Once upon a time, in Kyoto, there lived a man. He was a very smart man, called a scholar, and he lived a very simple life. 

The scholar was being distracted from his prayers by the loud city, and he felt that his neighbors were making his soul dirty. This is called kegare.

The scholar decided that he needed to perform a ritual to purify his soul called a harae. This would fix what made his soul dirty!

The scholar went to the holy Hie Shrine to perform the ritual. After he went, he felt very peaceful. He wanted to stay peaceful forever, so he decided to make this trip another 99 times!

The scholar spoke to no one when he was traveling to the Hie Shrine. He wanted to avoid contact with people with dirty souls. No matter what, he spoke to no one.

His devotion to this revealed a whole new world of spirits, and he could sense the kami, which is the Shinto god. He did not let anything get in the way of him finding peace!

As the scholar was headed home for the 80th time, he heard crying coming from a tiny cottage. He tried to ignore it, but he could not, so he decided he needed to give it a closer look.

When the scholar came closer, he saw a old woman crying. He felt really bad for her, so he decided to ask the woman what was wrong. 

Hi... I need some help planning my mother's funeral, but I have no one to help me. 

The scholar knew that helping the woman would make his spirit dirty, and disrupt his peace. The scholar felt really bad for this woman, so he decided to help her anyway.