[A man] so condemned would be taken to the edge of the bamboo forest and laid down upon the ground and shackled there so he could not move. Every day, maids from the village would wash and clean his body, and feed him and give him water from the lake.
When spring came the new growths of bamboo would rise up from the earth and push their way through his body. At the end of the summer his shackles would be cut, the maids would cease to feed him, and he was free to go.
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1. Written July 15th, 2015
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