Horan and the Whole Village

1. 
   2At the edge of a little village, in a little house on a hill, lived a little ronin named Horan.
2. 
   3Horan had no mother or father. But he never sat still. "There's always someone who needs a hand!" he said.
3. 
   4First, he carried a basket of rice cakes all the way down the hill for Granny Ume.
4. 
   5"Thank you, Horan!" she called. "You're always so helpful."
5. 
   6Next, Farmer Taro's chicken escaped. Cluck! Cluck! CLUCK!
6. 
   7Horan dived. He missed. The chicken sat on his head.
7. 
   8Then little Mei's kite got stuck, high up in the cherry tree.
8. 
   9Horan stacked one box, two boxes, three boxes... and wobbled all the way to the top.
9. 
   10Down floated the kite, and down floated Horan, covered in pink petals.
10. 
    11By evening, every window in the village glowed warm and bright.
11. 
    12Horan sat on his doorstep and watched. He wondered what it felt like to have a family to go home to.
12. 
    13Then he saw lights coming up the hill.
13. 
    14It was Granny Ume, little Mei, and the whole village, with rice cakes, lanterns and a big pot of soup.
14. 
    15"You help all of us," said Granny Ume. "So tonight, we came to help you." Horan had a family after all. It was the whole village.

In this book

Horan Granny Ume Mei The chicken