THE HAPPY MIRROR her own reflection.

He told her that if she brings a smile to the

Many years ago, there lived the
happiest family in Japan. There lived a
father, mother, and their little daughter.
There was no other happier family than
them.
They took their daughter to the
temple when she was only thirty days old.
She was clad in a long colorful and
beautiful kimono like all Japanese babies
do.
The parents gave the baby a set of beautiful dolls on her
first Doll Festival. When their daughter turned three, she was no
longer a baby, but a little girl growing up fast. She was loved by
her parents very much.
One day, a messenger came and brought news that the
father is needed by the Emperor to Tokyo. They haven’t had a
horse so the father will need to walk the long way. There were no
railways or jinrikishas to travel on.
The mother and the little daughter bid farewell to the father
and promised him that they will take care of each other and will
wait for him. After many days, they saw the father’s hat that
peaked through the windows. Father came back and brought
mother and daughter presents.
The little girl received a doll that made her very happy.
Meanwhile, the mother was amazed by the present. It was a thing
which she saw a beautiful face of a woman. The husband laughed
and told her it was something called a mirror and what she saw was
mirror, she will see a smiling face and if she didn’t it will reflect
the mirror, and if she was cross, she would see an angry face.
The wife thanked her husband and promised that she will
always bring a smiling face to the mirror. She often looked at the
mirror and does what she had promised. She would always see a
happy face in it.
Many years passed and she grew tired of looking at it. she
considered the mirror as something so precious to use every day,
so she kept it with her other belongings that was special to her.
She decided to give the precious gift to her daughter who
grew into a woman exactly like her mother. She called the
daughter and gave her a beautiful box. The daughter was surprised
of what she saw. It was the image of her mother inside the round
shiny thing. It was the image of her mother she used to look at
when she was a little girl.
The mother told her to smile every time she looks at her
inside the mirror and assured her that she will smile back. From
that day on, the daughter kept the box near her. Once each year,
she opened it and proved that her mother’s words were always
true. She would always see her mother’s smiling face when she
smiles at her. The daughter always remembers to bring smiles to
that gift inside the little box, and it never fails to smile back at her.