Saishu's Wife: I feel something strange... inside my mouth. Dear, would you take a look at this? Is that a tooth?
- Opening -
Narrator: Seeds that take root in the decaying bodies of our ancestors. Let their green leaves grow and flourish... and bear heavy, heavy seed.
MUSHI-SHI 09.
The Heavy Seed 重い実(おもいみ)
Ginko: Excuse me. Could you possibly sell me something to eat?
Villager: Look around. There's nothing to spare. Because of the cold weather, I'm working just to save what little I have.
Villager: You should try the village past the next mountain.
Ginko: Hmm?
Villager: They're the only ones that had a bountiful crop this year.
Villager: Hey, what kind of advice is that? He is right, but I wouldn't go near there if I were you. The rice there isn't normal. Every time there's a natural disaster, their harvest is plentiful. They say it's the curse of their ancestors.
Villager: It must be a "parting harvest."
Villager: I think you're right. Another one of us is going to be taken by our ancestors.
Villager: I wonder who it will be this year?
Villager: The ancestors always choose from the weakest among us.
Ginko: Wow. That's a pretty impressive crop!
Sane: Who are you? And what do you want?
Ginko: Well, I was hoping that you could sell me something to eat.
Sane: We don't give our food to strangers. It's not every year that we have a good crop. So when we do, everything we harvest is stored away.
Ginko: Huh... So this year's crop is a little better than usual, I take it?
Sane: Yeah, it is. My village always honors and celebrates our ancestors. That's why they've continued to watch over us and protect us from harm.
Ginko: And in exchange, they take the life of someone in the village, right? That seems a bit harsh, even for the ancestors' doing.
Sane: We... we don't have a choice.
Ginko: Well... I think you do. Would you mind telling me about it?
Sane: Every time this village suffers a natural disaster, its crops flourish. I've heard this has been happening for many, many years. And the fall of these years, someone in the village always grows a Mizuwa(Mizuha), an out-of-place tooth symbolizing happiness and blessings. At the end of the season, the tooth falls out, and the host... always dies. It's said that the life is an offering to the ancestors for the miracle crop. The story's been passed down for generations. Still, everyone here is grateful. If these miracles were to cease, the people of this village wouldn't be able to continue their way of life in this barren land.
Ginko: So, do the people that are chosen have anything in common?
Sane: It's been said... that the weak ones go first.
Ginko: Are the bodies buried?
Sane: Yes.
Ginko: What about the tooth that falls out?
Sane: The tooth? It's kept in the temple by the head priest.
Ginko: Head priest?
Sane: He's the one that takes care of all the village's festivities. After he's gone, I'm to become his successor, so I've been learning from him. Apparently, soon after the tooth falls out, it's only visible to the head priest. That's why he's the one that keeps it.
Ginko: Why were you chosen to be his successor?
Sane: It's because of what we share in common -- I, too, can sometimes see things that others cannot.
Ginko: I'd like to meet this head priest.
Sane: Saishu! Maybe he's in the garden around back.
Ginko: Journals about agriculture...
Saishu: It's rare to receive visitors here. Just who are you, anyway?
Ginko: I'm Ginko, a mushi master. I'm looking for something called the Nazaru(Narazu) seed.
Saishu: Is that so... Sane, don't you have some fieldwork to do? Come back when you're done. We need to be ready. It's going to be quite a harvest this year.
Sane: Mmm.
Saishu: Come now, are you still worried about your mother? Hey, it'll be all right. Don't worry. She's going to be fine. Here, have her eat this.
Sane: Mmm...
Saishu: I was told that a mushi master passed through here during the time of my predecessor. But you wasted your time. There's no such seed around here. (slurps)
Ginko: So, this harvest is achieved through the grace of your ancestors?
Saishu: The grace of our ancestors? Well, that is part of it. Because of our faith in them, our people are able to work the land without giving up. But that's not the only reason. Over the years, we've experimented with our crops and developed better ways to grow them. From time to time, we end up with a crop like this one. We harvest more every year.
Ginko: Tell me, what do you know about the Mizuwa?
