Excerpt from Natsume Soseki's "Ten Nights of Dreams" (2)

Ten Nights of Dreams – The Second Night

original:

I had such a dream.

When I leave The Room of The Japanese Sun and return to my room along the corridor, the lanterns are dimly lit. One knee was pierced on the zabadan, and when the light core was stirred up, the dingko like the flower fell to the stand of the vermilion paint. At the same time, the room suddenly lit up.

The painting of the fusuma sliding door is a brush of Wu-mura. A black willow is thick and thin, it is near perspective, and the fisherman who seems to be cold inclines the hat and passes on the bank. The axis of HaichuBunshu is at stake on the floor. The incense sticks left behind are dark and still smell. Because it is a large temple, it is not popular as Morikan. The round shadow of the round light on the black ceiling board seemed to live as soon as he was on his back.

It was neatly in the place thought when the zabadan was rolled up with the left hand while the knee was put, the right was inserted, and it saw. The gaming group was corrected as it was, and it sat somewhere on that because it was relieved if there was it.

You are a samurai. Kazunao said that samurai should not be able to understand. It was said that it was not a samurai in front when it had the place which was not able to be understood so indefinitely and it saw. It was said that it was man's waste. I laughed with a cloud that I was angry.

It was said that the proof which had been understood was brought if it regretted and it turned off. outrageous.

By the time the clock on the floor of the next hall strikes the next tick, I'm sure I'll show it. After realizing it, I will enter the room again tonight. And, it replaces it with the head and enlightenment of The Peace. If you don't realize, you can't take your life. I must realize by all means. I am a samurai.

......

Still, it endured and it sat still. He was in the chest with something unbearably painful. It was a state which was extremely extreme as if there was no exit anywhere though it was impatient when the one in the body was lifted from the bottom, and it spouted out to blow out from the pore.

My head changed in the course of time. There seemed to be no lanterns, no paintings of Buson, no tatami mats, no different shelves. It says and nothing does not present at all. It only seemed to have sat caressly. The clock of the next seat began to chine to the place.

I thought. I put my right hand on a dagger right away. The clock chiened the second one.

Translation:

Had such a dream.

When I exited the master's room and turned back to my room along the corridor, I saw that the dim seat lamp had been lit in the room. Kneeling on one knee on the cushion and pulling out the wick, the flower-shaped clove oil popped down on the vermilion lacquered lampstand. At the same time the room was brighter.

The painting on the paper door is from the brush of Wucun (with Xie Wucun, 1717-1783, haiku and painter). The ink-colored willow branches are thick and distinct, scattered near and far in the painting, and the fisherman with the shivering horn wears a bucket and walks on the embankment. On the niche hangs the hanging scroll of Manjushri Bodhisattva. The incense had burned out, but the scent still wafted in the corner of the room. It is a huge temple, and the neighborhood is full of silence and deserted. The shadow of the round seat lamp is reflected on the dark ceiling, and when you look up, you always feel that the shadow is alive.

I still knelt on one knee on the cushion, rolled up the cushion with my left hand, and reached in with my right hand, and the thing was still there. Since you are here, don't worry. Lay the seat cushion flat and sit on it.

"You are a samurai, and as a samurai, you cannot be unenlightened." The master said so. He also said, "Seeing that you have been practicing for so many days and still cannot attain enlightenment, you are probably not a samurai, but the scum of mankind." I laughed back and said, "You're angry"?

The master replied indignantly, "If you are not willing to say it, show the evidence of your enlightenment!" After saying that, turn your head to the other side. How could that be?

Before the clock in front of the alcove in the next hall rings, I will be enlightened to show you. When I am enlightened, I will enter the master's room. At that time, I will exchange my enlightenment for the master's first level. If you cannot become enlightened, you cannot take the life of your master. So, I have to be enlightened. Because I am a samurai.

Still, I sat down in pain. Even though my chest was filled with unbearable bitterness, I held back. The bitterness and impatience wanted to lift the muscles of my whole body and then escape from the pores, but they were blocked in all directions, and they could not find an exit, and the situation was extremely embarrassing.

Soon, I had a strange feeling. The lamps, the paintings of Wucun, the tatami mats, and the trellises all seem to have disappeared, but they all seem to still exist. That being said, this does not mean that "nothing" has appeared before my eyes. I just sat sloppily. Then the grandfather clock in the next room began to ring.

I was shocked. The right hand immediately rested on the short knife. The clock struck a second time.

Follow us

Stay tuned for the next issue