Skip to main content

The Aged Mother

An illustration for the story The Aged Mother by the author Matsuo Basho
(Yoshitoshi, The moon and the abandoned old woman, 1892)

Long, long ago there lived at the foot of the mountain a poor farmer and his aged, widowed mother. They owned a bit of land which supplied them with food, and they were humble, peaceful, and happy.
Shining was governed by a despotic leader who though a warrior, had a great and cowardly shrinking from anything suggestive of failing health and strength. This caused him to send out a cruel proclamation. The entire province was given strict orders to immediately put to death all aged people. Those were barbarous days, and the custom of abandoning old people to die was not uncommon. The poor farmer loved his aged mother with tender reverence, and the order filled his heart with sorrow. But no one ever thought twice about obeying the mandate of the governor, so with many deep and hopeless sighs, the youth prepared for what at that time was considered the kindest mode of death.
Just at sundown, when his day’s work was ended, he took a quantity of unwhitened rice which was the principal food for the poor, and he cooked, dried it, and tied it in a square cloth, which he swung in a bundle around his neck along with a gourd filled with cool, sweet water. Then he lifted his helpless old mother to his back and started on his painful journey up the mountain. The road was long and steep; the narrow road was crossed and re-crossed by many paths made by the hunters and woodcutters. In some place, they lost and confues, but he gave no heed. One path or another, it mattered not. On he went, climbing blindly upward -- ever upward towards the high bare summit of what is known as Obatsuyama, the mountain of the “abandoning of the aged”.
The eyes of the old mother were not so dim but that they noted the reckless hastening from one path to another, and her loving heart grew anxious. Her son did not know the mountain’s many paths and his return might be one of danger, so she stretched forth her hand and snapping the twigs from brushes as they passed, she quietly dropped a handful every few steps of the way so that as they climbed, the narrow path behind them was dotted at frequent intervals with tiny piles of twigs. At last the summit was reached. Weary and heart sick, the youth gently released his burden and silently prepared a place of comfort as his last duty to the loved one. Gathering fallen pine needles, he made a soft cushion and tenderly lifted his old mother onto it. Hew rapped her padded coat more closely about the stooping shoulders and with tearful eyes and an aching heart he said farewell.
The trembling mother’s voice was full of unselfish love as she gave her last injunction. “Let not thine eyes be blinded, my son.” She said. “The mountain road is full of dangers. LOOK carefully and follow the path which holds the piles of twigs. They will guide you to the familiar path farther down”. The son’s surprised eyes looked back over the path, then at the poor old, shriveled hands all scratched and soiled by their work of love. His heart broke within and bowing to the ground, he cried aloud: “oh, Honorable mother, your kindness breaks my heart! I will not leave you. Together we will follow the path of twigs, and together we will die!”
Once more he shouldered his burden (how light it seemed now) and hastened down the path, through the shadows and the moonlight, to the little hut in the valley. Beneath the kitchen floor was a walled closet for food, which was covered and hidden from view. There the son hid his mother, supplying her with everything she needed, continually watching and fearing she would be discovered. Time passed, and he was beginning to feel safe when again the governor sent forth heralds bearing an unreasonable order, seemingly as a boast of his power. His demand was that his subjects should present him with a rope of ashes.
The entire province trembled with dread. The order must be obeyed yet who in all Shining could make a rope of ashes? One night, in great distress, the son whispered the news to his hidden mother. “Wait!” she said. “I will think. I will think” On the second day she told him what to do. “Make rope of twisted straw,” she said. “Then stretch it upon a row of flat stones and burn it on a windless night.” He called the people together and did as she said and when the blaze died down, there upon the stones, with every twist and fiber showing perfectly, lay a rope of ashes.
The governor was pleased at the wit of the youth and praised greatly, but he demanded to know where he had obtained his wisdom. “Alas! Alas!” cried the farmer, “the truth must be told!” and with deep bows he related his story. The governor listened and then meditated in silence. Finally he lifted his head. “Shining needs more than strength of youth,” he said gravely. “Ah, that I should have forgotten the well-known saying, “with the crown of snow, there cometh wisdom!” That very hour the cruel law was abolished, and custom drifted into as far a past that only legends remain.
(Also known as The Story of the Aged Mother, this Japanese folktale tells the story of an unkind ruler who issues cruel orders, including one demand that all old folks are to be abandoned and left to die. Basho tells a poignant story about a mother and her son and their love for one another. Source: https://americanliterature.com/author/matsuo-basho/short-story/the-aged-mother)

