Dixon A DESCRIPTION OF MY HUT の和訳

2017.8.15

　漱石の英訳方丈記の日本語訳を終えたところですが、誤訳というべきところもいくつかあるので

ディクソン先生が、それをどう修正したかが気になりました。

　ディクソン先生の発表は、 Transactions of the Asiatic Society of Japan の1893年の号に掲載されているのですが、

グーグルがデジタル化しているのを見つけましたので、ここに、全文を翻訳します。

Dixon, A Description of my Hut ¹,
ディクソン、我が庵の記

p.205-215, Transactions of the Asiatic Society of Japan, vol.20, 1893.

[Read Fehruarij 10, 1892.]

Note. — For the original draft of this translation, as well as for much valuable assistance in the explanation of details in the translation and in the introduction, I must acknowledge my great indebtedness to Mr. K. Natsume, a student of English Literature in the Imperial University.
注　この翻訳の元原稿、および、翻訳や序の詳しい説明への貴重な手助けにおいて、私は、帝国大学英文科の学生、夏目金之助君に多大に負っていることを感謝する。

1 The Japanese title is Hojo-ki. 　　日本語のタイトルは、方丈記です。

   The term Hojo literally signifies ten-feet-square and occurs first in a Buddhist work, the Uima-Hyo, where Uima is said to have collected a vast audience in a room which was only a hojo.
　 方丈という用語は、文字通り、１０フィート平方を意味し、最初、維摩経に現れます。そこで、維摩は、方丈しかない部屋に大勢の聴衆を集めたといわれています。

   The term came to be used for a priest's hut, then, as is so common in Japanese phraseology, for the priest himself.
　 この語は、僧の庵のために使われるようになりました、そして、日本語によくあることですが、僧自身に対しても使われます。

   The term is frequently met with in the literature of the Tokugawa times as applying to the old rector or keeper of a Buddhist temple.
　　この語は、徳川時代の文献にもよく表れ、お寺の住職に使われます。

The water incessantly changes as the stream glides calmly on ;
水は、絶え間なく変化する、河が静かに滑り流れるときに：

the spray that hangs over a cataract appears for a moment only to vanish away.
大滝の上にかかる水しぶきは、つかの間現れて、ただ、消え去るのみ。

Such is the fate of mankind on this earth and of the houses in which they dwell.
これが、この世の人類と、人が住む家の運命なり。

If we gaze at a mighty town we behold a succession of walls, surmounted by tiled roofs which vie with one another in loftiness.
巨大な都を眺めるとき、私たちは、注目する、連なる壁に、屋根瓦がそびえ、高さを競うさまを。

These have been from generation to generation the abodes of the rich and of the poor, and yet none resist the destructive influence of time.
世代から世代へ、富める人や貧しき人の住まいは、こうであったが、何一つ、時の破壊的な力に抗し得たものはない。

Some are allowed to fall into decay ; others are replaced by new structures.
あるものは、朽ち去ることを許され、あるものは、新しい建物に入れ替えられる。

Their fate is shared by their inmates. 　　中に住む人達も、同じ運命なり。

If, after the lapse of a long period, we return to a familiar locality, we scarcely recognize one in ten of the faces we were accustomed to meet long ago.
もし、長い時間が経過したあと、懐かしの場所に戻ってきたとき、私たちは、かろうじて10人中１人、昔よく会った顔を認めるのみである。

In the morning we behold the light, and next evening we depart for our long home.
朝に、私たちは、光を見、次の夕べに、お墓に向けて発つ。

Our destiny resembles the foam on the water. 　　私たちの運命も、水の泡に似ている。

Whence came we and whither are we tending? 　　どこから私たちは来たのか、どこへ向かっているのか？

What things vex us, what things delight us, in this world of unreality ?
どんな物が、私たちを苛立たせ、どんな者が私たちを喜ばせるのか、この非現実の世界で？

It is impossible, truly, to say. 　本当に、それを語るのは、難しい。

A house and its occupant, changing perpetually, may well be compared to a morning-glory flecked with dew.
家とその住人は、絶え間なく変化して、露がついた朝顔に例えることができよう。

