APPRECIATING THE WISDOM OF AGE

The Wise Old Woman
Retold by Yoshiko Uchida (New York: Margaret K. McElderry Books, 1994)

Introduction

Often the younger generation is impatient with old people: they can't handle new equipment, they are physically frail, they can't keep up with developments. Especially children who have never had the company of grandparents have not experienced the benefits of the wisdom and life experience that comes with age. This Japanese fable tells how a lord was forced to learn to appreciate the wisdom of the elderly.

Summary

The ruler of a land declared that the elderly were useless and at the age of seventy they were to be taken high into the mountains and left there to die. A young farmer could not bare to do this to his mother, so after carrying her up the mountain, he brought her down under cover of night and hid her in the house.

Some time later, this land was about to be conquered by a very powerful warrior. He told the young lord that if he and his wisest subjects were not able to solve three riddles, then the warrior would subjugate the land and its people.

None of the young lord’s young wise men could solve the three riddles, but the hidden elderly lady could.

The first riddle: A rope of ash. The old lady soaked a coil of rope in salt water and dried it well. She burned it, but it did not crumble, it held its shape. She solved the first riddle.

The second riddle: Thread a silk thread through a crooked log without braking the log or the thread. The old lady took a crooked log with a tiny hole running through it, put a little honey at one end of it, and at the other end of it placed an ant with a silk threat tied around it. The little ant found its way through the many internal crevices to find the prized honey. She solved the second riddle.

The third riddle: A drum that sounds without being beaten by a drummer. The old lady opened a little hand drum, placed a bee inside and resealed the drum. As the bee banged against the sides trying to escape, the drum sounded without a drummer. The solved the third riddle.

The elderly lady’s son presented the lord with the answers to the three riddles. He was amazed, as was the warrior. When the lord found out that it was an elderly lady who had solved the riddles, he realized the great wisdom he had destroyed by sending the elderly to die. From that time forward, he and his subjects honored the elderly that they thenceforth kept in their midst.

Questions and Discussion

The elderly are revered in some societies and considered burdensome and outdated in others. How are the elderly treated in our society? By the media? By employers? By you?

Likewise, mentally or physically handicapped individuals are treated with love, respect, and worth in some societies whereas in others they are a shame to one’s family. How are persons with disabilities treated in your school? In society? By the media? By employers? Are pregnant women with fetuses displaying abnormalities encouraged to terminate the pregnancy? What benefits can a person with disabilities provide society?