Reading (Notes) Between the Lines: The Maiden with the Wooden Helmet

Traditional wedding at Meiji-jingu, 2006-10-29. Found on wikimedia.

The Maiden with the Wooden Helmet

This story comes from The Violet Fairy Book by Andrew Lang and illustrated by H. J. Ford (1901).

A man and his wife live in a small village where bad luck struck. They eventually had nothing left but their daughter. They set off to start a new life somewhere else. Now the women in the family were working hard and getting things done while the father sat and thought about everything that they used to have. Eventually, he became bedridden. The wife and daughter grieved their loss, becoming sad and morose, getting no joy from life. One day, the mother looked at the daughter and recognized her beauty and was afraid for her. Her mother taught her everything she could. They lived like that for a few years, before the mother became ill. She called her daughter to say goodbye and tell her she would now have to take care of herself. The mother was worried the daughter's beauty would make her a target and not allow her to live her life, so she had her fetch a wooden helmet from the other room and put it on her head, pulling it low so her face could not be seen. With this helmet she would be able to pass through the crowds without being bothered. Satisfied with what she was leaving her daughter, the mother died. She grieved for a few days and then pulled herself together to find work and support herself. She worked in the fields, and never once took off her helmet. Despite that, her beauty became well known. People came to bother her, but she just continued to work. Her boss eventually came across her in the field and moved her into the house to take care of his sick wife. The older son returned from school and he noticed her odd helmet, so he asked his mother about her. His mother told him that she never took it off. One day she was washing her face in a stream in the garden and he snuck a glance at her, realizing her great beauty. He told his family he wanted to marry her, and they were not happy even going as far as making up stories to impugn her reputation. To their utter surprise, she rejected his proposal. Then her mother came to her in a dream and told her to marry him, so she said she would. They got everything ready fro the feast while the neighbors made fun of there helmet. She tried to remove her helmet to get ready for the ceremony, but it was stuck fast to her head. Hearing her cry as she tried to remove it, her fiancé told her to just get married in it. They got married and at the feast the helmet burst open to drop gems down at their feet. Everyone but the groom was astonished by her beauty. And they lived happily ever after.