Sometimes it happens that the dew evaporates and leaves the flower to die in the first glare of day ;
時に起こる、露が蒸発し、花は残るが、最初の朝日を浴びて死ぬ。

sometimes the dew survives the flower, but only for a few hours ; before sunset the dew also has disappeared.
時に、露が花よりも長く生きるが、それも二三時間のことで、日没前に、露も消え去る。

During my two-score years of existence I have been fortunate enough to witness several notable spectacles.
40年間生きている間に、私は、幸運にも、いくつかの著名な光景を目撃することができた。

On the 28th day of April in the third year of Angen (1177), during a night of wind and storm, a fire broke out at eight o'clock in the eveuing in the south-eastern part of the capital and spread rapidly in a north-western direction.
安元３年(1177年)４月２８日、風と嵐の夜、夕刻８時に、今日の都の南東地域で、火事が発生し、北西方向に急速に拡がった。

One portion of the palace buildings, with the Official College and the Home office, were before morning reduced to ashes.
宮殿の一部と、大学寮と民部寮が、朝までに、灰燼に帰した。

The conflagration was supposed to have had its rise in a temporary structure used as a hospital, and to have spread from this quarter northwards in the form of an open fan.
大火は、病院として使われた仮設の建物から起こり、この地区から北向きに扇を開いた形に拡がったったと推定される。

Cloaking the distant houses in smoke, it licked the intervening ground with greedy tongues of flame.
遠くの家々を煙で覆いながら、火は、間の地面を貪欲な炎の舌で舐めました。

The sparks, dispersed aloft, and of dazzling brightness, illumined the sky for miles around.
火花は、高く飛び散り、目をくらませる明るさで、１マイル四方の空を照らしました。

Amidst this rnddy chaos, the flames might be seen, urged on by the wind, leaping over whole blocks at a time, and finding a lodgment in a new quarter.
この混乱の中、炎は、風にあおられて、一気に何ブロックも跳びはねて、新しい場所に移っていきました。

The inhabitants ran hither and thither in a state of distraction.
住んでいる人たちは、乱心してあちらこちらに走り回りました。

Some fell down insensible, choked by the smoke ; others perished in the flames.
あるものは、気を失い煙で窒息して倒れ、またあるものは、炎の中で亡くなりました。

Such as had the good fortune to escape with their lives lost all their property.
運良く命からがら逃げだしたものも、すべての財産を失いました。

An incalculable amount of treasure and of wealth was destroyed.
数えきれないほどの宝や富が破壊されました。

Thousands of people and an immense number of cattle fell victims to this merciless conflagration.
何千もの人と、厖大な数の家畜が、この情け容赦のない大火の犠牲となりました。

Surely it is futile for a human being to expect immunity from harm in so dangerous a spot as a city!
確かに、都のような危険な場所で危険から免れようと期待するのは、無駄な事です。

   My next experience was also remarkable. 　　私の次の経験も、特筆すべきものです。

On the 29th of February in the 4th year of Jisho (1180), a whirlwind arose in Kyogoku, and drove on with terrible fury towards Rokujo.
治承４年(1180年)２月２９日、つむじ風が京極にて起こり、六条まで激しい勢いで進みました。

Travelling three or four hundred yards in every gust, it wrecked all the houses that lay in its path.
一吹きで三、四百ヤードも進み、風は、途中にあるすべての家を破壊しました。

Some were thrown flat on the ground; others were unroofed and left standing with only the bare posts remaining.
或る家は、地面に平らに倒され、或る家は、屋根がなくなり、裸の柱が残るだけで立っていました。

The roofs of gates were blown off, fences were broken down, and landmarks swept away.
門の屋根は吹き飛ばされ、塀は壊され、地標は一掃されました。

Articles of furniture were whirled up into the sky, 　家財道具は、空に巻き上げられ

and the straw and bark which formed the roofing of houses were scattered through the air like the leaves of autumn.
家の屋根をつくる藁や木の皮は、秋の木の葉のように、空中にまき散らされています。

