From /The Tsurezure Gusa [translated as "Essays in Idleness" //of
Yoshido Kenko:/
Fancying myself a bit of a hermit in my old age, I read, "No one is so
little envied as a priest. . . They are looked upon as so many bits of
stick. . . Nor is a priest admired who is forceful and turbulent, for
men feel . . . that thirst for fame means disregard of Buddha's law . .
. There is indeed none but the complete Hermit who leads a desirable
life." I read some teaching of Buddha, perhaps back in the 50s, but
don't recall any of them being considered "law." I continued reading:
"One should write not unskillfully in the running hand, be able to sing
in a pleasing voice and keep good time to music; and lastly, a man
should not refuse a little wine when pressed upon him." Kenko would
have liked my father who had an excellent baritone and never refused
wine, whisky or beer for that matter, cigarettes also. He died of
emphysema. But Kenko also wrote, "What shall it avail a man to drag out
till he becomes decrepit and unsightly during a life which some day
needs must end. Long life brings many shames. At most before his
fortieth year is full it is seemly for a man to die." My father lived
to the age of 76 and he was indeed decrepit and unsightly by the time he
died. 36 years past Kenko's "use by" date.
My father was a lady's man. Kenko would have warned him that "The
magician of Kume . . . lost his magic power through looking at the white
shins of a maiden washing clothes." Just one maiden, I would have
asked Kenko if he said that to me? Netflix has just added a new TV
series, "Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell," that deals with why England,
well known at one time for its magicians, "lost its ability to do
magic." Perhaps Kenko had the answer.
While Kenko wouldn't approve of my attempts to become a hermit, nor of
my reaching the age of 83 (while not yet decrepit and only a little
unsightly -- and I've been working out!), he might approve of my efforts
to improve the condition of my house and yard: "There is a charm about
a neat and proper dwelling house, although this world, 'tis true, is but
a temporary abode. Even the moonshine seems to gain in friendly
brilliancy, striking into the house where a good man lives in peaceful
ease. The man is to be envied who lives in a house, not of the modern,
garish kind, but set among venerable trees, with a garden where plants
grow wild and yet seem to have been disposed with care, verandas and
fences tastefully arranged, and all its furnishings simple but
antique." Well, my yard isn't quite that good. Susan was more
interested in plants and flowers than I have been, but I did plant
several trees, all of which are flourishing and am having my son make
further improvements back there.
"Although it is generally said that the art of poetry is the one thing
that has never changed since olden times, yet, with the same themes and
words as are in use today, look how different are the verses composed by
the ancients. What /they/ wrote was simple and artless, pure in form
and full of feeling."
I wonder what Kenko would say today of poetry written in English.
Lawrence
