History, samurai and fisherman? is a beautiful story that leaves us with an amazing lesson. It all started in ancient Japan. There lived a samurai known for his great generosity, especially with the most humble people.
One day he was tasked with a mission to perform in a nearby village, once the mission was over, when he was about to return home, the samurai saw a fisherman with a very sad expression, it seemed as if he was sobbing. Then he decided to come over and ask what was going on.
“Anger is a gust of wind that extinguishes the lamp of intelligence” – Robert G. Ingersoll-
The fisherman stated that he was about to lose his boat because he owed money to a local salesman, having not been able to pay his debt, the seller had decided to confiscate his small boat as collateral, but in this situation there was no way to work to pay his debt and his family would go hungry.
The samurai listened carefully. His noble heart was touched by this story. Without blinking, he took the money out of his bag and gave it to the fisherman. “It’s not a gift, ” he said. I didn’t believe in giving things away because it encourages greed. “It’s a loan. I’ll be back in a year and you’ll pay me that money. Won’t I charge interest? The fisherman couldn’t believe it. He promised that he would get what was necessary to liquidate the loan and thanked him a thousand times for the gesture. The story of the samurai and the fisherman had just begun.
After a year, the samurai returned to the village, was sure that the fisherman would pay the money he had lent him, and felt great joy at seeing him again, he hopes his help has improved his living conditions. At this point, the story of the samurai and the fisherman takes an unexpected turn.
When the samurai searched for the fisherman in the same place they had met a year earlier, there was no one there, asked the other fishermen, but they did not answer where the debtor was, eventually one of them indicated where the wanted person was. Then the samurai went home.
When we got there, there were only the fisherman’s wife and children, they swore they didn’t know where the debtor was, but the samurai realized they were lying. The fisherman hid to avoid paying his debt, but the story of the samurai and the fisherman does not end there.
The samurai was overwhelmed by anger. It was unacceptable to him that his generosity was paid for with the robbery. It was there that he began to look for the fisherman even under the rocks of the village. Finally, he found it near a cliff. The man was hiding.
When he saw the samurai, he got scared. All he said was that the fishing had been terrible and that he had not been able to raise money to pay off the debt. “Ungrateful!” He shouted the samurai. ” I helped you when you needed it most!Is that how you thank me? The fisherman didn’t know what to say. The samurai, overwhelmed by anger, took his sword to punish the fisherman. “
‘Sorry, ‘ said the fisherman. And he also uttered the following words: “If your hand goes up, control your mood; If your temper goes up, control your hand?. The samurai stopped. This humble man was right. Anger dissipated and the two agreed on a new one-year deadline. “for him to pay the debt.
When the samurai returned home, still affected by what had happened to the fisherman, he saw through the window that the light in his room was on, it was strange, it was too late. He approached carefully and noticed that his wife was lying down, but next to her was someone else. The samurai came over and noticed it was another samurai.
Without thinking, he drew his sword. He approached slowly and was about to enter to do something crazy, when he remembered the fisherman’s words. If you raise your hand, check your mood; if his temper rises, control his hand?Then he took a deep breath and just shouted, “I’m here!”
The woman left happy to say hello. The samurai’s mother chased her: “Look who’s here!”said the woman. She was afraid of being left alone and asked her mother-in-law to stay with her, the samurai’s mother had put on her son’s clothes in case a thief arrived, if the thief saw the clothes she would think the warrior was home and would not come close.
The story of the samurai and fisherman ended a year later. The samurai returned to the fishing village. And there I was waiting. He had money and even paid interest, because it had been a good year. When he saw it, the samurai hugged him. ” Keep all the money,” he says. “You don’t owe me anything,” I owe you.