The Fountain of Youth


On one of the islands of Japan there one lived an old woodsman with his equally elderly wife. Yoshida and Fumi, for these were their names, were happy with the long life they had lived together, but they knew that the day would come when death would separate even them and this was the only thing that made them sad.

One day, Yoshida went off into the forest, but everything had changed with the passing of years and the old woodsman lost his way. He found a spring and drank a few drops of water. He realised then that he had become suddenly as young and healthy again as he had been when he was twenty years old! He had discovered the legendary fountain of youth.

He ran home and his wife almost failed to recognise him. When. however, Fumi, learnt what had happened, she set off at once.

When a few hours had passed and still Fumi had not returned, Yoshida began to grow worried. He went back to the fountain and found there a baby girl who could not even walk! But Yoshida knew what to do; he took the baby in his arms, and, because of his great love for her, from that day on he acted as her father and they continued to live happily together for many more years.

0 comments:

Post a Comment