Yoshiko Uchida

The Wise Old Woman
Uchida, Y. (1994). Wise Old Woman, The: Retold by Yoshiko Uchida. Chicago: Margaret K. Mcelderry.

I had never heard of this author before reading this book. I looked her up on the internet and found that over the course of her career, she has written 42 books. Some of these titles include The Magic Purse, The Bracelet, The Dancing Kettle, and The Sea of Gold.

When I first started reading this book, my heart sank due to the situation given on the first page. A farmer had to carry his 70 year old mother up a mountain to leave her to die because the cruel lord of their land ordered that anyone over the age of 70 must be left upon the mountain. The young man could not take it for he loved his mother so much, so he carried her back down the hill and dug a cave under his floor where she could live in secrecy. For two years, no one knew of this - Everyone thought that the old woman was dead. One day, warriors arrived in the village announcing that another cruel lord would overtake the village. The only way to save the village was to complete three impossible tasks: make a coil rope out of ashes, run a single thread throught he length of a crooked log, and make a drum that sounds without being beaten. The wisest people of the village were not able to complete these tasks so they were thrown in the dungeon. The lord then turned to the people of the village for help. The farmer went home to tell his mother of the three tasks and she was able to cleverly complete all three. He returned with the three items and had to admit that his mother was alive and she was who had completed the impossible tasks. The lord was not angy, but instead decided to abondon the rule of leaving the old in the mountain to die.
This book reminded me of a story I read with my class every year. It is about three brothers being left with an inheritance from their father only if they could complete an "impossible" task. I read this story with my class because it shows the brothers coming together as a team to reach their goal, where they had bickered and fought all their lives. I honestly did not care much for this story. I did not find much value from reading it. The story I read in my class teaches a good lesson. This one, not so much besides respecting the elderly.