Cause and Effect (Part One)
A story of a friend in Nagano.
He has a brother who is two years older than him.
He said that when his older brother was in junior high, he was suddenly attacked by headaches with no known cause. At the outset he thought he had caught a cold, and was looking for indications of that, but one week and two weeks passed and his condition didn't let up at all. On the contrary, his headaches only increased. He tried to get an inspection at the hospital many times, but nothing strange could be found anywhere.
At that time, his mother thought of a person who was much obliged to her. That person was an older woman who usually did general work, but she was someone who could see things that most other people couldn't see. Thinking they could understand the cause of the headaches if they went to see this person, the mother and older brother went together to try talking to the woman.
They entered the house and were gestured at the floor cushions, but the older woman greeted them hurriedly and steadily stared at the boy.
"You, did you hurt a tree somewhere? Yes, it's surely a plum tree. Because that tree is angry at you, you should offer it sake and apologize well," she said to him.
At first, he didn't know what she means and inclined his head in puzzlement, but then he recalled that on his way home from school, he was playing with a friend and swinging from a tree on the roadside.
The next day, the boy and his mother went to that same road with sake and they were surprised by the location of that tree. It was certainly the plum tree... Furthermore, there was a crack at the base of the branch he had swung from. They gave the offering reverently, put their hands together and recited apologies from the bottom of their hearts. Then, the headache that had been troubling him so much quelled just like it had been a lie.
He has a brother who is two years older than him.
He said that when his older brother was in junior high, he was suddenly attacked by headaches with no known cause. At the outset he thought he had caught a cold, and was looking for indications of that, but one week and two weeks passed and his condition didn't let up at all. On the contrary, his headaches only increased. He tried to get an inspection at the hospital many times, but nothing strange could be found anywhere.
At that time, his mother thought of a person who was much obliged to her. That person was an older woman who usually did general work, but she was someone who could see things that most other people couldn't see. Thinking they could understand the cause of the headaches if they went to see this person, the mother and older brother went together to try talking to the woman.
They entered the house and were gestured at the floor cushions, but the older woman greeted them hurriedly and steadily stared at the boy.
"You, did you hurt a tree somewhere? Yes, it's surely a plum tree. Because that tree is angry at you, you should offer it sake and apologize well," she said to him.
At first, he didn't know what she means and inclined his head in puzzlement, but then he recalled that on his way home from school, he was playing with a friend and swinging from a tree on the roadside.
The next day, the boy and his mother went to that same road with sake and they were surprised by the location of that tree. It was certainly the plum tree... Furthermore, there was a crack at the base of the branch he had swung from. They gave the offering reverently, put their hands together and recited apologies from the bottom of their hearts. Then, the headache that had been troubling him so much quelled just like it had been a lie.
<Coach's Sigh>
A plum tree... wasn't it? If it's a plum tree with branches that a junior high student can swing from, it must be pretty big. Besides, since a plum tree doesn't have branches of a size suitable for swinging, the wonderful image of a huge tree comes to mind. Moreover, I'm wondering why you added the description of the roadside. Eh? Why is Coach concerned with that? Very much, Isshi, it's a painting. A painting. There generally aren't plum trees on the roadside. This mostly leaves the truth behind doesn't it? The truth I'm talking about is, on the roadside it's very easy for them to fall down into water channels and stop the flow of water. Because of that, on the edge of the street... they're just... not there. Plum tree, roadside, big enough to swing on... I can't get a picture of this in my head at all. The tree couldn't have been plum. I wonder if you didn't take care with the core of this story...