But the girl would have nothing to say to them , and only bade them be off ; then they began to talk to her , but she never answered them , and went on with what she was doing , though her wages were low and food not very plentiful . Still she could manage to live , and that was enough . One day her master happened to pass through the field where she was working , and was struck by her industry and stopped to watch her . After a while he put one or two questions to her , and then led her into his house , and told her that henceforward her only duty should be to tend his sick wife . From this time the girl felt as if all her troubles were ended , but the worst of them was yet to come . Not very long after Hatschihime had become maid to the sick woman , the eldest son of the house returned home from Kioto , where he had been studying all sorts of things . He was tired of the splendours of the town and its pleasures , and was glad enough to be back in the green country , among the peach-blossoms and sweet flowers . Strolling about in the early morning , he caught sight of the girl with the odd wooden helmet on her head , and immediately he went to his mother to ask who she was , and where she came from , and why she wore that strange thing over her face . His mother answered that it was a whim , and nobody could persuade her to lay it aside ; whereat the young man laughed , but kept his thoughts to himself . One hot day , however , he happened to be going towards home when he caught sight of his mother 's waiting maid kneeling by a little stream that flowed through the garden , splashing some water over her face . The helmet was pushed on one side , and as the youth stood watching from behind a tree he had a glimpse of the girl 's great beauty ; and he determined that no one else should be his wife . But when he told his family of his resolve to marry her they were very angry , and made up all sorts of wicked stories about her . However , they might have spared themselves the trouble , as he knew it was only idle talk . ' I have merely to remain firm , ' thought he , ` and they will have to give in . ' It was such a good match for the girl that it never occurred to anyone that she would refuse the young man , but so it was . It would not be right , she felt , to make a quarrel in the house , and though in secret she wept bitterly , for a long while , nothing would make her change her mind . At length one night her mother appeared to her in a dream , and bade her marry the young man . So the next time he asked her -- as he did nearly every day -- to his surprise and joy she consented . The parents then saw they had better make the best of a bad business , and set about making the grand preparations suitable to the occasion . Of course the neighbours said a great many ill-natured things about the wooden helmet , but the bridegroom was too happy to care , and only laughed at them .
When everything was ready for the feast , and the bride was dressed XXXXX the most beautiful embroidered dress to be found in Japan , the maids took hold of the helmet to lift it off her head , so that they might do her hair in the latest fashion .
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