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『付記』 著者鴨長明 出版者村上平楽寺 出版年月日正保4 [1647] (国立国会図書館)

方丈記検索 HOJOKI YouTube 朗読全文 概要 English 鴨長明 CHOMEI 試聴 DVD 朗読 解説 祝詞 朗読1-15



方丈記  (THE HOJOKI)

- 鴨長明 - ( KAMO NO CHOMEI)
   [朗読原文] [朗読訳NHK] 〇[全文の朗読と書] [朗読現代語訳],

(一)行く河の流れは絶えずして ** 人と栖(すみか)との無常  **
   ゆく河の流れは絶えずして、しかも、もとの水にあらず。よどみに浮ぶうたかたは、かつ消え、かつ結びて、久しくとゞまりたる例(ためし)なし。世中にある、人と栖(すみか)と、またかくのごとし。  玉敷(たましき)の都のうちに、棟(むね)を並べ、甍(いらか)を争へる、高き、賤しき(いやしき)人の住ひは、世々を経て、尽きせぬ物なれど、是をまことかと尋れば、昔しありし家は稀なり。或は去年(こぞ)焼けて今年つくれり。或は大家(おおいえ)ほろびて小家となる。住む人も是に同じ。所もかはらず、人も多かれど、いにしへ見し人は、二、三十人が中に、わづかにひとりふたりなり。朝(あした)に死に、夕(ゆうべ)に生るゝならひ、たゞ水の泡にぞ似たりける。  不知(しらず)、生れ死ぬる人、何方(いずかた)より来たりて、何方へか去る。又不知、仮の宿り、誰が為にか心を悩まし、何によりてか目を喜ばしむる。その、主(あるじ)と栖(すみか)と、無常を争ふさま、言はばあさがほの露に異ならず。或は露落ちて花残れり。残るといへども、朝日(あさひ)に枯れぬ。或は花しぼみて露なほ消えず。消えずといへども、夕(ゆふべ)を待つ事なし。

(二)われ、ものの心を知れりしより **  安元の大火 **
 予、ものの心を知れりしより、四十あまりの春秋をおくれるあひだに、世の不思議を見る事、やゝたびたびになりぬ。  去、安元三年四月廿八日かとよ、風はげしく吹きて、静かならざりし夜、戌の時許、都の東南より火出できて、西北に至る。はてには、朱雀門、大極殿、大学寮、民部省などまで移りて、一夜のうちに塵灰となりにき。  火もとは、樋口富の小路とかや、舞人を宿せる仮屋よりいできたりけるとなん。吹き迷ふ風に、とかく移りゆくほどに、扇をひろげたるがごとく末広になりぬ。遠き家は煙にむせび、近きあたりはひたすら焔を地に吹きつけたり。空には灰を吹き立てたれば、火の光に映じて、あまねく紅なる中に、風に堪へず、吹き切られたる焔、飛が如くして一二町を越えつゝ移りゆく。其中の人、うつし心あらむや。或は煙にむせびて倒れ伏し、或は焔にまぐれてたちまちに死ぬ。或は身ひとつ、からうじてのがるゝも、資財を取出るに及ばず。七珍万宝さながら灰燼となりにき。其費え、いくそばくぞ。其たび、公卿の家十六焼けたり。まして、其外数へ知るに及ばず。惣て都のうち、三分が一に及べりとぞ。男女死ぬるもの数十人、馬牛のたぐひ辺際を不知。  人の営み、皆おろかなるなかに、さしもあやふき京中の家をつくるとて、宝を費し、心を悩ます事は、すぐれてあぢきなくぞ侍る。

(三)また、治承四年卯月のころ ** 治承の辻風 **
 又、治承四年卯月のころ、中御門京極のほどより大きなる辻風おこりて、六条わたりまで吹ける事侍りき。  三四町を吹きまくる間に、こもれる家ども、大きなるも小さきも一つとして破れざるはなし。さながら平に倒れたるもあり、桁・柱ばかり残れるもあり。門を吹きはなちて四五町がほかにおき、又垣を吹きはらひて隣とひとつになせり。いはむや、家のうちの資財、数をつくして空にあり。桧皮・葺板のたぐひ、冬の木の葉の風に乱るが如し。塵を煙の如く吹たてたれば、すべて目も見えず。おびたゝしく鳴りどよむほどに、もの言ふ声も聞えず。彼地獄の業の風なりとも、かばかりにこそはとぞおぼゆる。  家の損亡せるのみにあらず。是をとりつくろふ間に、身をそこなひ片輪づける人、数も知らず。この風、未の方に移りゆきて、多くの人の歎きなせり。  辻風はつねに吹く物なれど、かゝる事やある。たゞ事にあらず、さるべきもののさとしか、などぞうたがひ侍りし。

(四)また、治承四年水無月のころ ** 福原への遷都 **
 又、治承四年水無月の比、にはかに都遷り侍き。いと思ひの外なりし事なりき。  おほかた、此の京のはじめを聞ける事は、嵯峨の天皇の御時、都と定まりにけるよりのち、すでに四百余歳を経たり。ことなるゆゑなくて、たやすく改まるべくもあらねば、これを世の人やすからず憂へあへる、実にことわりにもすぎたり。  されど、とかくいふかひなくて、帝よりはじめたてまつりて、大臣・公卿みな悉くうつろひ給ひぬ。世に仕ふるほどの人、たれか一人ふるさとに残りをらむ。官・位に思をかけ、主君のかげを頼むほどの人は、一日なりともとくうつろはむとはげみ、時をうしなひ世にあまされて期する所なきものは、うれへながらとまりをり。軒を争ひし人のすまひ、日を経つゝ荒れゆく。家はこぼたれて淀河に浮び、地は目のまへに畠となる。人の心みな改まりて、たゞ馬・鞍をのみ重くす。牛・車を用する人なし。西南海の領所を願ひて、東北の庄薗を好まず。  その時、おのづから事のたよりありて、津の国の今の京にいたれり。所のありさまを見るに、その地、ほど狭くて、条里をわるにたらず。北は山にそひて高く、南は海近くて下れり。波の音常にかまびすしく、しほ風殊にはげし。内裏は山の中なれば、彼木の丸殿もかくやと、なかなかやうかはりて優なるかたも侍り。日々にこぼち、川もせに運び下す家、いづくにつくれるにかあるらむ。なほむなしき地は多く、つくれる家は少し。  古京はすでに荒て、新都はいまだならず。ありとしある人は、皆浮雲の思ひをなせり。もとよりこの所にをるものは、地を失ひてうれふ。今移れる人は、土木のわづらひある事を嘆く。道のほとりを見れば、車に乗るべきは馬に乗り、衣冠・布衣なるべきは、多く直垂を着たり。都の手振里たちまちに改まりて、たゞひなたる武士に異ならず。  世の乱るゝ瑞相とかきけるもしるく、日を経つゝ世中浮き立ちて、人の心もをさまらず。民のうれへ、つひにむなしからざりければ、同じき年の冬、なほこの京に帰り給にき。されど、こぼちわたせりし家どもは、いかになりにけるにか、悉くもとの様にしもつくらず。  伝へ聞く、いにしへの賢き御世には、あはれみを以て国を治め給ふ。すなはち殿に茅ふきて、その軒をだにとゝのへず、 煙の乏しきを見たまふ時は、限りあるみつぎ物をさへゆるされき。是、民を恵み世をたすけ給ふによりてなり。今の世のありさま、昔になぞらへて知りぬべし

