"The truth is that the doctor did not know how to treat the boy, and saying that the child was too weak to undergo an operation, put off the treatment from one day to the next. After three days the father had to return to the mountains, leaving the other son behind to look after the boy. As he took his leave, the father bowed to the floor with great humility and backed out of the house. After putting on his straw sandals, he even bowed to the ground in the earthen-floored entry hall asking the doctor to do everything possible to save the life of his second son.

"Soon a week had passed and still no progress had been made. At that time the brother who had been left behind said that since it was harvest time, his family was extremely busy and since the weather looked like rain, and since the rice would rot in the fields if they did not get it harvested before the rain, and since he was the best harvester in the family, with a great many tears he explained all this to the child and returned to the mountains as well.