Nori's blog----Novels, Poems, Essays, from Japan

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　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 　　　　　４６

The monk heard the sounds from the hill in this morning and
made a young monk of the temple go to see what is going on at
the hill. According to his report, the hill was full of the lord's
vassals and their horses. And the lord's men were cutting cherry
trees and burning the cut cherry trees there.
The monk was terrified by the sight the young monk reported.
And the monk could hardly understand why the lord started
such act on the hill. But the culprit, who heard the words
of the monk, could understand why the lord made his men cut
the cherry trees on the hill and burnt them quite well.

(To be continued)

Written in Japanese and translated into
English by NISHIOKA Masanori

Original Japanese version is on this web-page.
http://nishiokamasanori.cocolog-nifty.com/blog/

All rights reserved

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　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 　　　　４５

The culprit closed his eyes. He meditated in his dungeon with
his eyes closed. Then he heard the sound of foot someone coming
through the graveyard towards his dungeon among the sounds from
the hill. The culprit recognised it is the foot sound of the monk.
But the culprit noticed the monk's foot sound differs from his
usual foot sound in its fastness. The culprit felt the anxiety of
the monk in the fast foot sound and opened his eyes to stare
the outside of the dungeon. Then he saw the monk who appeared
there breathing roughly after hurrying his walk and gazing the
culprit's face. The monk calmed his own breath and told the
culprit what the sound from the hill was.

(To be continued)

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　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　４４

The sounds became gradually clear. The sound of cutting trees
with axe and sound of trees fall could be heard by the culprit's
strained ears. Human voices and neighs of horses could be also
heard clearly now, though they were distant. And an amazing sound
was added to those sounds. It was the sound of fire. The sound of
burning fire could be heard among those sounds, though it was a
distant sound. Certainly, it was not his mishearing as the culprit
noticed faint smoke and smell of burnt cherry trees began to float
in his dungeon.

(To be continued)

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　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　４３

It seemed that the sound was coming from the hill. The sound
seemed to come from the hill where the lord holds his hanami
banquet every spring and the culprit was caught by the lord
during one of such banquets. Hearing the sound, the culprit
imagined what is going on at the hill now.

(To be continued)

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　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　４２

Cherry flowers have almost disappeared from the front of the
dungeon. Gazing the few cherry flower leafs on the ground,
the culprit strained his ears to the odd sound coming from afar.
Then, the culprit recognised the sound soon. It was a sound to
cut trees afar.

(To be continued)

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　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　４１

It was a quiet morning. There was no wind and the air was warmer
in the morning. The culprit was writing sutra on papers in the
dungeon as usual in the morning.
Suddenly, the culprit stopped writing with his brush in his hand.
He stopprd writing because he heard a certain sound afar.
The culprit concentrated and tried to recognise the sound.
As there was no wind, the culprit could hear the sound well.
The culprit, however, could not recognise what the sound is
at once, being in the dungeon.
Hearing the sounds carefully, one could hear human voices
and neighs of horses as well....“Hunting?”wondered the culprit.
No. it is not hunting, thought the culprit.
Even though those sounds are like them of hunting, one could
hear certain high sounds which one never hears in hunting.
“Battle?”wondered the culprit, who has experiences of
battles by himself. The culprit who knew war could tell it is
not a sound of war at once.
“What on earth is that sound?”wondered the culprit, gazing the
ground in front of his dungeon.

(To be continued)

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　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 　　　　　　　４０

Thus, season of sakura(cherry blossoms) was going to end this
year. The culprit noticed sakura in the outer world of the
dungeon is over, seeing the flower leafs on the ground in front
of the dungeon has decreased.
The culprit regretted the end of sakura, as usual spring, while
he looked forward the sakura in the next year.
However, the horrifying event occurred, when everything seemed
same as usual spring.

(To be continued)

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　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　３９

Moderate weather continued for several days after the lord
visited the temple.
The wind continued to blow but rough wind like storm did not
blow any more. The chill in the morning also let up.
In the temple, the monk visited the dungeon in early morning
and talked with the culprit as usual. They, however, did not
talk about the lord's visit to them a few days ago. It was
as if such visit by the lord did not take place.
The culprit wrote sutra on papers to make hand-written
copy of sutra in the dungeon, as usual, or he spent time by
reading books. Nothing has changed in the way the culprit
spends his time after the lord's visit.