(五)また、養和のころとか、久くなりて ** 養和の飢饉 **
 又養和のころとか、久くなりておぼえず。二年があひだ、世中飢渇して、あさましき事侍りき。或は春・夏ひでり、或は秋、大風・洪水など、よからぬ事どもうち続きて、五穀事々くならず。むなしく、春かへし夏植うるいとなみありて、秋刈り冬収むるぞめきはなし。  是によりて、国々の民、或は地を棄てゝ境を出で、或は家を忘れて山にすむ。さまざまの御祈はじまりて、なべてならぬ法ども行はるれど、更に其しるしなし。京のならひ、なにわざにつけてもみなもとは田舎をこそ頼めるに、たへて上るものなければ、さのみやはみさをもつくりあへん。念じわびつゝ、さまざまの財物かたはしより捨つるが事くすれども、更に目見立つる人なし。たまたまかふるものは、金を軽くし、粟を重くす。乞食、路のほとりに多く、うれへ悲しむ声耳に満てり。  前の年、かくの如くからうじて暮れぬ。あくる年は立ち直るべきかと思ふほどに、あまりさへ疫癘うちそひて、まさゞまに、あとかたなし。  世人みなけいしぬれば、日を経つゝきはまりゆくさま、少水の魚のたとへにかなへり。はてには、笠うち着、足ひきつゝみ、よろしき姿したる物、ひたすらに家ごとに乞ひ歩く。かくわびしれたるものどもの、歩くかと見れば、すなはち倒れ伏しぬ。築地のつら、道のほとりに、飢ゑ死ぬる物のたぐひ、数も不知。取り捨つるわざも知らねば、くさき香世界にみち満て、変りゆくかたちありさま、目もあてられぬこと多かり。いはむや、河原などには、馬・車の行きかふ道だになし。  あやしき賎・山がつも力尽きて、薪さへ乏しくなりゆけば、頼むかたなき人は、みづらが家をこぼちて、市に出でゝ売る。一人が持ちて出でたる価、一日が命にだに不及とぞ。あやしき事は、薪の中に赤き丹着き、箔など所々に見ゆる木、あひまじはりけるを、尋ぬればすべきかたなきもの、古寺に至りて仏をぬすみ、堂の物の具を破り取りて、割りくだけるなりけり。濁悪世にしも生れあひてかゝる心うきわざをなん見侍し。  またいとあはれなる事も侍き。さりがたき妻・をとこもちたるものは、その思ひまさりて深きもの、必先立ちて死ぬ。その故は、わが身は次にして、人をいたはしく思ふあひだに、まれまれ得たるくひ物をも、かれに譲るによりてなり。されば親子ある物は、定まれる事にて、親ぞ先立ちける。又、母の命尽きたるを不知して、いとけなき子の、なほ乳を吸ひつゝ臥せるなどもありけり。  仁和寺に隆暁法印といふ人、かくしつゝ数も不知死る事を悲しみて、その首の見ゆるごとに、額に阿字を書きて、縁を結ばしむるわざをなんせられける。人数を知らむとて、四・五両月を数へたりければ、京のうち一条よりは南、九条より北、京極よりは西、朱雀よりは東の、路のほとりなる頭、すべて四万二千三百余りなんありける。いはむや、その前後に死ぬる物多く、又、河原・白河・西の京、もろもろの辺地などを加へていはば、際限もあるべからず。いかにいはむや、七道諸国をや。  崇徳院の御位の時、長承のころとか、かゝるためしありけりと聞けど、その世のありさまは知らず。まのあたりめづらかなりし事也。

(六)また、同じころかとよ。おびたゝしく大地震ふること ** 元暦の大地震 **
 又、同じころかとよ。おびたゝしく大地震ふること侍き。そのさまよのつねならず。山はくづれて河を埋み、海は傾きて陸地をひたせり。土さけて水わきいで、巌われて谷にまろびいる。なぎさ漕ぐ船は波にたゞよひ、道行く馬はあしの立ちどをまどはす。都のほとりには、在々所々、堂舎塔廟、一つとして全からず。或はくづれ、或はたふれぬ。塵灰たちのぼりて、盛りなる煙の如し。地の動き、家のやぶるゝ音、雷にことならず。家の内にをれば、忽にひしげなんとす。走り出づれば、地割れ裂く。羽なければ、空をも飛ぶべからず。竜ならばや、雲にも乗らむ。恐れのなかに恐るべかりけるは、只地震なりけりとこそ覚え侍しか。  かくおびたゞしくふる事は、しばしにして止みにしかども、そのなごり、しばしは絶えず。よのつね、驚くほどの地震、二三十度ふらぬ日はなし。十日・廿日すぎにしかば、やうやう間遠になりて、或は四五度、二三度、若は一日まぜ、二三日に一度など、おほかた、そのなごり三月ばかりや侍りけむ。  四大種のなかに、水・火・風はつねに害をなせど、大地にいたりては、ことなる変をなさず。昔、斉衡のころとか、大地震ふりて、東大寺の御首落ちなど、いみじき事どもはべりけれど、なほこの度には如かずとぞ。すなはちは、人みなあぢきなき事をのべて、いさゝか心の濁りもうすらぐと見えしかど、月日かさなり、年経にしのちは、事ばにかけて言い出づる人だになし。

(七)すべて、世中のありにくく ** 世の中に生活する悩み **
 すべて、世中のありにくゝ、わが身とすみかとの、はかなくあだなるさま、又、かくのごとし。いはむや、所により、身のほどにしたがひつゝ、心をなやます事は、あげて不可計。  若、おのれが身、数ならずして、権門のかたはらにをるものは、深くよろこぶ事あれども、大きにたのしむにあたはず。なげき切なるときも、声をあげて泣くことなし。進退やすからず。たちゐにつけて、恐れをのゝくさま、たとへば、雀の鷹の巣に近づけるがごとし。若、貧しくて、富める家のとなりにをるものは、朝夕すぼき姿を恥ぢて、へつらひつゝ出で入る。妻子・僮僕のうらやめるさまを見るにも、福家の人のないがしろなるけしきを聞くにも、心、念々に動きて、時としてやすからず。若、せばき地にをれば、近く炎上ある時、その災をのがるゝ事なし。若、辺地にあれば、往反わづらひ多く、盗賊の難はなはだし。又、いきほいある物は貪欲ふかく、独身なる物は人にかろめらる。財あればおそれ多く、貧ければうらみ切也。人を頼めば、身、他の有なり。人をはぐくめば、心、恩愛につかはる。世にしたがへば、身、くるし。したがはねば、狂せるに似たり。いづれの所をしめて、いかなるわざをしてか、しばしも此の身を宿し、たまゆらも心を休むべき。

(八)わが身、父方の祖母の家をつたへて ** 出家・とん世と方丈の庵 **
 わが身、父方の祖母の家をつたへて、久しくかの所に住む。其後、縁かけて、身おとろへ、しのぶかたがたしげかりしかど、つひにあととむる事を得ず。三十あまりにして、更にわが心と、一の菴をむすぶ。  是をありしすまひにならぶるに、十分が一也。居屋ばかりをかまへて、はかばかしく屋をつくるに及ばず。わづかに築地を築けりといへども、門を建つるたづきなし。竹を柱として車をやどせり。雪降り、風吹くごとに、あやふからずしもあらず。所、河原近ければ、水難も深く、白波のおそれもさわがし。  すべて、あられぬ世を念じ過しつゝ、心をなやませる事、三十余年也。其間、をりをりのたがひめ、おのづからみじかき運をさとりぬ。すなはち、五十の春を迎へて、家を出で、世を背けり。もとより妻子なければ、捨てがたきよすがもなし。身に官禄あらず、何に付けてか執を留めん。むなしく大原山の雲にふして、又五かへりの春秋をなん経にける。
 こゝに、六十の露消えがたに及びて、更に、末葉の宿りを結べる事あり。いはゞ、旅人の一夜の宿をつくり、老たる蚕の繭を営むがごとし。是を中ごろのすみかにならぶれば、又、百分が一に及ばず。とかくいふほどに、齢は歳々にたかく、栖はをりをりにせばし。その家のありさま、よのつねにも似ず。広さはわづかに方丈、高さは七尺がうちなり。所を思ひ定めざるがゆゑに、地を占めてつくらず。土居を組み、うちおほひを葺きて、継目ごとにかけがねを掛けたり。若、心にかなはぬ事あらば、やすくほかへ移さむがためなり。その、あらためつくる事、いくばくのわづらひかある。積むところわづかに二両、車の力を報ふほかには、さらに他の用途いらず。

