It was the last day of the year. The son went out hunting in the deep snow in preparation for New Year's Day.
As he walked this way and that through the mountains and forests, he found a beautiful bird caught in a snare and beating its wings wildly in the shade of a rock. The son couldn't help feeling sorry for the bird as he watched it. He undid the snare, and let it fly away. As a result, he didn't catch anything that day, and returned home with his hands hanging down.
When he told his mother what had happened, she said, "You did a good thing, so don't worry about it. If we don't have any food, we can drink some tea and go to sleep."
Just as she spoke, there was a tapping sound at the front door. When the son got up and opened the door, there was a young, beautiful woman standing there alone.
"I've been caught in the snow, and am in trouble. Please put me up for the night."
Hearing that, the mother refused her. "We would like very much to let you stay, but the truth is that we are poor. You can see how run down our hut is. Besides that, we don't have any food tonight-- we were just about to drink some tea and go to sleep."
But the girl repeated her request. "I don't need anything to eat. Please just let me lie down in some corner of the house big enough to lie down in."
The mother pitied her, and said, "In that case, please come in."
And so they let her in, seated her beside the fire in the irori, gave her some tea, and let her sleep.
The next morning the girl got up early and did all sorts of chores to help the mother. Then she said, "I know how to make tofu. Why don't you go buy some beans?"
And so the son went into town, bought some beans and brought them back. The girl quickly boiled up the beans and made tofu. It was absolutely delicious. The three talked it over, and decided to sell tofu in the town.
Soon everyone in town was talking about the delicious tofu. Within three years they were so rich they had to build a storehouse.
The mother wanted the girl to marry her son, so one morning she raised the subject. She was surprised by the girl's reply.
"To tell the truth, I'm the stork that your son rescued when I was suffering in a snare on New Year's eve three years ago. I wanted to show my gratitude, and so I've worked with all my might right up until today. Now you have enough money that the two of you will be able to live together in peace. That being the case ..."
Then she changed back into a bird and flew away into the mountains somewhere.