Chapter 4 — The Ashes that Made Trees Bloom

The main characters are an honest, hardworking old couple and their pet dog Muko. The story also features their wicked, greedy neighbours and the daimio (a wealthy feudal landowner) whose procession the old man impresses.

The dog's name is Muko. The kind old couple, who had no children, loved him like a baby — feeding him fish from their chopsticks and giving him a cushion of blue crape to sit on at mealtimes.

The dog Muko ran to the old man while he was farming, whined, and kept running to a spot behind him. When the old man followed and struck his hoe into the earth there, a pile of gold gleamed before him. The couple used the gold to buy land, hold a feast, and give to their poor neighbours.

The greedy neighbours heard of their neighbours' good fortune and coaxed the dog into their garden with bits of fish, hoping he would find treasure for them too. The dog, afraid of the cruel pair, would not eat or move. They dragged him out, and when he scratched near their pine tree they dug eagerly but found only a dead, foul-smelling kitten. Furious, the old man kicked and beat the dog to death, and his wife nearly chopped off the dog's head with a hoe.

In the first dream the dog's spirit told the old man to cut down the pine tree growing over the grave and make from it a mortar for rice pastry and a mill for bean sauce. The old man did so, and when he pounded rice in the mortar and the old woman ground beans in the mill, the food turned into gold coins and gold rained down from the mill.

In the second dream the spirit said that the wicked neighbours had burned the mill made from the pine tree and told the old man: "Take the ashes of the mill, sprinkle them on the withered trees, and they will bloom again." The old man collected the ashes from the neighbours' fireplace and used them to make a bare winter cherry tree burst into pink blossoms.

He sprinkled a pinch of the magic ashes — the burnt remains of the mill made from the pine tree over the dog's grave — onto a bare winter cherry tree in his garden. The tree immediately sprouted blossoms and became a cloud of pink blooms that perfumed the air, filling the whole village with wonder.

When the daimio's procession passed along the high road, the old man climbed an old withered cherry tree by the wayside. As the daimio's palanquin drew near, he scattered a pinch of ashes over the tree — it instantly burst into blossom. The delighted daimio stopped his train, came out to see the wonder, thanked the old man, and gave him silk robes, sponge-cake, fans, and other rewards, even inviting him to his castle.

The greedy neighbour took the remaining ashes, climbed a withered cherry tree on the highway, and threw a handful of ashes as the daimio passed. The tree did not change even a particle, and the wind blew the fine ash into the eyes and nose of the daimio and his wife, causing sneezing and choking that ruined the procession's pomp and dignity. The official crier seized the old fool by the collar, dragged him from the tree, tumbled him into the ditch, beat him soundly, and left him for dead.

The story contrasts kindness, compassion, and honesty against greed and cruelty. Every gift the kind old man receives comes through genuine love for his dog and the dog's spirit in return. Every attempt by the greedy neighbours to copy his actions — without the underlying goodness — ends in failure and punishment, showing that virtue is rewarded while greed brings ruin.

The story is set in Japan during the age of the daimios — wealthy feudal landowners who held power in 19th-century Japan. The text describes Japanese customs such as people prostrating themselves and shutting their windows when a daimio's procession passed along the road.

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