To return to the story:  the halo of his parents’ great kindness and pity penetrated the very bowels of the prodigal son.  What an admirable thing!  When he heard it, terrible and sly devil as he had been, he felt as if his whole body had been squeezed in a press; and somehow or other, although the tears rose in his breast, he could not for shame lift up his voice and weep.  Biting the sleeve of his dress, he lay down on the ground and shed tears in silence.  What says the verse of the reverend priest Eni?  “To shed tears of gratitude one knows not why.”  A very pretty poem indeed!  So then the vagabond son, in his gratitude to his parents, could neither stand nor sit.  You see the original heart of man is by nature bright virtue, but by our selfish pursuit of our own inclinations the brilliancy of our original virtue is hidden.

To continue:  the prodigal was pierced to the core by the great mercy shown by his parents, and the brilliancy of his own original good heart was enticed back to him.  The sunlight came forth, and what became of all the clouds of self-will and selfishness?  The clouds were all dispelled, and from the bottom of his soul there sprang the desire to thank his parents for their goodness.  We all know the story of the rush-cutter who saw the moon rising between the trees on a moorland hill so brightly, that he fancied it must have been scoured with the scouring-rush which grew near the spot.  When a man, who has been especially wicked, repents and returns to his original heart, he becomes all the more excellent, and his brightness is as that of the rising moon scoured.  What an admirable thing this is!  So the son thought to enter the room at once and beg his parents’ forgiveness; but he thought to himself, “Wait a bit.  If I burst suddenly into the room like this, the relations will all be frightened and not know what to make of it, and this will be a trouble to my parents.  I will put on an innocent face, as if I did not know what has been going on, and I’ll go in by the front door, and beg the relations to intercede for me with my parents.”  With stealthy step he left the back of the house, and went round to the front.  When he arrived there, he purposely made a great noise with his iron-heeled sandals, and gave a loud cough to clear his throat, and entered the room.  The relations were all greatly alarmed; and his parents, when they saw the face of their wicked son, both shed tears.  As for the son, he said not a word, but remained weeping, with his head bent down.  After a while, he addressed the relations and said, “Although I have frequently been threatened with disinheritance, and although in those days I made light of it, to-night, when I heard that this family council had assembled, I somehow or other felt my heart beset by anxiety and grief.  However I may have heaped wickedness upon wickedness up to the present moment, as I shall certainly now mend my ways, I pray you to delay for a while to-night’s act of disinheritance.