Question -
Answer -
(i) The spirit of the dog asked the farmer to cut down the pine tree over its grave, and make from it a mortar for rice pastry and a mill for bean sauce. The farmer did so. Some time close to the New Year, the farmer wanted to make some rice pastry. When the rice was boiled, his wife put it into the mortar and he pounded the mass into dough. When the pastry was ready for baking, the whole mass turned into a heap of gold coins. Similarly, when beans were ground in the hand-mill, gold started dropping from it like rain and in a few minutes, the tub under the mill was filled with gold.
(ii) Informing the farmer about how his wicked neighbours had burned the hand-mill, the spirit of the dog asked him to take the ashes of the mill and sprinkle them on withered trees to make them bloom. The old man did so and found to his delight that the words of the spirit were indeed true. The bare cherry tree in his garden sprouted blossoms when a pinch of the ashes were sprinkled on it. Later, he was rewarded by the daimio for making an old withered cherry tree blossom once again.