A towel given to me by a beggar
江戸に海丸という海産物問屋があり、そこにお梅どんという十八になる女中がいた
In Edo, there was a seafood wholesaler called Umimaru, and there was an eighteen-year-old maid named Umedon.
Oumedon was a hard worker and I liked him a lot, but he wasn’t exactly good-looking.
ある夏の暑い日、お梅どんが店先で水を播いていると、一人の乞食がやって来て、水を一杯くれと言う
One hot summer day, while Oumedon was sowing water in front of his store, a beggar came up to him and asked for a glass of water.
However, the landlady comes out and tells him to go home quickly and chases him away.
Kind-hearted Oumedon feels sorry for the beggar, and secretly shares water and rice balls with him without telling the landlady, and the beggar offers him a dirty washcloth as thanks.
お梅はその夜、夢の中で観音様に顔をなでられる夢をみるが、井戸に顔を映すと、やはり以前のままだった
That night, Oume had a dream in which Kannon patted her face, but when she reflected her face in the well, it was still the same as before.
Ome felt sad and cried until dawn.
In the morning, the young people made fun of Ume’s face as usual.
Oume’s eyes filled with tears, and she washed her face and wiped it with the towel she got from a beggar.
Then, Ume’s face changed into a beautiful woman that looked like something from a Yamato painting.
そこに女将さんがやって来てことの顛末を聞くと、さっそく自分も美しくなろうと江戸の乞食を集めて、酒や食事を振る舞い、乞食の使った手ぬぐいを集めた
When the landlady came and heard what had happened, she immediately gathered together the beggars of Edo, gave them food and drinks, and collected the hand towels used by the beggars, hoping to make herself beautiful.
The landlady’s face did not change no matter which washcloth she used, but when she wiped her face with the last remaining washcloth, it turned into the face of a horse.
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