(To be continued)

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　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 　　　　３８

The sun set. After the lord came back, his men made fire as
light here and there on the hill, and the banquet of sake
and sarugaku(Noh dance) were continued under night cherry
till late.

(To be continued)

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　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 　　　 　　　３７

There was a piece of evening cloud in the sky the lord looked
up. The little cloud was of color like a cherry flower and
floated in the blue sky in a shape like a cherry flower leaf.
The lord gazed the spring cloud reflecting the evening light
as if to see a flower leaf on water. The lord, then, finally
rode on his horse. He calmed his excited horse and looked
down the monk from the horse to say “Thanks for your treat.”
to thank him for the tea once more again. The monk deeply
bowed to the lord. Then the lord, who is a renowned horse
rider, said “Go!” to his horse and made a dash. He was
follwed by his escorts on their horses who chased their
master's white horse towards the hill where the hanami banquet
is being continued. They soon disappeared from the sight of
the monk. There remained the monk, other men of the temple,
and the two Deva Kings--the guardian gods of the temple gate
behind the lord.

(To be continued)

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　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 　　　　　３６

The lord was silent. Being silent, the lord did not move. And he
was beginning to ponder something.
The monk found such reaction of the lord unexpecting.
The monk was perplexed that the lord responded in such way
to his answer. And the monk was worried that the lord
does not seem to leave here.
The monk only tried to say that the culprit has no pleasure.
The monk said the culprit's only treasure is cherry flower
leafs wind brings to the dungeon merely in this context.
However, the monk is now surprised that the lord is pondering
something in front of him after he heard the monk's answer.
The monk wondered which part of his answer triggered such
reaction of the lord and wondered what in the lord's mind is.
Then, a bird cried somewhere afar. Hearing the bird's voice,
the lord came to himself. The lord smiled and said “I see.”
in a low voice, while he looked up the sky with an evening
glow.

(To be continued)

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　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 　　　３５

The monk continued
“Every spring, when cherry blossoms bloom, cherry flowers
are brought to the front of the dungeon by the wind.
He looks forward them as his utmost pleasure.”
The lord did not say any word.
“Maybe, those cherry flowers come from the hill, where
your highness holds hanami banquet. The cherry flowers
brought by the wind gather around the the dungeon.”
The monk continued his words without knowing the mind
of the lord.
“I think that is his only pleasure. It seems he has
no any other pleasure to me.”
The monk observed the lord's face when he finished
his words.

(To be continued)

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　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 　　　　３４

The lord stared at the monk. The monk reacted to the lord's
eyes automatically saying
“I think his pleasure is sakura(cherry blossoms).”
“sakura?”
The lord was puzzled. The monk was afraid of only one
thing. The monk feared that the lord might ban the culprit
to do hand-copying of sutras in his dungeon. From this fear,
the monk attempted to impress the lord as if the culprit is
not interested in hand-copying of sutras at all.
Then, the lord asked the monk.
“There isn't a cherry tree around the dungeon, is there?”
The monk, keeping his head below the lord's face, answered.
“You are right sir. But the wind brings fallen cherry
flowers from far places.　”
The lord showed a puzzled face, as if he was tricked by
a fox. But the lord was, then, reminded of the sight
the ground in front of the dungeon had been covered by
white cherry flower leafs, which he has just seen.　

(To be continued)

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　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　３３

The lord continued looking the tea cup in his hands with the
humiliation. Meanwhile, the lord thought he must leave. The
lord left his tea cup aside him on the veranda and bowed to
the monk. The lord said “Thanks for this tea”and put his
straw sandals on to go to his horse.
The monk bowed deeply to the lord and thanked the lord for
his visiting his temple. The monk stood up and chased the
lord who walked to his horse. The lord, however, stopped
his walk when he stood by his horse. He stopped to ride his
horse and turned back to the monk.
The monk wondered what happened. Then the lord asked the
monk gently looking the eyes of the monk.
“Is he always doing like that?”
The monk was puzzled by this sudden question.
But the monk, bowing his head to the lord, replied
“Yes”to the lord.
The lord pondered without a word. The lord, holding
the rein of his horse, asked the monk
“Always?”
“Yes sir.”
The monk could not understand what the lord wanted to
know. But the lord ignored such reaction of the monk
and asked more.　
“What does he do in the dungeon?”
The monk, feeling palpitation, answered the lord.
“Well, he spends his time by writing Buddhism sutra
on papers to make copies, for example.”
The lord did not respond. He pondered for a short time
and asked the monk
“Is it his pleasure?”
The lord had no idea to ban anyone to write sutras on
papers, since the lord, who was very superstitious,
had been convinced he and his family would be punishied
by Buddha if he imposed such ban on anyone. But the
monk feared that the lord might be thinking to ban
the culprit to write sutras in his dungeon.

