Storyclover
Storyclover
At sunrise, a traveler named Orin set out along the country road. He carried one bag in front and one bag behind.
The Traveler With One Bag for Faults and One for PraiseA traveler carries others' faults in front and his own behind, until a child asks him to switch the bags and see more honestly.
1. At sunrise, a traveler named Orin set out along the country road. He carried one bag in front and one bag behind.
2. In the front bag, Orin kept stones for other people's faults. Each time someone was careless, boastful, or unkind, he placed a stone inside.
3. At the village fountain, the baker dropped her apples. Orin helped gather them, then slipped another stone into the bag in front.
4. By noon, the front bag had grown heavy. The violet bag behind him felt light, and Orin never turned around to see what it held.
5. The child at the bridge studied both bags. “Why do you carry one where you can see it and one where you cannot?”
6. “The front bag reminds me of what is wrong with the world,” Orin said. “The back bag holds the things I would rather not notice.”
7. The child lifted one eyebrow. “Then switch them. Perhaps your eyes should meet your own stones before they meet everyone else’s.”
8. Orin hesitated, then switched the bags. The violet one settled against his chest, and the tan one disappeared behind him.
9. Inside the violet bag were stones he had gathered without naming them: a sharp word, a broken promise, a refusal to listen, and the day he had blamed the baker before helping her.
10. The stones did not become lighter when Orin saw them. They became more useful.
11. Orin still noticed other people's faults. Now he noticed his own before making them the whole story.
12. From then on, Orin carried the bags switched. He praised others with the bag he could see, and kept his own faults close enough to mend.
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