A blinding dust, thick as smoke, filled the air, and the noise of the elements drowned all human utterance, reminding one of the wind called "go", which, at the end of the world, will sweep every thing before it.
目をくらませる埃は、煙のように厚く、大気を満たし、自然の力の騒音は、人の声を覆い隠し、業とよばれる風を思い出させる。業風は、この世の終わりに、凡てを掃きつくす。

Surely, thought I, this visitation comes to us as a warning from the Unseen.
確かに、私は、思う、この天罰は、見えないものからの警告としてやってきたのだと。

(Here follows an account of the removal of the capital to Settsu in 1180, of the famine year, 1181, followed by pestilence, and of the earthquake in the second year of Genreki 1185).
(ここで、1180年の摂津への遷都、1181年の飢饉の年、疫病、元暦２年,1185年,の地震の話が続きます。)

世上の高まる不安

Such are the woes that meet us on earth, so fleeting is life, so unstable are the habitations of men.
私たちをこの世で迎える悲哀はかくのごとし、非常にはかないのが命で、非常に不安定なのが人の住処です。

Still greater is the discomfort we undergo through the constraints of social bonds.
更に巨大なのは、社会的な絆の制約を通して私たちが被る不快感です。

Those who enjoy the favour of the great may for a short season be steeped in pleasure, but they cannot attain permanent happiness.
偉大な人の恩顧を受けている人は、短い期間、喜びに浸ることができるかもしれないが、永遠の幸せを達成することはできない。

Forcing back their tears, they frequently counterfeit a careless smile, though always restless in demeanour.
涙をこらえながら、彼等は、時々不注意な笑いを装う｜常に振る舞いに落ち着きがないけれども｜。

Like a sparrow close to an eagle's nest, they live in a state of continual fear.
鷲の巣に近い雀のように、彼等は、連続的な恐怖の状態で生きる。

The poor, on the contrary, are the slaves of their wretched condition;
一方、貧しいものは、みじめな境遇の奴隷です；

they are forced to look upon the impotent envy of their wives and children;
彼等は、妻や子供たちが、無気力にうらやむのを眺めることを余儀なくされる；

they must pocket the insults of their rich neighbours; they are denied even a moment's peace of mind.
彼等は、金持ちの隣人からの侮辱に耐えなければならない； 彼等は、一時の心の平安をも拒否される。

Such, again, as dwell near crowded thoroughfares are unable to escape the fury of conflgrations;
また、混雑した大通りの近くに住むような人は、大火の猛威から逃れることはできない；

but let them remove to the country and they will suffer the inconveniences of bad roads, not to speak of occasional visits from burglars.
しかし、彼等を田舎に移動させなさい、すると彼等は悪路の不便にわずらわされる、盗賊がたまに訪れてくることはいうまでもなく。

説明　they will suffer と、否定文になっていないので、漱石の誤訳を正したようです。

A strong man knows no contentment, a weak man is the object of scorn ;
強い人は、満足を知らない、弱い人は、嘲りの対象である。

説明　漱石の content が、ここでは contentment になったのはいい修正ですが、

　　　　後半のsingleがweakとなったのは、原文とは違います。

to heap up wealth is merely to add so much to our cares; poverty and distress go hand in hand ;
富を蓄積することは、単に、それだけ心配事をふやすことです； 貧困と苦悩は、手に手をとりあっています。

dependence on others makes us their slaves; charity imposes fetters of affection on the mind.
他人に異存すると、彼等の奴隷になります； 慈善は、愛の足かせを心に課します。

To act exactly as others do is intolerable; to pursue a wholly independent course seems to be madness.
他人と全く同じにふるまうことは、耐えられない； 全く独立の道を追求すると、狂っているように見える。

In what spot shall we find a resting-place, and what occupation will furnish distraction to our mind ?
どんな場所に、私たちは憩いの場所を見出すのか、どんな仕事が、こころに気晴らしを与えるのか？

