The Ten Foot Square Hut and Tales of the Heike Page 10

  As the hour of the Ox, (2 a.m.) the two men came again and urged him to start with them, but when Sonei was preparing to go, he found that he had no proper garments or begging-bowl. While he was wondering what was to be done, for it would be a dreadful thing to disobey the mandate of Emma-Ō, a priest's robe suddenly wrapped itself round his body, while a begging-bowl of gold descended from heaven into his hand; at the same time two attendant-priests, two acolytes and ten lower priests appeared before his apartment with a chariot adorned with the seven precious things. Sonei joyfully mounted the chariot, which soared away through the sky toward the northwest and soon reached the Palace of Emma. Around it spread on all sides an immense courtyard, and the vastness of its spaces within was indescribable.

  The Palace buildings were all of gold and jewels, and shone with a brightness scarcely to be borne by mortal eyes. The service of that day had already been finished and the priests had all departed, so Sonei stood waiting in the middle gate on the south side of the Palace, viewing the buildings from far off.

  While he stood thus, all the officials and attendants of Emma's realm came to make their obeisance to the Dread King in a procession of extraordinary magnificence, and Sonei, wishing to inquire about his sins and his future life, proceeded in the same direction. As he did so the ten attendants formed into line and the two priests carried boxes, while the acolytes held an umbrella over him, and in this way they approached the presence of Emma; whereupon the King and all his officials and Courtiers rose up to greet them, for the two priests now appeared in their real form as Yakuo Bosatsu and Yusei Bosatsu, and the two acolytes as Tamonten and Jikokuten, the ten attendants being metamorphosed into ten female demons who ministered to him.

  "Why have you come thus when all the other priests have departed?" asked Emma. "From my childhood," replied Sonei, "I have never neglected daily to recite the Hokke Sutra, but even so I am not sure of my fate in the after life, so it is of that that I wish to inquire." "Rebirth in Paradise," answered Emma, "is granted according to faith, but the Hokke Sutra is the straight way for man to attain Buddhahood, for which purpose all the Buddhas of the Three Worlds appeared on this earth. The merit of earnest faith and understanding of it is greater than that of practise of the Five Paramitas, while the virtue of preaching it five times is more potent than eighty years charity. According to your abounding merit you will be reborn into the highest circle of the Tuchita heaven."

  Then, turning to an attendant, the Dread King said: "The deeds of this man's life are in the casket of good works; go and fetch them, and show him what is written." Then the ministering demon went to the storehouse on the south side and brought the casket, and when he opened it and read what was written therein, every act and every thought that he had done or meditated in his whole life was revealed; not one was lacking. "One request only I have to make," said Sonei, bursting into tears, "show me, I beseech thee, the way by which I may escape from the endless circle of births and deaths, and attain to the highest state of Enlightenment." So, as he ceased not from his tears, Emma, moved by compassion, instructed him in these sacred words of doctrine:

  Wife and child and kindred, rank and wealth,

  Accompany no mortal after death,

  But devils formed from the ill deeds he did,

  Torment him that he scream for evermore.

  Sonei was exceedingly rejoiced and said: "In the country of Dai-Nihon in the Djambudvipa, at Wadamisaki in the province of Settsu, the Lord High Chancellor of the Heike has built cells extending over a distance of ten cho square, and invited many priests to come and recite the Sutras and pray earnestly, even as it might be at the meeting of to-day." On hearing this, Emma in great admiration and gladness exclaimed: "That Nyūdō is no ordinary person; he is the reincarnation of Jie Sojo, and it was because he kept the law of Tendai Buddhism that for a while he was born again in Japan. Three times a day we pray for him here in these words which you will remember to repeat to the Nyūdō.

  Jie Dai-Sojo greatly we revere,

  Protector of the Tendai Buddhist Law.

  Revealed on earth as the Great Chancellor,

  His evil Karma even will help mankind.

  So, being entrusted with these holy words, Sonei went out from the presence of the King of the Underworld, weeping tears of joy, and when he came to the middle gate of the south side, his ten priestly attendants again brought the chariot and soared away with him toward the south-west, so that he seemed to have returned in the twinkling of an eye, whereupon he awoke as from a dream. Afterwards, going up to Kyoto, he went to the mansion of the Nyūdō at Nishi-hachijo and told him all that he had seen.

