169. This Suits Me Very Well, Doesn’t It? (yō niau yaro na)
In Her later years, Oyasama used to say to Hisa Kajimoto, who was attending to Her:
“Tell me if there is something you want.”
Or:
“If you want to buy something, do so and say that you have bought it for Grandmother.”
Oyasama once bought a gaily colored cloth from a textile peddler and, throwing it over Her shoulders, said with a smile:
“This suits Me very well, doesn’t it?”
And She gave it to Hisa, saying:
“Keep this for yourself.”
On another occasion, Oyasama bought a coral beaded hairpin from a tortoise shell worker who came from Nagasaki, and putting it in Her hair, said:
“This is beautiful, isn’t it?”
She then gave it to Hisa, saying:
“Now you shall have this.”
Thus, occasionally, Oyasama bought something for Herself first and then later gave it to someone else. It is surmised that Her intention was to let others be able to accept these gifts without reserve. And, truly, people who received a gift from Oyasama were stirred with deep emotion.
Anecdotes of Oyasama, p. 136