(九)いま、日野山の奥に跡をかくしてのち ** 日野山の草庵生活の種々相 **
 いま、日野山の奥に跡をかくしてのち、東に三尺余の庇をさして、柴折りくぶるよすがとす。南、竹の簀子を敷き、その西に閼伽棚をつくり、北によせて障子をへだてて、阿弥陀の絵像を安置し、そばに普賢をかき、まへに法花経をおけり。東のきはに蕨のほどろを敷きて、夜の床とす。西南に竹のつり棚を構へて、黒き皮篭三合をおけり。すなはち、和歌・管絃・往生要集ごときの抄物を入れたり。かたはらに琴・琵琶おのおの一張をたつ。いはゆる、をり琴・つぎ琵琶これ也。かりのいほりのありやう、かくの事し。  その所のさまをいはば、南にかけひあり。岩を立てて、水をためたり。林の木ちかければ、つま木をひろふに乏しからず。名をゝとは山といふ。まさきのかづら、あと埋めり。谷しげけれど、西はれたり。観念のたより、なきしにもあらず。  春は藤波を見る。紫雲のごとくして、西方に匂ふ。夏は郭公を聞く。語らふごとに、死出の山路を契る。秋はひぐらしの声、耳に満り。うつせみの世をかなしむほど聞こゆ。冬は雪をあはれぶ。積り消ゆるさま、罪障にたとへつべし。若、念仏物うく、読経まめならぬ時は、みづから休み、身づからおこたる。さまたぐる人もなく、また、恥づべき人もなし。ことさらに無言をせざれども、独り居れば、口業ををさめつべし。必ず禁戒を守るとしもなくとも、境界なければ何につけてかやぶらん。  若、あとの白波にこの身を寄する朝には、岡の屋にゆきかふ船をながめて、満沙弥が風情を盗み、もし桂の風、葉を鳴らす夕には尋陽のえを思ひやりて、源都督のおこなひをならふ。若、余興あれば、しばしば松のひゞきに秋風楽をたぐへ、水のおとに流泉の曲をあやつる。芸はこれつたなけれども、人の耳をよろこばしめむとにはあらず。ひとりしらべ、ひとり詠じて、みづから情をやしなふばかりなり。  又、ふもとに一の柴のいほりあり。すなはち、この山守が居る所なり。かしこに小童あり。ときどき来たりてあひとぶらふ。若、つれづれなる時は、これを友として遊行す。かれは十歳、これは六十、そのよはひ、ことのほかなれど、心をなぐさむること、これ同じ。或は茅花を抜き、岩梨をとり、零余子をもり、芹をつむ。或はすそわの田居にいたりて、落穂を拾ひて穂組をつくる。  若、うらゝかなれば、峰によぢのぼりて、はるかにふるさとの空をのぞみ、木幡山・伏見の里・鳥羽・羽束師を見る。勝地は主なければ、心をなぐさむるにさはりなし。歩みわづらひなく、心遠くいたるときは、これより峰つゞき、炭山をこえ、笠取を過ぎて、或は石間にまうで、或は石山ををがむ。若はまた、粟津の原を分けつゝ、蝉歌の翁があとをとぶらひ、田上河をわたりて、猿丸大夫が墓をたづぬ。かへるさには、をりにつけつゝ、桜を狩り、紅葉をもとめ、わらびを折り、木の実をひろひて、かつは仏にたてまつり、かつは家づととす。  若、夜しづかなれば、窓の月に故人をしのび、猿のこゑに袖をうるほす。くさむらの蛍は、遠く槙のかゞり火にまがひ、あか月の雨は、おのづから木の葉吹くあらしに似たり。山鳥のほろと鳴くを聞きても、父か母かとうたがひ、峰の鹿の近く馴れたるにつけても、世に遠ざかるほどを知る。或はまた、埋み火をかきおこして、老のねざめの友とす。おそろしき山ならねば、ふくろふの声をあはれむにつけても、山中の景気、をりにつけて、尽くる事なし。いはむや、深く思ひ、深く知らむ人のためには、これにしも限るべからず。

(十)おほかた、この所に住みはじめし時は ** 草庵生活の反省 **
 おほかた、この所に住みはじめし時は、あからさまと思ひしかども、今すでに五年を経たり。仮のいほりも、やゝふるさととなりて、軒に朽葉ふかく、土居に苔むせり。おのづから、ことの便りに都を聞けば、この山にこもり居てのち、やむごとなき人のかくれ給へるもあまた聞こゆ。まして、その数ならぬたぐひ、尽くしてこれを知るべからず。たびたび炎上にほろびたる家、またいくそばくぞ。たゞ仮りのいほりのみ、のどけくしておそれなし。ほどせばしといへども、夜臥す床あり、昼居る座あり。一身をやどすに不足なし。かむなは小さき貝を好む。これ事しれるによりてなり。みさごは荒磯に居る。すなはち、人をおそるゝがゆゑなり。われまたかくのごとし。事をしり、世をしれれば、願はず、わしらず、たゞしづかなるを望とし、うれへ無きをたのしみとす。  惣て、世の人のすみかをつくるならひ、必ずしも、事のためにせず。或は妻子・眷属の為につくり、或は親昵・朋友の為につくる。或は主君・師匠、および財宝・牛馬の為にさへ、これをつくる。  われ、今、身の為にむすべり。人の為につくらず。ゆゑいかんとなれば、今の世のならひ、この身のありさま、ともなふべき人もなく、たのむべき奴もなし。縦、ひろくつくれりとも、誰を宿し、誰を据ゑん。  夫、人の友とあるものは、富めるをたふとみ、ねむごろなるを先とす。必ずしも、なさけあると、すなほなるとをば不愛。只、糸竹・花月を友とせんにはしかじ。人の奴たるものは、賞罰はなはだしく、恩顧あつきをさきとす。更に、はぐくみあはれむと、安くしづかなるとをば願はず。只、わが身を奴婢とするにはしかず。  いかゞ奴婢とするとならば、若、なすべき事あれば、すなはちおのが身をつかふ。たゆからずしもあらねど、人をしたがへ、人をかへりみるよりやすし。若、ありくべき事あれば、みづからあゆむ。苦しといへども、馬・鞍・牛・車と、心をなやますにはしかず。  今、一身をわかちて、二の用をなす。手の奴、足の乗物、よくわが心にかなへり。身、心のくるしみを知れれば、苦しむ時は休めつ、まめなれば使ふ。使ふとても、たびたび過ぐさず。物うしとても、心を動かす事なし。いかにいはむや、つねにありき、つねに働くは、養性なるべし。なんぞ、いたづらに休み居らん。人をなやます、罪業なり。いかゞ、他の力を借るべき。  衣食のたぐひ、又、おなじ。藤の衣、麻のふすま、得るにしたがひて、肌をかくし、野辺のおはぎ、峰の木の実、わづかに命をつぐばかりなり。人にまじはらざれば、すがたを恥づる悔いもなし。糧ともしければ、おろそかなる報をあまくす。  惣て、かやうの楽しみ、富める人に対していふにはあらず。只、わが身ひとつにとりて、むかしと今とをなぞらふるばかりなり。

