Ugetsu Monogatari or Tales of Moonlight and Rain (Routledge Revivals)

by Ueda Akinari

  515 ‘Withdrawing to his room’ Fushido ni irinu [5, 5b].

  516 ‘Towering gate was smothered with brambles and thorns,’ etc. Rōmon wa ubara oi-kakari, etc.: cf. Ritakugo hiten chūgi suikoden, 6, 1a-2b; see also, ch. 6, of the 120 ch. version of Water Margin, I pai erh shih hui te Shui hu (Shanghai: Commercial Press, 1959), 1, 97. The equivalent passage in Buck, All Men Are Brothers, I, 107 (from the 70 ch. version) does not reveal the full extent of Akinari's indebtedness.

  517 ‘Hour of the monkey’ Saru: about 3.30 to 5.30 p.m.

  518 ‘Food’ Tokiryō: Japanese gloss with the Chinese characters meaning literally, ‘abstainence supplies,’ a Buddhist name for the meal eaten before noon, after which one abstains from food; cf. the English ‘breakfast.’

  519 Michinoku: or, Mutsu, part of the modern prefectures of Fukushima, Miyagi, I wate, and Aomori, where during the middle ages a number of Zen temples, especially of the Soto sect, were being built (see note 15).

  520 ‘To go back now’ Sato ni [5, 6a] kudaran.

  521 ‘Half-past the hour of the rat’ Ne hitotsu: around midnight.

  522 ‘The garden’ Niwa wo [5, 6b].

  523 ‘Your condition is disgraceful ‘Asamashi [5, 7a] to mo.

  524 Verse: from the Ch'eng tao k'e (Japanese, Shōdōka; Songs of Experience), comp. Yung Chia (665-713), a Chinese Buddhist priest of the T'ang dynasty. See also the no play, Yoroboshi, where the answer is, ‘The green mountains that fill my eyes / Only exist within my heart,’ in NKBT, vol. 40, p. 411; and Nippon Gakujutsu Shinkokai, ed., Japanese Noh Drama: Ten Plays Selected and Translated . . ., 111 (Tokyo: Nippon Gakujutsu Shinkōkai, 1960), 109-10.

  525 ‘Whether the monk was living or dead’ Nao sō ga [5, 7b] sei shi.

  526 ‘Godless Month’ Kaminazuki: see note 25.

  527 ‘Every sign marked’ Ika- [5, 8a] sama ni mo.

  528 ‘Dew drenched him as though autumn rains were falling’ Tsuyu wa shigure-mekite furi-koboretaru ni: cf. The Tale of Genji, p. 319; and NKBT, vol. 15, p. 155, where Genji, after his return from exile at Suma and Akashi pays a nocturnal visit to Princess Suyetsumu, who lives in neglect and isolation at the Hitachi Palace (see also notes 222 and 384).

  529 ‘ Impossible to tell which way the path led’ Mitsu no michi sae wakara-laru: literally, ‘three paths,’ the number conventionally found in a Chinese or Japanese garden. See The Tale of Genji, p. 314; and NKBT, vol. 15, pp. 147, 454, n. 176.

  530 ‘As frost that meets the morning sun’ Kōri no asahi ni au ga gotoku [5, 8b].

  531 ‘Founder’ Shoso: the first patriarch of the Zen sect, Bodhidharma (d. AD 528).

  532 ‘Shingon sect’ Misshu: literally, ‘the esoteric sect,’ introduced into Japan by Kūkai.

  533 Soto: (Chinese, Ts'ao T'ung) one of the two branches of the Zen sect. Based on the teachings of the Sixth Patriarch, Hui Neng (Enō, in Japanese, 638-713), as preserved by his disciple, Ts'ao Chi on Mt T'ung (therefore, Ts'ao T'ung, or in Japanese, Soto), and introduced into Japan by Dōgen (1200-53). Along with the Eiheiji, in Fukui Prefecture, the Sōjiji, in Yokohama, is the most important temple of this sect.

