TKO-Nakako+Yoshida

=**The Old Man and his Dog**= A long, long time ago somewhere in Japan, there lived an old man and woman in a small cottage.They were very poor, even though the old man cut wood in the forest from day to night. But, despite their hard times, they were still very kind and always kept a positive attitude One day, as the old man was walking home from the market where he had sold the wood he had cut that day, he came across a injured dog. The dog was supposed to be black and white, but it only had a few patches of fur, and the rest of it`s body was covered in raw skin. The old man immediately took pity on the poor thing and took it home with him. When he got home, he showed the dog to his wife. " Oh you poor thing!", she gasped when she saw it. " I`ll make you better if it`s the last thing I do!". She turned to the old man. "What shall we call it?", she asked. " Lets call it Shiro-Kuro", replied the old man. And so, the old woman took care of Shiro-Kuro until he was better. She fed him the little food that they had, and (once his fur grew back) made sure that he was well groomed. The old man had to work even longer and harder than he already did, just so that they would be able to keep Shiro-Kuro! When Shiro-Kuro finally got better, the old man started to bring Shiro-Kuro with him to the forest when he cut wood. Shiro-Kuro was great company for the old man, and the old man was always much more cheerful when he came home. One day, when Shiro-Kuro and the old man set out for the forest, Shiro-Kuro did not follow the old man as usual. Instead, he ran off in the opposite direction, barking excitedly. The old man followed him as fast as his feeble old legs could go, but he soon lost sight of Shiro-Kuro, and had to rely on following Shiro-Kuro`s barks.When he finally did catch up with Shiro-Kuro, he found him grabbing someone's arm. The old man saw the person, but didn`t know who it was until he got closer. " Why it`s...it`s 'the spider'! The most wanted criminal in this area!", exclaimed the old man. " Don`t move Shiro-Kuro! Keep him there!" So for the second time that day, the old man had to run his fastest to reach a patrolling palace guard, and tell him about the criminal. The guard would not listen to him at first, but followed him in the end out of exasperation. When the guard saw 'the spider' he couldn't believe his eyes! How could an old man and his dog have captured the most wanted criminal, when the palace guards had always been evaded by him!? But, soon the guard snapped back to his senses and tied his hands behind his back and took him to the emperors palace. 'The spider' was to be executed, and once he was sent to the dungeons, the emperor said to the guard, " You said an old man and his dog had 'the spider' cornered when they called for you. Where are they? Fetch them at once!" So the guard rushed off to the old man and woman's cottage to fetch the dog and old man. At the palace the emperor asked the old man how he could reward them. " But your majesty, I did what any other citizen would have done. I cannot accept any reward", said the old man. The emperor persisted, and finally the old man accepted to be rewarded. The old man and woman were given a very grand house (almost as grand as the emperors) with servants to look after them. The emperor also made a solid gold statue of Shiro-Kuro placed in the town square. And the old man, woman, and Shiro-Kuro lived a good long life. =**The End**=