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A Living Umbrella (Kumamoto Pref.)
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A Living Umbrella (Kumamoto Pref.)
Once upon a time, Hikoichi opened an umbrella shop. He hung an umbrella under the eaves of the second floor of the store as a signboard. The umbrella opened itself in rainy day and closed in fair weather automatically. The rumor of this mysterious umbrella spread over the country soon. In truth, Hikoichi made a device so as to open and close the umbrella from inside of the house secretly, though.
The passersby in front of the store completely didn't know the truth, they admired it and said in unison, "The umbrella is alive!" or "It's a living umbrella!" Fair or foul, the front of the store was filled with visitors. The reputation of "Living umbrella" reached the lord of the castle too. The lord had a hobby of collecting rare things, so he ordered his followers to go and get it for him immediately. They told the lord's order to Hikoichi but he refused the offer. "The umbrella is my family treasure, so however our lord wants to get it, please excuse me but there's no way to hand it over to him." Hearing it the lord wanted to have the "Living umbrella" in his hand more and more. At last, the lord said, " Tell him, I will pay as much as he wants." Finally Hikoichi accepted his offer. 
The lord was very glad to get it. He put the umbrella in the garden and eagerly looked forward to raining. Several days passed, thick clouds covered all of the sky, making it darker and darker and threatened rain.
The lord gathered his followers to the garden and said, " This is the living umbrella and it opens by itself in rainy day and closes in fine weather. Keep watching it!"It began to rain before long, but the umbrella didn't open. No matter how much it rained, the umbrella didn't move at all. The lord began to get angry, and called Hikoichi up to his castle to demand the explanation. "This should be the living umbrella. But it didn't open even in the rain. You have deceived me!" said the lord, but Hikoichi answered,  "No kidding! I never deceive you, Your Excellency. When the umbrella was at my house, it was certain alive. Please allow me to have a look at the umbrella in a moment." He made as if he were examining the umbrella and said, "Alas! The umbrella is already dead! He must been starved for food, perhaps he had not got anything to eat here. You should have given him some foods. Oh, my poor fellow! " He cried out.Of course, he just pretended to cry. But the lord was surprised, and he couldn't say a word any more. Only he could join his hands together to pray for the umbrella. The end
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