  9 Wealth and Poverty

  534 Mutsu: another name for Michinoku (see notes 15 and 519).

  535 Gamō Ujisato: (1556-95) one of the most brilliant military leaders of his day. He was descended from a distinguished family and baptised as a Christian. He served both Nobunaga and Hideyoshi, and the former gave him one of his daughters in marriage. Fearing his skill and bravery, Hideyoshi transferred him to Wakamatsu Castle, in the Aizu area of Fukushima, and in the end had him poisoned.

  536 Oka Sanai: This name, or its variation, Okano Sanai, appears in several anecdotal sources of the early modern period, most notably in the Okinagusa, comp. Kamisawa Sadamoto (1710-95). Here Sanai's wealth, bravery, service to the Gamō family, and the behaviour mentioned in the opening passage of the tale are recorded. See the text in Nihon zuihitsu taisei, 3rd Ser., vol. 11 (Tokyo: Nihon Zuihitsu Taisei Kankōkai, 1931), pp. 367-8.

  537 ‘East of the barrier’ Kan no higashi: east of the checkpoint between Hakone and Odawara on the Tōkaidō Post Road.

  538 ‘Indecorously in one detail’ Katawa na- [5, 9a] ru koto ari

  539 ‘ Jewel from the Kunlun Mountain’ Konzan no tama: in ancient China, the name of a legendary peak of fabulous height, which produced rich jewels. It is mentioned in such texts as the Liu tzu hsin lun and the Lü shih ch'un ch'iu.

  540 ‘A T'ang-hsi or Mo-yang blade’ Tōkei Bokuyō no tsurugi: woodblock, tsuruki; swords produced in these places are mentioned in ancient Chinese texts, such as the Chan kuo ts'e and Huai nan tzu.

  541 ‘Of a man of humble position’ lyashiki mi no [5, 9b].

  542 Ryō: a measure of gold. Many gold coins were manufactured in Japan around the end of the middle ages, and it is hard to determine their purity and weight. Akinari may have had in mind the ten-ryō coins known as Tenshō ōban, which were minted in 1588. Typical examples have been weighed at 44.1 momme (5.843 oz.) and analysed as being 7.384 parts gold to 2.616 parts of silver.

  543 ‘In gratitude’ Ureshisa ni [5,10a].

  544 ‘The rich need not be haughty’ Tomite ogoranu: cf. the Confucian Analects, Legge, The Chinese Classics, I, 144.

  545 ‘Wealthy men are always stingy and almost invariably stupid’ Tomeru mono wa kanarazu kadamashi, tomeru mono wa ōku oroka nari: cf. Wu tsa tsu, 5, 7a-9b, for Hsieh's discussion of wealth and poverty, which had considerable influence on Akinari's views.

  546 ‘Shih Ch'ung of Chin and Wang Yüan-pao of T'ang’ Shin no Sekisō Tō no Ōgenhō: cf. ibid., pp. 7b, 8a. The biography of Shih Ch'ung (d. AD 300) may be found in the dynastic history, Chin shu, ch. 33. Shih was a man of vast wealth, who owned ‘thirty-eight water wheels and eight hundred slaves.’ But in the end his riches were confiscated, and he and his family were executed.

  547 ‘Affluent men of old,’ etc. Inishie tomeru hito, etc.: cf. Wu tsa tsu, 5, 7a-b.

  548 ‘When the Grand Duke Wang was enfeoffed in Ch'i,’ etc. Ryobō Sei ni hō-zerarete, etc.: at the beginning of the Chou dynasty, in China. The land was damp, brackish, and sparsely populated, but he developed trade and industry and soon made the state one of the most prosperous in China. See Watson, trans., Records of the Grand Historian of China, by Ssu-ma Ch'ien (New York: Columbia University Press, 1961), 11, 478.

  549 ‘Kuan Chung nine times called conferences of the feudal lords,’ etc. Kanchū kokonotabi shokō wo awasete, etc.: in China, in the state of Ch'i, under the reign of Duke Huan (685-643 BC). It was not he but his ruler, Duke Huan, who summoned the other feudal lords for conferences, but owing to Kuan's policies the state remained rich and powerful for three centuries. Cf. ibid., 478-9.

  550 ‘Men such as Fan Li, Tzu-kung, and Po Kuei’ Hanrei, Shiko, Hakkei ga tomogara: Fan Li, along with Chi-jan, advised King Kou-ch'ien of Yüeh (496-465 BC) how to build a strong state. Later, he decided to apply the wisdom for himself, and he went to T'ao, where as a merchant he became a wealthy man known as Lord Chu. Fan Li's exploits are also sung in the no play, Funa-Benkei.

