New Year’s Surprise

One winter it was very cold. An old Japanese man named Yosaku and his wife, Ine, could find nothing to eat. The snow was thick on the ground, and they had no money to buy food. Yosaku was a very talented hat maker. He usually sold his hats in the village. But it was a cold, hard winter. Because of the snow, the couple could not find grass to make hats.

有一年冬天很冷。一位名叫Yosaku的日本老人和他的妻子Ine找不到吃的东西。 地上的雪很厚，他们没有买食物的钱。 Yosaku是一位非常有才华的帽子制造商。他通常在村里卖帽子。 但那是一个寒冷、寒冷的冬天。由于下雪，这对夫妇找不到草来做帽子。

One day, Yosaku and Ine searched through their food chests looking for rice. Ine found only a few grains of rice left. As she cooked the rice, some hungry mice came to watch. Ine said, “ Oh Yosaku, look! Even the poor mice are hungry. It is a sad home that has hungry mice. ” " Let us share our food with them, Ine, ” said Yosaku.

一天，Yosaku和Ine搜索通过他们的食物箱寻找大米。 Ine发现只剩下几粒米。当她煮米饭时，一些饥饿的老鼠过来观看。 Ine说：“哦，Yosaku，看！连可怜的老鼠都饿了。这是一个有饥饿老鼠的悲哀的家。” '让我们和他们分享我们的食物吧，Ine，”Yosaku说。

The mice were grateful. “ You are both so kind to us. Usually people shoo mice away and we starve during the winter. ” The mice ate the rice and, late during the night, snuck out into the cold snow. The next morning, the mice surprised Yosaku and Ine. All night long the brave mice had dug deep in the snow for precious grass.

老鼠们很感激。“你们俩对我们都很好。通常人们会把老鼠赶走，而我们会在冬天挨饿。” 老鼠吃了米饭，在深夜偷偷溜到寒冷的雪地里。 第二天早上，老鼠们让Yosaku和Ine大吃一惊。勇敢的老鼠整夜在雪中深挖珍贵的草。

They brought Yosaku and Ine enough grass for six hats. Look what gifts the mice have brought! Now we can make grass hats for New Year’s. We can sell them in town and buy food! ” said Yosaku. Yosaku and Ine worked hard all that day. They made six excellent hats to sell at the market.

他们给Yosaku和Ine带来了足够六顶帽子的草。 看看这些老鼠带来了什么礼物！现在我们可以为新年做草帽了。我们可以在城里卖，买食物！”Yosaku说。 Yosaku和Ine一整天都在努力工作。他们做了六顶很好的帽子在市场上出售。

As Yosaku walked to the market the next morning, he passed six Jizo-sama Buddhas. Each Buddha had snow covering his head. Yosaku felt sad at seeing this. “ I wish I could give an offering to you, Jizo-samas. But sadly, I am only a poor hat maker. ” Yosaku removed the towel from his head and wiped the snow off the Buddhas’ heads.

第二天早上，当Yosaku走向市场时，他经过了六尊Jizo sama佛像。每个佛的头上都覆盖着雪。 Yosaku看到这件事感到难过。“我希望我能给你一个礼物，吉佐·萨马斯。但遗憾的是，我只是一个可怜的帽子制造商。” Yosaku从他的头上取下毛巾，擦去佛头上的雪。

At the market, Yosaku called out, “ Grass hats! Grass hats for sale for New Year’s! ” But no one had money to buy his hats. As Yosaku walked home, he passed the Jizo-sama Buddhas again. " Oh, Jizo-samas! ” he said, “ I have not sold any hats, so I cannot give an offering of food to you. But I will wipe the snow from your heads. I will place my grass hats upon you so that you can stay warm at night. ”

在市场上，Yosaku喊道：“草帽子！新年草帽出售！”但没有人有钱买他的帽子。 当Yosaku走回家时，他经过了又是吉佐·萨玛佛。 “哦，吉佐·萨马斯！”他说：“我没有卖帽子，所以我不能给你食物。 但我会擦去你头上的雪。我会把我的草帽戴在你身上，这样你就可以在晚上保持温暖。”