(no subject)
Aaah, I never thought I'd miss all that chilly weather from the winter, but it's so hot today! It's a day for sitting in the shade with watermelon and fans and telling stories, don't you think? And I still have some of these little leaf fans from last summer. Saizo can take care of the melon rinds when you're done~
I'll start with a story I heard once. Long ago, there was a righteous lord who was growing older and wanted to decide which of his three sons should succeed him. He went to the wise priest of a nearby shrine and asked the priest to read the fortunes of his sons, so that he would know which of them should succeed him. The priest shut himself away, studying the stars and the signs, and at last he came to the lord to say that he had finished his horoscopes. The eldest son would have great wealth, he said; the middle son great wisdom and cunning; and the youngest of them would suffer great misfortune.
Thinking on his sons' horoscopes, the lord called them to his chamber, and said to them that he had decided to give his lands and position to his eldest son. His second eldest must act as the eldest's advisor, and the youngest son would recieve a stipend and must seek his fortune elsewhere, so that his misfortune would not fall also on the lord's lands.
Now it was not long afterwards that the lord died, and his eldest son soon proved to be a cruel and greedy man, extorting tribute from his people such that they rose up in rebellion time after time and he was forced to hire ronin to fight back the peasants. His second eldest son, canny and wise, but feeling great anger against his father for giving the foolish eldest all of his lands and his money, conspired with the dishonorable mercenaries to murder his brother. After his brother's death, he inherited the position, but the murderers who knew of his misdeeds threatened to expose him, forcing him to grant them more and more money and influence until at last he was no more than a figurehead. Their forces were a mere rabble of bandits, with thugs from all over the area always coming to join it.
One day, a new young man came to enlist in this army of bandits; no one recognized him as the old lord's youngest son, for his years as a traveling warrior had scarred and toughened him into a wholly different man. Yet he knew his brother, and his sense of filial duty inspired him to go to his brother and offer help in defeating the thuggish ronin. His brother at once devised a clever strategy for assassinating the blackmailers one by one, and with the help of the youngest, now an accomplished swordsman, it succeeded. At last, the leaders of the ronin were slain, their following rabble fled, and the youngest brother faced his sibling, saying, "Brother, we have succeeded. The only reward I ask is that you take me back into your household, and allow me to make an end to my wanderings in my childhood home."
His brother, as always canny, looked at him and saw that the youngest son's honor would never allow his own schemes to flourish. And so he spread his arms wide, and said, "Brother, I will; come here, and embrace me." The youngest son did so, and his brother thrust a knife into his back.
And the priest, when he saw the smoke of the funeral incense, only shook his head at the workings of fate.
Do you believe in destiny?
I'll start with a story I heard once. Long ago, there was a righteous lord who was growing older and wanted to decide which of his three sons should succeed him. He went to the wise priest of a nearby shrine and asked the priest to read the fortunes of his sons, so that he would know which of them should succeed him. The priest shut himself away, studying the stars and the signs, and at last he came to the lord to say that he had finished his horoscopes. The eldest son would have great wealth, he said; the middle son great wisdom and cunning; and the youngest of them would suffer great misfortune.
Thinking on his sons' horoscopes, the lord called them to his chamber, and said to them that he had decided to give his lands and position to his eldest son. His second eldest must act as the eldest's advisor, and the youngest son would recieve a stipend and must seek his fortune elsewhere, so that his misfortune would not fall also on the lord's lands.
Now it was not long afterwards that the lord died, and his eldest son soon proved to be a cruel and greedy man, extorting tribute from his people such that they rose up in rebellion time after time and he was forced to hire ronin to fight back the peasants. His second eldest son, canny and wise, but feeling great anger against his father for giving the foolish eldest all of his lands and his money, conspired with the dishonorable mercenaries to murder his brother. After his brother's death, he inherited the position, but the murderers who knew of his misdeeds threatened to expose him, forcing him to grant them more and more money and influence until at last he was no more than a figurehead. Their forces were a mere rabble of bandits, with thugs from all over the area always coming to join it.
One day, a new young man came to enlist in this army of bandits; no one recognized him as the old lord's youngest son, for his years as a traveling warrior had scarred and toughened him into a wholly different man. Yet he knew his brother, and his sense of filial duty inspired him to go to his brother and offer help in defeating the thuggish ronin. His brother at once devised a clever strategy for assassinating the blackmailers one by one, and with the help of the youngest, now an accomplished swordsman, it succeeded. At last, the leaders of the ronin were slain, their following rabble fled, and the youngest brother faced his sibling, saying, "Brother, we have succeeded. The only reward I ask is that you take me back into your household, and allow me to make an end to my wanderings in my childhood home."
His brother, as always canny, looked at him and saw that the youngest son's honor would never allow his own schemes to flourish. And so he spread his arms wide, and said, "Brother, I will; come here, and embrace me." The youngest son did so, and his brother thrust a knife into his back.
And the priest, when he saw the smoke of the funeral incense, only shook his head at the workings of fate.
Do you believe in destiny?