Rai-den Sama was the god of thunder and his son was Rai-Taro. The father and son lived in the Castle of Cloud in heaven and they looked down on the world of humans.
One night Rai-den asked his son to look deeply into all the humans on earth.
First the father and son saw the great lords going to battle. Then they saw the priests and acolytes in the holy temple and then they looked at princesses and maidens that made music for the princesses.
They looked at the little children playing in carts of flowers.
Finally, they saw a peasant toiling in the rice field and the peasant’s wife looked even more tired as she toiled with him.
The peasant and his wife were poor and their garments were almost torn and ragged.
Rai-Taro suddenly looked unhappily at his father. “Do these two not have any children?”
The Thunder God shook his head.
After that Rai-Taro fell silent.
Rai-den looked at his son gravely. “Have you looked well into the world of humans?”
His son nodded. “Yes father.”
“Then you have to choose a family to go to live as a human.”
Rai-Taro was surprised. “Is it necessary that I have to go to the land of humans as a human?
The Thunder God nodded. “You must.”
Adapted from Japanese Folklore
No comments:
Post a Comment