Learning Objectives
- Understand the Japanese folk tale
- Learn about themes of kindness vs greed
- Identify the moral of the story
- Practice vocabulary and narrative comprehension
Key Concepts
About the Story
Origin: Japanese folk tale
Theme: Kindness is rewarded; greed is punished. Good vs evil.
Story Summary
An old childless couple loved their pet dog very much. The dog led the old man to a spot where he dug and found a treasure of gold coins. Their greedy neighbours borrowed the dog, hoping to find treasure too. When the dog led them to a spot, they found only garbage and bones. In anger, they killed the dog.
The kind old man buried the dog and planted a pine tree over the grave. The tree grew quickly. The old man made a mortar from the wood. When rice was pounded in it, the rice turned into gold. The greedy neighbours borrowed the mortar, but their rice turned into foul-smelling paste. They burned the mortar.
The old man collected the ashes. When he sprinkled them on bare cherry trees, the trees bloomed beautifully. The lord rewarded the old man. The greedy neighbour tried the same but the ashes blew into the lord's eyes, and he was punished.
Moral
Kindness, love, and honesty bring rewards. Greed, cruelty, and dishonesty bring punishment. The story shows the contrast between a kind-hearted person and a greedy one through parallel events.
Characters
- Kind old couple: Loving, generous, rewarded
- Greedy neighbours: Cruel, selfish, punished
- The dog: Loyal pet that brings fortune to its kind masters
- The lord (daimyo): Rewards the kind old man, punishes the greedy neighbour
Important Terms
- Mortar: A bowl-shaped container used to pound grain
- Daimyo: A feudal lord in Japan
- Bloom: To produce flowers
- Treasure: A collection of valuable items
Quick Revision
- Japanese folk tale about kindness vs greed
- Dog → treasure → tree → mortar → gold → ashes → trees bloom
- Kind old man rewarded at every step
- Greedy neighbour punished at every step
- Moral: Kindness wins, greed loses