Someisa

Someisa was an old woman who would give rice balls to travelers. One day she met Shinsei as he was leaving the Empire, and instead of asking if he had some final answer for her she asked if he had any questions. Shinsei made her promise to never tell another creature. Someisa promised and Shinsei whispered his final riddle in her ear. Someisa lived for another three hundred years, but could not bear to keep the secret to herself. The first hundred years she told the trees in her garden, and the blossomed thousandfold. The next hundred she told a nearby river, which bubbled with joy and flowed silver. Eventually the Emperor came to visit her, and ordered her to tell him Shinsei's last secret. Someisa merely bowed to the Emperor, but before she could speak she transformed into a tortoise. The Emperor understood and bowed in return.