Seibe and the Stone Ox

Long, long ago in Miyoshi Village (now Hitachi-Ōmiya City) there lived a young man called Seibe. He was a particularly hard worker and often praised as a great person by the villagers.

Seibe worked so hard and saved so much money that he was soon known by all to be a millionaire. He soon began other activities, namely construction a beautiful house and garden. There were constant workers moving through his house. Visitors to his house would exclaim in surprise, "Wow, what a splendid home!" or "What a fantastic garden".

The praise spurred Seibe to even greater efforts. All these were carried out by a lone ox that Seibe had had since many years before. With the help of his old ox he gathered many rare and unusual rocks and trees. However he was so absorbed in the construction of his house and garden that he never paid any care and attention to his ox. He continually urged the ox to bring bigger rocks and trees from the mountains.

With his weak old body, the ox gave his all hauling heavy loads in places that were not even roads.

One day a flustered manservant came rushing into the rich man's home. "Master", he cried, "It's terrible. The ox is weak, it looks like he is about to die."

Seibe was stunned. Never even once has he thought about the ox's situation. He went out to the ox's shed. He was dismayed when he realized the poor condition of the ox's shed. As he approached, he saw that the ox had already died.

"I never did anything for that hard working ox," Seibe lamented. He thought to himself, "I must give him a special farewell."

After giving the ox a fine burial, with the villagers assistance, the rich man found a large ox shaped rock. He put the rock near the ox's grave and every day the rich man would go to the rock and pay his respects. He also ceased all the rebuilding of his house and construction on his garden.

By and by, Seibe also passed away, and with him went his lovely home and his heritage. The people of the village believed for a long time afterwards the saying that, "If you build an extravagant home, you will suffer from the curse of the ox."

The ox stone remains to this day beside the old road running between Miyoshi and Noguchi (in what is now called Gozenyama)