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The Mirror
Once there lived a young man and his wife in the country. The young man was going on a business trip to a city far away.
His wife said to him, “On your way home from the city, remember to buy me a comb.” She pointed to a crescent moon and said, “You have a poor memory. If you forget what to buy, look at the moon. A comb is the same shape as that moon.
After he finished his work, he was going to go home. He forgot about the comb.
He happened to look at the moon in the sky. When he left his home, the moon was a crescent. But now it was round like a ball.
Suddenly the moon reminded him that he must buy something for his wife. So he went to the store and said, “I want something for women to use. It looks like the moon.
The shopkeeper showed him a round mirror and said to him laughing, “I suppose it's a mirror. A mirror is a thing which is used by women and is the same shape as the moon.
The young man came home with a mirror. “What have you bought for me?” his wife asked and looked into the mirror.
The young wife had never seen a mirror before. When she saw her own face in the mirror, she thought she saw a strange young woman.
Her mother said, “Show it to me,” and looked into the mirror. “Dear me,” said the old woman, “this is your aunt living in the next village, isn't it?”
Then came the young woman's brother with a cake in his hand. He found in the mirror another boy with a cake in his hand. He was surprised and cried, “You have taken my cake from me, haven't you? Give it back to me at once.”
Then his grandfather came into the room and said, “Be quiet! What on earth are you making such a noise for?”
He looked into the mirror and found an old man with a dreadful face looking angrily at him. The old man got quite angry and hit the old man in the mirror. The mirror broke into many pieces.
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