  Kiyomori was greatly rejoiced, and after entertaining him royally, sent him away with many presents, beside raising him to the rank of Risshi, And this is how it came to pass that all knew that the Nyūdō was the reincarnation of Jie Sojo. Jikyo Shonin was also the reincarnation of Kobo Daishi, while the Retired Emperor Shirakawa was the reincarnation of Jikyo Shonin. This Emperor accumulated many meritorious actions and piled up many virtuous deeds, and in this degenerate age also Kiyomori, as the reincarnation of Jie Sojo, both by his evil deeds and his virtuous actions acquired great merit, and thus conferred much benefit on himself and mankind. Not otherwise was it that S'akya Muni and Devadatta both greatly helped the world of men.

  Now when Kiso Yoshinaka had coerced the districts of the east and north, he was ready to make an attack on Kyoto, and as the Heike had announced during the winter of the previous year that they would probably move in the spring, the levies from the Sanin, Sanyo, Nankai and Saikai districts came pouring in like mist and clouds. As for the Tosan or Eastern Hill district, the men of Ōmi, Mino and Hida came in, but on the Tokaido none joined them from eastward of Ōmi. All the western districts sent their men, but from the Hokurikudo not one arrived from north of Wakasa. After a Council of Courtiers had been held, the Heike leaders decided to proceed against Kiso Yoshinaka first, and then to attack Yoritomo, and with this purpose their army set out for the north. The Commanders-in-Chief were Komatsu-no-Sammi Chūjō Koremori and Echizen-no-Sammi Michimori, while the Vice-Commanders were Satsuma-no-kami Tadanori, Kōgō-gū no-suke Tsunemasa, Awaji-no-kami Kiyofusa and Mikawa-no-kami Tomonori. Six generals were appointed to lead the samurai, Etchū-no-Jirōhyōye Moritsugu, Kazusa-no-taiyu Hangwan Tadatsuna, Hida-no-taiyu Hangwan Kagetaka, Kawaehi-no-Hangwan Hide-kuni, Takahashi-no-Hangwan Nagatsuna and Musashi-no-Saburosaemon Arikuni, beside whom there were three hundred and forty other valiant warriors apt to command. The forces under them were about a hundred thousand horsemen, and at the hour of the Dragon (8 a.m.) on the seventeenth day of the fourth month they left Kyoto for the north country. As their supplies were insufficient, as soon as they had crossed the pass of Ausaka outside the Capital, they began to seize and appropriate anything they wanted from the estates and houses that lay by the way, not sparing even the government property. As they went along by Shiga, Karasaki, Mikawajiri, Mano, Takashima, Shiozu and Kaizu, the inhabitants of these places could not endure it and fled to the mountains.

  CHIKUBUSHIMA

  Now the Generals Koremori and Michimori pressed on their way, but Tadanori, Tsunemasa, Kiyofusa and Tomonori tarried a while at Shiozu and Kaizu in Omi. Of these Kōgō-gū-no-suke Tsunemasa had excelled in poetry and music from his youth up, and it happened that one morning, wishing to calm his mind in the midst of these alarms and disorders, he went out to the edge of the lake to enjoy the scenery. As he looked out into the offing he saw an island in the distance, and calling to Tōhyōye-no-Jō Arinori who had accompanied him, he asked what island it was.

  "That is the famous island called Chikubushima replied Arinori, whereupon Tsunemasa expressed a wish to go out to it, so they got a small boat and escorted by Arinori and Anemon-no-Jo Morinori with six retainers, he crossed over to Chikubushima. It was the eighteenth day of the fourth month, but still the song of the bush-warbler of the vale lingered among the green twigs and recalled the favours of spring, and the ever ch
arming early notes of the cuckoo answered it, while the clusters of wistaria hung heavy on the pines. The scene filled Tsunemasa with ecstasy, and he quickly alighted from the boat and climbed up on to the island, gazing at the beauty of the landscape with a heart too full for words. Not fairer it seemed was that magic island of Horai, whither Shi Huang of Ts'in sent many fair youths and maidens, and Wu Ti of Han dispatched a magician, if haply they might find it and bring back from thence the water of youth and immortality, but not finding it, and fearing to return to China, age overtook them in their ships while they were still vainly searching the boundless ocean. And in one of the Sutras it is written: "In the Djambud-vipa is a certain lake; and in the midst of it, proceeding from the bottom of the world, there is an isle, formed all of crystal, where fairy maidens dwell." And this, they say, is the island.

