A part of the story underneath is given, the idea is to finish the story. If you like to join too, please have a look at @bananafish.
It is said that Mr. Renhe Ren, of Daochu village, in the province of Quan Shijie, in his forty-second year of life, was seized by a great rage because of his long-standing enemy, who was constantly working to hinder and ruin any of his activities and projects.
Faced with the umpteenth abuse, Mr. Renhe Ren felt that his harmony and self-control were going to be lost. He was no longer able to feel the noble sentiments worthy of a superior man.
Then he remembered the words of the wise man. "Sit down along the river bank and wait, sooner or later you will see the corpse of your enemy pass". So, he left the village of Daochu and went down to the river. He found a willow with a wide foliage that bent gently over the water, and sat down in his shadow, determined to wait until the wisdom of the ancestors had brought a solution to his problem.
He awaited for days and nights, meditating. Sun, rain, wind and fog alternated tormenting him, but neither the heat, nor the cold, nor the humidity, nor the insects distracted him from his waiting. Time passed, until one day in late autumn, the stream swollen for the rains brought a corpse to its feet, face down. Mr. Renhe Ren shook himself from his meditation and leaned towards the muddy water, his heart finally calm.
Great was his surprise when he saw (here I continue the story)
it was an old trunk. It looked human, even had a face. The face of his mother. His heart, first filled of joy, now felt empty.
He'd been waiting, meditating for weeks, hardly touched the food his family brought him, how much longer he needed to wait? He felt the rage deep inside him.
As his son brought him food he ignored him. So he did with his daughter, wife and father.
His mother came. She looked at him for a long time. Finally she said:"I wonder what makes one a wise man... envy is a bad thing. Goodbye my son, you will not see me again."
Mr. Renhe Ren did not respond, he'd no longer care about his mother. She did not mean more to him as the trunk that he so dearly hoped for it would be the corpse of his enemy.
He was sitting at his spot under the willow.. staring at the river... waiting...
As his father brought him some food he didn't respond either. The old man knew it was useless to talk any sense into his son's head. He was obsessed by the words of a "wise man" and... his enemy. It was a waste to bring him good food that he wouldn't eat. After his son gave up on his family they had hardly anything themselves. He felt ashamed for the kind of man that had became out of the boy he raised.
As Mr. Renhe Ren's son brought him his food, the young man hardly recognized him. The way his father looked like even scared him. Was he losing his mind? He hurried back home and decided not to waste his time anylonger to a father who didn't care about the good things in life. He for sure no longer looked like the noble and superior man he once knew.
It was clear to everyone... Mr. Renhe Ren was lost to his family, the society and world. Hate became his only friend, the reason he stayed alive. There he was, sitting under the willow with just one thought, one hope, the prove his enemy was dead.
One morning, as he crawled to the riverside, to drink some water, he saw a corpse in it looking at him.
"Finally! There you are", he said, "you look old. I am happy to know you are dead and I did not waste my time waiting here. Now you won't be able to ruin any of my activities or projects any longer. The wise man was right!"
For the first time since long his heart was filled with joy. The rage was gone, he could continue his life in peace and harmony. He could dance and sing for happiness if he didn't feel so weak. He tried to stand up and felt straight into the river. Nobody ever saw him nor his corpse again.
The picture is a pixabay.com pic of my favorite willow.
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Welcome to the contest, Wakeupkitty!! We're happy to have you dive in and play with us!
Thanks for the powerful ending and lesson in the folly of wasting one's life with bitterness and envy. This is driven home well with your show of the perspectives of his family members. His desire to see his enemy dead costs him the love and respect of those who should have mattered the most to him. With no one left to care for him, Ren proves to be his own worst enemy, as the obsession ultimately costs him his life.
A great first entry!
I thank you for given me the opportunity to join. I think if it comes to it we are our own enemy in most cases and it makes us blind for what we have.
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Same premises as @amirani, very different ending. This one is bitter and without redemption. The thing that I regret the most is that Mr. Renhe Ren did not even have a small sign of aknowledgment at the end. He dies in delusions.
The story is very well written!
If @amirani was the story of existential spirituality and @felt.buzz an existential nightmare, then yours is a story on perverted faith, or believing to believe with no sense of resigning oneself nor having actual Faith. But this is where I want to bounce from, his perverted faith had been questioned many a times and all forces from Nature to Culture (family) warned him that he shall not receive what he darkly wishes for. And with a will so strong, he pushed on but only made awkward his understanding of both Nature and Culture (social cues). At the end, with him breaking his perverted faith did he saw what he wanted to see, not his rival but something to finally see. At this, his wish was granted and soon he would die; his perverted faith rewarded by killing himself. At the end, he told himself right when to the outsider he was only feeding his perverted faith. Good story, waiting to see yer comment on me story!~
Very vivid description of his decent into madness and the final fulfilment of the prophecy was extremely well done
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Thank you very much for your compliment.. as I woke up this morning I thought I would have written what he saw different.
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Oooo this is a very good ending, his obsession with his enemy, his envy and jealousy blinding him to his own life, as one by one, he loses those who should matter most. You turn this into a wonderful fable of consuming hatred, beautifully done <3
Great entry! I love how your tale subtly reminds us that the only enemy with power enough to destroy our life has our face, speaks our words, walks our steps and shares the air within our lungs.
Thanks for a nice read!
I thank you for reading it and your comment. If it comes to it we are our own biggest ennemy
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A wise message and sobering end. Well told. I'm disappointed in those around Renhe Ren, though. They could use a few lessons in constancy. Perhaps if they hadn't been so quick to abandon him he might have come to his senses and survived.
Anger has been a tough thing for me to let go off. It does make people crazy.
Once a person is cast to the outside, it is very difficult to get back in. It is important to get away and be alone with one's self, but too far leads one to dangerous territory like that of Mr. Renhe Ren.
I am sorry to hear so. It is a good thing to ventilate (at once), to accept there are things that can not or will never change.
It is important to spend time with yourself (I try hard to do so), but not the way Mr Renhe Ren does ( he misunderstood what the wise man mend to say).
It is hard to be an outcast. It is also strange so many people are. I wonder why.
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Wow what a deep second half! That's why it's important in life to live without grudge or envy and also to forgive.. sometimes we punish ourselves more than others. Welcome to the contest!
Thank you very much for welcoming me. I think that is what happens to many of us... anger, envy, frustration rules our life
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