The Ten Foot Square Hut and Tales of the Heike Read online

  That night he returned to the cell of Takiguchi Nyūdō, and there they talked of many things both past and present. As the night grew on and he watched the deportment of the Nyūdō he perceived that he was indeed as it were polishing the jewel of Truth on the floor of profound faith, and at the boom of the bell at the Hour of the Tiger, he came to understand the unreality of this world of illusion. Early the next morning he called Chigaku Shōnin of Tozen-in and intimated to him that he wished to become a monk. He also summoned Yosōbyōye Shigekage and Ishidō Maru, and addressed them thus:

  "As for me I am overwhelmed by unspeakable anxieties, and my way has become straitened so that I cannot escape, and whatever may become of me there is no need for you to throw away your lives. Many others are still living, so after I have met my fate, do you make haste to the Capital and help them, both cherishing my wife and children, and praying for my happier rebirth." On hearing this the two were for a while choked by emotion so that they could utter no word, but by and by Shigekage controlled his feelings and said: "At the time of the rebellion of Heiji my father Yosozaemon Kageyasu followed our lord Shigemori, and at Nijō Horikawa engaged Kamada Hyōye and fell by the hand of Akugenda. I also might have done some such deed, but at that time I was hardly two years old and so remember nothing of it. When I was seven years old my mother followed my father, and I was left alone with none to care for me, when your late father took compassion on me, saying that, as I was the son of one who had given his life for him, I should always be brought up in his house. And so I thought it natural to look forward to giving my life for yours some time or other, and it seems a great shame to me that you bid me run away and save myself in this fashion. Many may survive, as you say, but as things now are they will all be retainers of the Genji. And after you have departed this life, what pleasure can I have in living longer? And if one lived for a thousand, or ten thousand years, would not one have to die in the end? I can see no greater wisdom than this." And so saying he cut off his hair himself, and then received the tonsure from Takiguchi. When Ishidō Maru saw this, not to be outdone, he too cut off his hair. He had been with his master since he was eight years old, and his gratitude was no less than that of Shigekage, so he also had his head shaved by Takiguchi Nyūdō.

  When Koremori saw what they had done he felt inexpressibly sad, and exclaimed: "Ah! I had thought to see my dear ones once again in my former state, but now I have nothing more to hope for." And so, as it must be, repeating three times the Buddhist text, "Whosoever is continuously reborn in the Three Worlds, it is because he cannot sever the bonds of affection. Whosoever renounces affection and enters Nirvana, he it is who in truth requites affection," he submitted his head to the tonsure. Both Koremori and Yosōbyōye were twenty-seven years old at this time, while Ishidō Maru was eighteen. By and by he called Takesato and said: "You are not to go up to the Capital now. In the end it can not be concealed, but if my wife were to know what I have done now, no doubt she too would renounce the world.

  "But go to Yashima and tell them that, as they can see, the world is in a sad plight, and those who are tired of existence are many; perhaps they may not have heard that Hidan-no-Chūjō Kiyotsune fell in the Western Provinces, and Bitchū-no-kami Moromori was killed at Ichi-no-tani, while my chief regret is that they may think me recreant on account of my present behaviour. Moreover, as to this armour of Chinese leather, and the sword Kogarasu Maru, which have been handed down as heirlooms from Taira Sadamori, and have come to me after nine generations, in the event of fortune favouring our house again so that we are able to return to the Capital, you must take them and give them to my son Rokudai." Takesato, overcome by emotion, could make no reply for some time, but after a while he restrained his feelings and said: "Not till I have seen what is to befall will I leave my master, but when all is ended I will go to Yashima." Whereat Koremori allowed him to go with him. Then, taking Takiguchi Nyūdō with them as a guide to salvation, they set out from Kōya in the guise of Yamabushi, and soon arrived at Santo in Kii.

  THE PILGRIMAGE TO KUMANO

  Thus proceeding on their way at length they came to the Iwatagawa. And of this river it is said that whosoever crosses it is cleansed of all evil Karma and hindrances to right conduct, and inherited sins. As he offered up his prayers with a calm mind before the Shōjōden of the main shrine, and throughout that night contemplated the bulk of the stately temple, his heart was filled with thoughts too deep for utterance. A mist of boundless mercy and protection hovered over the mountain of Yuya, and the matchless spiritual power of the deity manifested itself in the Otonashi River. The moon of the all-embracing efficacy of the doctrine shone clear and without spot, and no dew of evil thoughts collected in the garden of repentance for the Six Roots of wickedness. Everything around spoke to him of help and salvation.