Saishu: An adult getting a new tooth isn't entirely unheard of. It has nothing to do with our harvest. Now, if you'll excuse me.
Ginko: I have one more thing to ask you.
Saishu: What is it?
Ginko: Do you know anything about the Nazaru seed?
Saishu: Yes, my ancestor spoke of it. Supposedly, a mushi master sealed the Koumyaku inside of it, the mushi light pulse.
Ginko: Right. You can probably see that light pulse, can't you? Since you can also see the mushi. The weaker the mushi are, the brighter the light pulse becomes. This is because when weaker, they're closer to their source, the Kouki, which the light pulse flows through. The Kouki is basically life itself. If you can control it, it can be used for many things, including resurrection and eternal life. Of course, such things are the most prohibited transgressions a mushi master can commit. But there have been exceptions. The Nazaru seed is one of them. When planted, it brings a full year's harvest to the area around it. As payment, it takes one life from those who benefited from it. That is what we know of it.
Saishu: Tell me, what exactly would you plan to do with this seed if you found it? Would you make use of it, or destroy it?
Ginko: That's what I was about to ask you. What would you do with the seed? A seed that has the power to save thousands of lives at the cost of only one.
Saishu: I'd probably use it. I think that if such a seed really did exist, it would be a sin to let so many suffer.
Ginko: But if you planted the seed knowing full well that it was going to take a life, then it's the same as murder. No matter how many lives are saved by using it, someone becomes a sacrifice regardless of his or her own will.
Saishu: If that is the cost of the crime, then anyone would soil their hands, even if you were just trading two lives for one.
Ginko: Yeah, I understand how someone would choose to use it, looking at it in terms of one year. But if you used it one time, you would surely use it again. And that seed is alive; the more you use it, the more powerful it becomes. Eventually, it would destroy the balance of everything around it.
Saishu: So if it were you, you wouldn't use it... knowing you could save so many lives?
Ginko: I don't know. I've never lived in a village before. But I think I'd just leave the land.
Saishu: In this ground, beneath our feet, lie the sweat and blood of our ancestors! They pioneered this land and made it what it is today. It's our greatest achievement!
Ginko: But wouldn't you be tainting this precious land by planting something in it that's so unnatural?
Saishu: You have quite an imagination. What am I saying? This is all supposition. If there was such a seed in my possession, and I had to make that choice... I would... I would have to think about it some more. There will always be leftover seed in one's hands. There's too much of it for any one to bear alone. Just like the heavy seed that burdens an overgrowing stem, it will overflow and pour out over the hands, then fall upon the soil... unaware of the pain and suffering it will cause the people in its aftermath.
Sane: (pants) Finished talking already?
Ginko: We have, for the most part.
Sane: So then... what happens now? Are you going to save us?
Ginko: I am. But first, I need the consent of the entire village. They need to know what's behind the "parting harvest." Could you gather everyone somewhere?
Sane: Yeah, sure. But what... what are you planning to--
Saishu: So, are you going to burn the fields?! You think you can stop this by destroying the crops... before someone grows the Mizuwa tooth.
Ginko: Yeah, that's right. So you're finally admitting the truth.
Saishu: You're wrong, mushi master. Destroying the crops won't do anything. You'll only bring this village to starvation.
Ginko: All they'll have to do is move away for one year. They'll need to split up, dissipate and live in different places during that time. They can do that, they should survive. By the spring, the ashes will fertilize the ground.
Saishu: How many do you think will actually return once they leave this place? No one here knows what a true abundant harvest is, that's how they're able to keep trying and to have hope... Just leave us alone... Get out of here... I won't allow you to tell them such... such nonsense... (groans)
Sane: Saishu!
Ginko: Does he have some kind of illness or condition?
Sane: I can't say for sure, but I know he hasn't been feeling well lately, and I've seen him taking medicine.
Ginko: Medicine?
Sane: Yeah, he keep it in this.
Ginko: I'm not sure why you've been poisoning yourself with this, but it's irresponsible considering what you'll be leaving behind for the people here.