  Then Tsunemasa, respectfully approaching the Myōjin, the deity of the place, prayed thus: "O thou goddess Benzaiten, who wert known of old under the title of Nyorai, and doest deign to manifest thyself here in a spiritual body as a saviour; for though we may address thee by the names of Myo-on-ten and Benzaiten, yet in this place thou art united in one body to save mankind; grant, we beseech thee, the petitions and desires that we offer before thee."

  And as he was still kneeling before the shrine the dusk fell over the lake, and the waiting moon rose over the water so that it turned into silver, and the white beams bathed the steps of the shrine with light. Then the priest who lived there, knowing Tsunemasa's skill in music, brought him a Biwa, and he played and sang the melodies called Jōgen and Sekijo, so that the liquid notes rang clear through the silent shrine. So exquisite it was that the Myōjin could not restrain her emotion, but appeared over the shoulder of Tsunemasa as he played, in the form of a white dragon. Tsunemasa, overcome by reverential awe, laid aside his Biwa and composed the stanza:

  Lo! the deity

  Of the dread swift-flashing blade

  Deigns to show herself.

  May it be a blessed sign

  That my humble prayer is heard.

  And so, not doubting that the enemies of the Throne would soon be subdued and the insurgents put to flight, he embarked in the boat and returned to the mainland in great joy.

  SHINOHARA

  Now the Heike had retreated to Shinohara in the province of Kaga to gain time to rest their men and horses, but Kiso Yoshinaka pursued after them with fifty thousand horsemen, and on the twentieth day of the fifth month he again confronted them. Imai Shirō Kanehira immediately rode forward with five hundred men, and against him from the Heike ranks came Hatakeyama Shōji Shigeyoshi, Oyamada-no-Bettō Arishige and Utsunomiya-no-Saemon Tomotsuna with three hundred. These knights were often in Kyoto on guard duty, and as they were veteran warriors Munemori had sent them to the North Provinces to assist in the campaign with their advice.

  So Hatakeyama and Imai detached first five, and then ten of their samurai to begin the contest and see who would prove the better, after which the two forces attacked each other in mingled combat. It was at high noon on the twenty-first day that they joined battle, and both sides fought fiercely and stubbornly, while the sun shone hot over their heads and there was no breeze even to move a blade of grass, so that the sweat poured down over their bodies as if they had been plunged in water.

  At last, when most of his retainers had fallen, Hatakeyama was compelled to retire, though on Imai's side also very many men were slain. Then Takahashi-no-Hangwan Nagatsuna with five hundred men came forth from the Heike, and Higuchi-no-Jirō Kanemitsu and Ochiai-no-Gorō Kaneyuki with three hundred rode out from Kiso's force to meet them, and for some time both parties fought on the defensive; Takahashi's men, however, being samurai from various provinces, did not stand the onset, but broke and fled, each for himself, heedless of the orders of their leader. Taka-hashi himself, though a most valiant fighter, was forced to retreat for lack of support, and rode away alone to the southward.

  Then Nyūzen-no-Kotarō Yukishige of Etchū, burning to overcome so stout an adversary, urged on his horse with whip and stirrup and overtook him. Coming up beside him he closed and grappled with him, but Takahashi gripped him hard, and pinned him against the front of his saddle so that he could not move, crying at the same time: "Who are you, sir! Declare your name and titles!" "I am Nyūzen-no-Kotarō Yukishige of the Province of Etchū, and my age is eighteen!" replied his assailant. On hearing this the tears ran down Takahashi's face as he exclaimed: "Ah, how pitiful! If my lad, who fell last year, had lived till now, he would be just eighteen; I ought to twist your neck and cut off your head, but as it is I will let you go:" and he released him.

  Then Takahashi got off his horse to recover his breath and wait to see if any of his retainers would come up, and Nyūzen also dismounted, but, still thinking what a feat it would be to kill such a famous leader, even though he had just spared his life, he cast about to see how he could take him unawares. Takahashi, never dreaming of such treachery, was talking to him quite without reserve, when Nyūzen, who was famed for the rapidity of his movements, catching him off his guard, suddenly drew his sword and aimed a lightning thrust under his helmet. Just then, as he staggered back from the blow, three of Nyūzen's retainers came up, and Takahashi, stout warrior though he was, was borne down by superior numbers and slain.

  THE DEATH OF SANEMORI

  Now among the retreating Heike retainers was Nagai-no-Saitō Bettō Sanemori of Musashi, and he had a certain intention in his mind. He was clad in a red brocaded hitatare over armour with green lacing, and on his head was a helmet surmounted by lofty horns. He wore a gold-mounted sword and a quiver of twenty-four arrows with black and white feathers, and his bow was of black lacquer bound with red rattan. He rode a grey horse with black spots and his saddle was richly ornamented with gold. Though his companions kept on retiring, he alone continued to turn back and engage the enemy to protect their rear.