  As the night grew on and he meditated in the silence, he pondered sadly over the remembrance of how his father Shigemori had come to this shrine and entreated the deity to shorten his days and grant him happiness in the after life. And as the Buddha of this shrine is Amida Nyorai, he prayed that, in accordance with his vow to save all mankind, he would bring him safe to the Pure Land, and also that his wife and children in Miyako might find peace and safety; for even when one has forsaken the world and entered the True Way, these blind attractions are not wholly absent.

  The next day he took ship and went from the Hongū to the Shingū and worshipped the deity there. On its cliffs the pine-trees tower aloft; its breezes sweep all vain thoughts from the mind; while its clear flowing waters wash away the dust and mire of this evil world. Worshipping at the shrine of Asukai, and passing by Sano-no-Matsubara, he came to the shrine of Nachi. There is the famous threefold waterfall that soars up thousands of yards to the sky, where upon the top of the cliff there stands a figure of Kwannon, a spot that might be called Fudaraku-san: and as the sound of many voices chanting the Hokke Sutra came out of the mist it might be considered like the peak of Gridhrakuta. So since the time that the Buddha became reincarnate in this mountain all the people of our country from highest to lowest have come on pilgrimage to bow their heads and pray at this shrine, and therefrom have received great benefits. Hence are the temple roofs so many, and the courts crowded with priests and laymen. In the summer season of the period of Kwan-wa the Hō-ō Kwazan, an Emperor possessing the Ten Virtues, came to pray for rebirth in the heaven of Amida, and on the site of the cell where he stayed an ancient cherry-tree in bloom still recalls his memory.

  KOREMORI DROWNS HIMSELF

  So Koremori, after completing the pilgrimage to the three shrines of Kumano, took a boat before the shrine called Hama-no-miya, and launched out to the open sea. There is an island far out in the offing called Yamanari-no-shima, and to this he rowed and disembarked on the shore. Weeping bitterly he cut his name and pedigree on a great pine-tree thus: "Sammi-no-Chūjō Koremori, religious name Jō-en, son of Komatsu-no-Naidaijin Shigemori Kō, religious name Jō-ren, grandson of the Dajō-daijin Taira-no-Ason Kiyomori, religious name Jō-kai, aged twenty-seven years; drowns himself in the offing of Nachi, twenty-eighth day of the third month of the third year of Ju-ei after which he again entered the boat and rowed out into the offing.

  Though he had made up his mind to end his life, when it came to the point he felt downcast and sad. As it was the twenty-eighth day of the third month a sea-mist was rolling over the waters, wrapping everything in a dreary pall; but even on an ordinary spring day a melancholy mood comes over us with the approach of evening, so how much more when to-day is the end, the last evening we spend on earth. Looking at the fishing-boats as they rose and sank on the waves, though he had made up his mind to sink likewise, yet his thoughts dwelt on his own fate, and when he saw a flock of wild-geese he felt as great regret and home-sickness for his birthplace as did Su Wu when he was imprisoned in the land of the Hsiung Nu, and sent back a message by a wild-goose. Recollecting himself, however, and reproving himself for harbouring such vain thoughts of this world, he put his hand
s together, and turning to the west repeated the Nembutsu. But even so the thought came into his mind how his dear ones in Miyako did not know that this was his last hour, and would keep on waiting and hoping for some tidings of him, so dropping his hands and ceasing to say the Nembutsu, he turned to Takiguchi Nyūdō and said: "Ah, what a thing it is to have wife and children! For not only are they an anxiety in this world, but a hindrance to obtaining Enlightenment in the next. I fear that the obtrusion of these thoughts is because of the greatness of my guilt, and I repent of it."

  The sage felt deeply grieved in his heart, but thinking it would not do to show any weakness, he wiped away his tears and assumed an impassive expression. "Alas!" he said, "tender feelings are common to all men, and it is indeed as you say. Endless are the karma-relations produced if a man and woman place their pillows together but for one night, and deep is the connexion in their after lives. 'Those that are born must die; those that meet must part,' is the way of this world. 'The last dew or the first drop,' one must go before the other, and whether one die soon or late, all must leave this world at last. The pledge of Hsuan Tsung to Yang Kuei Fei on an evening in autumn at the Li Sang Palace led but to the bruising of hearts, and even the love of the Emperor Wu for the Lady Li had to come to an end. Even the magicians Sung Tz' and Mei Sheng did not live for ever, neither are the highest rank of saints free from birth and death; so that even if you can boast of the pleasures of long life, this regret cannot be put away. Thus if you live for a hundred years, the pain of parting will still be the same. And Mara the king of evil in the sixth Devaloka, who opposes the Way, taking possession of the Six Heavens of Desire, has made them his own, and grudging the people of these worlds deliverance from birth and death, becomes to them wives and husbands to hinder their escape; and so all the Buddhas of the Three Worlds, regarding all mankind as their children, in their zeal to bring them to the Paradise of the Pure Land, have strictly warned them that from the utmost antiquity wives and children were fetters to bind them to the Wheel of Birth and Death. But Amida Nyorai, the Buddha of this shrine, has made forty-eight vows to save mankind, and among these in the eighteenth vow he states that whosoever in true faith shall call up to ten times on his name, earnestly desiring to enter Paradise, shall in no wise fail to attain Enlightenment. So if indeed you believe this doctrine, relying on it in firm faith without any doubt, and if you repeat the Nembutsu either once or ten times, Amida Nyorai, diminishing to some sixteen feet his august stature, which is of a height that myriads of Nahutas, many in number as the sands of the Ganges, only can measure, with Kwannon and Seishi and innumerable Saints and Bodhisattvas encompassing them about tier on tier, will come forth to meet you from the Eastern Gate of Paradise, welcoming your advent with songs of rejoicing.

  "Thus though your body may sink to the bottom of this ocean, you will ride in glory on clouds of purple. And when you have become a Buddha and attained liberation, in true Enlightenment you may come back to this world, and without doubt may lead your wife and child into the path of true salvation." And as he spoke thus, striking his bell the while, and urging him to repeat the Nembutsu, Koremori, in sure belief that he had attained Enlightenment, steadfastly putting aside all vain thoughts, looked towards the west and clasped his hands, with a loud voice repeating the Nembutsu a hundred times, and then with the word "Namu" on his lips sprang into the ocean. Yasōbyōye and Ishidō Maru, repeating the same invocation, also sprang to their death with their master.

  Now after the Heike had crossed over to Yashima, they heard that a force of many tens of thousands of horsemen had arrived at the Capital from the East Country to advance against them, and moreover that the parties of Usuki, Hetsuki and Matsuura had banded together and were about to cross from Kyūshū to attack them. And as these various rumours came to their ears they could not help being dispirited and discouraged; and all the Court Ladies, from the Consort of the late Emperor, Kenrei-mon-in, the Mother of the late Emperor, and the Nii Dono downwards mourned and lamented together, wondering what fresh evil tidings they would have to hear, or what new adversities they would have to meet. And seeing that so many of the Nobles had been killed and more than half of the best of the retainers also lost at Ichi-no-tani, Awa-no-Mimbu Shigeyoshi and his brother and the other men of Shikoku remarked how their strength had lessened, but still they thought they would be safe trusting to the mountains and the sea. On the twenty-fifth day of the seventh month the ladies came together saying that it was just a year since they had left Miyako, and wondering how soon the time had passed; and so, bewailing the vicissitudes they had met, and talking of reminiscences of the past, some gave way to tears and some to laughter.

  It was now autumn, and the wind began to blow in the stalks of the lespedeza, while the dew hung heavy on its lower leaves. The resentful hum of the insects, the rustling of the rice-stalks and the falling of the leaves, all bring sad thoughts, and the quickly darkening skies of the short days of autumn always cause gloomy feelings, so we can well imagine how much more melancholy must those of the Heike have been. In former days they used to divert themselves with the spring flowers in the Palace gardens, but now they languished under the autumn moon by the shore of Yashima. While they composed verses to the bright moon, the evenings of Miyako were ever in their thoughts, and so they consoled themselves with tears in their eyes. The following verse made by Sama-no-kami Yukimori well expresses their feelings:

  Where our Sovereign dwells

  Like the moon above the clouds,

  There must be our Court;

  But the ancient Capital

  Still is nearest to our hearts.

