昔々あるところに裕福な商人で村のまとめ役の家がありました。

子供達の中の一番上の兄が家を継ぐことになりましたが、優しすぎる性格故に商売の駆け引きや、村のまとめ役が務まらず、自信を無くした彼は家を飛び出してお寺に入り出家してしまいました

数十年の時が流れ、お坊さんになった彼のもとに手紙が届きます、それは彼の代わりに家を継いだ弟からでした。

「お兄さん、私の息子は不良になってしまい、このままでは家が断絶してしまうから一度帰ってきて息子を𠮟ってくれませんか」そんな手紙でした。

お坊さんになった兄は、自分が勝手に家を飛び出してしまった、という負い目もあり一度帰る事にしました。

久しぶりの再会に兄弟は楽しく語り合いましたが、一向に甥を𠮟ろうとはしない兄に弟はヤキモキし、息子はいつ叱られるのかとソワソワしていましたが、やがて夜も更け兄は寝てしまいました

翌朝、兄はお寺へと帰るため、皆に別れを告げ玄関先で草鞋の紐を結んでいます

弟は息子を𠮟ろうとしない兄の背中をがっかりしながら見つめ、息子はほっとしながらお坊さんの背中を見つめていました。

しかしお坊さんはいつまでも下を向いて顔を上げません、早く帰ってほしいと言わんばかりに甥は前に回り込み、しゃがんで草鞋の紐を結ぶのをてつだったのです

その時、草鞋の紐を結んでいた甥の手に温かいお坊さんの涙が落ちました、お坊さんはずっと下を向いたまま泣いていたのです

それを見た甥も声をたてずに泣き出しました。
その後ろで弟も声をたてずに泣き出しました。
皆んな声を立てずにずうっと泣いていました。

「Japanese」

Once upon a time, there was the house of a wealthy merchant and village organizer. The eldest of the children was to inherit the family, but because of his too kind personality, he was unable to manage business or manage the village, so he lost confidence and entered a temple to become a monk. Several decades later, he receives a letter from his younger brother, who has taken over the family home. The letter said, ``Brother, my son has become a delinquent, and if things continue like this, our family will be cut off, so please come back just once and punish his son.'' My older brother, who became a monk, decided to return home because he felt guilty for running away from home and causing trouble for his younger brother. When the older brother came home, they had a good time talking to each other after a long time together, but he never tried to blame his nephew. The younger brother was annoyed with his older brother. His nephew was nervous, wondering when he would be scolded. But the monk did not scold him. It was getting late at night, so the monk went to sleep. The next morning, the older brother bids everyone farewell and ties the laces of his straw sandals at the entrance to return to the temple. The younger brother looked at the monk's back with disappointment, and his son looked at the monk's back with relief. However, the monk kept his head down and did not look up.As if to ask him to go home early, his nephew went around to the front, squatted down, and helped him tie the laces of his sandals. At that moment, the monk's warm tears fell into the hands of his nephew who was tying the laces of his straw sandals. The monk kept his head down and cried. When his nephew saw this, he also started crying silently. Behind him, his younger brother also started crying silently. Everyone was crying silently for a long time.