184
In Ghostly Japan
57.—Mitsuréba, kakuru.
Having waxed, wanes.[1]
58.—Mon zen no kozō narawanu kyō wo yomu.
The shop-boy in front of the temple-gate repeats the sûtra which he never learned.[2]
59.—Mujō no kazé wa, toki erabazu.
The Wind of Impermanency does not choose a time.[3]
- ↑ No sooner has the moon waxed full than it begins to wane. So the height of prosperity is also the beginning of fortune’s decline.
- ↑ Kozō means “acolyte” as well as “shop-boy,” “errand-boy,” or “apprentice;” but in this case it refers to a boy employed in a shop situated near or before the gate of a Buddhist temple. By constantly hearing the sûtra chanted in the temple, the boy learns to repeat the words. A proverb of kindred meaning is, Kangaku-In no suzumé wa, Mōgyū wo sayézuru: “The sparrows of Kangaku-In [an ancient seat of learning] chirp the Mōgyū,”—a Chinese text formerly taught to young students. The teaching of either proverb is excellently expressed by a third:—Narau yori wa naréro: “Rather than study [an art], get accustomed to it,”—that is to say, “keep constantly in contact with it.” Observation and practice are even better than study.
- ↑ Death and Change do not conform their ways to human expectation.