出家遁世

For long I lived on a property which I had inherited from my paternal grandmother.
長い間、私は、父方の祖母から受け継いだ財産(地所)に住んできました。

Having, however, lost my family, and passed through a series of misfortunes which left me weakened in body, I was at length compelled to leave my ancestral home, and at the age of thirty to take up my abode in the solitude of a hut, scarcely more than one-tenth the size of my former residence.
しかし、家族を失い、一連の不幸を通して、体が弱くなり、とうとう、先祖の家をでて、30歳のときに、住居を庵で孤独に始めることになりました、庵は、かろうじて前の住処の10分の1の大きさです。

It consisted of but one room, and was not a house in the ordinary acceptation of the term.
それは、ただの一部屋からなり、通常の意味での家ではありません。

A wall surrounded the enclosure in which it stood, but I could not afford a gate.
それが立つ囲い地の周りを、塀が囲みましたが、門を作る余裕はありませんでした。

The posts of the carriage shed were of simple bamboo.
荷車置き場の柱は、簡素な竹でできていました。

In a heavy gale or in a snow storm the hut ran great danger of being swept bodily away, or of being crushed under the superincumbent weight of snow.
強風や吹雪のとき、庵は、丸ごと吹き飛ばされたり、上に積もった雪の重みで押しつぶされるると言う危険に陥ります。

Moreover, as it stood close to the banks of a river, a flood might easily engulf it.
さらに、庵は、河の土手の近くに立っているので、洪水で容易に飲み込まれるでしょう。

Living in this uninviting abode for thirty years, I at length fell a prey to dejection.
こんな魅惑的でない住処に３０年も住んで、私はとうとう、落胆の虜になりました。

I had leisure to muse on the vicissitudes of human life and on the fickleness of fortune.
私は、人の命の栄枯盛衰と運命の移り気についてじっくりと考える時間を持ちました。

At length I formed the resolution of quitting the hut and the world together.
ついに、私は、庵を去り、この世も去る（出家する）決心をしました。

I was bound by no family ties and could feel no yearning towards what I had left ;
私は、家族の絆に縛られていません、私が残したものに何の憧れも感じませんでした；

being no pensioner, why should I long for my former position?:
年金もないので、どうして、私がこれまでの地位を切望しましょうや？

And so I migrated to the hills, and spent many springs and summers on the cloudy heights of Mt. Ohara.
そして、私は、この丘に移り来て、多くの春夏を、大原山の曇った高台で過ごしました。

方丈の庵のありやう

The dew of sixty years that was on the point of vanishing, crystallized afresh on a tiny leaf.
まさに消え去ろうとしていた６０歳の露が、小さな葉っぱの上に新しく結晶しました。

My new habitation is small even when compared with its tiny predecessor, and might be likened to a night's shelter for a belated traveller, or to the cocoon which encloses an old silkworm.
私の新しい住処は、以前の小さい庵と比べてすら小さい庵です、そして、遅れて到着した旅人に与える一夜の宿や、年老いた蚕を包み込む繭になぞらえることができましょう。

My life is slowly declining and my fortunes ebb with it.
私の命は、ゆっくり衰退し、私の富もそれとともに欠けていくのです。

In structure the dwelling resembles no ordinary house.
構造上、この住処は、通常の家と似ていません。

The single room measures ten feet by ten, and seven feet high.
唯一の部屋は、10フィート掛ける10フィートで、高さは７フィートです。

It occupies no permanent site, as I have felt little inclination to settle in any one place.
それは、恒久的な場所を占めません、私は、どこにも落ち着く気持ちはありませんでしたので。

The floor is of clay, the roof is is of thatch, the boards are fastened together with hooks for ease of transportation.
床は粘土で作られ、屋根は茅葺きで、板囲いは、引っ越しの便のために掛け金で留められています。

Were I to change my home, what expense should I incur ?　万一、家を変えるときに、どんな出費を被るでしょう？

Two carts are sufficient to carry the whole structure. 　牛車２台で十分です、庵全体を運ぶのに。

Only the slight price of the hire of these, nothing more !　　これら（牛車）のわずかな賃料だけで、他には何も！

