The virtue
Tadami-line.
She was in the Aizuwakamatsu station to travel on Tadami-line which runs from Aizuwakamatu city in Fukushima prefecture to small town in Niigata. And it's well-known for its beautiful sight. There were some passengers came from all over Japan to get on. She was the one of them.
An encounter with a man.
When she sat on a seat and waited to leave, a man who looked 70s asked her which way this train goes forward. Then she told him the direction. He had a big suitcase and cane in his hand. He would talk to her something more but the train started to move, so he sat on across the aisle.
The beautiful sight.
The train left at 6:08 A.M. She really enjoyed the sight from the train. It ran above the river, along rice fields, and also she saw mountains which had white on top far away. It was 4hours ride to the final destination. Everything she saw attracted her.
At the final destination.
Most of the passengers got off at the Koide station where is the final destination. She and the man who asked her before got off there as well. There was neither an escalator nor an elevator at the small station. The area was rural place and people waited to change trains on some platforms.
The virtue.
When she waited for next train at a platform, she saw the man stood in front of the stairs and looked up them. She imaged that he would like to go up but he hesitated because his suitcase looked heavy. So she ran up to him and offered to give her hand. Virtue is its own reward.
He only said "Thank you, your presence makes me reassured."
She didn't know he wanted her to help or not, and she followed him while he went up the stairs.
After climbing the stairs, he was a little out of breath so she offered him to give her hand again because he had to climb down to his platform. But he said same phrase "Thank you, your presence makes me reassured" again. Then started to talk his story.
"I got sick and almost die, but I'm still alive fortunately, so I have 2 birthdays. I found that I have to do anything what I want while I live, oh, by the way do you know this card? If you use this card to buy tickets you get a 10% discount. And I have traveled Kanto, Hokuriku. But my wife said that…blah-blah-blah...”
She gradually started to feel like leaving the place, but she didn't know when was the best.
She dared to say “If you can do it for yourself, I need to go.” Then she confirmed him to be able to bring his suitcase for himself, and ran to leave.
Time to leave.
She got on the train with her pent-up feeling.
She was not sure whether what she had done as her virtue was ultimately overkind.
Glossary
well-known for A…Aで有名な
come across…ふと出会う、偶然出会う
encounter…(v)に出会う、(n)出会い
neither A nor B…AでもBでもどちらもない
run up to A…Aに駆け寄る
give someone's hand…誰かを助ける
virtue is its own reward…(諺)徳はそれ自体が報酬である
reassure…安心させる
breezeway…建物の屋根付き通路
dare to do...勇気を持ってdoする
start to feel like A...だんだんA(感情) になってくる
pent-up feeling...溜まった感情、もやもやした気持ち
ultimately…一連の物事が起こってきた最後に
overkind...おせっかい