Once upon a time there lived a samurai. One day on a hot summer day, a traveler, tired and exhausted from thirst, walked past his house. Seeing a well in the courtyard of a house that belonged to a samurai, he climbed over the fence and began to greedily drink cold, clean water from this well. The samurai's servants grabbed the unfortunate traveler and brought him to the owner.
The samurai was cruel by nature and ordered the traveler to be taken out into the courtyard. Soon he himself went out into the yard and said:
“Man, I will cut off your head, and the water, purified by the earth, will replenish my well.”
The traveler replied:
“I swear, I will take revenge on you, and after death my spirit will overtake you!”
The samurai laughed and replied:
“I will believe you only if your severed head bites that stone over there.”
“Okay, I agree,” answered the traveler.
The samurai swung his sword and the head rolled. And suddenly she jumped up, rolled up to the desired stone and began to gnaw on it furiously. The samurai's servants were horrified, and the samurai calmly wiped his sword and went home.
For a long time afterwards, the household were afraid of the evil spirit; they were frightened by rustling in the foliage and shadows. One of the servants, plucking up courage, asked one day:
- Master, why aren’t you afraid of the revenge of the traveler you killed?
To which the samurai replied:
“His desire after death, and therefore his last desire, was to bite the stone, and not to take revenge on me. He fulfilled his last wish, which means his spirit is calm.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru