"'The material, very much worn, is incapable of standing any weight without tearing.
"'Now, the money which I possess is heavy, my bag is worn out.
"'I shall not, therefore, put my money in this bag or, at least, I shall take care to line it beforehand with a solid piece of leather.
"'From this moment,' I proceeded, 'there only remains one thing for you to do, always consult common sense before coming to any conclusion, and you will always succeed.
"'As for your opinion concerning the hatred of the gods for you, if you will once more call common sense to your assistance you will reason as follows:
"'Gracious divinities protect only wise people.
"'Now, I have acted like a fool.
"'It is, therefore, natural that they should turn away from me.'
"How many useless imprecations would be avoided," adds the Shogun, "if it were given to men to know how to employ the arguments which common sense dictates, in order to distribute the weight of the mistakes committed among those who deserve the burden, without, at the same time, forgetting to assume our own share of the responsibility if we have erred.
"Nothing is more sterile than regrets or reproaches when they do not carry with them the resolution never again to fall into the same error."