THE STORY OF THE MAN WHO DID NOT WISH TO
DIE.Long, long ago there lived a man called Sentaro. His surname
meant "Millionaire," but although he was not so rich as all that,
he was still very far removed from being poor. He had inherited a
small fortune from his father and lived on this, spending his time
carelessly, without any serious thoughts of work, till he was about
thirty-two years of age.
One day, without any reason whatsoever, the thought of death and
sickness came to him. The idea of falling ill or dying made him
very wretched.
"I should like to live," he said to himself, "till I am five or
six hundred years old at least, free from all sickness. The
ordinary span of a man's life is very short."
He wondered whether it were possible, by living simply and
frugally hencef
