THE STORY OF THE AGED MOTHER

A Japanese Folktale By Matsuo Basho

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 their humble were peaceful and happy.
Shinano 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 common. The poor farmer loved his aged mother with tender
reverence, and the order filled his heart with sorrow. But no one ever thought
a second time about obeying the mandate of the governor, so with many
deep hopeless sighs, the youth prepared for what at that time was
considered the kindest mode of death.
Just at sundown, when his days work was ended, he took a quantity of un
whitened rice which is principal food for poor, cooked and dried it, and tying
it in a square cloth, swung and bundle around his neck along with a gourd
filled with cool, sweet water. Then he lifted his helpless old mother to his
back and stated on his painful journey up the mountain. The road was long
and steep; the narrowed road was crossed and recrossed by many paths
made by the hunters and woodcutters. In some place, they mingled in a
confused puzzled, 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 know as Obatsuyama, the mountain of the
abandoning of 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 mountains 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 they climbed, the narrow path behind them was dotted at frequently
intervals with tiny piles of twigs. At last the summit was reached. Weary and
heartsick, the youth gently released his burden and silently prepared a place
of comfort as his last duty to the love done. Gathering fallen pine needle, he
made a soft cushion and tenderly lifting his old mother therein, he wrapped
her padded coat more closely about the stooping shoulders and with tearful
eyes and an aching heart said farewell.

The trembling mothers 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 way farther down. The
sons 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
smote him and bowing to the grounds, he cried aloud: oh, Honorable
mother, thy kindness thrusts my heart! I will not leave thee. Together we will
follow the path of twigs, and together we will die!
Once more he shouldered his burden (how light it seemed no) 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 his mother, supplying her with
everything needful and continually watching and fearing. 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 subject should present him with a rope of ashes. The
entire province trembled with dread. The order must be obeyed yet who in all
Shinano 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 twisted straw, she said. Then stretch it upon a
row of flat stones and burn it there on the windless night. He called the
people together and did as she said and when the blaze and died, behold
upon the stones with every twist and fiber showing perfectly. Lay arope of
whithead 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. Shinano needs more than strength of youth, he said gravely. Ah,
that I should have forgotten the well-know saying,with the crown of snow,
there cometh a wisdom! That very hour the cruel law was abolished, and
custom drifted into as far a past that only legends remains.

REACTION
Our elders have gone through a lot in their lifetime.
I think it is important to respect our elders because they have experienced
life and gone through a lot more than we have. I think history has shown that
we are a successful, rich country. I dont think we would have the freedom
and the respect from other countries if it werent for our elders and their
sacrifice to get us where we are today.
I respect my grandfather because he was captured and taken to a
concentration camp during World War II. My grandfather escaped from a
camp, ran into the woods and went into hiding for a year. My grandfather is
one of the lucky Jews that survived because he had the will to live. Why
shouldnt he be respected?
I respect my parents because they are the ones that brought me in this world
and have taken care of me until I was able to take care of myself. I personally
have a lot of respect for my parents because they did a lot for me over the
years. I wouldnt have the education without them. They got me where I am
today and I am sure it wasnt easy for them. I believe they deserve thanks
for everything they have done for me and thus deserve my respect.
The idea of the importance of respecting our elders raised many questions in
my mind.
Do most even know what respect is?
Wikipedia defines respect as taking into consideration the views and desires
of others and incorporating it into your decisions and being truthful to
people.
Why shouldnt we respect anyone?
I think everyone should be respected unless given a reason not to be. When
you meet someone for the first time are you disrespectful? No. Why should

you be? I think everyone deserves a chance and once you get to know the
person you can decide based on your own values whether or not you should
respect them.
I have a lot of younger cousins that respect me because I am older and know
more about life than they do.
I dont think elders should be singled out and immediately respected
because they are older. Why shouldnt respect go both ways? I think my
friends respect me because I respect them.
I think it is important to understand what respect is and understand what
your elders have gone through to get where we are today. I think everyone
deserves the same amount of respect unless given a reason to be
disrespected.

Biography of Matsuo Basho

Bash was born Matsuo Kinsaku around 1644, somewhere near Ueno in Iga
Province. His father may have been a low-ranking samurai, which would have
promised Bash a career in the military but not much chance of a notable life. It was
traditionally claimed by biographers that he worked in the kitchens. However, as a
child Bash became a servant to Td Yoshitada, who shared with Bash a love for
haikai no renga, a form of cooperative poetry composition. The sequences were
opened with a verse in the 5-7-5 mora format; this verse was named a hokku, and
would later be renamed haiku when presented as stand-alone works. The hokku
would be followed by a related 7-7 addition by another poet. Both Bash and
Yoshitada gave themselves haig, or haikai pen names; Bash's was Sb, which
was simply the on'yomi reading of his samurai name of Matsuo Munefusa. In 1662
the first extant poem by Bash was published; in 1664 two of his hokku were
printed in a compilation, and in 1665 Bash and Yoshitada composed a onehundred-verse renku with some acquaintances.
Yoshitada's sudden death in 1666 brought Bash's peaceful life as a servant to an
end. No records of this time remain, but it is believed that Bash gave up the
possibility of samurai status and left home. Biographers have proposed various
reasons and destinations, including the possibility of an affair between Bash and a
Shinto miko named Jutei, which is unlikely to be true. Bash's own references to this
time are vague; he recalled that "at one time I coveted an official post with a tenure
of land", and that "there was a time when I was fascinated with the ways of
homosexual love", but there is no indication whether he was referring to real
obsessions or even fictional ones. He was uncertain whether to become a full-time
poet; by his own account, "the alternatives battled in my mind and made my life
restless". His indecision may have been influenced by the then still relatively low
status of renga and haikai no renga as more social activities than serious artistic
endeavors. In any case, his poems continued to be published in anthologies in 1667,

1669, and 1671, and he published his own compilation of work by him and other
authors of the Teitoku school, Seashell Game, in 1672. In about the spring of that
year he moved to Edo, to further his study of poetry.
On his return to Edo in the winter of 1691, Bash lived in his third bash hut, again
provided by his disciples. This time, he was not alone; he took in a nephew and his
female friend, Jutei, who were both recovering from illness. He had a great many
visitors.
Bash's grave in tsu, Shiga Prefecture
Bash continued to be uneasy. He wrote to a friend that "disturbed by others, I have
no peace of mind". He made a living from teaching and appearances at haikai
parties until late August of 1693, when he shut the gate to his bash hut and
refused to see anybody for a month. Finally, he relented after adopting the principle
of karumi or "lightness", a semi-Buddhist philosophy of greeting the mundane world
rather than separating himself from it. Bash left Edo for the last time in the
summer of 1694, spending time in Ueno and Kyoto before his arrival in Osaka. He
became sick with a stomach illness and died peacefully, surrounded by his disciples.
Although he did not compose any formal death poem on his deathbed the following,
being the last poem recorded during his final illness, is generally accepted as his
poem of farewell:
tabi ni yande / yume wa kareno wo / kake meguru
falling sick on a journey / my dream goes wandering / over a field of dried grass