Book Summary - Wise Old Woman retold by Yoshiko Uchida

I read this story in middle school called "The Wise Old Woman" This  folktale is a Japanese story retold by a woman named Yoshiko Uchida.

The setting is in a little villiage in Japan. The main characters are the young farmer, his mother, and the cruel lord (Sorry I forgot their names).

First, the lord said he did not want anyone over the age of seventy-one to live in his village because they were of no use.

So, the lord sent the farmer to the mountains with his mother because all the alderly people were sent there to die.

Therefore, the young farmer decided to hide his seventy-one year old mother instead of sending her into the woods to die.

However, the farmer could not let his mother die so he had challenged the lord to give him (the farmer) three tasks that seemed impossible.

He completed all of the task because the wise old woman (his mother) had helped him. Finally the lord realized he needed the older

people and their wisdom.