We Shed Tears

~ It is the same life whether we spend it crying or laughing. ~

Later that night, Kimyo sat in his small craft, groaning from the pain in the muscles of his sore arms and legs. "I'm never going back!" he declared.

🐉~ Yes, you will return tomorrow and be respectful ~

"I... will... not!

That man yelled and barked at me all day long. He did not have one kind word to say to me, and I worked very hard. The Wind Spirit must have been talking about a different Ryoshi.

This Ryoshi is mean!"

🐉 ~ Have you looked in the package? ~

"Not yet; I have been too tired and sore to move."

🐉 ~ Look in it now, Kuni ~

"Mizuko, I have told you this before my name is no longer Kuni. I am Kimyo now."

🐉~ Look now, Kimyo, please? ~

When it grew dark, Mister Ryoshi called a halt to work. About three dozen men and boys working the nets stopped suddenly in unison. Ryoshi walked directly over to Kimyo. He pressed a cloth-wrapped, weighty package into the boy's hands. The young man was too tired to say a word; he trudged back to his boat home.

Kimyo was curious about the package. Now that he had rested and Mizuko had reminded him, the youth was eager to see the contents wrapped inside it. Kimyo carefully unwrapped the tied corners and spread the cloth and contents on the craft's hull. Inside the fabric were strips of fish, rice cakes, and a small worn worker's tunic.

Also, he found a pair of old sandals, a small blanket, and many other things. Kimyo could not believe the number of gifts he was looking at. He realized it would have taken him weeks of work to afford to buy all this.

The proud young man began to weep. Kimyo had not cried since the death of his mother. He did not grieve when his father made fun of him and called him names because the boy preferred staying home with his mother and reading books. The youth had never been good at fishing and truly disliked it.

Kimyo did not cry when the villagers came to tell him his father had died alone fishing on the boat, drowned in his nets, with no one there to save him. The youngster had not wept on the Last Day. He did not weep easily, but now he was crying, weeping massive tears; the young man could not stop himself.

🐉~ What is wrong, Kimyo? ~

"I was angry with Mister Ryoshi. I thought bad things about him and called him bad names in my mind."

🐉 ~ Yes, you misjudged him, much as you have been misunderstood. Ask this question of yourself: what manner of a man do you wish to become? ~

"Oh, Mizuko," blubbered Kimyo between tears, "I did... I judged him a bad man because he reminded me of Kuni's father."

Kimyo cried as he had never wept before in his short life. He wept all over again for the loss of his mother. He cried for Kuni's father, who could not, or would not, understand his only son. Kimyo wept about how the people of his village judged him guilty of his father's death.

He cried and then wept even more. The young man finally stopped weeping and wiped his eyes dry with the cloth from the package-the amazing package, which he still could not believe was real.

"You were right, Mizuko. I will return to the nets tomorrow and show Mister Ryoshi all the respect he deserves. I will work hard for him. I promise."

Kimyo thought, "I do not know what manner of a man I will become. I will not be the kind of man who judges people simply by their appearances."

There is an ancient saying of the people of Kuni's village. . .

"The nail that sticks out is hammered down."

END

Questions you might consider:

Is it fair to judge someone by their appearance?

Have you been guilty of doing this yourself?

Was the Wind Spirit right about Ryoshi?

Do you know someone with a rough and gruff exterior but a kind heart?