  Tzu-kung was a wealthy disciple of Confucius.

  Po Kuei was a famous Chinese merchant during the time of Marquis Wen of Wei (403-387 BC). See ibid., 481-3.

  551 ‘Worked for profit’ Ri wo [5, 10b] ōte.

  552 ‘Ssu-ma Ch'ien wrote of these men in his “Biographies of the Money-Lenders” ‘ Kore-ra no hito wa tsuranete Kashokuden wo shirushi haberu: Ssu-ma Chien (135-ca. 93 BC), famous Chinese historian and author of the Shih chi (Records of the Grand Historian). See ibid.

  553 ‘Later scholars contemptuously reproached him’ Sō iu tokoro iyashi to te, nochi no hakase fude wo kisōte soshiru: Commercial activity was supposed to be vulgar, and a proper historian ought not to have praised people who practiced it. Such criticism may be found in Pan Ku's biography of Ssu-ma Ch'ien in the Han shu and also in the commentary of a late-Ming edition of the Shih chi, entitled Shih chi p'ing lin (Japanese, Shiki hyōrin), which was fr
equently reprinted in Japan and probably read by Akinari. See Goto Tanji, ‘Chūgoku no tenseki to Ugetsu monogatari,’ Kokugo kokubun, 21, no. 11 (1952), 28.

  554 ‘Without a steady livelihood no man can feel satisfied’ Tsune no nariwai naki wa tsune no kokoro nashi: reflecting The Book of Mencius; cf. de Bary, Sources of Chinese Tradition, p. 107.

  555 ‘A man with a thousand weights of gold does not die in the market place’ Sen kin no ko wa ichi ni shisezu: cf. ‘A family with a thousand catties of gold may stand side by side with the lord of a city,’ Watson, Records, 11, 499.

  556 ‘The rich man and the king enjoy the same pleasures’ Fūki no hito wa ōsha to tanoshimi wo onajū su: cf. ibid.

  557 ‘Fish are plentiful in deep pools, and animals abundant on great mountains’ Fuchi fukakereba uo yoku asobi, yama nagakereba kemono yoku sodatsu: also found in ‘The Biographies of the Money Lenders.’

  558 ‘Cheerful though poor’ Mazushū shite tanoshimu: cf. the Analects. Confucius admitted that a poor man that does not flatter his betters or a rich man who is not proud may be praiseworthy. But he pointed out that one ‘who, though poor, is yet cheerful,’ or one, ‘who though rich, loves the rules of propriety,’ is even superior. Legge, Chinese Classics, I, 144.

  559 ‘Maiming people’ Hito wo sokonai [5, 11a].

  560 ‘Appreciate your giving me a full reply’ Tsubara ni shimesase tamae [5, 11b].

  561 ‘Give complete loyalty to their lord’ Kimi ni chū naru kagi- [5, 12a] ri wo tsukushi.

  562 ‘Yen-tzu, who scarcely knew the taste of a single gourd’ Ganshi ga ichi hyō no ajiwai wo mo shirazu: cf. the Analects, where it is said that in spite of his living in a mean and narrow lane and having only a single gourd dish to drink from, he continued to enjoy life. Legge, Chinese Classics, I, 188.

  563 ‘Virtuous acts and good deeds performed in this world’ Genze no intoku zenkō [5, 12b].

  564 ‘By what sort of karma’ Ika naru mukui no naseru ni ya [5, 13a]: mukui, more literally, ‘retribution.’

  565 ‘His ancestors received it, and his descendants preserved it’ Sōbyō kore wo ukete shison kore wo tamotsu: cf. The Doctrine of the Mean, Legge, Chinese Classics, I, 398-9.

  566 ‘The principles of earth’ Kurd no ri wo [5, 14b]: Kuni; Japanese kana gloss with the Chinese character for ‘earth’ or ‘land.’ An alternative translation might be ‘the benefits to the nation,’ cf. Wu tsa tsu, 5, 7b.

  567 ‘Bestows his largess’ Megumi [5, 15 a] hodokoshi.

