It is a strange and wonderful thing that after winter, spring always comes.
And yet, it always does.
Spring comes when the snow melts,
when drops of water fall, drip by drip,
from the black branches of the trees.
It comes as if it had been waiting all along—
flowers of many colors begin to bloom,
and butterflies dance like petals carried by the wind.
Sometimes, even in the cold days of winter,
spring visits for just a moment and makes our hearts feel light.
But it is quickly chased away by the rough, icy wind of winter.
True spring is different.
Warm spring breezes gently push the cold winter winds
far away, into the refrigerator of the northern lands.
Spring finally came to Fujimi Village,
where Soran and his mother Tomo lived.
“Jimmy, fetch!”
Soran threw a wooden stick,
and a small brown puppy ran after it with great joy.
The stick was a little too thick,
so the puppy could not hold it in his mouth at first.
At last, he grabbed the thinner end
and dragged it all the way back.
“Good boy, Jimmy. Well done!”
Soran patted the puppy all over.
Jimmy was one of three puppies born a month earlier
to a dog owned by Grandpa Seitaka.
Soran chose Jimmy himself and was allowed to keep him.
He named the puppy Jimmy, after Fujimi Village.
Jimmy was quieter and shyer than the other two puppies,
and that was why Soran liked him.
But once Jimmy started eating well,
he grew strong and lively,
becoming the most energetic and mischievous puppy of all.
As spring came, Tomo began to feel restless.
She could no longer hold back her wish
to return to her mountain village.
“There might still be a heavy spring snow,”
Grandma Yuka said again and again.
“Why don’t you stay here another month?”
But Tomo’s heart would not change.
“It will be all right,” Tomo replied.
“At this time of year, the forest gives us plenty of food,
and it won’t be cold enough to freeze.”
“Oh dear,” Grandma Yuka sighed.
“No matter what I say, it’s always ‘go home, go home,’ isn’t it?”
She wanted Tomo and Soran to stay forever.
To her, they were already like her own daughter and grandchild.
“Grandma,” Tomo said softly,
“I will never forget your kindness.
We will come and see you again. I promise.”
In her heart, Tomo thought of Grandma Yuka
as her true mother.
They talked every day about so many things.
Those days were truly happy ones.
Soran loved Grandma Yuka too.
They joked and laughed together
like friends the same age.
The morning they left was warm and sunny.
The trees around Fujimi Village
were covered with pale green buds.
Mount Fuji could be seen clearly in the distance,
though the air was a little hazy.
Almost everyone in the village came to see them off.
“Soran! Next time we meet,
we’ll have another sumo match!” Katsuya said,
gripping Soran’s hand.
“I won’t lose!”
“If you find your home village,
let us know somehow,” Masato said.
“We’ll come visit you.
We’re friends for life, you know.
Someday, you’ll be the village chief,
and I’ll be a village chief too.
Then our villages will hold a summer festival together—
big fires, dancing all night, like this!”
Masato began dancing,
raising and lowering his fists.
“It’s the Bear Cub Dance!”
Soon, the other children joined in.
Everyone laughed.
“That’s not a bear cub—that’s a monkey cub!”
“No, you’re a snake cub—you wiggle too much!”
“Hey, are you a mountain pigeon now?”
People danced, copying all kinds of animals.
At last, Grandpa Seitaka Jiro shouted,
“How long are you all going to dance?
The sun will set!
Tomo, Soran—you are people of this village.
Come back anytime.
There are plenty of men who would like Tomo as a bride!”
“Yes, yes!” the men shouted.
Some of them were immediately smacked by their wives.
“Excuse me, but I’m right here!”
Laughing and crying at the same time,
Tomo and Soran left Fujimi Village.
Jimmy followed them, wagging his tail.
But he soon grew tired,
so Soran placed him in a grass-woven bag
hanging from his shoulder.
“Soran, did you see them?” Tomo asked as they walked.
