The Promise of 'The Spider's Thread' | Essay

I have two children who attend kindergarten.
At night, their daily routine before falling asleep is to have their parents read them picture books while in bed.
Recently, I got a picture book that is a rewrite of Ryunosuke Akutagawa's short story 'The Spider's Thread' for children, and hoping it would be educational, I decided to read it to them. I thought that even among Akutagawa's works, it had a solid structure and would be easy for children to understand.
However, as I read on, I realized that the picture book version of 'The Spider's Thread' was unexpectedly terrifying from a child's perspective.
The protagonist, Kandata, has fallen into hell as a great villain, but he had one good deed in his life: he spared a spider instead of killing it. Because of this, the Buddha, feeling pity for him, lowers a 'spider's thread' to try and save Kandata. Kandata thinks to himself, 'This is my chance,' and begins to climb the 'spider's thread'.
However, just as he is about to escape hell, he looks down and sees other sinners from hell climbing up the 'spider's thread' after him. Upon witnessing this sight, Kandata shouts, 'Hey, this is my thread! Get off!' and the moment he does, the thread snaps, and he falls headlong back into hell.
It contains a truly terrifying lesson: the moment you show egoism, thinking only of saving yourself, the thread of salvation is cut.
The children, seeing the illustrations of the blood-red pond of hell and the mountain of needles, could not hide their shock and fear, and their faces twisted. Even so, they stared intently at the picture book and asked a simple question.
'Mom, did this person fall into hell because he did bad things?'
So, I tried to explain Kandata's problem in a way the children could understand.
'People who think that as long as they are fine, it doesn't matter what happens to those around them, end up falling into hell. Are you two okay?'
Then, surprisingly, their expressions changed in an instant, and they began to cry loudly.
'I'm going to fall into hell!'
'Me too, hell. I don't want that, it's scary!'

When I asked them in detail, it seems they had remembered their own actions. They said they sometimes refuse to share toys when playing with friends, or that they eat snacks first.
As an adult, I wanted to chuckle and say, 'Is that all...', but the children themselves felt they were going to hell because they were self-centered, and they were lamenting and grieving.
To stop their tears, I decided to change my perspective.
'It's wonderful that you were able to realize that you had the thought of only caring about yourselves. From now on, can you try to think about your friends' feelings, not just your own?'
Then, I received an unexpected answer from my son.
'Yeah. Mom, I'll try not to think that only I matter, so let's meet in heaven, it's a promise. Mom, you can't fall into hell either.'
My child, who was seriously demanding a promise with big tears in his eyes, is very dear to me.
'I understand. Mom and everyone else will also try not to think that only we matter, so let's meet in heaven, not hell, it's a promise. Also, before we go to heaven, let's become children who can think about everyone around us in our daily lives now.'
'Yeah, I'll do my best now for the promise to meet in heaven!'
Thus, my children, who have only been alive for a few years, and I promised to accumulate good deeds and reunite in heaven after we die.
The short stories of a literary master are truly formidable.