43rd Heartbeat

THE PRINCE WHO BECAME A PAUPER

One of the most beloved stories penned by Mark Twain was the Prince and the Pauper. I find it amusing that a poor commoner and a young prince switched places just to get a feel of each other’s lives.In this classic tale, Tom Canty is a young man from a pheasant family who bears a striking resemblance to Prince Edward, the son of a King and eventually, the heir to the throne. Both of them met by chance, and they agreed that Edward will get to live as an ordinary boy, and Tom will be able to enjoy the life of a royalty. But what seemed to be a jocularity became an adventure of a lifetime, particularly when Tom discovered as he pretended to be Prince Edward that the castle is drenched in dishonesty and corruption. What I liked about the story was the fact that these two individuals had the capacity to shape their respective destinies, and learned from each other’s identity as they discovered the things they truly deserved.I know that in the end, they were brought back to where they truly belonged but they have learned a lot from the big switch: to claim the things that are rightfully theirs, to stand for the things they believe in, and to value authenticity, justice and kindness.

Last week, I also had the chance to meet the “Prince and the Pauper”. But this title does not refer to two individuals, but to one person who also experienced this “big switch” not because of the choice that he has made for himself but there were bad and cruel people who eventually brought him to a pitiable situation. Put simply, I happened to come in contact face to face with the “Prince who eventually became a Pauper”.

Tatay Ikot (His real name is Kiyohiko Miyasato) has been with our family for the longest time. He was known to be a very hardworking man who tended my grandparent’s farm. He and his sister, “Sichang” were brought here in the Philippines during the Japanese occupation, together with their Father who was a high-ranking military official. When the Second World War broke out, they were separated from their father and they were taken care of by their nanny as they stayed at my grandfather’s house. My mother told me that she used to encourage ‘Tay Ikot to study, but he was not interested in school. He would rather ride on the carabao and stay all day at the rice fields. Several years, he received a letter from the Japanese government, asking him to go back to his country and when he returned there, he found out that he is an heir to a lucrative jewelry shop business. He never realized that he was very rich until his cousins started to get jealous with him because of his fortune. One ill-fated day, he was kidnapped, shackled, tortured and left in the middle of a vast sugarcane plantation until he lost his mind. When the authorities found him, he was in a panic-stricken mode and his condition was the very reason why the wealth left by his father was not given to him. His cousins made the lawyers believe that he has a psychological sickness and this dimmed the chance of ‘Tay Ikot to get what he actually deserved. He came back to the Philippines, sunken, exasperated, and not in his proper state of mind. In the past years, we have seen him talking to himself, enraged at his fellow Japanese for making his life miserable. I actually had no idea about ‘Tay Ikot’s life until my mother told me everything about his harrowing and depressing experience from the merciless hands of his cousins.

Last weekend, I came to visit ‘Tay Ikot in order to give him the Sacrament of Holy Anointing. It was a heartbreaking experience for me upon seeing him confined to his bed, unable to stand because of the many complications that struck him. I saw in him a prince, who endured so much pain and strife through the years because of other people’s greed, envy, and ruthlessness. This prince did not have the slightest chance of residing in a castle and enjoying the lavish life of a royalty because he took on the character of a pauper, curbed into his own melancholic world, inside a shanty that could barely protect him from rain and cold.I just allowed my musing to look into the possibility of a sudden reversal of destiny as I asked myself: “Ano ayhan kung wala gid man ginkuha sa iya ang mga butang nga dapat kuntani sa iya, manggaranon na siguro si ‘Tay Ikot”. But the more I entertained this likelihood at the back of my mind, the more I felt disheartened for him. Man’s excessive desire for money and wealth has shattered ‘Tay Ikot’s only chance to experience a better life…a life that should have been rightfully his, as he now suffers from destitution, relying on the big-heartedness of his neighbors. In the many random acts of kindness shown to him by those who were moved by his wretched condition, all he could ever say is “Arigatou Gozai Masu” (Thank you very much!), and this simple utterance of gratitude served as his own way of holding on to that optimism that despite the ordeals he has gone through in his life, there are still people who are blameless, who are compassionate and who are generous to him.

I left his small crude shelter feeling distressed but I was reminded again of that true to life statement mentioned by Saint Paul in his First Letter to Timothy which I rephrased:

“The love of money, wealth, and power is the root of all evil…and a person’s eagerness to be rich, wealthy and powerful have wandered him away from God and later on, plunged himself into a more insufferable pain”.

I know that in God’s time, good will prevail over evil…justice will banish every trace of bigotry…love will overshadow the pain caused by selfishness and hatred. The prince will recover everything that has been taken pitilessly from him and he will live happily ever after.

Please pray for Tatay Ikot.

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