Saishu: Tell me, mushi master... Since you want to burn the fields, I'm guessing you didn't come here to collect and use the seed, did you? Please help me... I've been trying to become the weakest among us so that the seed's final victim... will be me. It's been said that the one who brought the seed here was of my own lineage, a former head priest. Since then, every time a natural disaster occurred, the seed was used. In order to prevent a panic, the seed's location has only been known by the head priests Twenty years ago when I became the head priest, another devastating natural disaster occurred. I felt I had no choice but to use it.
Saishu: I'm going out for a bit.
Saishu's Wife: All right, be careful, okay? (coughs)
Saishu: This is the right thing to do.
Saishu: I was only thinking of what was best for the entire village.
Saishu: I know it is, it has to be...
Saishu: I was unaware that my wife was hiding her illness from me. When autumn came, she was the one who grew the Mizuwa tooth...
Saishu's Wife: Please, dear. Have some rice... I beg of you... I want you to die too...
Saishu: What are you doing?
Saishu's Wife: Please eat this... If I know that you're taking my life within your body, then I can die without knowing any fear.
Saishu: Despite knowing what this rice really was and where it came from, my body greedily accepted it. I had fully intended to throw away the seed that fell from my wife's mouth, but then considered the next natural disaster that was sure to come. Eventually, I thought of a way I could use the seed one last time without having to sacrifice someone's life. This year, that time came.
Saishu: I intend to have Sane destroy the seed once it has fallen from my mouth. It's been said that if you bury it in the veins of the Koumyaku, it loses its shape and is taken in. I have no intention of telling him what it is the seed actually does.
Ginko: Are you okay with that? You -- more than anyone -- want to live here and watch over the land of your ancestors.
Saishu: I can see it already; as long as we keep trying and don't give up, slowly but surely, this land will become fertile. The day will come when we can live off this land without suffering. I don't know how many generations it will take, but that matters not. Either way, I won't be around to see it.
Ginko: All right, I understand. Do as you wish. But there's one more thing I'd like to ask you.
Sane: Saishu! I think my mother is going to be okay. She's been eating a little more and her strength is coming back.
Saishu: Really? That's wonderful. I told you she'd be all right.
Sane: Mm-hmm.
Saishu: Hey, Sane. I need to talk to you. It's important, so listen carefully.
Villager: (laughing) Sane, the ritual shinto prayer is different from the one last year.
Villager: Hey, have you heard of anyone's grown a Mizuwa tooth yet?
Villager: No, I've heard nothing.
Villager: Maybe this year's crop wasn't a "parting harvest" after all. What do you think?
Villager: Who knows? It could just be due to all of our hard work.
Sane: (panting) (crying)
Ginko: Hey.
Sane: The festival... it seems to be going fine. Everyone is having a good time.
Sane: (sobbing) Don't worry. I'll do exactly what you said to. Saishu... (cries) Why? Why does it have to be this way?
Ginko: Don't tell anyone what I'm about to do here, you understand me?
Ginko: But there's one more thing I'd like to ask you. I told you that the Koumyaku was like life itself. But it alone cannot revive a life. The one thing that can do something like that is that seed. Now it's a risk, but if that seed is consumed, it should be able to revive living beings too. But because of the differences between you and a plant, the light pulse will probably continue to live within you. If that happens, you will no longer be human -- you'll become an immortal being. Is that something you can handle?
Saishu: Isn't doing such a thing forbidden among your kind? But since you're asking, do you think you can do it?
Ginko: If you keep quiet about it, no one will know. I'm not certain if it will work. And even if it did, I'm not sure if it would be what's best for you. But, if you're willing to try, I open those old wounds of yours to find out what kind of person you really are. I don't mind soiling my hands. Give it some thought.
Saishu: Heh, I don't think I'll need to; I already know my answer. I want to watch over this land, the land of my forefathers and see it develop and grow. I need to know... with all that has happened... if I did the right thing...
Narrator: Thereafter, in that village, the story of that year's harvest was passed down from generation to generation. As was another tale, a new legend had been born. In the year of the last "parting harvest," the rice was responsible for bringing a dead man back to life, and making him immortal. The ageless man would wander around the country, returning to the village from time to time to teach the people new ways to enrich the soil and cultivate the land.
