Summary
Once upon a time, an old man and his son lived a quiet life in the mountains without a wife. One day, the old man said to his son, "Isn't it time for you to settle down and start a family?"
The son protested, "Dad, why do I have to get married? We've been getting along just fine as it is."
However, the father worriedly responded, "I will soon die, and you will be left alone. You need a wife to take care of you."
The village matchmaker arranged a marriage, and the son married a beautiful girl. On their wedding night, the nervous couple struggled to find words. When the bride began to cry, the husband finally spoke, "You are as beautiful as a wild lily. I will make you happy."
Years passed, and the father died. The young man, engulfed in grief, found his wife suggesting, "Why don't we use the money your father left and visit the capital?"
The husband agreed, and they headed to Kyoto. While sightseeing, the young man came across a beautiful mirror. "What a lovely moon!" he exclaimed, purchasing the mirror. However, when he looked into it, he shouted, "Dad, why are you here?"
When he returned home, the husband handed his wife a comb and went to the barn. Noticing something odd about her husband, his wife searched the barn and discovered the mirror. Reflected within it was a "young woman." "How beautiful! My husband is keeping a young girl!" she thought, consumed by jealousy.
When the husband returned, his wife confronted him in anger. "I figured out your secret. You've been keeping a woman!"
The husband, surprised, replied, "It's not a woman; it's my father!"
The wife wouldn't believe him. "I saw it with my own eyes!" she fumed.
Even when neighbors tried to mediate, no one wanted to look into the mirror due to superstitions surrounding it. So, they decided to consult a nun from the temple. "Please tell us, nun!"
The nun took the mirror and examined it closely. "Indeed, there is a woman in it. Poor thing, this woman must have become a servant to the Buddha."
The couple, having learned this, started their journey home. The wife remarked, "I told you so."
"Yeah, but why did Dad become acquainted with the nun...?" the husband wondered. Thus, they reconciled, and the mirror became a treasured possession of the nun.
