You can only tell through others whether you have strength or weakness, whether you have fear or courage.

Richard T. Morris

 

 

A bear fell into the river with the tree he climbed. A frog, turtle, and beaver came seeing such a bear. Everyone managed to get through the rapids and dropped the waterfalls safely, joining together like beads. It became a trip in which those animals that had lived separately realized what they had and what they did not. From the “afterword” of a picture book “Bear Came Along” (illustrated by LeUyen Pham, translated by Ryo Kisaka). 

 

"December 11  2019

from “Oriori no Kotoba” by Kiyokazu Washida, The Asahi Shimbun"