Saishu: What's wrong?
Saishu's Wife: I feel something strange... inside my mouth. Dear, would you take a look at this? Is that a tooth?
- Opening -
Narrator: Seeds that take root in the decaying bodies of our ancestors. Let their green leaves grow and flourish... and bear heavy, heavy seed.
MUSHI-SHI 09.
The Heavy Seed 重い実(おもいみ)
Ginko: Excuse me. Could you possibly sell me something to eat?
Villager: Look around. There's nothing to spare. Because of the cold weather, I'm working just to save what little I have.
Villager: You should try the village past the next mountain.
Ginko: Hmm?
Villager: They're the only ones that had a bountiful crop this year.
Villager: Hey, what kind of advice is that? He is right, but I wouldn't go near there if I were you. The rice there isn't normal. Every time there's a natural disaster, their harvest is plentiful. They say it's the curse of their ancestors.
Villager: It must be a "parting harvest."
Villager: I think you're right. Another one of us is going to be taken by our ancestors.
Villager: I wonder who it will be this year?
Villager: The ancestors always choose from the weakest among us.
Ginko: Wow. That's a pretty impressive crop!
Sane: Who are you? And what do you want?
Ginko: Well, I was hoping that you could sell me something to eat.
Sane: We don't give our food to strangers. It's not every year that we have a good crop. So when we do, everything we harvest is stored away.
Ginko: Huh... So this year's crop is a little better than usual, I take it?
Sane: Yeah, it is. My village always honors and celebrates our ancestors. That's why they've continued to watch over us and protect us from harm.
Ginko: And in exchange, they take the life of someone in the village, right? That seems a bit harsh, even for the ancestors' doing.
Sane: We... we don't have a choice.
Ginko: Well... I think you do. Would you mind telling me about it?
Sane: Every time this village suffers a natural disaster, its crops flourish. I've heard this has been happening for many, many years. And the fall of these years, someone in the village always grows a Mizuwa(Mizuha), an out-of-place tooth symbolizing happiness and blessings. At the end of the season, the tooth falls out, and the host... always dies. It's said that the life is an offering to the ancestors for the miracle crop. The story's been passed down for generations. Still, everyone here is grateful. If these miracles were to cease, the people of this village wouldn't be able to continue their way of life in this barren land.
Ginko: So, do the people that are chosen have anything in common?
Sane: It's been said... that the weak ones go first.
Ginko: Are the bodies buried?
Sane: Yes.
Ginko: What about the tooth that falls out?
Sane: The tooth? It's kept in the temple by the head priest.
Ginko: Head priest?
Sane: He's the one that takes care of all the village's festivities. After he's gone, I'm to become his successor, so I've been learning from him. Apparently, soon after the tooth falls out, it's only visible to the head priest. That's why he's the one that keeps it.
Ginko: Why were you chosen to be his successor?
Sane: It's because of what we share in common -- I, too, can sometimes see things that others cannot.
Ginko: I'd like to meet this head priest.
Sane: Saishu! Maybe he's in the garden around back.
Ginko: Journals about agriculture...
Saishu: It's rare to receive visitors here. Just who are you, anyway?
Ginko: I'm Ginko, a mushi master. I'm looking for something called the Nazaru(Narazu) seed.
Saishu: Is that so... Sane, don't you have some fieldwork to do? Come back when you're done. We need to be ready. It's going to be quite a harvest this year.
Sane: Mmm.
Saishu: Come now, are you still worried about your mother? Hey, it'll be all right. Don't worry. She's going to be fine. Here, have her eat this.
Sane: Mmm...
Saishu: I was told that a mushi master passed through here during the time of my predecessor. But you wasted your time. There's no such seed around here. (slurps)
Ginko: So, this harvest is achieved through the grace of your ancestors?
Saishu: The grace of our ancestors? Well, that is part of it. Because of our faith in them, our people are able to work the land without giving up. But that's not the only reason. Over the years, we've experimented with our crops and developed better ways to grow them. From time to time, we end up with a crop like this one. We harvest more every year.
Ginko: Tell me, what do you know about the Mizuwa?