(十一)それ、三界は只心ひとつなり ** 草庵生活における閑居(かんきょ)の気味 **
 夫、三界は只心ひとつなり。心若やすからずは、象馬七珍もよしなく、宮殿・楼閣も望みなし。今、さびしきすまひ、一間のいほり、みづからこれを愛す。おのづから、都に出でて、身の乞となれる事を恥づといへども、帰りてこゝに居る時は、他の俗塵に馳する事をあはれむ。  若、人このいへる事を疑はば、魚と鳥とのありさまを見よ。魚は水に飽かず。魚にあらざれば、その心を知らず。鳥は林をねがふ。鳥にあらざれば、其心を知らず。閑居の気味も又おなじ。住まずして、誰かさとらむ。

(十二)そもそも、一期の月影かたぶきて ** 草庵生活の否定 **
 抑(そもそも)、一期の月影かたぶきて、余算の山のはに近し。たちまちに、三途の闇(やみ)に向はんとす。何のわざをかかこたむとする。仏の教へ給ふおもむきは、事にふれて執心なかれとなり。今、草菴を愛するも、閑寂(かんせき)に著するも、さはりなるべし。いかゞ、要なき楽しみを述べて、あたら、時を過ぐさむ。  しづかなるあか月、このことわりを思ひつゞけて、みづから心に問ひていはく。世をのがれて、山林にまじはるは、心を修めて道を行はむとなり。しかるを、汝、すがたは聖人にて、心は濁りに染めり。栖(すみか)はすなはち、浄名居士の跡をけがせりといへども、保つところは、わづかに周利槃特(しゅりはんどく)が行にだに及ばず。若、これ、貧賎の報のみづからなやますか、はたまた、妄心のいたりて狂せるか。そのとき、心、更に答ふる事なし。只、かたはらに舌根をやとひて、不請阿弥陀仏両三遍申てやみぬ。

(十三)跋**
時に、建暦の二年、弥生のつごもりごろ、桑門(そうもん)の蓮胤(れんいん)、外山の庵にして、これを記す。

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THE HOJOKI
  
HOJOKI (YouTube) Kamono Chomei

[1] Though the river's current never fails, the water passing, moment by moment, is never the same.  Where the current pools, bubbles form on the surface, bursting and disappearing as others rise to replace them, none lasting long.  In this world, people and their dwelling places are like that, always changing.

[2] When you see the ridgepoles of the impressive houses in Heian-kyo competing to rise above one another--dwellings of people of high status or of low--they look like they might stand for generations, but when you inquire you discover there are very few still standing from ages past.  Some may have burned down just last year, and been rebuilt since.  Or a mansion may have disappeared, to be replaced by smaller houses.  Things change in the lives of the people living in those houses, too.  There may be just as many people, but in places where I might have known twenty or thirty people in my youth, I may only recognize one or two now.  Some die in the morning; others are born in the evening.  That's the way it is with the people of this world--they are like those bubbles floating on the water.

[3] Nor is it clear to me, as people are born and die, where they are coming from and where they are going.  Nor why, being so ephemeral in this world, they take such pains to make their houses pleasing to the eye.  The  master and the dwelling are competing in their transience.  Both will perish from this world like the morning glory that blooms in  the morning dew.  In some cases, the dew may evaporate first, while the flower
remains--but only to be withered by the morning sun.  In others the flower may wither even before the dew is gone, but no one expects the dew to last until evening.

[4] I have seen many terrible things in the forty years I have lived since I first noticed such things.

[5]    I believe it was April 28th of the third year of Angen (1177).  There was a strong wind blowing at the hour of the dog  (8 o'clock in the evening) to spread a fire which broke out in the southeast part of the capital to the northwest.  In that one  night the Red Sparrow Gate, the Palace Council Hall, school dormitories, the Public Housing Ministry, and many other buildings were burned to the ground, reduced to ashes.

[6] I heard that the fire broke out in Higuchitominokoji, in a shack where a dancer lived.  Then, spread by the wind, it touched place after place, until finally it reached everywhere, like the unfolding of a fan.  Houses far off became engulfed in smoke as  those near the center were caught up in swirling flames.  The brightness of the fire was reflected against the solid cloud of ashes blown up in the night sky, a deep red at the center, which, as the wind had flames leaping 100 to 200  yards, kept shifting.  People caught in the middle gave up all hope.  Some died as they were completely overcome by  the smoke, others as they became dizzy in the eye of the flame.  Still others, who barely escaped with their lives, lost everything they owned.  Some of the great treasures in the Palace were also reduced to ashes.  How great was the damage?  Sixteen buildings in the Imperial Court were burned, but it is impossible to calculate the total loss.  Perhaps a third of the capital city was destroyed by this fire.  Scores of men and women were killed, and who knows how many horses and cattle?

[7] I think it is absurd to sacrifice so much wealth and energy to build a house anywhere, but particularly in such a dangerous place as the center of the capital city.

[8] Again it was in April of the fourth year of Jisho (1180) when a great whirlwind struck near Naka-no-Mikado, east of the Imperial Palace, and swept southwest to Sixth Street.

[9] Racing across the city, 300 to 400 yards wide, the whirlwind destroyed every house, large or small, in its path.  In some cases they were completely flattened; in others only beams or pillars remained.  The roofs of gates were blown 400 or 500 yards away, as if offering no resistance at all, and hedge fences were completely blown away, so the boundaries between neighbors disappeared.  Household goods and cypress shingles flew up into the air, like leaves from winter trees, to be distributed far and wide.  There was so much dust and trash in the air that it was better not to open your eyes, and you couldn't hear a thing anyone said to you in the terrible echoing.  I thought it must be like this in Hell.  Not only were buildings destroyed, but many people were crippled trying to salvage those that had just  been damaged.  This wind moved in a south, southwest direction, across the central part of the capital city, so it caused grief  for a great many people.

[10]    Since there are often whirlwinds, this would not be such an unusual thing except for the severity.  Many saw it as a special Buddhist or Shinto warning.

[11] Then, in June of that same fourth year of Jisho, the capital was suddenly and unexpectedly moved.  I have heard that Heian-kyo had been the capital for almost 400 years, since the reign of the Emperor Saga.  So it would certainly seem unwise to move such a stable capital without some special reason, and it naturally caused a great deal of anxiety among the people.

[12] But no matter what people said, they all moved, beginning with the emperor, his ministers, and other nobles.  I wondered if anyone associated with the government would remain in the old capital.  Certainly anyone who wanted an important position in the government, or promotion in rank at court, very quickly moved to the  new capital, leaving behind only those with little chance of successful careers, or those for whom the future had little to offer.  Soon the most impressive mansions fell into disrepair.  Some were disassembled, the pieces floated down the Yodo River on rafts, so the land they had occupied became open fields.  People's ideas changed completely.  Now  a horse and saddle was valued over an ox and ox-cart.  Land in the direction of the sea, south and west, was thought desirable, while no one wanted to settle in the direction of Tohoku, or to the north.

