Part 18

Do not expect harvest, unless you sow the seed. Without earnest effort no merit can be gained.

54.—Matéba, kanrō no hiyori. If you wait, ambrosial weather will come.

Kanrō, the sweet dew of Heaven, or amrita. All good things come to him who waits.

55.—Meidō no michi ni Ō wa nashi. There is no King on the Road of Death.

Literally, “on the Road of Meidō.” The Meidō is the Japanese Hades,—the dark under-world to which all the dead must journey.

56.—Mekura hebi ni ojizu. The blind man does not fear the snake.

The ignorant and the vicious, not understanding the law of cause-and-effect, do not fear the certain results of their folly.

57.—Mitsuréba, hakuru. Having waxed, wanes.

No sooner has the moon waxed full than it begins to wane. So the height of prosperity is also the beginning of fortunes decline.

58.—Mon zen no kozō narawanu kyō wo yomu. The shop-boy in front of the temple-gate repeats the sutra which he never learned.

Kozō means “acolyte” as well as “shop-boy,”“errand-boy,” or “apprentice;” but in this case it refers to a boy employed in a shop situated near or before the gate of a Buddhist temple. By constantly hearing the sutra chanted in the temple, the boy learns to repeat the words. A proverb of kindred meaning is, Kangaku-In no suzumé wa, Mōgyū wo sayézuru: “The sparrows of Kangaku-In [an ancient seat of learning] chirp the Mōgyū,”—a Chinese text formerly taught to young students. The teaching of either proverb is excellently expressed by a third:—Narau yori wa naréro: “Rather than study [an art], get accustomed to it,”—that is to say, “keep constantly in contact with it.” Observation and practice are even better than study.

59.—Mujō no kazé wa, toki erabazu. The Wind of Impermanency does not choose a time.

Death and Change do not conform their ways to human expectation.

60.—Neko mo Busshō ari. In even a cat the Buddha-nature exists.

Notwithstanding the legend that only the cat and the mamushi (a poisonous viper) failed to weep for the death of the Buddha.

61.—Néta ma ga Gokuraku. The interval of sleep is Paradise.

Only during sleep can we sometimes cease to know the sorrow and pain of this world. (Compare with No. 83.)

62.—Nijiu-go Bosatsu mo soré-soré no yaku. Even each of the Twenty-five Bodhisattvas has his own particular duty to perform.

63.—Nin mité, hō toké. [First] see the person, preach the doctrine.

The teaching of Buddhist doctrine should always be adapted to the intelligence of the person to be instructed. There is another proverb of the same kind,—Ki ni yorité, hō wo toké: “According to the understanding [of the person to be taught], preach the Law.”

64.—Ninshin ukégataku Buppoō aigatashi. It is not easy to be born among men, and to meet with [the good fortune of hearing the doctrine of] Buddhism.

Popular Buddhism teaches that to be born in the world of mankind, and especially among a people professing Buddhism, is a very great privilege. However miserable human existence, it is at least a state in which some knowledge of divine truth may be obtained; whereas the beings in other and lower conditions of life are relatively incapable of spiritual progress.

65.—Oni mo jiu-hachi. Even a devil [is pretty] at eighteen.

There are many curious sayings and proverbs about the oni, or Buddhist devil,—such as Oni no mé ni mo namida, “tears in even a devil’s eyes;”—Oni no kakuran, “devil’s cholera” (said of the unexpected sickness of some very strong and healthy person), etc., etc.—The class of demons called Oni, properly belong to the Buddhist hells, where they act as torturers and jailers. They are not to be confounded with the Ma, Yasha, Kijin, and other classes of evil spirits. In Buddhist art they are represented as beings of enormous strength, with the heads of bulls and of horses. The bull-headed demons are called Go-zu; the horse-headed Mé-zu.

66.—Oni mo mi, narétaru ga yoshi. Even a devil, when you become accustomed to the sight of him, may prove a pleasant acquaintance.

67.—Oni ni kanabō. An iron club for a demon.

Meaning that great power should be given only to the strong.

68.—Oni no nyōbo ni kijin. A devil takes a goblin to wife.