In the shadow of Mt. Fuji stood a castle, which was
occupied by its owner, daimyo, and a very mean rat. The rat was not welcomed
there, but refused to leave. “What shall I do?” questioned the daimyo, who was
out of ideas at this point. Nothing worked, including traps or poison. However,
as soon as the daimyo spoke the question out loud, an idea came to his mind.
He mounted his white horse, galloped over hills to a
distant shrine known for samurai cats. At the shrine he was welcomed by the
senior monk, docho. They sat on a mat cross-legged under a shaded terrace. In
the background, out on the field, under the blue sky, samurai cats practiced
their fighting skills. After explaining the situation, the daimyo pleaded with
docho, “I beg you for help. I am at my wits’ end.”
The docho after taking a sip of tea, calmly
answered, “Don’t worry. I have the right samurai cat for you. As soon as he is
back from his mission, I will send him to you.”
Few days later, a knock at the door woke the owner,
“Who is here at such early hour?”
“It is samurai cat. I was sent by my master.”
The daimyo was up in a blink of an eye. “Pardon me,”
he said while opening the door. He gestured toward the main hall, explaining,
“I just saw the rat there, practicing his moves with a stick.”
The cat and the rat faced each other, the samurai
pulled his sword, “I demand you to leave this place.”
“Make me,” answered the rat with a smirk on his
face.
The cat charged. The quick rat leaped aside, hitting
the samurai with his stick and flew him across the hall to the front door. “You
can close the door behind you,” laughed the rat. The humiliated cat left.
The owner rode back to the shrine, begging for a
stronger samurai. The docho answered, “I thought this beginner was ready for
this kind of mission, but I misjudged. I will send you the best skilled samurai
as soon as he is back.”
A couple weeks later, the horse’s loud hooves
hitting the ground woke up the owner. As he opened the door, a big samurai cat
stood there, “Where is the rat?”
“In the main hall,” answered the daimyo, leading the
way. This time, the rat was practicing the karate moves.
When the cat and the rat faced each other, the
samurai demanded, “Leave the castle or I will show you what swordsmanship
means.”
“Be my guest,” answered the rat with his eyebrows
raised.
The samurai drew his sword. He moved it to the
right, left, up and down. The rat noticed the owner’s fascination and clapped,
“Bravo,” and with a plan in his mind he asked, “Do you know how two draw a pair
of circles?”
“Of course, I do,” beamed the samurai. But in this
moment of praise, he forgot why he was here. And in that split second, the rat
kicked the samurai so hard, he flew across the hall, landing by the entry door.
“You may as well close the door behind you,” suggested the rat. The humiliated
cat left.
Furious daimyo, rode back to the shrine. Previously
practicing samurai cats in the open-field now were hiding behind the columns,
trying to eavesdrop. The docho’s hand
was supporting his chin as he pondered, “It seems as I have to send for the
master of the martial arts.”
“I will be awaiting him eagerly,” said the daimyo
and took his leave.
After a few weeks, persistent knocking at the door
woke the owner. He rushed to the door and faced an old cat wearing rags. “Oh,
it’s not who I thought it was. Do you need food?”
“Yes, I am who you were expecting and yes, I would
like some food and a mat to lay on,” replied the cat. After eating a bowl of
rice and drinking milk, the cat rested his body on the mat and fell asleep.
All this time, the rat was practicing his stick
movements and after being ignored by the cat, he nudged his ribs with the end
of the stick and asked, “Do you want to fight?”
“No, I want to rest.”
Day after day, the rat would make fun of the cat,
eat his food and ask him the same question, “Do you want to fight?”
Each day the cat’s answer was the same, “Not today,
maybe tomorrow.”
The daimyo yelled, “I can’t take this any longer.” He
rode back to the shrine. The master assured him that his patience would be
rewarded.
Upon his return to the castle, it was right in time
for the Obon Festival. Thousands of lanterns would be lit, food would be
prepared and the spirits of the ancestors would be celebrated.
While the rice balls were being prepared, the rat
helped himself without asking. “One ball, one ball, one ball,” he kept taking
the small rice balls and putting them together into one big ball. The rice ball
grew to a gigantic size. As the rat wanted to roll it on the floor, his foot
got caught in a tatami mat. Stuck to the ball, he rolled with it, crying for
help.
After weeks of laying on the mat, the cat got up and
asked, “Will you leave now?”
“Not that I want to, but if you help me, then I
will.” And he did.
The happy daimyo brought a beautiful sword decorated
with precious stones as a gift to the shrine. “How did he do it?” enquired the
surprised owner.
“He simply let the opponent to defeat himself,”
replied the docho. “There is only a handful of samurai, who truly understand
it.”
“But how do you let somebody defeat himself?”
continued fascinated daimyo.
“Do you remember when I told you that your patience
would be rewarded? You need to practice patience and stillness. Learn to act
without acting.” With those words ringing in his ears, the daimyo left the
shrine.
Source: The Three Samurai Cats by Eric Kimmel
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