god of millstones
昔、徳島の井川に貧乏な男が住んでおった
Once upon a time, there lived a poor man in Igawa, Tokushima.
The man’s name was Fukuzo, and he lived by grinding flour with a stone mill every day for a small wage.
ある年の大晦日のこと、貧しい福造は神様への正月のお供えが準備できなかった
One year on New Year’s Eve, poor Fukuzo was unable to prepare the New Year’s offerings to the gods.
After thinking about it, he decided to clean the altar, tie a shimenawa rope around the stone mortar, and make an offering.
”God, please make me rich.
Then I will give you an offering.
” Fukuzo prayed.
その夜、福造は奇妙な夢を見た
That night, Fukuzo had a strange dream.
In his dream, Fukuzo was grinding a stone mill, and gold powder came out glitteringly.
Golden powder overflowed endlessly, and Fukuzo woke up, feeling overjoyed...
次の日の朝、庄屋の使いの者がやって来た
The next morning, the headman’s messenger came.
Then he asked me to grind the soybeans today and left a sizable advance payment.
When Fukuzo hurriedly grinded the soybeans and delivered them to the headman’s residence, the headman apparently paid him a large sum of money again as a way of thanking him for the hurry.
その年は、福造はやる事なす事すべて上手くいき、粉挽き商売は大繁盛
That year, everything Fukuzo did went well, and his milling business prospered.
In no time, they had a small shop along the highway, and their business grew rapidly.
じゃが、金持ちになったとたん、福造は神様のことなどすっかり忘れてしもうた
However, as soon as Fukuzo became rich, he completely forgot about God.
At the end of the year, Fukuzou found it difficult to make New Year’s offerings to the gods, so instead of cleaning the altar or making offerings of rice or mochi, he just dusted off the old stone mill and made a simple offering, just like last year.
その晩、福造はまた夢を見た
That night, Fukuzo had another dream.
``Please stop it! Please stop it!’’ In the dream, Fukuzo’s stone mill sucked up the small coins one after another, and they came out as ashes.
そうして案の定、その年の福造の商売はやることなすこと全て上手くいかず、たちまちのうちに元の貧乏な暮らしに戻ってしまった
As expected, everything Fukuzo did in his business that year did not go well, and he quickly returned to his old life of poverty.
その時になって初めて、福造は金持ちになったらたんとお供え物をしますと神様に約束したのに、何もお供えしなかったことを思い出した
It was only then that Fukuzo remembered that he had promised God that he would make an offering as soon as he became rich, but he never made any offering.
But now it seems like it’s all too late
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