Once upon a time there was a man whose name was Gombei. He was poor and rather weak in the head. He lived in a hut all by himself. No one would marry hi, because he was so simple minded.
Then one evening, a young woman came to his door and asked if she could spend the night in his hut. Such a beautiful woman Gombei had never seen before and he was only too glad to let her in. that night after supper, the young woman said, “It seems that you live here alone. I am alone too. Would you like mo for your wife? “
Gombei could not believe his good fortune! And so they were married.
Gombei’s marriage made him very happy, but it also made it very difficult for him to get his work done. He was so fond of his young wife that he could not bear to turn his eyes away from her, not even for a moment. When he made straw sandals, they often became six feet long before he noticed, for he kept his eyes on his wife and not on his work. When he made straw raincoats, they were sometimes ten or twenty feet long, for he watched to see what his wife was doing instead of paying attention to what he was doing himself. No one could wear his sandals or his raincoats.
Then he went into the fields to work. Every few minutes, he came running home, shouting “Are youy there, dear wife?” So he did not accomplish much in a day.
“Simply won’t do!” said his wife. So she went to the town and asked an artist to paint her portrait. She took it home and told Gombei, “ Here is my picture . hang it on the nearest mulberry tree. If you can see it while you are working in the fields, you won’t miss me so much”.
Gombei did as he was told. Every few minutes, he stopped work to look at his wife’s portrait, but he no longer ran so often. One day, however, a sudden gust of wind caught the picture and blew in into the sky. Gombei tried to catch it, but soon it was out of sight. Crying bitterly, Gombei ran home to tell his wife. “Never mind, dear husband,” she confronted him. “I will go to town and have another picture painted for you.”
In the meantime the first picture had gone on floating along in the air until finally came fluttering down in the garden of a castle. When the lord of the castle saw it, he immediately fell in love with the woman in the picture. “If there is a portrait, there must be a person,” he thought, and he ordered his men to find the woman and bring her to him without delay.
The men went from village to village with the picture, asking if anyone knew the woman. At last they came to the village where Gombei lived. “Do you know this woman?” they asked the villagers, showing them the picture.
Sure enough, when the men went to Gombei;s hut, there they found a beautiful woman who looked exactly like the one in the portrait.
“We’ll take her to our lord,” they said and they tried to carry out her off.
“Please don’t take here away,” begged gombei, but all his begging was in vain. He cried so much that his tears made a pool a foot across.
“Don’t cry so, Gombei,” said his wife. “We can do nothing now, but listen carefully. You must come to the castle on New Year’s Eve. Bring pine trees for the New Year gate decorations when you come. Then we’ll be able to see each other again and all will be well,”
Before she could say anything more. she was taken away to the castle. Everyday, Gombei wondered if it was time to go yet. At last someone told him that it was New Year’s Eve. He started for the castle with a huge bundle of pine trees on his back. Hew would soon see his clear wife again!
When he reached the castle gates, he shouted, “Pine trees, pine trees! Fine pine trees for the New Year!”
Inside the castle, his wife heard him and smiled. It was the first time she had smiled since she was brought into the castle. The Lord was so pleased to see her cheerful that he ordered his servants to call the pine seller in.
When Gombei appeared, his wife looked even more cheerful. She beamed at him with much delight that the lord thought to himself, If a pine-seller can please her so much, I will become one myself.”
He ordered Gombei to change clothes with him. Dressed shabbily as a pine-seller, he walked up down in the garden shouting, “Pine trees, pine trees! Fine pine trees for the New Year!”
This made Gombei’s wife even more pleased. She clapped her little hands and laughed heartily. The lord was so delighted to see her laugh that he danced about in the garden with the pine trees on his back. , “Pine trees, pine trees! Fine pine trees” he shouted again and again. Round and round the garden he danced, and out of the castle gates he went without even noticing.
As soon as he was outside, Gombei’s wife told the servants to shut the gates of the castle. After a while, the Lord realized that he was no longer in the garden. He went up to the castle gates and to his astonishment, he found them closed. “Let me in, let me in!” he shouted, but no one answered.
Within the castle gates, Gombei and his clever wife now had everything they could wish for and lived happily ever after.
THE END
The Picture Wife was a story about a guy who met a young girl who stayed in his home for a short period but ended up staying for good since they got married. As he realize it, the husband had become the luckiest person on the planet. He marries a gorgeous young girl who becomes a source of constant diversion at work. To avoid this, his wife got him a picture of herself so that he may gaze at the painting whenever he wanted. The image, on the other hand, was carried away by the wind. When the master of the castle caught wind of it, he immediately ordered his men to find the girl. Gombei was upset because his woman had been abducted. However, his wife informed him that he would be bringing pine trees inside the castle on New Year's Eve, and that was the beginning of their scheme to fool the castle's ruler.
There are three main characters: Gombei, his wife, and the Lord of the Castle. The theme was cleverness, loyalty, trust, change, and love, among other things. The plot of the story is on how Japanese culture has been depicted.
The narrative is a little humorous because of how preoccupied the husband is and how he acknowledge the attractiveness of his wife. It turns out that he was over heels in love with her and was delighted to have her. It prompted me to ponder, Is there a guy in this world who is the same as Gombei being faithful to his wife? I really hope it has.
The story is also about how Japanese culture has been depicted. Nowadays, a poor and nasty guy cannot marry a lovely lady because of his circumstances. It is a narrative that will only come true in fiction and only in fantasy. In this century, a beautiful lady fantasizes about marrying a wealthy, gorgeous, and clever individual. She will use her appearance to her advantage to achieve her goals. Perhaps just one lady in a million nowadays has a romantic interest in a poor, ugly, and unintelligent guy. Of course, no woman wants to go through difficult times in life; thus, she must try to find and marry a guy who will be her rock and provide her with a comfortable lifestyle. If you have money and power, you are in a better position than everyone else. You will not have a difficult time finding the person you want but let us not make generalizations.
In the narrative, I discovered no one could separate two people who are in love with one other. It also needs patients to finally meet someone who is destined for us.
Source:
- http://dianpol.blogspot.com/2011/07/picture-wife.html
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