One day, God was walking along the edge of a lotus pond in Heaven. The center of each lotus flower sparkled like a gemstone. The very heart of the flowers shimmered golden, releasing an indescribably sweet fragrance into the air. I think it was morning in Heaven.
After a little while, God stopped still along the edge of the pond, looking between the lotus leaves to the bottom of the pond far below. The water of the pond was crystal clear, and through it, God gazed down upon the deepest pit of Hell. The River Styx and the Mountain of Needles seemed as close as if God were viewing them through a magnifying glass.
God's eyes lit upon a criminal named Kandata, who was moaning and writhing alongside many others in Hell. This man Kandata had worked much wickedness when he was alive by killing people, setting houses on fire, and becoming a notorious thief. In fact, Kandata might have only done one good deed during his entire life.
What was this good deed? Well, once, when Kandata was walking along a forest path in the deep woods, he came across a spider along the edge of the path. He lifted his foot, preparing to crush the spider to death. But then, he said, "No, no. This spider may be small, but it still has a life to live. Ending the poor creature's life so recklessly would be too sad." And so, Kandata spared the spider's life.
God stared down into the pit of Hell, remembering Kandata's good deed. He wanted to try, if he could, to save Kandata from Hell as a reward for sparing the spider. By good luck, one of Heaven's spiders was nestled inside the jade-green leaves of a lotus flower close to where God was standing. The spider spun beautiful silver thread.
God took the spider's thread in hand and passed it between the shining lotus flowers straight down, all the way to the pit of Hell.
Chapter 2
Kandata swam in Hell's Lake of Blood, rising above and falling below the surface at intervals along with the rest of the criminals. Everything was pitch dark all around. The only sight that offered some relief from the unremitting darkness was the faint glint of metal on the Mountain of Needles. Hell was a place of hopeless despair, and silent as the grave save for the terrible cries of the sinners condemned to suffer there.
The torments of Hell were various, unending. Men and women who had suffered them for a long time lacked the strength to even make a sound. Kandata had spent long years in Hell. All he could do now was struggle to keep his head above the surface of the Lake of Blood, writhing and surging upward like a desperate, dying frog.
Kandata chanced to look up into the darkness over his head. His eyes lit upon a silver spider's thread falling gently down—directly over his own head. Kandata clapped for joy, trapping the spider's thread between his palms. It did not break and seemed strong enough for him to climb.
But if Kandata climbed the thread, where would it go? Out of Hell, certainly. If all went well, he might be able to climb it all the way up to Heaven. He would never have his skin pierced through on the Mountain of Needles or drown in the Lake of Blood ever again.
Kandata gripped the spider's thread strongly in both hands and climbed up it with all his strength. He had often scaled walls and shimmied up ropes as a thief while he was alive, so he had a bit of an advantage and moved quickly.
But the distance between Heaven and Hell was indescribably far. As Kandata climbed, he felt his arms get heavier until he could no longer pull himself up at all. His own exhaustion forced him to stop for rest.
Kandata paused on the spider's thread, holding himself still as he gazed down at the pit of Hell. He had come quite a long way, so far that the Lake of Blood was no longer visible. His feet dangled above the summit of the terrifying Mountain of Needles. Kandata was very pleased with himself; it seemed that escaping from Hell would be easier than he thought.
"I did it!" Kandata said with a laugh. "I did it!" He hadn't laughed like this in many, many years.
But then, Kandata looked even further down, all the way down toward the bottom of the thread. He saw other people climbing up the thread after him—so many, it was impossible to count them all. They resembled a line of ants following one another back to their nest.
Terror warred with surprise in Kandata's heart. He gaped at the long line of sinners, fish-mouthed and uncomprehending, for what felt like ages. Only his eyes moved. This spider's thread was so thin, so delicate—it could easily collapse under his own weight, to say nothing of the weight of all these others! What if the thread broke while he was still only partway up? Then all this effort would be for nothing, and Kandata would fall back into Hell again.
While Kandata considered this terrible possibility, the other sinners continued to climb, one after another, relentlessly chasing him up the spider's thread. He couldn't let this go on. He had to force the others to get off before the thread snapped in two.
"Oi, you!" Kandata called out. "This spider's thread is mine, not yours! No one said you could climb it! Get off! Get off!"
Up until that moment, the spider's thread had shown no signs of weakening or breaking at all, but now, it split cleanly in two above Kandata's head. The thread no longer supported anyone's weight, not even Kandata's.
Kandata started to fall, spinning like a top as he picked up speed. His trajectory was perfectly straight. All that remained of the spider's thread was a straggling piece hanging far above Hell's Mountain of Needles, shining silver in the moonless, starless sky.
Chapter 3
God paused along the edge of the lotus pond in Heaven, watching the whole scene play out from the beginning to the end. Kandata sank like a stone into the Lake of Blood.
God looked away. His face expressed sadness as he started walking around the pond again. Kandata had wanted to save only himself from Hell. His lack of compassion for others doomed him to return to his wretched place far below. God thought it was a terrible tragedy.
But nothing else in Heaven reacted to Kandata's choice. Lotus flowers swayed in the gentle breeze as God passed them by. The center of each flower sparkled like a gemstone. The very heart of the flowers shimmered golden, releasing an indescribably sweet fragrance into the air. I think it was afternoon in Heaven.
THE END
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