   Secluded in the innermost recesses of Hino, I have added a few conveniences to my hut.
　日野山の最も奥まった場所に隠遁して、私は、庵にいくつか便宜を加えました。

On the southern side I have hung a temporary curtain, with a bamboo mat under it ;
南側に、私は、一時的なひさしを垂らし、その下に竹の敷物を置きました；

on the western wall a shelf has become the sacred receptacle for the image of Buddha, where his brow may catch the brightness of the western sun.
西側の壁に、棚が、仏陀の絵像の聖なる置き場となりました、絵像の仏陀の額は、西日の輝きを受けていました。

On each of the two door leaves I have hung a picture — one of Hugen, the other of Hudo.
折りたたみ戸のそれぞれに、私は、絵を掛けました - 普賢菩薩の絵と、不動明王の絵を。

Above the lintel of the northern door I have fastened a shelf, on which are placed several black leather boxes containing literary papers, Japanese songs, ojio-yoshua^註 and the like.
北の扉のリンテルの上に、私は、棚を取り付け、その上に黒い革の箱を置き、中に文芸書物、和歌、往生要集などをいれました。

註 A Buddhistic manual, in two volumes, written in Japanese (not Sinico-Japanese).
　　仏教書で、２巻からなり、日本語で書かれています（中国的日本語ではありません）

Close by, leaning against the wall, are a koto and a biwa, to which I have given the names of Oiigoto and Tsugi-biwa, respectively.
すぐそばに、壁にたてかけて、琴と琵琶があり、それに、私は、名前をおり琴とつぎ琵琶と付けました。

On the eastern side is my bed, consisting of a mass of ferns on a straw mat.
東側には、私の寝床があり、シダ（の葉っぱ）が藁の布団のうえにたくさんのっています。

Beside it, and close by the window, stands my writing-desk and a brazier, and these, with a pillow, complete the furnishing.
そのそば、窓の近くに、私の書き物机と火鉢があり、これらと、枕が、家具をなしていました。

To the north of the hut lies my garden, a small patch enclosed by a broken hedge and containing a selection of medicinal plants.
庵の北側には、私の庭があります、壊れた生け垣で囲まれた小さな土地で、いくつか選んだ薬草を含んでいます。

South of the house a pipe conducts water to a reservoir which I have constructed of stones.
家の南に、管が水を貯水池に導いています、池は、わたしが石で作りました。

The near vicinity of the well-wooded Toyama, with its vine-clad slopes, provides me with sufficiency of fruit and of fuel.
そのすぐ傍の、木の茂った外山と、つる植物に覆われた斜面は、私に、十分の果物と薪を与えてくれます。

The valley, though dark with thick underwood, opens to the west, the home of the blessed, thereby offering much help to my meditations.^註

谷は、下生えが厚く真っ暗ですが、西に開いています、西は祝福された人たちの家で、それ故、私の瞑想におおいに役立っています。

註　The west is, to Buddhists, associated with Gokuraku, the land of beatitude, whither good men go after death. 
　　　西は、仏教徒にとって、極楽に関係しています、極楽は、至福の土地で、善人が死後行くところです。

In spring I gaze on the purple clusters of the wistaria, which hang in wavy profusion all around.
春に、私は、藤の花の紫の房を眺めます、藤の房は、大量に波打って垂れ下がっています。

The mournful note of the cuckoo ushers in the summer, and puts me in mind of my latter end.
ホトトギスの悲しい鳴き声が、夏に先導し、私の死の心に、私を置きます。

With autumn comes the shrill chirrup of the cicadas, which I interpret as a dirge for life, empty as their cast-off shells.

Snow has an attraction for me, because it seems to symbolize human sin, which increases in depth and then melts away.

When indisposed I frequently fail to perform my devotions or to read the sacred books, and no one can call me to accouut for the omission.

Nor have I any friend in whose presence I can feel ashamed when neglectful of my duties.

The discipline of silence^註, towards which I have no special inclination, I perforce observe, having no frieud to tempt me to chatter.