[13] I happened to visit the new capital, at the seaport in Settsu, at this time.  It was obvious that the place was too narrow even to lay out the streets properly.  On the north side the mountains were crowding in and the south side was sloping into the sea.  The sound of the waves was noisy all year long, and the salt water wind was especially strong.  The Imperial Palace was right in the mountains, and the trees used to build it became the fashion, with comments about the peculiar points of elegance it had.  Houses were re-constructed from the components of so many being floated down the river as almost to dam it; still, though unoccupied land was plentiful, few new houses had been built.  So the old capital was already ruined, while the new capital was not yet established.  People came to feel like floating clouds.  The natives of the place complained because they had lost their land, and those who had moved there about the difficulties of building in this new place.  The people I saw on the streets who ought to have been riding in ox-carts were on horseback, and instead of kimono, ancient headdress, and formal wear most had assumed the clothing of soldiers.  The manners of the capital had changed, became no different from those of country samurai.  People wondered if, in these troubled times, courtly manners would be lost completely, and whether this might not presage greater catastrophes to come.  Finally, after all the complaints, in the winter of that year the emperor returned to Heian-Kyo.  However, by then most of the mansions had already been pulled down, and I don't believe that as many new ones were ever built.

[14] I have heard that, long ago, a wise and virtuous emperor ruled over the country, who looked upon his subjects with pity.  Even when thatching the roof of the palace they did not trouble to make the eaves uniform, and when there was not as much smoke coming from his subjects' kitchen  chimneys as he expected, he exempted them from taxes.  He had his subject's blessing, because the public welfare was his concern.  This is the way it was.  If we compare the state of affairs in today's society to that of this legendary wise emperor's reign  what do we find them to have in common?

[15] Also about that time, in the reign of Emperor Yowa (1181), I believe, though it becomes so long ago I have trouble remembering, there was a terrible famine, lasting for two years.   From spring through summer there was a drought, and in autumn and winter typhoon and flood--bad conditions one after another, so that grain crops failed completely.  Everything people did became wasted effort.  Though they prepared the  ground in the spring, and transplanted the rice in the summer, the fall's rice harvest and winter's prosperity were not achieved.

[16] In all the provinces, peasants were abandoning the land and leaving the region.  Some went to live in the mountains.  In the Imperial Court special Buddhist prayers were scrupulously conducted, but to no effect.  The prosperity of Heian-kyo depended on these crops, and under these conditions a normal economy could not be sustained.  Given these pressures, people living on bamboo shoots tried to sell their valuables at sacrificial  prices, but nobody wanted to buy anything.  They engaged in barter as monetary values were depressed, and the value of grains skyrocketed.  It became common for beggars to be heard in the main street of  the capital, complaining about their conditions.

[17] After a year of such suffering, people hoped the new year would be better, but the misery increased as, in addition to the famine, people were afflicted by contagious disease.  Everyone suffered from malnutrition, until gradually to say that "All the fish will choke in shallow water" would fit very well.  Now even those wearing bamboo hats, with legs wrapped in leggings, walked frantically from house to house begging.  I saw vagabonds of this kind, as they were walking, suddenly collapse and die.  Close to the roofed mud wall at the side of the road, the number of bodies dead from starvation continually increased.  Because no one even tried to clear away those corpses, the odor of the putrefaction became offensive throughout Heian-kyo, and people could not even  stand to look at them.  The city was permeated by the smell, and the mountain of corpses accumulated along the Kamo river bed until there were places where horses and carriages could not pass.  Poor woodcutters, becoming exhausted, were unable to carry firewood into the city, and, as fuel became scarce, people were breaking up their own houses and selling the wood in the city.  However, all the wood a man could carry would not sell for enough to sustain him for a single day.  And it was not unusual to find red paint and gold and silver foil here and there among the firewood, because desperate people would sneak into temples and steal the image of the Buddha, or pull down temple ornaments and furniture to  turn into firewood.  I was born into a world in which this kind of thing could happen.

[18] And there were other terrible, pitiful things.  No one was prepared to abandon a beloved wife or husband before they were separated by death.   When they thought their partner was failing,  sometimes they would put their own food into the hand of that cherished wife or husband, and it was frequently the case that the parent sacrificed for the child.  Sometimes the mother was dead, and the nursing child did not even know it.  There were  many situations like that.

[19] The high priest Ryugyo, of Ninanji Temple, deploring the fact that so many people were dying unrecorded, whenever he encountered a dying person wrote the Buddhist letter A on that person's forehead, binding the person, on the point of death, to Buddha's providence.  When they estimated the number of people who died, in the two months of April and May, in the city  of Heian-kyo, from 1st Street in the south to 9th Street in the north, from the Eastern Capitol in the west to the Red Sparrow Gate in the east--that is to say on all the roads of the entire city--the number of dead came to more than 42,300.  Since many died before and after that two month period, and many died outside the city, in the Dry River Bed, in White River, in the West Capitol, and in the suburbs, the total number far exceeded such counting.  And if we think beyond Heian-kyo and the suburbs--adding all the provinces--it is an appalling thing to consider.

[20] I've heard that when Sutoku was emperor (1134), there was such a pestilence, but know nothing of that time.  The misery in this case I saw with my own eyes, and it was very extraordinary.

[21] Not long after this (1185) there was a violent earthquake, causing unbelievable damage.  Mountains crumbled, rivers were completely filled up, and waves from the sea inundated the land.  The earth split and water gushed out.  Boulders broke off in the mountains and tumbled into the valley.  Ships were tossed around on the sea, and horses were unable to keep their footing on the roads.  In the vicinity of Heian-kyo, temples, shrines, and towers were so damaged that not a single one was left in good condition.  Some collapsed; others were turned upside down.  Dust and  ashes billowed up like smoke.  The sound of the movement of the earth, and of the destruction of houses, was like thunder.   People who were inside the houses might be crushed at once, but those who ran outside were faced by the cracks in the earth.   Since they did not have wings, they could not fly up into the sky, or become dragons riding in the clouds.  We can only imagine their misery.  Among the most dreaded of catastrophes, we must conclude that the earthquake is the worst of all.

[21*] In that earthquake the only child of a samurai, a child of about six or seven, was innocently playing under the roof of  a mud wall, making a toy house, when suddenly that wall collapsed, burying the child, crushing it so badly that it couldn't be recognized, both eyeballs having been popped out about three centimeters.  It is impossible to express in words the pity I felt seeing the mother and father, crying and wailing in loud voices, holding that child in their arms.  To see that not even a brave warrior could disguise the anguish in his eyes suffering the agony of his child's death, could not control this kind of natural lament,  provoked my sympathy.

[22] The terrible shaking stopped after a short time, but then there were after-shocks.  After that great earthquake, there might be twenty or thirty tremors in a single day.  After ten days, then twenty days, they gradually came to be more widely spaced, probably four or five times in a day, then two or three times, then every other day, skipping two or three days--but there were still some aftershocks up to perhaps three months.

[23] Among the four great elements recognized by Buddhism, three--fire, water, and wind--are frequently associated with disasters, but earth is most often identified with stability.  Still, in the Saiko era (540), I believe, there was an earthquake so severe that it damaged the neck of the Todaiji's Great Buddha so that the head fell off, and did unusual damage to many other things.  But it was no match for the violence of the earthquake this time.  Those who experienced this earthquake all talked about it that way at the time, that of all the miserable things in this world, it was the worst, seemed to be a thing of evil passions.  But the days and months passed into years, and they came to deplore other things, so that you might go for a month now without meeting anyone talking about the earthquake.

[24] People respond to these disasters in terms of their own experience. Unless the disaster has struck them personally, their circumstances, their environment, it is dismissed as a superficial thing.

