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"I like it!" Hanaba put that old sewing machine in the middle of the yard from which all the weeds had been cut and started to work the treadle to make something with cloth. Thanks to the villagers' help, moving was completely finished before noon and, everywhere you looked, the house was an old but clean place to live in. The villagers took a rest and were served icy cold honey juice, another gift from bees. "Oh, this is delicious. It certainly seems to perk me up. By the way, Hanaba, do you have a good idea how we can get the honeybees into this village?" "That's a good idea. I really want them to come. But they may hesitate to do so because this is a poor village." "Potatoes are all we have to give to children as a snack. I want my children to have something as sweet and delicious as this." The villagers bombarded Hanaba with questions because they were eager to hear her advice. "No problem. Bees are lovable insects. If you are good to them and make friends with them, they will be more than willing to come and live in this village." Hanaba said, full of confidence. These words were translated by Ken, of course. When the villagers started getting ready to go home, Hanaba gave each of them a little sack that she had just made on her sewing machine and said, "Thank you for what you did today. You were a great help. I was so happy. About what you said a while ago, I think I will call the bees to this village. What do you say?" The people were all for it. "Then, I will write to the bees right away to come to this village. I will write that this village is a nice place to live because all the people are kind to strangers. I will write that everyone will be kind to the bees." The villagers accepted the fact that, being as old as Hanaba, she could write to anyone, even bees. "We need to make many preparations before the bees come," said Hanaba, "Sow the seeds in this bag in the field. Plant mandarin orange trees on the sunny hills. If people, trees, insects, fish, and animals help each other and live in friendship, life will grow strong in the heavens, on earth, and everywhere." Then, Hanaba gave everybody a cloth sack that she made to take it home. Each of the sacks was full of Chinese milk vetch flower seeds that the little girl had put in it. |
After a while, the sign "Bee Parlor and Acupuncture Clinic" was posted at Weedy Mansion. At the entrance, a signboard said, "Bring your overworked shoulders to Hanaba. She will give you a sting on the shoulders with Hanaba's needle. One sting will clear away your stiff shoulders and aching body. If you are tired, have a glass of honey juice at the Bee Parlor. Your tiredness from farmwork, household chores, and excessive playing will disappear. Honey juice is full of nutrition." Hanaba's acupuncture was really effective. And whenever you're tired, honey juice tasted so good. Before long, Weedy Mansion became a place of relaxation for the villagers. Several times a year, Hanaba and the girl went on a long journey in that old junk truck When the villagers got tired of waiting, they finally came back, with lots of honey on bed of the junk truck. |
Ken grew up big and strong. The villagers no longer needed Ken's interpretation to understand what Hanaba was saying if they looked at her mouth closely. But Hanaba looked as old as ever. Everyone had forgotten how old she was. The little girl looked as young as before. Everyone took it for granted that she could not talk. No one wondered why. Ken, now a young man, had completely forgotten that the little girl had wings. It was only natural that different people had different forms and ways of living. In the village, people adopted a lifestyle that attached importance to everything in the heavens and on earth and learned to observe the rules of respecting different ways of life. |
One day, a villager found a piece of paper attached to the entrance of Weedy Mansion. Its message caused a great uproar. It said, "We, Hanaba and the girl, have set out on a long journey. We do not know when we will return from this journey. Thank you for your kindness for many years. We will always remember the happy life in this village." When all the villagers gathered at Weedy Mansion, they could hear a loud roar. The daylight was shut out by a swarm of black insects, which flew down directly toward Weed mansion. "The bees are here!" A large number of bees, for which the villagers had been waiting for many years, swarmed in. Later, the bees settled down in Weedy Mansion where Hanaba and the girl no longer lived, lived in harmony with the villagers, and twice a year gave the villagers lots of honey they had collected from milk vetch flowers and mandarin orange blossoms. Receiving nutritious honey and acupuncture from the bees, the villagers led their lives, taking good care of the bees. Before long, the village became an attractive place where seasonal flowers bloomed abundantly, greenery grew thick, and the air was filled with fascinating fragrances. The buzzing of bees sometimes reminded Ken of his thoughts for that little girl. But he was no longer sure if he had met her in a dream or read about her in a story when he was small. Old Gengoro, now the village chief, claimed that Hanaba still drove that junk truck, with the rattling and rumbling noise, around the village to keep watch over it. Of course, that little girl was also on the truck, he added. |
End
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