The Maiden With The Wooden Helmet
: The Violet Fairy BookIn 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 rat
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.]
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