[25] Someone of low status who becomes a neighbor of a man of power, even when he has cause to be very happy, cannot celebrate loudly, or if his sorrow is severe, his lamentation and weeping must be muted.  His conduct is controlled by anxiety, for in any situation he is as fearful as a sparrow caught in a hawk's nest.  Poor people, living as neighbors to the rich, morning and evening are embarrassed by their poorly dressed appearance, even as they go into and leave the house, seeing their neighbor's flattering condescension.  The wife and children envy the neighbor's servants, who look down on them with haughty expression, provoking bad feelings.  They can never have peace of mind.  If it is crowded in the neighborhood, and the next-door house catches fire, there is no escaping the spreading fire.  If you live outside the city, where it is sparsely populated, it is difficult to go and come, and you have to worry about being attacked by thieves.  People want power and authority, for if their family has none, others look down on them.  But people who have property have many worries, too, just as the poor people who envy them do.  Whenever you must rely upon others, so are not self-sufficient, then those others come to possess you.  Even helping a stranger, if you are drawn to that person, infringes on your independence of spirit.  On the one hand, it is difficult to maintain independence in following the standard social conventions, but, if you do not, you will seem absurd, will look like a lunatic.  And wherever you live, whatever you do, in the short period of time of this life, you should seek  peace of mind--but this seems impossible for human beings.

[26] This has been true in my life.  At first, taking over the estate of my father's grandmother, I lived there for many years.  But, after that, cut off by fate, I fell into adversity.  Finally, I could no longer stay there.  I was thirty years old when I built a smaller house for myself.  Compared with the previous house, it was only a tenth of the size.  It was no more than my own sleeping quarters, constructed as such a modest building might be.  A mud wall was finally added, but there were never funds for a gate.  Bamboo supports were constructed, through which a vehicle could enter.  If the snow was falling, or the wind was blowing, there were difficulties.  Because it was near the Kamo River channel, there was great danger of flooding, and there were many cases of robbery in the area.

[27] It was difficult to find a satisfactory place to live, as I struggled with the problems of this world for over thirty years.  During that time, as I stumbled from one situation to another, I came to realize that it was all a matter of fate.  Therefore, in the spring of the year in which I became fifty, I abandoned that house, too, and sought seclusion from the world.  Since I had no wife and children, and no allowance for rank or office, in what did my commitment lie?  I had no obligations beyond myself, so was free to go into monastic seclusion.  Though attached to nothing, living in Ohara, I had managed to live through the cycle of months meaninglessly for five years.

[28] Now I am sixty years old, and again changing my way of life so late in life, have constructed a house to which to entrust my last years.  It was like a silkworm diligently making a cocoon, or as if designed to provide a single bed for a traveler for a single night.  This house, compared to the one I built in the middle of my life near the river bank, must not be a hundredth part of that house.  Many find fault with what I am doing, as I move to a smaller and smaller dwelling house as my age increases from year to year.  Comparing to the earlier, larger dwellings, this does not even resemble an ordinary building.  The house is only ten feet square, and the height is less than seven feet.  I did not model it on houses I have lived in all through my life, but selected the lot and built the house on other principles.  I built the foundation and constructed the simple roof by linking timbers together and pulling them up so that they are suspended from metal fittings.  By planning it this way, if I become displeased with the place it is located, it is easy to move it to another location.  The house is so constructed that to move it is relatively easy to pile the pieces in two carts, and, except for the charge for the rental of the carts, no other expenses are required.

; [29] So I have withdrawn to live in the Hino mountains in this ten-foot square hermit's cell.  On the east side, where the eaves extend less than a meter, there is a place to burn the firewood I have gathered.  On the south the bamboo drainboard is spread.  Inside, on the west, is a shelf made for the water offerings to the Buddha.  On the north, in a single-leaf screen partition, the portrait of Amida Buddha is placed, and, next to that, Fugen Bodhisatva's portrait, before which the Kekyo sutra is placed.  On the east side of the hermit's cell, I spread the straw from bracken grain as a cot.  In the southwest corner, I have built a hanging shelf on which three black leather-covered boxes are placed, for poems, music books, and collections of sutra prayers.  Next to that a koto and biwa stand, one on either side.  These are the circumstances in this temporary hermit's cell.

[30] Outside my hut, to the south, I have a water pipe.  The water accumulates in a basin formed by rocks I have piled there.  And because I am surrounded by forest, it is easy to gather small branches for firewood.  The name of this place is Toyama.  Creeping vines almost conceal the paths to it, but, though the trees grow thick in the valley, in the west it is clear, making this Western Paradise Pure Land view convenient for silent prayer.  In spring the wisteria flowers tremble in the wind, so many blooming in the west that it seemed like the coming of Amida Buddha riding on purple clouds.  In summer I can hear the cry of the cuckoo, promising to be my guide on the mountain road to death.  In autumn the sound of the cicada fills the ear, and, as I hear it, I grieve to think of the transience of life in this world.  In winter I see the snow with some emotion as it piles up and then begins to melt away, as the sins that people have committed may disappear if they are able to repent.  If reciting the nembutsu becomes troublesome, or I do not feel I have time to read the sutras, no one is here to accuse me of being lazy.  There is no one to interfere in any way.  If I do not impose the severity of silence as a religious discipline, as may be my responsibility, living alone it is difficult to violate the rule in any case.  If I were not strictly observing the commandments, I would wonder why, given this environment, I were not able to.  But I don't break the rules.
In the morning, I watch the boats come and go in the  kanoya vicinity.  When, after a boat passes, the white waves immediately fade away, I see my own transient experience in that, and am provoked to try to imitate the priest Mansei's elegant poetry, or, in the evening, if the wind blows in the maple trees, making the leaves sound, I recall the river at Jinyo, and I mimic the Minister Minamoto Tsunenobu in playing the biwa.  When that has still not exhausted my mood, I try to skillfully combine the sound of the koto with that of the autumn wind through the pines, or the sound of a valley stream, as I accompany my prayer by playing on the biwa.  I am clumsy in playing on the instrument, but, since no one else can hear it, it doesn't matter.  Alone by myself in musical performance, or singing, it is only for personal enjoyment.

[31] There is also a thatched cottage at the foot of this mountain.  That is where this mountain's keeper lives, and there is a small boy there.  Sometimes he comes to visit me.  When I am bored with what I am doing, he may become my companion on the walks I take.  He is ten years old and I am sixty.  The age difference is great, but the pleasure we take in walking is the same.  Sometimes we pull up the sprouts of chugaya flowers, gather peach moss, pull up rice bran, or pick Japanese parsley.  Sometimes walking in the fields at the foot of the mountain we may also glean heads of grain.  If the weather is nice, we may climb to the summit of the mountain and look out over Kobatayama, Fushimi Village, Toba, or Hatsukashi.  This is a good neighborhood for this kind of scenery, and, best of all, since it is not owned by anyone, I can look at it all I want to with no one able to keep me from it.
    When I feel like walking further, we may traverse a series of peaks, passing Sumiyama and Kasatori, perhaps, to visit Iwama Temple, or Ishiyama Temple, to worship.  Or we may cross Awazu Plain to look for the ruined hut where the old man Semimaru used to stay, or crossing the Tanakami River to visit Sara Maru Taiyu's grave.  On the way back, depending on the season, we may look at the cherry blossoms, or observe the maple leaves, breaking off the bracken tree's berries to place before the Buddha's altar at home, or just to eat.
    When my heart is becoming lonely in the evening, I look at the moon from the hut's window, and think about old friends, and hear the voice of the monkey, my tears flowing sentimentally.  In the grass of the high meadow there seem to be fireflies, but they also seem to be points of fire on Maki no Shima.  At dawn I also like to hear the rain blowing in the leaves of the trees like a storm.  When I hear the weeping chirp of the mountain birds, I think of children calling their father and mother.  And when I see the approach of the mountain deer near the summit without fear, I understand how far I have been separated from society.  Or when I again rake the banked fire when I am unable to sleep, I do it as an old friend.  These mountain recesses are not fearful, and the lonely owl's voice, rather than sounding frightening, has a sad charm.  The mountain scene, in going through the artistic effects of the four seasons, offers abundant change, never exhausts your interest.  Since I feel this way, I think any deep thinking person, or person more knowledgeable than I am, would find the experience I have described of unlimited value.

