Reflections by Grace James – The Short Story of the Week
Reflections by Grace James, a short story and Japanese Fairy Tales (Illustrated)
, will make you wonder how generations from now, people will view what we think are novel today. Years ago, just outside of Kioto (Kyoto), there lived a widower with his only son. The man’s wife had been dead for many years, and he made the decision not to remarry, and to stay clear of all female. Even his servants were male. Because the son had no female role models, he too decided that he could do without the presence of women.
Father and son while the time away in the rice fields, fishing, drinking sake or simply enjoying nature. They lived peaceably enjoying each other’s company. As the father grows old, he suggests to his son that it’s time for him to get married. The young man doesn’t want to get married because he is afraid of women, having not been around any. The father tells him that he needs someone to take care of him, and the son responds that he can take care of himself.
Against the son’s wishes, the father finds him a wife, named Tassel, who is young and beautiful. They marry, but the son feels awkward and doesn’t know what to say to her. The young wife starts to cry, thinking that her husband doesn’t like her or think that she is beautiful. He tells her that that is not indeed the case. The young woman falls into her role as wife, and lives with her husband and father-in-law. The father dies and the son and is left a substantial inheritance. He mourns his father, and pays little attention to his wife. His intense grief starts taking its toll on his health and he loses weight and grows pale.
His wife suggests that he visits Kioto for respite. She positions her argument in such a way to convince her husband by saying he is doing a duty to his country if he visits Kioto. Nothing happens, then he goes to his wife and tells her that he is going to Kioto because it’s a duty to his country, and the smart young woman pretends that it is his idea in the first place. He embarks on his journey and when he arrives, he takes the time to enjoy the beauty of Kioto. He visits a store with metal mirrors and thinks that they are silver moons. He looks into the mirror, and having never seen himself, he sees a younger version of his father, and thinks his father is alive and well. He purchases the mirror to keep his father close.
He returns home, wraps the mirror in his wife’s silk, and keeps it in the cupboard, then each day he takes it out to look at and talk to his father. In no time, the wife discovers what her husband is doing, so she goes to the cupboard to find out who he is talking to. She finds the mirror, and when she looks into it, she sees a beautiful, young woman and thinks that her husband is cheating on her. She is livid so she confronts him and he tells her that he keeps his father in the cupboard. He informs her that he purchased his father in Kioto.
The marriage deteriorates and the neighbors take sides. One of the neighbors recommend that the couple visits Lady Abbess, the community sage.
“The Lady Abbess was a pious woman, the head of a convent of holy nuns. She was the great one at prayers and meditations and at mortifyings of the flesh, and she was the clever one, none the less, at human affairs. They took her the mirror, and she held it in her hands and looked into it for a long time. At last she spoke:
“This poor woman,” she said, touching the mirror, “for it’s as plain as daylight that it is a woman—this poor woman was so troubled in her mind at the disturbance that she caused in a quiet house, that she has taken vows, shaved her head, and become a holy nun. Thus she is in her right place here. I will keep her, and instruct her in prayers and meditations. Go you home, my children; forgive and forget, be friends.””
The couple returns home holding hands, both thinking that he/she is correct. The story is funny, but below the surface, the reader sees how important communication and respect are in a relationship. The other lesson is that if you purchase an item that is new or unfamiliar, make sure that you know what it is used for and don't make assumptions. Reflections by Grace James is a quick read, which takes seven minutes or less.
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Author Bio: Avil Beckford, an expert interviewer, entrepreneur and published author is passionate about books and professional development, and that's why she founded The Invisible Mentor and the Virtual Literary World Tour to give you your ideal mentors virtually in the palm of your hands by offering book reviews and book summaries, biographies of wise people and interviews of successful people.
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