Village Chief's Tale: 'Statement of the Guardian of Ancient Principles' (291/1000)
Our village protects the oldest blood in this land.
We carry within our bodies the flow from when the mountains were born from the sea.
We preserve that lineage just as it was.
It remains within us.
Outsiders say,
'It's stifling here,' or 'The rules are outdated.'
But that is simply because
outsiders are too easily swept away by the winds of the times.
In this village,
lineage is what matters.
It has been decided that way since long ago.
'Foreign blood' is quickly overwhelmed by the village atmosphere,
and they stop speaking of unnecessary ideas.
That is safe.
It is in accordance with the principles from ancient times.
Making no sound,
and not letting the outside world know of our conflicts.
That is what has protected the peace of this village.
Look, the people in the towns are all so restless,
and they tattle on everything to everyone.
With that, the true voices of living things disappear.
We are different.
We protect in silence.
We obey in silence.
That is the teaching of the ancient ancestral spirits.
To live in a valley deep with fog,
it is better to keep the brightness of the outside world at a distance.
The outside world
makes a fuss about new medicines, lights, and winds,
but if we expose ourselves to such things,
wouldn't the ancient laws written by our ancestors
disappear?
We do not defy our ancestors.
There is value in remaining unchanged.
Even if the winds from the outside
come to ravage this place decades from now.
The young people today
sometimes want to see the outside.
But that is just confusion.
They are merely blinded by the light of the outside.
As time passes, they will return.
Realizing that this village's
heavy fog,
and its suffocating silence,
is the 'true peace'.
I
do not feel the slightest need for this village to change.
Every time it changes, it becomes weaker.
Ancient blood does not like change.
Ancient principles despise instability.
That is fine.
Because that is our pride.
…Well,
the day we are swept away by the outside winds
might come eventually.
When that happens, it happens.
I will simply
sleep beside this ancient tomb,
clutching the books of my ancestors.