Students can also check the English Summary to revise with them during exam preparation.
The Ashes That Made Trees Bloom Summary Analysis and Explanation By William Elliot Griffis
About the author William Elliot Griffis
| Author Name | William Elliot Griffis |
| Born | 17 September 1843, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States |
| Died | 5 February 1928, Florida, United States |
| Education | Rutgers University, Union College, Union Theological Seminary |
The Ashes That Made Trees Bloom Introduction
The lesson is an adapted version of a Japanese story. It depicts that the bond between humans and animals can’t be broken even after death. However, there are a few people whose selfish interests blot their relationship.
The old man and his dog shared the warmth, integrity, association of lifetime rather beyond life. The spirit of the dog gave solace and support to his loving and caring master. The king rewarded the old gentleman with laurels and presents.
The Ashes That Made Trees Bloom Part 1 Summary of the Lesson
In the 19th century in Japan, there lived an old couple. They had a pet dog they loved it as if it were their baby. It was provided with a cushion and was fed lovingly by the couple.
The old man was a rice farmer and was followed by his pet to the fields. Old man’s kindness could be observed as he offered food to birds as well. One day, the dog has taken the man to a spot and began scratching the earth there.
The man digs the earth and found a pile of gold. They became rich and bought a piece of land. They gave a feast to their friends and did charity to their poor friends. They cajoled their dog in a thankful manner.
In contrast to the benevolent couple, there lived an insensitive couple. They tried to dissuade the dog by offerings and other dainties but failed to succeed in their motive.
They used force to take the dog to a place where they could find someplace to dig gold. The dog befooled them and began scratching at a place where a dead kitten was buried.
Angrily the old man killed the dog and his wife nearly chopped off his head with a sharp hoe. Then they buried his carcass into the soil and made a heap of earth over it.
The old people regretted the severance with the dog and mourned its death. He set up bamboo tubes to demarcate its grave and laid a cup of water and food as they used to do to feed it.
One day, when the old man was sleeping, the spirit of the dog appeared in his dreams and asked him to cut the pure tree near his grave. It wanted him to make a mortar for his rice pastry and a mill for bean sauce.
The old man followed the wish of the dog. When New Year’s time was around, he decided to make rice pastry. When the rice was boiled and it was poured into the mortar. The old man lifted the hammer to pound into the dough.
To his surprise, it changed into a heap of gold coins. The same thing happened with the old woman, when she poured beans to the hand mill, gold started dripping like rain.
The jealous neighbors were watching everything so they came to borrow the mortar and the magic mill. But their pastry turned out to be a foul mass of worms. They were furious and cut the mill into pieces and used it for firewood.
The Ashes That Made Trees Bloom Part 2 Summary of the Lesson
The generous old man dreamt again. The spirit of the dog informed him about how the mill had been burnt. He then asked him to take the ashes of it on the trees withering to make them bloom again.
The old man went to his neighbor’s house and found them sitting before the fire-place burning lags of the mill. He was resentfully allowed to take away bucket full of ashes.
He went up to his withered dressy tree and sprinkled ashes. The fragrance of freshly enlivened blossoms reached the village.
The old man climbed up an old withered cherry tree when he learned that Daimio was arriving. The villagers set out to bow down before the king until the processing passed by.
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