  Now if the Commander-in-chief Noriyori had continued to prosecute his attack on the Heike, he could have easily destroyed them, but instead of that he remained with his army at Murotsu and Takasago, amusing himself with a lot of courtesans and harlots that he had got together, and wasting the resources of the country as well as troubling the people to no small extent; and though there were many lords of the East Country with him, both great and small, as he was in supreme command they could do nothing. And in this way the year ended.

  YOSHITSUNE CROSSES TO YASHIMA

  Now on the third day of the second month Kurō Hōgwan Yoshitsune started from Miyako and proceeded to Watanabe and Fukushima in Settsu to get his ships in order, with the intention of attacking Yashima immediately. On the same day his brother Mikawa-no-kami Noriyori left the Capital also, and he too went to Kanzaki in Settsu to prepare his ships for a campaign against the Sanyodo. On the tenth day of the same month the Hō-ō sent an Imperial Envoy to the shrines of Ise and Iwashimizu, and gave orders that all the chief priests of all shrines should offer up prayers for the speedy return of the Emperor and the Three Sacred Treasures to the Capital.

  On the sixteenth day, just as the ships that had been prepared at Watanabe and Fukushima were about to loose their hawsers and set sail, a most violent tempest arose, and the ships were damaged so that they could not put out, so that day was spent in repairing them.

  Then the leaders of the Eastern Provinces, great and small, came together at Watanabe and said; "We have so far had no experience of war at sea, so what shall we do?" "I think we ought to have a 'Sakaro' fitted on these ships," put in Kajiwara. "A 'Sakaro?' What is that?" asked Yoshitsune. "When you ride a horse," replied Kajiwara, "you can gallop forward or back at your pleasure, because it is quite easy to turn either to the right or the left, but it is a pretty difficult matter to swing a ship round; so if we fit oars at both bow and stern, instead of only at the stern as usual, and insert a rudder in the middle, then we shall be able to turn about easily just as we like."

  "What an ill-omened thing to propose at the beginning of a campaign," exclaimed Yoshitsune, "you know armies always set out with the intention of never retreating, and it is only if they meet with a disaster that they retire, so what is the meaning of these preparations for running away? You lords may fit a hundred or a thousand pairs of 'backing-oars' or 'turn-back-oars' or whatever
you like to call them, to your ships, but I shall go with no more than the usual number."

  "A good general," returned Kajiwara, "is one who advances at the proper time, and retreats at the proper time, thus saving his own life and destroying the enemy; that is what is called a good general: but a man of only one idea is called a 'wild-boar-warrior,' and is not thought much of." "Wild-boar or stag, it's all one; the best way to conquer in battle is to attack the enemy's front, and attack again and again."

  Then the chiefs of the Eastern Provinces, as they did not dare to laugh openly at Kajiwara, showed their feelings in their features, and muttered under their breath to each other. Yoshitsune and Kajiwara were on the point of drawing their weapons on each other that day, but fortunately the incident was concluded without any actual quarrel. "Now the ships are repaired and ready," said Yoshitsune, "let us have a bite and a cup in celebration;" and while this was being done the stores and weapons and horses were got on board, and all being prepared he gave the order to set sail. The captains and crews murmured at this, however, crying out: "We have the wind behind us, it is true, but it is a little too strong, and the sea will be very rough outside."

  This angered Yoshitsune exceedingly. "Do you think I am going to stop putting to sea for a little wind?" he cried. "Whether you die on the sea or on land, it is all the result of the Karma of a former life; and if I told you to put out in the teeth of a head-wind you might blame me with some reason, but with the wind behind us, even if it is a little fresher than usual, not to put out at a critical time like this ...! Ho! Men-at-arms! Shoot these fellows if they won't move!" Then Ise Saburō Yoshimori, Satō Saburō Tsuginobu and Satō Shirōhyōye Tadanobu of Mutsu, Eda-no-Genzō, Kumai-no-Tarō, Musashi-bō Benkei and others, each equal to a thousand ordinary men, at once sprang forth. "At our lord's command!" they shouted, "Off with those ships, or we shoot every one of you!" So when the captains and sailors saw them running up with their bows in their hands they cried out: "Whether we drown out there in the sea or are shot here, it is all the same, so put off!"