And the Sultan loved Hassebu , who became a great physician , and cured many sick people . But he was always sorry for the poor King of the Snakes . -LRB- Adapted from Swahili Tales , -RRB- THE MAIDEN WITH THE WOODEN HELMET In a little village in the country of Japan there lived long , long ago a man and his wife . For many years they were happy and prosperous , but bad times came , and at last nothing was left them but their daughter , who was as beautiful as the morning . The neighbours were very kind , and would have done anything they could to help their poor friends , but the old couple felt that since everything had changed they would rather go elsewhere , so one day they set off to bury themselves in the country , taking their daughter with them . Now the mother and daughter had plenty to do in keeping the house clean and looking after the garden , but the man would sit for hours together gazing straight in front of him , and thinking of the riches that once were his . Each day he grew more and more wretched , till at length he took to his bed and never got up again . His wife and daughter wept bitterly for his loss , and it was many months before they could take pleasure in anything . Then one morning the mother suddenly looked at the girl , and found that she had grown still more lovely than before . Once her heart would have been glad at the sight , but now that they two were alone in the world she feared some harm might come of it . So , like a good mother , she tried to teach her daughter all she knew , and to bring her up to be always busy , so that she would never have time to think about herself . And the girl was a good girl , and listened to all her mother 's lessons , and so the years passed away . At last one wet spring the mother caught cold , and though in the beginning she did not pay much attention to it , she gradually grew more and more ill , and knew that she had not long to live . Then she called her daughter and told her that very soon she would be alone in the world ; that she must take care of herself , as there would be no one to take care of her . And because it was more difficult for beautiful women to pass unheeded than for others , she bade her fetch a wooden helmet out of the next room , and put it on her head , and pull it low down over her brows , so that nearly the whole of her face should lie in its shadow . The girl did as she was bid , and her beauty was so hidden beneath the wooden cap , which covered up all her hair , that she might have gone through any crowd , and no one would have looked twice at her . And when she saw this the heart of the mother was at rest , and she lay back in her bed and died . The girl wept for many days , but by-and-by she felt that , being alone in the world , she must go and get work , for she had only herself to depend upon . There was none to be got by staying where she was , so she made her clothes into a bundle , and walked over the hills till she reached the house of the man who owned the fields in that part of the country . And she took service with him and laboured for him early and late , and every night when she went to bed she was at peace , for she had not forgotten one thing that she had promised her mother ; and , however hot the sun might be , she always kept the wooden helmet on her head , and the people gave her the nickname of Hatschihime .
XXXXX spite , however , of all her care the fame of her beauty spread abroad : many of the impudent young men that are always to be found in the world stole softly up behind her while she was at work , and tried to lift off the wooden helmet .
In WITH as before by for from on than till