  568 ‘When they found it they took it, but when they could not get it they stopped seeking’ Motomete yō areba motome, yō nakuba motomezu: wood-block, motomesu; cf. the Analects, Legge, Chinese Classics, I, 198.

  569 ‘I do not depend on a permanent master’ Tanomi to suru nushi mo sadamarazu; cf. Watson, Records, 11, 499.

  570 ‘When you think I've gathered’ Atsumaru ka to su- [5, 15b] reba.

  571 ‘Like water flowing downward’ Mizu no hikuki kata ni katabuku ga gotoshi: wood-block, katafuku; cf. Watson, Records, 11, 477.

  572 Mt T'ai: In Shantung Province, one of the most famous peaks in China. It appears often in classical and popular literature.

  573 ‘Gentleman’ Kunshi: used in the Chinese sense of a person who has the vision to see beyond personal profit and material interest to the broader needs of the state and mankind. See de Bary, Sources of Chinese Tradition, pp. 20-1.

  574 ‘Four Seas . . . Five Provinces and the Seven Marches’ Shikai . . . goki shichidō: The five provinces that make up the area around the capital and the seven large administrative units into which the rest of the country was divided in ancient times, or in other words, the entire nation. An expression found in early Chinese classics, ‘The Four Seas’ meant the whole world.

  575 ‘Here and there,’ etc. Ochi-kochi ni hiso- [5, 16a] mi kakure.

  576 Shingen: Takeda Shingen (1521-73); lord of the province of Kai (Yamanashi Prefecture), he strove to increase the productivity of the land and to improve the welfare of the people in order to strengthen his domains and expand his power. He died of illness while campaigning against Oda Nobunaga.

  577 Nobunaga: Oda Nobunaga (1534-82), who gained renown following his victory over Imagawa Yoshimoto in 1560 at Okehazama. Eventually he deposed the last Ashikaga shogun, winning control of the area around Kyoto. He was assassinated in 1582 by Akechi Mitsuhide.

  578 Kenshin: Uesugi Kenshin (1530-78); master of the present-day prefectures of Ishikawa, Toyama, and Niigata, he struggled for power against his perennial rivals, Takeda Shingen and the Hōjō family of Odawara.

  579 ‘Nobunaga possessed outstanding skill’ Nobunaga no [5, 16b] kiryō hito ni suguretaredomo.

  580 Shibata: Shibata Katsuie (1522-83), retainer of Nobunaga. Later he tried to block Hideyoshi's rise to power, but he failed and was forced to commit suicide.

  581 Niwa: Niwa Nagahide (1535-85), who served both Nobunaga and Hideyoshi.

  582 Hashiba: a surname Hideyoshi used at one point during his meteoric rise from nameless peasant stock to the leadership of the nation. The name Hashiba was made up of the characters for bata, in Shibata (also pronounced hashi), and wa, in Niwa (also pronounced ba).

  583 ‘Rarely live longer than three years’ Inochi wazuka-ni mitose wo sugizu; cf. Wu tsa tsu, 9, 3a.

  584 ‘In every household they will sing “The Dance of the Thousand Autumns’” Ko-ko ni Sen- [5, 17a] shūraku wo utawan: Senshūraku, a composition of gagaku, or court music, by Minamoto no Yoriyoshi. First performed in 1069, it is still used on such occasions as the enthronement of the emperor. It symbolises peace and prosperity.

  585 ‘Ming grass of Yao’ Gyōmei: an auspicious plant said to have flourished in China during the reign of the sage emperor Yao. From the new moon on the Ist, to the full moon on the 15 th day of each lunar month it put forth a leaf, after which it lost one daily until the moon grew dark.

  586 ‘The hundred names could depend on their home’ Hyaku sei ie ni yoru: i.e., ‘home,’ is written with the same character as that for ie in Toku-gawa Teyasu's name. Therefore, the spirit proclaims that Ieyasu will lead the nation to an era of peace, just as did the sage kings of China in days of old.

  APPENDIX 1

  Imperial Succession in the Twelfth Century

  APPENDIX 2

  Alphabetical Index to the First Line of Verses Translated in the Text and Notes

  1 English

  1 ‘All through the night’ to naki), n. 11.

