I wish to be such man.
I have a healthy and strong body,
which won’t get sick from rain,
which won’t get damaged by wind,
snow in winter or heat in summer.
I am a person free of desires.
I never lose my temper,
and always smile gently.
I eat four cups of brown rice, miso
and some vegetables in a day.
I think about everything without caring about myself.
I enlarge my experience, understand it,
and never forget it.
I live in a thatch-roof hut
in the shade of the pine woods in the field.
If I hear of a sick child in the east,
I’ll go to nurse him.
If I hear of a tired mother in the west,
I’ll help her carry bundles of rice plants.
If I hear of the dying person in the south,
I’ll say, ‘Don’t be afraid’.
If I hear of a quarrel or a lawsuit in the north,
I’ll say, ‘Stop it since it isn’t worth it’.
I’ll shed tears in the drought.
I’ll be confused and wandering around in the cool summer.
Everybody calls me ‘You good-for-nothing’.
They don’t speak well of me nor blame me.
Such a person I wish to be.
Poem by Kenji Miyazawa
The end