Saishu: An adult getting a new tooth isn't entirely unheard of. It has nothing to do with our harvest. Now, if you'll excuse me.
Ginko: I have one more thing to ask you.
Saishu: What is it?
Ginko: Do you know anything about the Nazaru seed?
Saishu: Yes, my ancestor spoke of it. Supposedly, a mushi master sealed the Koumyaku inside of it, the mushi light pulse.
Ginko: Right. You can probably see that light pulse, can't you? Since you can also see the mushi. The weaker the mushi are, the brighter the light pulse becomes. This is because when weaker, they're closer to their source, the Kouki, which the light pulse flows through. The Kouki is basically life itself. If you can control it, it can be used for many things, including resurrection and eternal life. Of course, such things are the most prohibited transgressions a mushi master can commit. But there have been exceptions. The Nazaru seed is one of them. When planted, it brings a full year's harvest to the area around it. As payment, it takes one life from those who benefited from it. That is what we know of it.
Saishu: Tell me, what exactly would you plan to do with this seed if you found it? Would you make use of it, or destroy it?
Ginko: That's what I was about to ask you. What would you do with the seed? A seed that has the power to save thousands of lives at the cost of only one.
Saishu: I'd probably use it. I think that if such a seed really did exist, it would be a sin to let so many suffer.
Ginko: But if you planted the seed knowing full well that it was going to take a life, then it's the same as murder. No matter how many lives are saved by using it, someone becomes a sacrifice regardless of his or her own will.
Saishu: If that is the cost of the crime, then anyone would soil their hands, even if you were just trading two lives for one.
Ginko: Yeah, I understand how someone would choose to use it, looking at it in terms of one year. But if you used it one time, you would surely use it again. And that seed is alive; the more you use it, the more powerful it becomes. Eventually, it would destroy the balance of everything around it.
Saishu: So if it were you, you wouldn't use it... knowing you could save so many lives?
Ginko: I don't know. I've never lived in a village before. But I think I'd just leave the land.
Saishu: In this ground, beneath our feet, lie the sweat and blood of our ancestors! They pioneered this land and made it what it is today. It's our greatest achievement!
Ginko: But wouldn't you be tainting this precious land by planting something in it that's so unnatural?
Saishu: You have quite an imagination. What am I saying? This is all supposition. If there was such a seed in my possession, and I had to make that choice... I would... I would have to think about it some more. There will always be leftover seed in one's hands. There's too much of it for any one to bear alone. Just like the heavy seed that burdens an overgrowing stem, it will overflow and pour out over the hands, then fall upon the soil... unaware of the pain and suffering it will cause the people in its aftermath.
Sane: (pants) Finished talking already?
Ginko: We have, for the most part.
Sane: So then... what happens now? Are you going to save us?
Ginko: I am. But first, I need the consent of the entire village. They need to know what's behind the "parting harvest." Could you gather everyone somewhere?
Sane: Yeah, sure. But what... what are you planning to--
Saishu: So, are you going to burn the fields?! You think you can stop this by destroying the crops... before someone grows the Mizuwa tooth.
Ginko: Yeah, that's right. So you're finally admitting the truth.
Saishu: You're wrong, mushi master. Destroying the crops won't do anything. You'll only bring this village to starvation.
Ginko: All they'll have to do is move away for one year. They'll need to split up, dissipate and live in different places during that time. They can do that, they should survive. By the spring, the ashes will fertilize the ground.
Saishu: How many do you think will actually return once they leave this place? No one here knows what a true abundant harvest is, that's how they're able to keep trying and to have hope... Just leave us alone... Get out of here... I won't allow you to tell them such... such nonsense... (groans)
Sane: Saishu!
Ginko: Does he have some kind of illness or condition?
Sane: I can't say for sure, but I know he hasn't been feeling well lately, and I've seen him taking medicine.
Ginko: Medicine?
Sane: Yeah, he keep it in this.
Ginko: I'm not sure why you've been poisoning yourself with this, but it's irresponsible considering what you'll be leaving behind for the people here.