註　Imposed upon Buddhist priests, as on the Trappist monks of Europe.

Being out of the reach of temptation, I run no risk of breaking the canons of Buddhism.

When in the morning I happen to come to the river's margin, and watch the vessels plying up and down, I feel that my frame of mind and my position exactly resemble Manshami's.^註

註　Manshami is a character in the Manyoshu.

Again, when the wind rustles among the cinnamon leaves, I call to mind the scene in Junyo Bay, in the Junyoko off Hakurakuten, and begin playing on the biwa in imitation of Cinnamon Dainagon.^註

註　A famous biwa player who flourished at the close of the Xlth. century.

I have no special musical skill, but then there is no one to criticize my efforts ; I sing to myself, and thrum for myself, merely as a mental relaxation.

At the mountain foot stands a small cottage, in which dwells the keeper of the mountain.

His boy now and then pays me a visit and accompanies me on leisurely strolls.

Though he is but sixteen and I am sixty, the difference in our ages makes no difference in the pleasures which we mutually share.

We collect cranberries, gather kaya flowers, fill our baskets with mountain -potatoes, pick parsley, or weave mats from the fallen corn-stalks.

When the weather is fine I ascend the mountain peaks to gaze from afar on my native district, and to revel in the beauty of the surrounding scenery.

Of this delight I cannot be deprived, as nature is not the private property of any individual.

And I often go on long excursions, over Sumiyama, and past Kasadori, visiting the shrine of Iwama, or making a pilgrimage to Ishiyama.

Sometimes I go as far as the moor of Awazn, where are the ruins of. old Seminaru's cottage, or linger by the grave of Sarumarudau, beyond the Tagami river.

On my way home I am frequently rewarded by finding a choice bough of cherry or maple, or a bunch of ferns, or a cluster of fruit, which I offer to Buddha or reserve for my own use.

A "bright moon ou a calm night recaUs to me the men of old ; the cries of monkeys affect me to tears;"^註 the fire-flies in the herbage gleam like the torches of Magijima. 

註 The poems of Toho, in the period of Fukyo, first refer to the chattering of monkeys as pitiful.

   The following is from 0'Shorei, a contemporary of Toho's, who flourished in the eighth century:

   — Among the fragrant orange plants we part at a river-side inn ;

   the wind from the river blows hard and sends the rain athwart the ship.

   Far hence, before the moon of Mt. Sho, alas, will the shrill cry of apes prolong your grief even in your dreams.

A morning shower sounds exactly like wind rustling through the trees.

When I listen to the notes of a wild bird^ I speculate whether it is the male or female bird calling for its young.^註

註 A reference to the lines of Uki Moto :

    — "Whenever I hear a pheasant sing, horo, horo, I wonder whether it is my father or my mother."

    The title of the poem in which the lines occur is "All beings are our parents."

    Boshio (16th century) also expresses the same idea :— " I long to see my father. I long to see my mother, whenever I hear a pheasant sing."

    The pheasant was typical of parental affection.

The bold appearance of a solitary hart reminds me of the wide gap that exists between the world and me ; the plaintive voice of the owl fills my mind with pity.

Scenes like these are found everywhere around in inexhaustible abundance, possessing for those who are profouuder in reflection and quicker in apprehension than myself still more varied attractions.

Five years have elapsed since I first took up my abode in this place.

The flimsy shed has now fallen into an almost dilapidated condition.

Under the eaves there lias accumulated a thick mass of mouldering leaves.

A coating of moss covers parts of the floor. From time to time tidings have come to me from the city of the^ death of many noble persons there.

And it is an easy matter for me to calculate the number of humbler folks who have also been overtaken by the same fate.

Many houses, too, must have been consumed in the numerous conflagrations.

Only this unpretending cot of mine remains safe and undisturbed.

Narrow though it be, it provides a couch by night and a seat by day, and suffices to shelter me.

The shell-fish is content with its contracted abode ; the fish-hawk lives on a craggy and inhospitable shore that it may avoid mankind.