(To be continued)

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　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 　　３２

The lord could not read the culprit's mind. --How could the
culprit be so calm in front of me? And how could he have
such satisfied expression?--The lord was surprised by his
manner. The lord was surprised and shocked that the culprit
looked too diffirent from what he had imagined. And the lord
feared most that the culprit might have noticed such surprise
in his mind from his expression.--If the culprit did, what
did I come here for!?--The lord could not help but question
to himself.

(To be continued)

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　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　３１

The lord reached the main house of the temple, where the lord
sat on the veranda and asked a cup of green tea. Soon green tea
was served. The lord held the tea cup with his both hands and
drank the green tea slowly. Then the lord pondered something
without a word with the tea cup in his hands.
The monk sat on his knees on the same veranda aside the lord
and waited for the lord's words. But the lord remained silent.
This made the monk anxious again. The sun was going to set.
But the lord, sitting on the veranda, held the tea cup and
did not leave the temple.

(To be continued)

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　　　　　　　　　　　　　 　　　　　　３０

The lord noticed that there is no cherry tree near the dungeon.
The lord noticed the soil in front of the dungeon, however,
is covered with lots of fallen cherry flower leafs. The lord
noticed this and wondered why.
The lord looked his back once more again. The culprit was
there. He was sitting on his knees in the dungeon and gazing
his front. The lord who saw it began to walk again. And he
never turned back again to see the culprit behind him.
However, while he walked towards the temple's main house,
the lord could not help but feel deep emotion of defeat and
regret his coming here today in his mind.

(To be continued)

Written in Japanese and translated into
English by NISHIOKA Masanori

http://norinishioka.blog.co.uk/

http://nishiokamasanori.cocolog-nifty.com/blog/
(Original Japanese version is on this web-page.)

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　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　２９

The lord looked up the sky. He noticed that twilight is
spreading in the spring sky among the branches of trees.
Then the lord looked down slowly and gazed the culprit
in the dungeon once more. However, as the lord thought,
there was nothing diffirent in the manner of the culprit
while the loed was looking up the sky.
The lord was reminded of the hanami banquet being held
on the hill and thought he must return to the banquet.
The lord turned his back to the culprit. And then he
began to walk towards the opposite direction with the
dungeon, namely to the main hall of the temple without
words. The lord was made free from the tension at the
sight. It is over now--the monk thought. But the lord
suddenly stopped his walk there.

(To be continued)

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　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　２８

Then, the wind stopped and silence reigned around
the dungeon. The lord became aware it is useless
for him to stay here any more.
The lord was convinced this culprit would never
cry nor beg his forgiving even if he stayed here more.
Far from it, the lord feared that it might give the culprit
sense of victory if he continued confronting with this
culprit here. It was a situation the lord never imagined
when he arrived here.

(To be continued)

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　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　２７

The lord confronted the culprit who is sitting in the
dungeon.
It seemed that the culprit was gazing the lord's back
from there, while the lord was praying for the jizou
clasping his hands. The wind made the fallen flower
leafs of sakura at the lord's feet dance again.
But the lord was not distracted by the fallen flower
leafs now. The lord remained motionless to gaze the
culprit in the dungeon, while the culprit, sitting
on his knees on the ground in the dungeon, kept
gazing the lord in front of the dungeon.
The two, however, did not see their eyes each other.
They gazed their whole bodies each other and kept
their motionless posture there.
It seemed that the two might maintain their
motionless posture for ever there.
The monk observed them as if to observe a duel.

(To be continued)

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　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 　　　　　２６

The lord came to himself. In the wind, the lord was reminded
of the reason he came here. The lord made up his mind.
He lowered his hands, which he clasped to pray for the jizou,
and turned slowly towards the culprit who was behind his
back.

(To be continued)

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