wife was washing sweet potatoes in a stream. A poor, dirty priest came to her and asked her,
"Excuse me, but I'm so hungry after a long walk. Would you give me a potato?"
"I have no potatoes to give a poor and dirty man like you." refused she.
The priest stood in front of the stream and whispered a pray with his eyes closed and his hands folded.
Strange to say, the water of the stream gradually became lower and lower until it never ran.
It was no use crying over the stream's water.The old priest went away without her noticing it.(2001.8.1)

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