Like them, I am fond of a single life, with no object of affection to cherish, no friendships to cultivate.

My sole desire is to find tranquillity, to be free from care.

Others, when they build a house, build it not for themselves ; their bouses are for their families, or their instructors, or their lords, or even for their oxen, their horses and their treasure.

But I have built mine for my own sole use, because I have no companion, and no friend to live with me.

What is friendship but regurd for the rich and open-handed, and contempt for the upright and kindly?

Better to make friends with music and with nature!

Our servants, caring only for rewards and punishments, estimate our regard for them by the amount of largesses we bestow on them.

We throw away kindness on those who neither need nor appreciate it.

Let us rather be our own servants, using our own limbs — a manner of life, which, if somewhat irksome for the moment, is much easier thau to employ others.

Let us make use of our bodies for two ends — our arms as our servants, our legs as our vehicles.

The mind which acts in sympathy with the body, may use the latter when fresh, allow it to rest when tired.

Let the mind be carefnl neither to overtax the body, nor, on the other hand, to encourage it in its disposition to be lazy. Exercise is health-giving ; why then sit in idleness ?

To trouble others is a sin ; why should we ask for assistance ?

With regard to my diet and clothing, I observe thO) same principles.

A garment oij'ifji and a bed-quilt of hemp suffice to cover my body.

My life may very well sustain itself on the kaya flowers which flourish in the wilds, and OQ the fruits that grow on the mountaiu side.

My poor thinly-clad figure is no object of ridicule in these solitudes. Meals so scauty as I have described have still a relish for me. These remarks are not intended as a sermon addressed to the well-to-do, for I am merely comparing my previous life with the present.

Since I renounced the world's pleasures, envy aud fear have vanished from my miud. Free from regret and reluctance, I pursue my course as Providence directs me.

Looking upon self as a floating eloud, I place no dependence on it, nor, on the contrary, am I in the least dissatisfied therewith.

Fleeting pleasures have dwindled into insignificance over the dreamer's pillow ; his life-long desire finds its satisfaction in the contemplatiou of the beautiful in nature.

The three worlds^註 consist of only one mind.

註　The three worlds of matter, spirit and passion.

Treasures, horses, oxen, palaces, castles, — what boot they, so long as the mind is uneasy ?

In this lone place, in this small cottage, I enjoy full peace of mind.

Were I in the city,. I might feel shame in becoming a beggar ; but settled here, I pity those who toil and moil in the dusty highway of the world.

Let him who doubts the truth of my words merely look at the denizens of the sea and of the air.

A fish never grows weary of water; but its motive none but a fish can tell. So birds are fond of the woods ; ask them the reason why.

The same may be said of seclusion ; it^ pleasures caunot be understood by one who has not led the life.

The lunar course of my life is fast drawing to a close,, and every moment I draw nearer to the peak of death.

When the time shall come for me to make a sudden start for the darkness of the "three ways,"^註 of what use will it he to me to have troubled myself with earthly cares ?

註　The name of a river, which, like the Styx, has to be crossed by the dead.

Buddba enjoins us to love nothing earthly. To love my moss-clad hut, this of itself is a sin ; even this cherished tranquillity is an obstruction to salvation. Woe to those who, to while away the time, indulge in idle pleasures.

One quiet morning after making these reflections I propounded to myself the following question :

Granted that your object in forsaking the world and retiring to these woods and mountains is to tranquillize your mind and carry your principles into practice.

But, though in appearance you are a sage, yet your mind is soaked with impurity.

Though your hut resembles the dwelling of Jyomo,^註1 yet your conduct falls short even of Shuri-Bandoku's^註2.

註1　The hero of Yuimagyo, a Buddhistic book.

註2　A disciple of Shaka-Munyi, noted for his weak memory.

Is this the result of poverty, or of inward impurity ?

This question I left unanswered, but twice or thrice repeated involuntary prayers.

Written in the hut at Toyama, on the last day of March in the second year of Kenreki (1212 A. D.) by Renin, the monk.

Alas ; the moon, now hid behind yon peak,

Denies the constant light I seek !

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