  2 ‘Alone in a cold grove I prayed’ (Chinese), p. 142.

  3 ‘As I wander’ (Sasurōru), n. 16.

  4 ‘At Hase Temple’ (Hatsuse yamd), n. 145.

  5 ‘At Osaka Barrier’ (Osaka no), n. 203.

  6 ‘At these pine-clad hills’ (Matsuyama no), p. 100.

  7 ‘Beyond a reed fence’ (Hana-guwashi), n. 425.

  8 ‘Brothers may quarrel within the walls’ (Chinese), p. 102

  9 ‘But you should know’ (Hito shirezu), n. 233.

  10 ‘By Matsuo Shrine’ (Matsunoo no), p. 142.

  11 ‘Even a bird's call’ (Tori no ne mo), p. 142 and p. 147.

  12 ‘Even though, My Lord’ (Yoshi ya kimi), p. IO7.

  13 ‘How fearsome is the wind’ (Obotsukand), n. 278.

  14 ‘How painful it is’ (Kurushikumo), p. 163.

  15 ‘I cannot convey’ (Mi no usa wa), p. 122.

  16 ‘I have wept in sorrow’ (Sari-tomo to), p. 129.

  17 ‘I shall pray’ (Inochi dani), n. 195.

  18 ‘If there were a horse’ (Ano oto sezu), n. 221.

  19 ‘In a forest grove’ (Ashibiki no), n. 426.

  20 ‘In case you forget’ (JVasuretemo), p. 145.

  21 ‘It's a good place to live’ (Sumiyoshi to), n. 219.

  22 ‘Just as the colour’ (Iro kawaru), n. 164.

  23 ‘No matter how much’ (Inishie no), p. 132.

  24 ‘No matter where I go’ (Izuku ni ka), n. 194.

  25 ‘Now how many times’ (Iku kaeri), n. 196.

  26 ‘On Hat
suse River’ (Hatsuse-gawa), n. 458.

  27 ‘On the autumn peaks’ (Akiyama no), n. 9.

  28 ‘Plover on the beach’ (Hama chidori), p. 105.

  29 ‘She was as lovely’ (Hana-guwashi), n. 425.

  30 ‘Silk and finery’ (Tamaginu no), n. 332.

  31 ‘The billows of cloud’ (Katsuragi ya), n. 460.

  32 ‘The moon is not the same’ (Tsukiya aranu), n. 239.

  33 ‘The people who stroll’ (Kachibito no), n. 270.

  34 ‘The place is desolate’ (Sato wa arete), n. 237.

  35 ‘The purple grasses’ (Murasaki no), n. 14.

  36 ‘They who live at court’ (Kumo no ue mo), n. 189.

  37 ‘Though it may have shone’ (Tamadare no), n. 331.

  38 ‘Though these pine-clad hills’ (Matsuyama no), p. 99.

  39 ‘Upon the bay the moonlight glows’ (Chinese), p. 192 and p. 193.

  40 ‘When the good men of old’ (Yoki hito no), n. 465.

  41 ‘When the Ming grass of Yao grew each day’ (Chinese), p. 203.

  42 ‘Where the cock crows’ {Tori ga naku), n. 246.

  43 ‘With burnt offerings we wait’ (Keshi taki akasu), p. 148.

  44 ‘Year after year has passed’ (Toshi mo henu), n. 460.

  2 Japanese

  1 Akiyama no (‘On the autumn peaks’), n. 9.

  2 Ano oto sezu (‘If there were a horse’), n. 221.

  3 Ashibiki no (‘In a forest grove’), n. 426.

  4 Hama chidori (‘Plover on the beach’), p. 105.

  5 Hana-guwashi/ashi-kaki-goshi-ni (‘Beyond a reed fence’), n. 425.

  6 Hana-guwashisakura no mede (‘She was as lovely’), n. 425.

  7 Hatsuse-gawa (‘On Hatsuse River’), n. 458.

  8 Hatsuse yama (‘At Hase Temple’), n. 145.

  9 Hito shirezu (‘But you should know’), n. 233.

  10 Iku kaeri (‘Now how many times’), n. 196.

  11 Inishie no (‘No matter how much’), p. 132.