The Maiden with the Wooden Helmet

THE MAIDEN WITH THE WOODEN HELMET

In a little village in the country of Japan there lived long, long ago a

man and his wife. For many years they were happy and prosperous, but bad

times came, and at last nothing was left them but their daughter, who

was as beautiful as the morning. The neighbours were very kind, and

would have done anything they could to help their poor friends, but the

old couple felt that since everything had changed they would rather go

elsewhere, so one day they set off to bury themselves in the country,

taking their daughter with them.

Now the mother and daughter had plenty to do in keeping the house clean

and looking after the garden, but the man would sit for hours together

gazing straight in front of him, and thinking of the riches that once

were his. Each day he grew more and more wretched, till at length he

took to his bed and never got up again.

His wife and daughter wept bitterly for his loss, and it was many months

before they could take pleasure in anything. Then one morning the mother

suddenly looked at the girl, and found that she had grown still more

lovely than before. Once her heart would have been glad at the sight,

but now that they two were alone in the world she feared some harm might

come of it. So, like a good mother, she tried to teach her daughter all

she knew, and to bring her up to be always busy, so that she would never

have time to think about herself. And the girl was a good girl, and

listened to all her mother’s lessons, and so the years passed away.

At last one wet spring the mother caught cold, and though in the

beginning she did not pay much attention to it, she gradually grew more

and more ill, and knew that she had not long to live. Then she called

her daughter and told her that very soon she would be alone in the

world; that she must take care of herself, as there would be no one to

take care of her. And because it was more difficult for beautiful women

to pass unheeded than for others, she bade her fetch a wooden helmet out

of the next room, and put it on her head, and pull it low down over her

brows, so that nearly the whole of her face should lie in its shadow.

The girl did as she was bid, and her beauty was so hidden beneath the

wooden cap, which covered up all her hair, that she might have gone

through any crowd, and no one would have looked twice at her. And when

she saw this the heart of the mother was at rest, and she lay back in

her bed and died.

The girl wept for many days, but by-and-by she felt that, being alone in

the world, she must go and get work, for she had only herself to depend

upon. There was none to be got by staying where she was, so she made her

clothes into a bundle, and walked over the hills till she reached the

house of the man who owned the fields in that part of the country. And

she took service with him and laboured for him early and late, and every

night when she went to bed she was at peace, for she had not forgotten

one thing that she had promised her mother; and, however hot the sun

might be, she always kept the wooden helmet on her head, and the people

gave her the nickname of Hatschihime.

In spite, however, of all her care the fame of her beauty spread abroad:

many of the impudent young men that are always to be found in the world

stole softly up behind her while she was at work, and tried to lift off

the wooden helmet. But the girl would have nothing to say to them, and

only bade them be off; then they began to talk to her, but she never

answered them, and went on with what she was doing, though her wages

were low and food not very plentiful. Still she could manage to live,

and that was enough.

One day her master happened to pass through the field where she was

working, and was struck by her industry and stopped to watch her. After

a while he put one or two questions to her, and then led her into his

house, and told her that henceforward her only duty should be to tend

his sick wife. From this time the girl felt as if all her troubles were

ended, but the worst of them was yet to come.

Not very long after Hatschihime had become maid to the sick woman, the

eldest son of the house returned home from Kioto, where he had been

studying all sorts of things. He was tired of the splendours of the town

and its pleasures, and was glad enough to be back in the green country,

among the peach-blossoms and sweet flowers. Strolling about in the early

morning, he caught sight of the girl with the odd wooden helmet on her

head, and immediately he went to his mother to ask who she was, and

where she came from, and why she wore that strange thing over her face.

His mother answered that it was a whim, and nobody could persuade her

to lay it aside; whereat the young man laughed, but kept his thoughts to

himself.

One hot day, however, he happened to be going towards home when he

caught sight of his mother’s waiting maid kneeling by a little stream

that flowed through the garden, splashing some water over her face.

The helmet was pushed on one side, and as the youth stood watching

from behind a tree he had a glimpse of the girl’s great beauty; and he

determined that no one else should be his wife. But when he told his

family of his resolve to marry her they were very angry, and made up

all sorts of wicked stories about her. However, they might have spared

themselves the trouble, as he knew it was only idle talk. ‘I have merely

to remain firm,’ thought he, ‘and they will have to give in.’ It was

such a good match for the girl that it never occurred to anyone that she

would refuse the young man, but so it was. It would not be right, she

felt, to make a quarrel in the house, and though in secret she wept

bitterly, for a long while, nothing would make her change her mind. At

length one night her mother appeared to her in a dream, and bade her

marry the young man. So the next time he asked her--as he did nearly

every day--to his surprise and joy she consented. The parents then saw

they had better make the best of a bad business, and set about

making the grand preparations suitable to the occasion. Of course the

neighbours said a great many ill-natured things about the wooden helmet,

but the bridegroom was too happy to care, and only laughed at them.

When everything was ready for the feast, and the bride was dressed in

the most beautiful embroidered dress to be found in Japan, the maids

took hold of the helmet to lift it off her head, so that they might do

her hair in the latest fashion. But the helmet would not come, and

the harder they pulled, the faster it seemed to be, till the poor girl

yelled with pain. Hearing her cries the bridegroom ran in and soothed

her, and declared that she should be married in the helmet, as she could

not be married without. Then the ceremonies began, and the bridal pair

sat together, and the cup of wine was brought them, out of which they

had to drink. And when they had drunk it all, and the cup was empty, a

wonderful thing happened. The helmet suddenly burst with a loud noise,

and fell in pieces on the ground; and as they all turned to look they

found the floor covered with precious stones which had fallen out of it.

But the guests were less astonished at the brilliancy of the diamonds

than at the beauty of the bride, which was beyond anything they had ever

seen or heard of. The night was passed in singing and dancing, and then

the bride and bridegroom went to their own house, where they lived till

they died, and had many children, who were famous throughout Japan for

their goodness and beauty.

(Japanische Marchen.)