In the Hands of Destiny
A great Japanese warrior named Nobunaga decided
to attack the enemy although he
had only one-tenth the number of men the opposition
commanded. He knew that he
would win, but his soldiers were in doubt. On
the way he stopped at a Shinto
shrine and told his men: "After I visit the shrine
I will toss a coin. If heads
comes, we will win; if tails, we will lose. Destiny
holds us in her hand."
Nobunaga entered the shrine and offered a silent
prayer. He came forth and tossed
a coin. Heads appeared. His soldiers were so eager
to fight that they won their
battle easily.
"No one can change the hand of destiny,"his attendant
told him after the battle.
"Indeed not," said Nobunaga, showing a coin which
had been doubled, with heads
facing either way.
