2. “It’s Delicious, It’s Delicious”

From a young age Izo proved to be different from others. When he was at work and saw that the people of the household who had hired him were very busy, he would stop to help draw water from the well or watch the fire at the stove. He never once complained about the meals he was served.

For instance, when he was told: “Mr. Carpenter, I’m sorry about today’s rice. It was cooked hard so it must be difficult to chew.”

Izo would answer, “Not at all, I actually like my rice hard.”

When the rice was cooked soft, he would say, “I prefer my rice to be soft.”

Also, regardless whether the side dishes were light or heavy in taste, he always said, “It’s delicious, it’s delicious.” Because of his nature, Izo was well liked by others and was in constant demand so that he had more than enough work to go around.

Source: Ueda, Eizo. Shinpan Izo Iburi den, p. 11.

• Next installment in this series: 3. Izo’s Sandal Stew

*Note: This post has been revised since its original publication.