[32] Though when I came here I only expected to be living in this place for a short time, it has already been five years.  I have gotten used to this temporary residence, as the dead leaves have collected in the eaves, and the moss has grown on the foundation.  Naturally, on occasion, I have heard of happenings in Heian-kyo since I have retreated to the mountain, of how many of the people in high social position have died.  I couldn't count the number of people of lower position who have, or how many houses have been consumed by fire.  But I have no concern about the security of this temporary residence.  Even if it is small, it offers a place to sleep at night and a place to sit during the day.  There is no shortage of room for my single body.  It provides a small shell, like the hermit crab likes, somewhere to return to when danger threatens.  The osprey always lives on the windswept seashore, because it fears the proximity of human beings.  I am like the hermit crab and the osprey.
    If you are insecure living in the capital, you should not busy yourself with worldly desire.  Only the quiet life is important, and taking pleasure in assuming its hardships.  Ordinary people cannot give up their house, feeling that it is needed to preserve their safety.  Some consider it necessary as a place for their wife and children, for the family structure, others for their intimates and friends.  Some may build for landowners, or teachers, or own property to keep cows and horses, but others have no need to construct a building.  Asked why I live like this, given the present circumstances of the world, and my own position, I say that I have no wife and children, and no need to rely upon servants.   If I were to build a larger house, who would be staying with me?  Who would I live with?

[33] It may be important to people who have friends to have property, and a superficially friendly person makes a lot of friends.  It is not necessary for a person who has friendships, or a gentle character.  If it was, you are better off with no friends.  It is better to have only music and the changing landscapes of the seasons as your friends.  People's servants must be rewarded.  It is important that they receive a great many benefits.  If they are treated kindly, without these benefits, there is little likelihood of tranquility of life.  Because of that, I myself do without servants.  I have become my own servant, which is the better way.  If I have something to do, I use my own body.  If I am tired, it is still better than using other people, where there is so much more to worry about.  If it is necessary to walk, I use my own legs.  If I am tired, it is still better than the trouble of taking care of a horse, or riding in an ox-cart.  With one body, the work can be divided between two hands and two feet.  With my hands as my servants and feet as my vehicles, I do everything entirely by myself.  Because I understand the emotional distress and torment of my own body very well, I know when I need to rest to improve my spirit.  Even if I use my own body, I don't often have to for too long a time.  Since feeling tired is up to me to determine, there is no reason to overdo it.  And, if a person always walks, he is always moving his body, which tends to keep him thin and promote good health.  There is no encouragement to be lazy.  To make other people suffer is a sinful thing.  So why borrow other people's strength and energy?
   Clothing and food are also concerns.  Plain, coarse clothing can be woven from arrowroot, and hemp can be used for bedding.  Whatever I can make by hand is good to wear.  I grow starwort in the field, and gather nuts from the trees by the mountain peak, and in this way sustain life.  I might be concerned to expose myself to other people dressed so, but since I have no others to see me, have no cause for remorse.  And I might feel that I am eating poor things, but, though they are poor, they are the product of my own industry and I thank heaven for them,  This leads to happiness, a rich life, which I say without sarcasm--by myself alone, using my own body--compared to the life I led before.

[33*] Since entering the priesthood, fear and resentment of other people has disappeared.  Because life is under heaven's control, it doesn't matter if I live long or not.  I am not concerned about early death, am like a floating cloud, and do not complain.  The happiness of my life can be expressed in one peaceful nap, and in the hope of  seeing the beautiful scenery of the four seasons.

[34] In general, the past, present, and future history of human beings is a product of the mind.  If there is no peace of mind in possessing the elephant or horse, or the seven wonders or treasures of the world, it is meaningless to have palaces and buildings of many stories.  Now I dwell in my tranquil residence.  It is only a ten-foot hut, but I love it.  When I want to go to the capital for something, I may feel ashamed to go in the appearance of a beggar, but I return feeling sorry for the people I see there, who are so caught up in and preoccupied with wealth and honor, so busy doing things.  If you are doubtful about what I am saying, look at the situation of the fish and the birds.  Fish are always in the water, yet they don't become bored with the water.  If you are not a fish you probably can't understand that feeling.  Birds hope to live in the forest.  If you are not a bird, you probably can't understand that motive.  My feeling about my tranquil residence is of the same kind.  Who can understand this if they haven't tried it?

[35] My life, like the waning moon, is about to finish.  The remaining days are few.  Soon the Three Ways of the Hereafter will begin.  The acts of my whole life may be criticized.  An important Buddhist teaching is not to form attachment to anything of this world.  I now feel that it is a crime to begin to love this hermitage so much.  I have also persisted in the silent life here, that may become an obstacle to salvation too, perhaps.  Why am I wasting time speaking about this worthless happiness with so little time remaining?  This is not the thing to do.

[36] Thinking about this at dawn after a quiet night, I try to give vent to my own heart facing these questions.  "Chomei, by trying to escape from the world by going to the mountains and forests this way, to put the disorder of your heart into order is a Buddhist practice.  And yet, while trying to become a pure monk, your heart remains tainted by impurity.  By living in a ten-foot hut in imitation of the Jomyo Buddhist layman Yuima, even if you are given the benefit of the doubt, you have not realized the practice of Shuri Handoku.  When you perhaps do by chance, doesn't your karma's punishment worry you?  Or again, by reckless judgment, not becoming more intelligent you grow worse by this, grow crazy.  What do you think?"  When I ask myself like this, my heart cannot answer.  I have no answer.  There is one way remaining.  I continue to move my tongue, but I am unable to welcome the celebration of Amida Nurai.  I only chant two or three times.  That is all.

[37] It is now Senryo Two (1212), the end of March.  I have become a priest.  I remain in Hino's Toyama hut, and am writing this letter.

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方丈記の概要

出典: フリー百科事典『ウィキペディア(Wikipedia)』

方丈記』(ほうじょうき)は、鴨長明(かものちょうめい、かものながあきら)によって書かれた鎌倉時代の文学作品である。日本中世文学の代表的な随筆とされ、約100年後に執筆された 吉田兼好の『徒然草』、清少納言の『枕草子』とあわせて日本三大随筆とも呼ばれる。

概要

鴨長明が晩年、日野山に方丈(一四方)の庵を結んだことから「方丈記」と名づけた。末尾に「干時、建暦のふたとせ、やよひのつごもりごろ、桑門の蓮胤、外山の庵にて、これをしるす」とあることから、1212年(建暦2年)に記されたとされる。現存する最古の写本は、大福光寺(京都府京丹波町)が所蔵する大福光寺本であり、これを自筆本とする見解[1]、誤字・脱字や諸本との関係より自筆ではないとする見解[2]がある。