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Senin, 13 Juni 2016; 22.14 WIB

Alhamdulillah sudah ditamatkannya Iqra 1 semalam di bilangan usianya yg baru 4 tahun 3 bulan 11 hari.  Sudah dengan lancar dibacanya seluruh deretan huruf Hijaiyah dengan susunan runut, acak, maupun dr belakang. Bukan hal yg istimewa utk Musa sang Qori dari Bangka Belitung mungkin, tetapi ini menjadi berkah luar biasa untuk kami. Semoga Allah selalu memudahkanmu untuk menyerap ilmu-ilmu Islam berdasarkan Quran dan teladan Rasulullah ya, Nak. Semoga ilmu-ilmu itu nanti senantiasa menjadi suluh yg menerangi setiap langkahmu dlm menjalani kehidupan ke depan dengan atau tanpa ayah bunda. Semoga juga ilmu itu tak hanya menjadikanmu kaya sendiri, tetapi membuat orang-orang disekelilingmu pun merasakan manfaatnya karena ilmu yg bermanfaat itu adalah ilmu yg bisa diberikan dan bermanfaat bagi orang lain di luar dirimu. Allah Maha Mendengar. Dengan doa dan pinta Bunda, Allah pasti akan mengabulkannya. Amin. 😍

Hamzah di 1 Ramadan 1440

Ramadan hari pertama, Hamzah alhamdulillah dapat selesai sampai akhir. Tidak terhitung berapa kali ia menanyakan waktu berbuka. "Masih lama ya, Bun?", "Hamzah haus sekali. Gimana nih?", "Berapa jam lagi bukanya?", "Hamzah rasanya mau minum...", dan lain sebagainya.  Dengan es krim sebagai hadiah jika puasanya dapat bertahan sampai magrib, anak saleh kami itu pun kuat juga akhirnya.  Tahun lalu ia berpuasa hingga tiga hari di awal Ramadan kalau saya tidak salah. Tahun ini semoga ia bisa berpuasa hingga Ramadan usai. Kami ingin ia dapat memaknai setiap haus dan lapar yang dirasakannya dari pagi hingga menjelang matahari tergelincir di lengkung langit. Kami ingin ia dalam sebulan ini mencoba menjadi anak-anak yang tak seberuntung dirinya. Kami ingin Hamzah selalu ingat bahwa Allah telah memberikannya banyak nikmat. Kenikmatan yang tidak semua anak bisa merasakannya. Kami ingin ia bertumbuh dengan kemampuan berempati terhadap berbagai kes...

Jakarta (Cubing Method)

This is a kind of writing that we had to make today.  Shane just wanted to introduce us how to write a topic by using cubing method.  So, here is the result of mine.  I tried to describe the topic in a letter for my friend.  Let's read! Dear Wahyu,            Hi, how are you? Hopefully you are well.  Let me tell you about everything I have felt since the first time I came to Jakarta 2 months ago.           Perhaps everybody will say that I am a fool being not comfortable live in Jakarta.  But that is true.  I have to fight here.  You wanna know why? First, it's hard to find fresh air to breath to breath out of the building.  All that come to my lungs is just smoke of cars, buses, motorcycles, and bajai.  Second, I have to prepare coins everywhere I go because there will be many unlucky people who show their suffered faces and hope money from my pocket.  Then? Okay...I give some to them.  Third, I cannot see many trees and flowers which grow by themselves, or birds flying at...