The Stonecutter From Shimoda

There was a man from the town of Shimoda who lived a simple and contented life. A stonecutter by trade, he would go to the mountain and look at the type of stone that people will pay for, whether it be for a gravestone, a stone to build a house, or for a fence, and many other things. There was always talk by the town folk to him, if he ever met the Spirit of the Mountain. He never believed in such a thing and and went on his way. One day, he delivered a great big gravestone to a rich man he lived in a great house. While he waited for his payment, he looked in his bedroom and he said "I wish I had such a great bed of rare woods and bright shiny silks with golden tassels such as this." Then he heard a voice whispering to him, "What you wish is done." Thinking nothing of it, he went home, and to his surprise for where sat his small wooden hut, there stood a great palace and in it was the same bedroom with everything that he saw at the rich man's house, was also his own. He was so content, he did not return back to his trade and stayed within his new palace home. The next day, the sun was hot and from his window, he saw a young prince sitting in a large carriage with many manservants holding a gold umbrella to shield him from the sun. He then said, "I wish I was such a prince with all that he has." Then he heard a voice whispering to him, "What you wish is done." Appearing out of nowhere, came such a carriage with many manservants, and sitting within was a gold umbrella to shield the sun. But the next day, the sun's heat was great and unbearable, even with his gold umbrella, so he said aloud, I wish I was the sun and be so mighty." Then he heard a voice whispering to him, "What you wish is done." And he became the sun in all its glory making it so unbearable on the town folks that whole fields had burned and the land was scorched. But he noticed that every once in a while, clouds would block his mightiness, rendering him powerless, he said aloud, "I want to be a cloud, then I will be mightier than the sun itself." Then he heard a voice whispering to him, "What you wish is done." And so he shielded the people under his coolness, and he caused it to rain, but it rained so much that the fields were flooded and small villages were swept away, but no matter how much the rain, he noticed that the mountain did not wash away, so he cried out, "I wish I was like the unmovable mountain." Then he heard a voice whispering to him, "What you wish is done." Then he looked down at himself to be a great mountain, until a lowly figure appeared at the foot of the mountain and started to pick away, whilst he continued, the mountain felt its pain as a rock fell off and he cried out loud, "How can such a puny thing cause so much pain, let me be a puny man so I can be mightier than a great mountain." Then he heard a voice whispering to him, "What you wish is done." So with that, he became a man, went back to a meager life as a stonecutter, living simple and a much more contented life then before. Date: 06/11/2019