Where the expert in the right and wrong road?
asked of the Dhammapada 26.403
At the end of the story, the hero dies. He has saved a woman's life, arrested the man who intended to kill her. He has made peace with his sister, found the promise of love, feels good, happy. He smiles at a stranger, and she smiles back. Abruptly, his eyes grow large, his hand hovers over his chest like a dragonfly. He topples.
At four, your mother went away. "Play outside," said the woman watching your baby sister.
She locked the door. You lived in a new American subdivision with no trees, a hot sun, not one swing, or thing to do. For hours, you and your brother sat under the eaves of your house, silently drawing in the dirt.
Revision: The hero calls your father, who sweeps you into an air-conditioned sedan, takes you for ice cream, and finds a playground full of trees. He takes you home, unlocks the door, fires the woman inside, and brings your mother, balanced and well, home from the hospital.
My mother sent us frozen strawberries by post. The box came stained red, berry bled, spoiled.
Revision: The hero is alarmed when you report your mother's behavior. He convinces her to see a specialist, who diagnoses her illness. After treatment, she spends many happy and productive years with her husband.
His mother walked the street in slippers, accusing passersby of collaborating with the Nazis. Few knew that, during the war, she had seen them shoot green boys for laughing.
Revision: The hero listens, looks for and alerts the authorities, who prosecute the collaborators. Your father asks the hero to find a place for your mother to rest, and you and your brothers live with a kindly older couple. You go on picnics, read books and play music together.
Where do you buy your chicken? Not that shop, no. That one, over there, dumped his mother's body in the rice field. When the Guadalquivir rises, she does too. At such times, we listen to her bones sing.
Revision: The hero repeatedly visits the son in his dreams. Overwhelmed by remorse, the son confesses and shows where the body is.
You went out to shovel snow, suited for it, though it was July. Your mother was told,. She looked out the window, shrugged, lit a cigarette and went to fetch you.
Revision: The hero understands you are different and protects you. He whispers in the ear of your parents, brothers, sister, wife, and friends to care for you. Does it change anything? The hero watches you live as before and realizes you haven't changed, but those who love you have.
Why did you give me away? They say it was poverty, youth, the wrong boy, violence. I looked you up and visited. It was awkward, unwelcoming. I can look back now, over a sea of life, and wonder what difference you and I have made.
Revision: The hero gives your birth mother courage. She defies custom and loves you unconditionally. Still, you are taken from her. Later, when you meet she tells how she has searched for you.
After the hero dies, he has helped unhappy children, sick women, sluggish husbands, guilty sons who killed during war and peace. Families, finding the promise of love, feel good. He smiles at these strangers, but they cannot see him. Abruptly, his eyes grow large, his hand hovers over his chest like a dragonfly.
