Keiko's parents were gardeners who grew beautiful flowers and slender bamboo plants.
They were very proud of their gardens and worked hard to keep everything looking fresh and pretty.
Why, the Emperor himself had once stopped and taken taken home some blossoms for the royal table!

Keiko helped in the gardens as best she could, but she was a frail little girl and wasn't able to do as much as she would have liked.
Her most important task was to take care of the water wheel.

Keiko had to be sure the wheel was well oiled so that it would continue to turn and pull up water for all the plants.
Nipon was a very warm place in the summer, and without the cool water that flowed from the streams of Mount Fuji, the flowers and tender bamboo shoots would surely perish.
And so every day, just before noon, she walked to the little hut that held the water wheel.

Keiko enjoyed her job, it was nice to be able to help her family.
And besides, her best friend Oko lived in the water wheel hut.

Oko was a green finch who had built his nest in the roof of the hut.
As Keiko worked she would talk to Oko and he would reply with finch songs and warbles.
The little girl always had some seeds in her pocket and Oko knew that before she left he would have his daily treat.
The two had become the best of friends.

One summer day, as Keiko was walking to the hut, she saw that the wheel was not turning!

"Oh no!" she thought. "Have I done something wrong?"
She wondered if she had not oiled the wheel properly the day before, but as she thought about it she knew that she had.

When she got closer she saw what the problem was.

The stream had stopped flowing. There was no water coming down from the great mountain!

Keiko was very upset.
She knew that without the precious water her family's gardens would wither and die.
She sat upon the ground and began to cry.

Oko had been watching the girl from atop the water wheel.
He too wondered what had happened to the water.
He saw how unhappy his little friend was and puzzled about what to do to help her.
Then off he flew!

Oko flew straight to the great Fuji.
Higher and higher he soared, up past where the trees ended and there was nothing but barren rock.

Higher still, and now he was flying over the fields of snow that stayed on the mountain throughout the year.
At last he reached the the summit and lighted on a lonely piece of rock.

Oko sat for a moment to catch his breath, and then he began to sing.

He sang his best songs, and he sang them as loudly and as sweetly as he could, hoping to get the attention of the spirit of the mountain.
Oko sang for hours, and then, just as the sun was beginning to set, he heard a voice from deep within the mountain.

He knew it must be the spirit of Mount Fuji!

"Who is it that comes to me and sings the whole day long?" said the spirit.
"What is it you want of me?"

Oko sang and warbled of the plight of Keiko and her family, and of all the families in the valley that needed the great Fuji's water.

"Why have you stopped the streams?" he asked the mountain.
"Have the people offended you?"

There was no reply for a moment, and then the deep voice spoke.

"I did not know of the trouble I have caused." it said.
"For hundreds of years I have seen the people of the valley ruled by cruel and unfair warlords and Shoguns."
"The people worked hard and received almost nothing in return."
"I felt their sorrow, it made me weep, and my tears melted the snows."

Oko listened intently as Fuji's spirit spoke on.

"But now," said the great voice, "the people have a kind and just emperor."
"They work hard and are allowed to keep the profits of their labor."
"The valley is happy again, and so am I."
"I no longer have a need for tears."

The finch thought about what the mountain had said.
He warbled one last suggestion to the great Fuji-San and then flew back down into the valley.

Keiko had been asleep near the stream.
She awoke to the sounds of Oko's excited chirps and the creaking of the water wheel.

The stream was flowing once more!

The wheel was turning and bringing the wonderful cool liquid to all the gardens.

"Surely I am still asleep and having a fine dream," thought Keiko, but then Oko sang a song that made everything clear.

Oko sang of his journey to the great mountan.
He told of his meeting with Fuji-San and the story of sadness and happiness the spirit had told him.
And he told Keiko of the idea he had given the great Fuji that was the answer to their problem.

Now the mountain looked down on the happy people of the valley and again shed great tears. But these were tears of joy!
The warm drops melted the snow and caused the streams to fill their banks once more.
The gardens flourished, the people were happy and content, and Nipon grew to be a great nation.

It is so even today.