New business
At first, Minosuke's new business was not very successful.
The peasants didn't trust anything new.
So, after much thought, Minosuke took the lamp to the only store in the village.
He lent it to her for free and asked her to use it for a while.
The old woman at the general store reluctantly agreed.
She hammered a nail into the ceiling of her store, hung the lamp, and lit it that night.
About five days later, when Minosuke went to sell sandals, the old woman smiled and said.
"This is very convenient and bright. Customers often come even at night, and I don't give the wrong change. I love it, I want to buy."
She also told Minosuke that she had already received three orders from villagers who had found out about the lamp.
Minosuke was so happy that he jumped for joy.
So he took the money for the lamps and sandals from the old woman at the general store, and immediately ran to Ono.
He told the owner of the lamp shop what had happened, asked the owner to lend him the money he needed, bought three lamps, and sold them to the people who ordered them.
From now on, Minosuke's business started to go well.
At first, he went to Ono only when he received an order, but after he had enough money, he bought more lamps even without an order.
And now he stopped running errands for other people's houses and babysitting, and devoted himself to the business of selling lamps.
He built a cart with a frame like a clothesline and hung many lamps and chimneys on it.
With the cool sound of glass touching glass, Minosuke went to his village and near villages to sell the lamps.
Minosuke made a lot of money, but apart from that, he also enjoyed this business.
The lamps that Minosuke had sold gradually lit up the dark houses.
Minosuke felt as if he was lighting the bright fire of civilization and enlightenment one by one in the dark houses.
Minosuke was now a young man.
Before, he didn't have a house of his own, but was allowed to live in a barn with leaning eaves owned by the mayor.
But he accumulated enough money, he built his own house.
Then, he got married through an introduction by someone else.
One day, he was advertising a lamp in another village.
He told what he had heard before from the mayor, "Under the lamp, you can put the newspaper on the tatami mat and read it."
One of the customers asked. "Really?" Minosuke, who hated to lie, decided to try it himself.
He got some old newspapers from the mayor and spread them out under the lamp.
It turned out that what the mayor had said was true.
The light of the lamp made it possible to see the fine print on the newspaper clearly.
"I'm not in the business of telling lies." Minosuke said to himself.
But even though Minosuke could see the letters clearly by the light of the lamp, it was useless for him.
He couldn't read the letters.
"I can see things clearly now with the lamp, but if I can't read, I'm not really in civilization and enlightenment yet."
So Minosuke went to the mayor's house every night to learn to read.
He was so dedicated that within a year, Minosuke could read as well as any villager who had graduated school.
And Minosuke learned to read books.
- To return to table of contents of Grandfather's Lamp
The peasants didn't trust anything new.
So, after much thought, Minosuke took the lamp to the only store in the village.
He lent it to her for free and asked her to use it for a while.
The old woman at the general store reluctantly agreed.
She hammered a nail into the ceiling of her store, hung the lamp, and lit it that night.
About five days later, when Minosuke went to sell sandals, the old woman smiled and said.
"This is very convenient and bright. Customers often come even at night, and I don't give the wrong change. I love it, I want to buy."
She also told Minosuke that she had already received three orders from villagers who had found out about the lamp.
Minosuke was so happy that he jumped for joy.
So he took the money for the lamps and sandals from the old woman at the general store, and immediately ran to Ono.
He told the owner of the lamp shop what had happened, asked the owner to lend him the money he needed, bought three lamps, and sold them to the people who ordered them.
From now on, Minosuke's business started to go well.
At first, he went to Ono only when he received an order, but after he had enough money, he bought more lamps even without an order.
And now he stopped running errands for other people's houses and babysitting, and devoted himself to the business of selling lamps.
He built a cart with a frame like a clothesline and hung many lamps and chimneys on it.
With the cool sound of glass touching glass, Minosuke went to his village and near villages to sell the lamps.
Minosuke made a lot of money, but apart from that, he also enjoyed this business.
The lamps that Minosuke had sold gradually lit up the dark houses.
Minosuke felt as if he was lighting the bright fire of civilization and enlightenment one by one in the dark houses.
Minosuke was now a young man.
Before, he didn't have a house of his own, but was allowed to live in a barn with leaning eaves owned by the mayor.
But he accumulated enough money, he built his own house.
Then, he got married through an introduction by someone else.
One day, he was advertising a lamp in another village.
He told what he had heard before from the mayor, "Under the lamp, you can put the newspaper on the tatami mat and read it."
One of the customers asked. "Really?" Minosuke, who hated to lie, decided to try it himself.
He got some old newspapers from the mayor and spread them out under the lamp.
It turned out that what the mayor had said was true.
The light of the lamp made it possible to see the fine print on the newspaper clearly.
"I'm not in the business of telling lies." Minosuke said to himself.
But even though Minosuke could see the letters clearly by the light of the lamp, it was useless for him.
He couldn't read the letters.
"I can see things clearly now with the lamp, but if I can't read, I'm not really in civilization and enlightenment yet."
So Minosuke went to the mayor's house every night to learn to read.
He was so dedicated that within a year, Minosuke could read as well as any villager who had graduated school.
And Minosuke learned to read books.
- To return to table of contents of Grandfather's Lamp