■ あらすじ　
　年老いた両親と暮らす働き者の息子は、いくら働いても貧しいまま
で、父に酒を飲ませてやることも出来ないことを嘆いていた。ある日、
山で木を切っていると水の落ちる音が聞こえ、音の出所へ行くと、
小さな瀧があった。息子が手で掬<すく>い飲んでみると、それは
酒であった。息子は驚き喜んで瓢箪<ひょうたん>に入れ持ち帰り、
喜んだ父は隣人にも分けて飲み干した。一夜のうちに噂は広まり、
翌朝他の村人たちがこの瀧に酒を汲みに行ったが、流れ落ちる
のはただの水ばかり。村人たちは息子に担がれたと思い怒るが、
息子が汲むと瀧の水はやはり酒だった。この話を聞いて帝は
息子の孝心を称え年号を改めた。

■ Outline of this story
　A hardworking son who lived with his aged parents grieved that he was unable even to give his father sake to drink because they remained poor no matter how hard he worked. One day, when he was cutting down trees in the forest, he heard the sound of rushing water. Searching for the source of the sound, he came upon a small waterfall. When he cupped some of the water in his hands and took a drink, he discovered that it was sake. In his surprise and delight, he filled his gourd from the waterfall and took it home. Overjoyed, his father drank the gourd dry with his neighbor. Word of the waterfall spread overnight, and the next moring, many of the villagers hiked into the forest to get sake from it themselves. What they found in the waterfall, however, was only water. Believing that they had been deceived by him, the villagers became angry with the son, but all of the water he took from the fall turned into sake. The story reached the ears of the Emperor, who even changed the name of the period in honor of the son's devotion to his parents.

Note
　This story is based on "Ko Wa Shimizu," a legend that appears in collections such as Kokon Chomonju, Profane Folktales and Jikkinsho, Folktales. Tales of water turning into milk are found in the Occident, and the tale may have had a familiar link to Mrs. T.H. James, who translated it into English. The Japanese period name was indeed changed to Yoro (i.e., Care of the Aged) in 717 by Empress Gensho. Though Gensho was an Empress, Mrs. T.H. James and the illustrator (anonymous) mistook her for an Emperor.