Saishu: Tell me, mushi master... Since you want to burn the fields, I'm guessing you didn't come here to collect and use the seed, did you? Please help me... I've been trying to become the weakest among us so that the seed's final victim... will be me. It's been said that the one who brought the seed here was of my own lineage, a former head priest. Since then, every time a natural disaster occurred, the seed was used. In order to prevent a panic, the seed's location has only been known by the head priests Twenty years ago when I became the head priest, another devastating natural disaster occurred. I felt I had no choice but to use it.
Saishu: I'm going out for a bit.
Saishu's Wife: All right, be careful, okay? (coughs)
Saishu: This is the right thing to do.
Saishu: I was only thinking of what was best for the entire village.
Saishu: I know it is, it has to be...
Saishu: I was unaware that my wife was hiding her illness from me. When autumn came, she was the one who grew the Mizuwa tooth...
Saishu's Wife: Please, dear. Have some rice... I beg of you... I want you to die too...
Saishu: What are you doing?
Saishu's Wife: Please eat this... If I know that you're taking my life within your body, then I can die without knowing any fear.
Saishu: Despite knowing what this rice really was and where it came from, my body greedily accepted it. I had fully intended to throw away the seed that fell from my wife's mouth, but then considered the next natural disaster that was sure to come. Eventually, I thought of a way I could use the seed one last time without having to sacrifice someone's life. This year, that time came.
Saishu: I intend to have Sane destroy the seed once it has fallen from my mouth. It's been said that if you bury it in the veins of the Koumyaku, it loses its shape and is taken in. I have no intention of telling him what it is the seed actually does.
Ginko: Are you okay with that? You -- more than anyone -- want to live here and watch over the land of your ancestors.
Saishu: I can see it already; as long as we keep trying and don't give up, slowly but surely, this land will become fertile. The day will come when we can live off this land without suffering. I don't know how many generations it will take, but that matters not. Either way, I won't be around to see it.
Ginko: All right, I understand. Do as you wish. But there's one more thing I'd like to ask you.
Sane: Saishu! I think my mother is going to be okay. She's been eating a little more and her strength is coming back.
Saishu: Really? That's wonderful. I told you she'd be all right.
Sane: Mm-hmm.
Saishu: Hey, Sane. I need to talk to you. It's important, so listen carefully.
Villager: (laughing) Sane, the ritual shinto prayer is different from the one last year.
Villager: Hey, have you heard of anyone's grown a Mizuwa tooth yet?
Villager: No, I've heard nothing.
Villager: Maybe this year's crop wasn't a "parting harvest" after all. What do you think?
Villager: Who knows? It could just be due to all of our hard work.
Sane: (panting) (crying)
Ginko: Hey.
Sane: The festival... it seems to be going fine. Everyone is having a good time.
Sane: (sobbing) Don't worry. I'll do exactly what you said to. Saishu... (cries) Why? Why does it have to be this way?
Ginko: Don't tell anyone what I'm about to do here, you understand me?
Ginko: But there's one more thing I'd like to ask you. I told you that the Koumyaku was like life itself. But it alone cannot revive a life. The one thing that can do something like that is that seed. Now it's a risk, but if that seed is consumed, it should be able to revive living beings too. But because of the differences between you and a plant, the light pulse will probably continue to live within you. If that happens, you will no longer be human -- you'll become an immortal being. Is that something you can handle?
Saishu: Isn't doing such a thing forbidden among your kind? But since you're asking, do you think you can do it?
Ginko: If you keep quiet about it, no one will know. I'm not certain if it will work. And even if it did, I'm not sure if it would be what's best for you. But, if you're willing to try, I open those old wounds of yours to find out what kind of person you really are. I don't mind soiling my hands. Give it some thought.
Saishu: Heh, I don't think I'll need to; I already know my answer. I want to watch over this land, the land of my forefathers and see it develop and grow. I need to know... with all that has happened... if I did the right thing...
Narrator: Thereafter, in that village, the story of that year's harvest was passed down from generation to generation. As was another tale, a new legend had been born. In the year of the last "parting harvest," the rice was responsible for bringing a dead man back to life, and making him immortal. The ageless man would wander around the country, returning to the village from time to time to teach the people new ways to enrich the soil and cultivate the land.