The girl replied, "My mother bade me pick parsley, and I am following her instructions—that is the reason why I have not turned round to pay my respects to the Prince." The latter being informed of her answer, was filled with admiration at the strictness of her filial piety. Alighting at her mother's cottage on the way back, he told her of the occurrence, and placing the girl in the next carriage to his own, took her home with him to the Imperial Palace, and ended by making her his wife, upon which the people, knowing her story, gave her the name of the "Parsley Queen."
THE TWO DAUGHTERS.
At Akita, in the province of Inaba, lived an independent gentleman[1], who had two daughters, by whom he was ministered to with all filial piety. He was fond of shooting with a gun, and thus very often committed the sin (according to the teaching of holy Buddha) of taking life. He would never hearken to the admonitions of his
- ↑ An independent gentleman, a ronin or " wave man," one who had left the service of his feudal lord and was independent,—sometimes a gentleman and a scholar, oftener a ruffian or vagabond. Buddhism, on account of the doctrine of the transmigration of souls, forbids the taking of life. There are very few storks in Japan, but white heron are quite common.
