and were at work.

When the old man and his wife saw this, they understood that it was a
reward to them from Shiro for their faithful love to him. They tasted
the cakes and found them nicer than any other food. So from this time
they never troubled about food, for they lived upon the cakes with
which the mortar never ceased to supply them.

The greedy neighbor, hearing of this new piece of good luck, was filled
with envy as before, and called on the old man and asked leave to
borrow the wonderful mortar for a short time, pretending that he, too,
sorrowed for the death of Shiro, and wished to make cakes for a
festival to the dog's memory.

The old man did not in the least wish to lend it to his cruel neighbor,
but he was too kind to refuse. So the envious man carried home the
mortar, but he never brought it back.

Several days passed, and Shiro's master waited in vain for the mortar,
so he went to call on the borrower, and asked him to be good enough to
return the mortar if he had finished with it. He found him sitting by a
big fire made of pieces of wood. On the ground lay what looked very
much like pieces of a broken mortar. In answer to the old man's
inquiry, the wicked neighbor answered haughtily:

"Have you come to ask me for your mortar? I broke it to pieces, and now
I am making a fire of the wood, for when I tried to pound cakes in it
only some horrid smelling stuff came out."

The good old man said:

"I am very sorry for that. It is a great pity you did not ask me for
the cakes if you wanted them. I would have given you as many as ever
you wanted. Now please give me the ashes of the mortar, as I wish to
keep them in remembrance of my dog."

The neighbor consented at once, and the old man carried home a basket
full of ashes.

Not long after this the old man accidentally scattered some of the
ashes made by the burning of the mortar on the trees of his garden. A
wonderful thing happened!

It was late in autumn and all the trees had shed their leaves, but no
sooner did the ashes touch their branches than the cherry trees, the
plum trees, and all other blossoming shrubs burst into bloom, so that
the old man's garden was suddenly transformed into a beautiful picture
of spring. The old man's delight knew no bounds, and he carefully
preserved the remaining ashes.

The story of the old man's garden spread far and wide, and people from
far and near came to see the wonderful sight.

One day, soon after this,