漢字仮名の混ざった和漢混淆文で書かれたものとしては、最初の優れた文芸作品であり、詠嘆表現や対句表現を多用し、漢文の語法、歌語、仏教用語を織り交ぜる。慶滋保胤の『池亭記』を手本としていることが指摘されており、かつてはこれを根拠の一として偽書説も唱えられていた。隠棲文学の祖や、無常観の文学とも言われ、乱世をいかに生きるかという自伝的な人生論ともされる。「ゆく河の流れは絶えずして、しかももとの水にあらず。よどみに浮かぶうたかたは、かつ消えかつ結びて、久しくとどまりたるためしなし」の書き出しで移り行くもののはかなさを語った後、同時代の災厄についての記述が続き、後半には自らの草庵での生活が語られる。さらに末尾では草庵の生活に愛着を抱くことさえも悟りへの妨げとして否定する。

諸本

広本と略本があり、広本は更に古本系と流布本系に分けられている。各本の関係を、長明自身による推敲の各段階を表すとする見解と、後代の書写、改作による変化とする見解がある。

現代の研究において底本とされることの多い大福光寺本は古本系に属し、漢字片仮名による仮名交じり文である。これに対して、流布本系は平仮名交じりの仮名交じり文で書かれ、古本系との本文の異同も少なからず存在する。

略本は長明の体験した災厄に関する記述がなく、その他の部分にも異同が大きい。中でも真字本は漢字のみで書かれている。

天災・飢饉に関する記述

『方丈記』の中で長明は、安元3年(1177年)の都の火災、治承4年(1180年)に同じく都で発生した竜巻およびその直後の福原京遷都養和年間(1181年1182年)の飢饉、さらに元暦2年(1185年)に都を襲った大地震など、自らが経験した天変地異に関する記述を書き連ねており、歴史史料としても利用されている。

安元の火災

安元3年4月28日(1177年5月27日)午後8時頃、都の東南(現在のJR京都駅付近か)で、舞人の宿屋の火の不始末が原因で出火した。火はまたたく間に都の西北に向かって燃え広がり、朱雀門大極殿大学寮民部省などが一夜のうちに灰燼に帰した。公卿の邸宅だけでも16軒、一般家屋に至っては都の3分の1が焼失した。死者は数十人(『平家物語』の記述では数百人)であった。

治承の竜巻

治承4年(1180年4月中御門大路と東京極大路の交差点付近(現在の京都市上京区松蔭町、京都市歴史資料館の辺りか)で大きな竜巻(長明は「辻風」と記述)が発生した。風は周囲にあるものをあっという間に飲み込み、家財道具や檜皮、葺板などが、あたかも冬の木の葉のように宙を舞った。風の通ったあとには、ぺしゃんこに潰れたり、桁や柱だけになった家が残された。竜巻は市街地を南南西に向かって走り抜け、現在の東本願寺の手前辺りで消滅したものと思われる。

養和の飢饉

養和年間(1181-82年)2年間にわたって飢饉(養和の飢饉)があり、多くの死者が出た。旱魃、大風、洪水が続いて作物が実らず、朝廷は様々な加持祈祷を試みたが甲斐なく、諸物価は高騰し、さらに翌年には疫病が人々を襲った。仁和寺の隆暁法印が無数の餓死者が出たことを悲しみ、行き交うごとに死者の額に「阿」の字を書いて結縁し、その数を数えたところ、養和2年4月・5月の左京だけで、42,300人余に達したという。なお、この飢饉は福原遷都や、源頼朝源義仲をはじめとする各地での武力蜂起とその追討の影響によって拡大した面があるが、方丈記にはその点は触れられていない。

元暦の地震

元暦2年7月9日(1185年8月6日)、大きな地震が都を襲った(文治京都地震地震の年表#日本参照)。山は崩れ海は傾き、土は裂けて岩は谷底に転げ落ちた。余震は3か月にもわたって続いたという。

脚注

  1. ^ 川瀬一馬校訂『方丈記』(講談社文庫、1971年)など。なお文庫版は、講談社学術文庫岩波文庫の他に、現代語入りが角川ソフィア文庫で入門書を含め2種類ある。
  2. ^ 佐竹昭広「方丈記管見」『新日本古典文学大系 方丈記、徒然草』(岩波書店、1989年)など

関連項目

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鴨長明

出典: フリー百科事典『ウィキペディア(Wikipedia)』
経歴

賀茂御祖神社の神事を統率する鴨長継の次男として京都で生まれた。俊恵の門下に学び、歌人としても活躍した。望んでいた河合社(ただすのやしろ)の禰宜(ねぎ)の地位につくことが叶わず、神職としての出世の道を閉ざされた。後に出家して蓮胤(れんいん)を名乗ったが、一般には俗名を音読みした鴨長明(ちょうめい)として知られている。

出家の後、建暦2年(1212年)に成立した『方丈記』は和漢混淆文による文芸の祖、日本の三大随筆の一つとして名高い。他に同時期に書かれた歌論書の『無名抄』、説話の『発心集』(1216年以前)、歌集として『鴨長明集』(養和元年 1181年)といった作品がある。『千載和歌集』(1首)以下の勅撰和歌集に25首が入集している[1]

逸話

琵琶などの管絃の名手であり、『十訓抄』には「念仏のひまひまには糸竹のすさみを思ひすてざりけるこそ、すきのほどいとやさしけれ(=経を読む合間にも琴や琵琶を演奏することをやめなかったのは、風流であり優美である)」と書かれている。また、長明が出家し遁世したきっかけとなったのも、『文机談』には琵琶の師の亡くなったあとに、演奏することを許されていない曲を演奏したことが知られてしまったためとある。

脚注

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KAMO NO CHOMEI (1153-1216)

Kamo no Chomei's An Account of My Hut is a long essay that, while coming out of very different circumstances, reminds one of Thoreau's Walden, but is interesting as both history and philosophy.  The history is the history of Kyoto, or Heian-kyo, the capital city of Japan in what must be one of the most disasterous periods for any important city in history.  Kamo no Chomei describes the Great Fire, the Whirlwind, the moving of the capital, the famine, and the earthquake, all while civil war between the Taira and Minamoto clans is going on.  In this chaos, he is denied the appointment as priest at the Kamo Shrine that he might have expected, and, with all these other experiences, this leads him to renounce the world in favor of a retreat into a Buddhism that is philosophically close to Thoreau's transcendentalism.  The late Medieval period was a time of the develpment of several new sects of Buddhism in Japan--Shingon, Nichiren, Zen--but what Chomei preaches from his ten-foot hut is pretty fundamental--the world is a veil of tears and the wise man will turn his spirit to Nirvanah.  I identify with the author strongly--if I were left alone I might arrange my affairs to live as simply as I could, too, enjoy what I could do with my own hands, and see with my own eyes (I tried to imitate Thoreau while I was still in my teens--but now would want my computer and VCR).  At any rate, it is not hard to see his pattern of reaction to the catastrophes of life as pretty universal.

will present him in his own words, which I have translated from a modern Japanese version of the essay, and present in what I would call a second-draft translation.  (It still needs a lot of work, and, if it ever gets it, I'll replace this, perhaps a paragraph at a time, with the new translation--one of the advantages of publishing on the world wide web.)

引用文献

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大福光寺本方丈記 (影印校注古典叢書)
鴨長明自筆本の可能性の高い唯一の伝本「大福光寺本」(重要文化財)の影印


大福光寺方丈記 新典社 岩波文庫


『方丈記』大福光寺本(鎌倉前期写、伝 鴨長明自筆)




『方丈記』著者 鴨長明著 出版者 古典保存会 出版年月日1925
(国立国会図書館)






















『方丈記』 著者鴨長明 出版者村上平楽寺 出版年月日正保4 [1647] (国立国会図書館)
































方丈記 方丈記CD朗読 方丈記朗読(試聴) 般若心経歎異抄 (原文・訳) (親鸞)

江守孝三 Emori Kozo