“Yes,” Soran said.
“The little Koboshi lady was waving
from Grandma Yuka’s shoulder.”
“And I saw a young Koboshi man
waving from Grandpa Seitaka’s head,” Tomo smiled.
“I saw him too!”
They looked at each other,
held hands tightly,
and walked on with strong, steady steps.
On the first day, they walked north along the coast.
After two days, they hoped to reach a seaside village
where someone could tell them the way
to Tomo’s home village.
That evening, they made a fire
behind seaside rocks and slept there.
They ate the food Grandma Yuka had packed for them.
There were many dried sweet potatoes
and dried persimmons—Soran’s favorites.
The western sky turned orange at sunset.
Warm sea breezes blew softly.
It was warm enough
that they almost didn’t need a fire.
“Oh!” Tomo suddenly cried out,
staring at the western sky.
Soran looked too,
but he could only see purple mountains
and red-colored clouds.
“Mount Tateshina,” Tomo whispered.
She began to run along the shore.
Not understanding why,
Soran ran after her.
Tomo climbed a large rock.
“It must be Mount Tateshina,” she said firmly.
The mountain’s shape was just like the one
seen from her home village.
Far beyond the purple hills,
it appeared deep blue in the evening light.
By chance, they had reached a place
where the mountain could be seen—
a mountain invisible from Fujimi Village.
The mountain lay almost directly west.
If this was truly the mountain near her village,
then they only needed to walk west.
Determination filled Tomo’s face.
Soran watched her silently.
The sea breeze stirred her hair.
Below them, Jimmy whimpered softly.
The sound of waves went on and on.
That night, the air grew colder.
By morning, it was chilly and cloudy.
“Soran,” Tomo said,
“just as I told you yesterday,
we’ll head west now.
Crossing the mountains will be hard,
but let’s do our best.”
“I’m fine,” Soran said.
“I’m stronger than last year,
and I’ve grown taller too.
I won’t slow you down.”
“Well, how dependable,” Tomo laughed.
“With such a strong man,
we’ll be safe even if we meet a bear.”
“A bear is scary,” Soran said,
“but I could handle a raccoon dog.”
“What about a wild boar?”
“If it’s a small one!”
“I’m counting on you,” Tomo said,
imitating Grandma Yuka’s voice.
They laughed,
then suddenly felt a little lonely
thinking of Grandma Yuka.
They walked straight west,
following rivers when they could,
and sometimes pushing through forests with no paths.
Even after walking all day,
they could not escape the forest.
At evening, they found a hollow
at the base of a large tree
and decided to sleep there.
Dinner was bamboo shoots and mushrooms
they had gathered along the way,
roasted over the fire.
The bamboo shoots were sweet and delicious.
Soran ate until he was full.
As the night grew colder,
he kept adding firewood
so the fire would not go out.
The next morning,
Soran woke with a strange feeling.
Everything was white.
A heavy spring snow had fallen—
true to its name,
it had piled up to Soran’s knees.
Tomo had risen early
to look around.
Deep footprints led into the forest.
The snow had almost stopped,
but the sky remained gray and cold.
It might snow again.
Soran peeked out
from the hollow in the tree.
I must look like a baby fox, he thought.
Jimmy came too.
Soran lifted him up,
and together they peered out.
“Jimmy and I are fox brothers,” Soran said.
Tomo returned, breathing white clouds of breath.
“It’s cold,” she said.
Soran quickly added more wood to the fire.
“Where did you go?”
“I climbed a mountain with a good view,” Tomo replied.
“I named it Monomi Mountain.
With this snow, it’s dangerous to walk in the forest,
so I looked for a village nearby.
Maybe Grandma Yuka was right—
perhaps we should have stayed longer.”
“Was there a village?” Soran asked.
“Yes. We’ll need to go back a little,
but beyond Monomi Mountain
there’s a small village near the sea.
I saw smoke rising—
someone must be living there.”
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