Once upon a time, a doctor was travelling.
As he passed by a river, he was surprised to find a man, a snake and a fox being swept away in the river, which was rumbling and overflowing due to a long spell of rain.
The doctor rescued those three men in desperation.
The man, the snake and the fox were very grateful and decided to continue their journey with the doctor.
When they reached the vicinity of a village, the snake and the fox were taken into the forest near the village, while the doctor and the man were allowed to stay in the village chief’s house.
When the chief found out that the traveller was a doctor, he thought this would be a good opportunity and asked if he could examine the sick and injured in the village.
The doctor gladly accepted.
Many villagers were saved by the doctor’s hard work over a number of days. The villagers all thanked him with their mouths and delivered crops and other things to the doctor in thanks for his kindness.
However, the human heart is a difficult thing, and the man who did nothing became twisted.
He was not amused that only the doctor was being praised…
The Man behind the plot. told lies to the village chief behind his back, saying「that the man was really a sorcerer and was deceiving people, and that he was after the chief’s property.」
The village chief, who had been duped, hurriedly reported this to the officials. Sadly, the doctor was thrown in jail.
However, the fox who had seen what was happening consulted with the snake and came up with a plan to save the doctor, to whom he owed a debt of gratitude.
One day, while the chief was tending to his garden, he was bitten on the leg by a snake. The wound swelled up and the chief had to go to bed in agony.
Then, a travelling medicine man passed by. (A fox in disguise)
The family asked him to examine the village headman, and he said, “He’s chained up in a dark place.There is no way to save him except to have a doctor heal him”.
The doctor was taken by an official to visit the village headman, and thanks to the doctor, the village headman’s leg was healed back to normal.
Later, the doctor’s suspicions were cleared, and in turn the man who had been caught lying was put in jail.
From the way things turned out, the doctor realised that the previous snake and fox had saved him. Since then, the three of them have lived together in harmony.
Cherish the favours you receive from others. Envy is the source of your own destruction.
If you give good things to others, good things will come back.
If you give bad things to others, bad things will come back…
✻ This article has been written using and modifying the「DeepL translator」.