  Then one of Kiso's men named Tezuka-no-Tarō rode forward and shouted to him; "How splendid! Though all your side are in flight, you only, one single knight, dare to face us alone in such gallant fashion; I pray you declare your name." "Who then are you that ask?" replied Sanemori. "I am Tezuka-no-Tarō Kanesashi-no-Mitsumori of Shinano," answered the other. "Then," replied Sanemori, "you will suit me well; and I too shall not disgrace your arms, though, for a certain reason I cannot declare my name. Come on Tezuka! A grapple!"

  But as he rushed upon him, one of Tezuka's retainers, fearful that his master might be slain, thrust himself in between and received the onslaught. "Ho! who are you that wishes for the honour of being sped by the greatest warrior in Nippon?" cried Sanemori, as he caught him in his arms and pressed him tight against the front of his saddle so that he could not move, the while he twisted his neck round and cut off his head.

  Tezuka himself, seeing his retainer thus fall, slipped round to the left side of his opponent, and lifting the skirts of his armour, stabbed him twice and then pulled him from his horse, weakened as he was from the wounds. Thus, spite of his great strength and valour, fell Saitō Sanemori, for he was wearied with his long struggle, besides being well advanced in years.

  Then Tezuka, giving the head to one of his men who ran up, came into the presence of Kiso Yoshinaka and bowed low. "I have brought your lordship," said he, "the head of a strange fellow whom I have fought with and slain. He might be a great leader, but he had no following; he might be a simple samurai, but he wears a hitatare of brocade. When I bade him declare his rank, he demanded mine but would not give his own. His speech is that of one of the warriors of the Eastland."

  "Ah," exclaimed Yoshinaka, "this must be Saitō Bettō. Indeed? I remember seeing him once when I went over to Kōzuke; I was only a small boy then but I think his hair was nearly white, so he must be over seventy now, and ought to be quite white-haired; but this hair and beard is black. Ho, there! summon Higuchi-no-Jirō Kanemitsu; he is about the same age as Sanemori and knew him well." Higuchi, answering the summons, entered, and after a single glance at the
head, burst into tears: "Alas!" he exclaimed, "it is indeed Saitō Bettō." "Then," said Yoshinaka, "how is it that his hair is still black, for he must be more than seventy?"

  Higuchi, repressing his tears, replied: "Ah, that the pitifulness of his fate should have moved me to these weak tears; still, we warriors are apt to be touched by the recollection of even these trifling things. I remember when we were talking together, as we were often wont to do, that he said to me; 'I am over sixty now, but if I go to fight again I shall dye my hair black and become young once more, for I will not be pitied as a decrepit old knight, or look foolish if I strive for place among the youthful blades.' Verily his hair is only dyed, and if you have it washed my words may be proved." So Kiso ordered the head to be washed forthwith, and the hair turned white even as Higuchi had said.

  With regard to Sanemori's wearing a hitatare of brocade the reason was this. When he went to take leave of the Daijin Munemori he said to him: "There is one request that I wish to make, and it concerns me alone. Last year, when I went down with our men to the Eastern Provinces, I was startled by the noise of the water-fowl and fled in panic from Kambara in Suruga without so much as shooting one arrow, and that was a disgrace to my old age. Now I am going on the campaign in the North and there I intend to die. It was in that land that I was born, in Echizen, and it is only of late years that I have lived in Nagai of Musashi, the domain that your bounty has bestowed upon me. According to the proverb: 'Wear brocade when you return to your birth place,' I beg your lordship, if it is not too much to ask, to allow me the favour of wearing a hitatare of brocade." Munemori, touched by the gallantry of his address, gave him permission forthwith. As in China Chu Mai Ch'en flaunted his brocaded sleeves at Hui Chi Shan so Saitō Bettō Sanemori would make a name in the North Country. Imperishable, though vain, is the reputation he made, while his corpse mingles with the dust of the Northland. Thus of the ten thousand men of the Heike who set out from the Capital on the seventeenth day of the fourth month, ready to confront any foe, barely twenty thousand returned at the end of the fifth. "If you fish out all the rivers, you will get a lot of fish, but next year there will be none; if you burn the cover to hunt you will catch a lot of beasts, but next year there will be none; it would have been wiser to have taken thought for the future and kept some behind," was the opinion of most people.