Anju Mami (English version)

(This is a rush translation. The version may not be in its final form.)

Anju Mami should accompany his uncle, a woodcutter, to cut the pines. He kept pulling the snow from the trees, and his uncle knocked him down, stuffing a piece of iron into each end of each already cut piece of log, creating a crack and separating the two halves with his hands. We always took only what was necessary, the uncle said. They are alive and belong to the god of the pines. Before, he always asked Anju Mami to light a small fire for the god, inside a hole in a log or making a small temple of ice, alongside which were deposited candies. Anju Mami was too lazy. He did nothing. 

After a whole morning's work, he went to fetch water in the stream, warm waters that never froze. But he got lost. He arrived in a wooden house where she was met by a beautiful girl in a red kimono. 

She poured him tea and danced for him. He ate and slept. When he woke up, he felt sick. He had become a woman. The red kimono rested next to him and he dressed him in disarray, put on another robe and went outside. He walked heavily in the snow until he saw a palace. He pushed open the wooden door and stepped inside. There was no one in the palace, who was decorated with beautiful engravings and calligraphy, bouquets of flowers in beautiful arrangements. Each window had a landscape. In one of them, red leaves fall. In another, one could see the green and colorful fish on the lake. In a third, cherry blossoms. In the fourth, infinite whiteness. In the central room, near the fireplace, was tea and sweets. He ate and then walked back into the snow. 

Finally, he found the stream of warm water where he would fetch water. He followed the usual path and reached the place where his uncle must be. There was no one there and the trees looked different. When she returned to her village, Anju Mami was considered a vision, for, besides having a woman's body, all her friends were old, her parents had passed away. He learned that his uncle had searched for him unceasingly for a whole year. Anju Mami moved into the cemetery, where people brought small offerings to him.

Afonso Junior Ferreira de Lima, 2013
https://afonsojunior.blogspot.com/2013/11/anju-mami.html