EXAMPLE PAGE - EBOOKS - THE PROMISE OF THE TEA GODS - Flipbook - Page 56
46
H. K. O'HARA
the tiger is the first one the tiger will come after. And when he’s done
with the food, I could very well become dessert.”
“Yes,” she said brightly, “and then the tiger will be full, so I won’t
have a thing to worry about! I can just fill up my bag with gold and go
home.”
“You would let me be the tiger’s dessert?”
“It was your wise decision to go to the top of the mountain fully
prepared for whatever might be up there, was it not?”
“Yes, but I can change my decision. Let’s not go at all.”
“Well, that’s no fun—just standing at the base of a mountain wondering what’s up there. How about if I carry the food for the tiger and
you carry the bag for the gold?”
“No, I’ve decided we’re not going. No matter who carries the food
for the tiger, it doesn’t end well.”
“But what if there isn’t any tiger?”
“There’s no way to know that for sure—” He stopped, giving her a
cryptic look. “Okay, I get it. Your point being that because we don’t
know what’s up there, we can’t really make a wise decision. We can
only make a decision. Period. We can’t possibly know whether our decision is wise or not until we get there.”
“Exactly. So let’s not worry about being wise. Let’s just make the
best decision we’re capable of making and let that be enough.”
“I’ll have to give that some thought—it’s not the Korean way. Wisdom is highly valued in this country. A wise decision is a right decision.
And making the right decision says a whole lot about who you are.”
They continued walking, his steps getting slower and slower as he
thought about his own words—words that told him more about himself
than he wanted to know. All the guilt came pouring in again. Giving her
an apologetic look, he asked, “Have you never regretted making a certain decision? Have you never thought, if only I had chosen differently?”
“Regrets are awfully heavy, Soo-kang, and carrying them around
doesn’t change anything. It only makes us tired.”
“And if someone gets hurt because of a decision you made?”
