The snake god changed its form in an instant and became a giant snake with a third eye emerging from its forehead.
The God of Leaves: "Now!"
I held up the leaves in front of the snake!
Me: "Look at this! This is your favorite sacred tree!"
The snake seemed startled and brought its head closer to the leaves.
Sacred Tree: "Hey! You look healthy!" The sacred tree greeted playfully.
The snake opened its third eye wide and looked at the leaves.
At that moment, something shot out from between the leaves and branches with great force and pierced the snake's eye!
"Gyaaaaaaaa!!!" The snake cried out and shook off the thing that had stuck in its eye.
The "bell fruit" that was shaken off rolled and fell into the river. Instantly, many buds sprouted from the river and became leaves and branches, tying the snake to a large pillar in the cave.
The snake's eyes had been crushed and it couldn't change its form or move, so it hung its head.
Orochi: "That's terrible, Kamiki! I'm doing it for your sake!"
Kamiki: "I'm sorry. I understand how you feel. But... you're going about it wrong. Humans encounter many difficulties in their lives, and at these points they stop, worry, endure, then realize, find hope, and grow. No one should stop that cycle."
Orochi: "Everything and everything on this Earth. It's all been polluted by humans. I'll make sure that those who do bad things don't get reincarnated. That way the Earth will remain beautiful." Kamiki: "You shouldn't use your ruler to decide what is good and what is bad. I wonder if the souls locked up there have really done bad things. We'll find out once we get there. Let's leave the judgement to them. If you've done something truly bad, it's hard to be reborn as a human in the first place."
Orochi: "Even so, the Earth will still get polluted. Even if they don't mean to, it's possible that garbage ends up being dumped into the ocean, right? That's what most of the people are like! Those kinds of people don't even pray to God. Even if they want to protect the Earth, they don't have the strength to do so. Isn't that right, Kamiki?"
Kamiki: "Yeah, that's right. That's why I want to entrust the future of the Earth to this child."
Orochi: "What can a child like that do? If he's not dead, he won't know about his past life, right?"
Kamiki: "That's because I've freed him, so it's okay for now."
Orochi looked at me. To be continued.
「鈴かけの木の夢」第13話
蛇神はみるみる姿を変えて.額から3目の眼が現れた大蛇になった。
枝葉の神「今じゃ！」
私は大蛇の前に
枝葉をかざした！ 私「これを見て！あなたの大好きな御神木様よ！」
大蛇はハッとした様に、枝葉の前に頭を近づけてきた。 神木「やぁ！元気そうじゃな！」おどけた様に御神木が挨拶をした。 大蛇は第三の眼を大きく見開いて枝葉を見た。
その時、枝葉の間から勢い良く何かが飛び出して、大蛇の目に突き刺さった！
「ぎやーーーっ！！！？」 大蛇は叫んで目に刺さった物を振り払った。
振り落とされた"鈴かけの木の実"は、コロコロと転がって川の中へぽちゃんと落ちた。途端に川の中からたくさんの芽が出て枝葉となり、大蛇を洞窟の大きな柱に縛りつけた。大蛇は眼を潰されては姿も変えられず身動きが出来ないで、うなだれている。
大蛇「ひどいじゃないか、神木！あんたの為に私はやっているのに！」
神木「すまないね。お前さんの気持ちは良く分かるよ。でもじゃ。やり方を間違えておるんじゃ。人間は、生きてゆく中で、色々な困難に遭遇する、そこで立ち止まり、悩み、耐え、そして気づき、希望をみいだして、成長して行くんじゃ。そのサイクルを誰も止めちゃいかんよ。」
大蛇「この地球にある物、全て、全てだ。全て人間が汚しているんだ。悪い事をしている奴は、私が全部生まれ変わらない様にしてやるんだ。そうすればきっと地球は美しいままだ。」 神木「お前さんの定規で、善悪を決めちゃあいけないよ。あそこに閉じ込めている魂達も、本当に悪い事をしたかどうかは、あっちに行ってから分かる事だ。審判はあちらに任せようじゃないか。本当に悪い事をしたら、そもそも、なかなか人間に生まれ変わらないんじゃから。」
大蛇「それでも地球は汚れていくさ、悪気はなくても、結果的にゴミが海にまで流される事だってあるだろう？そういう奴等が大抵だ！そういう奴等は神に祈りもしない。地球を守りたくても、守る力が出ないんだよ。そうだろ、神木！？」
神木「ああ、そうじゃな。だからな、この子に、地球の未来を託そうと思うんじゃ。」
大蛇「こんな子供に、何が出来るんだい？死んでないなら、過去生も分からないだろう？」
神木「それは我が解放したから今は大丈夫じゃ。」 大蛇は私の方を見た。 続く。