The "Culture" Of Deeds

[Otagiri Tatsuzou]

Makiwara said:

"Who among you will join me in escorting the Emperor into the next world?" So saying, she leaps into the sea with the toddler Emperor in her arms, followed by his attendants.

Maybe Baron Alcyoneus can get that worked into Lilies War this year; they have a lake. Now there's an A&S event I would go see. Makiwara-hime reenacts the finale at Dan-no-ura If you need someone to row the boat, I used to run white-water rafts ...

[Please Delete]

One of my favorites from the Heike Monogatari (mostly from Helen Craig McCullough's translation):

During the Battle of Shinohara, on the Twenty First of the Fifth month of the Second Year of Juei, Nagai no Saitou Bettou Sanemori of Musashi stayed behind as all of the other forces fled. He had donned a bright red brocade hitatare, green-laced armour, and a horned helmet, equipping himself with a gilt bronze-fitted sword, a quiver of black-banded eagle feathers, and a rattan-wrapped bow.

When he was seen by one of Lord Kiso's men--Tezuka no Tarou Mitsumori--he was called out: "Who is this valiant man who stays behind after all others have fled? Give me your name!"

"And who might you be?" Sanemori asked.

"Tezuka no Tarou Kanezashi no Mitsumori of Shinano."

"Well matched! I mean no disrespect, but I have reasons for concealing my identity. Come, grapple with me!" At that he spurred his horse forward.

As he came on, one of Mitsomori's retainers rushed in front to protect his lord and gripped Sanemori with all his strength.

"So you wish to grapple with the most powerful man in Japan?" So saying, Sanemori grabbed the retainer and pulled him over his saddle, decapitating him and throwing his head away.

When he saw his retainer's death, Mitsumori moved around to Sanemori's left. He lifted the armour and stabbed twice, then dragged Sanemori from his saddle, wrestling him to the ground. Sanemori fought on, but he was exhausted--to say nothing of his age--and he was pinned underneath.

Mitsumori entrusted the head to an attendant and went to Lord Kiso. "I have just wrestled with a most peculiar fellow. He seemed to be a samurai, but he wore a fancy red brocade hitatare. Yet if he was a commander-in-chief, where were his retainers? I kept asking his name, but he refused to give it, though he sounded like an easterner."

"This must be Saitou Bettou." said Lord Kiso, "Yet his hair was turning gray when last I saw him--it should surely be white now. How could he have black hair and a black beard? Go get Higuchi no Jirou Kanemitsu--he knew him well and should be able to identify him.

Sure enough, Kanemitsu knew in one glance, "Poor fellow. It is him--Saitou Bettou."

"But he must be over 70 years old! He should have white hair by now. How could his hair and beard be black?"

Tears streamed from Kanemitsu's eyes. "I meant to explain, but I could not help weeping out of pity. Ah! Even on trivial occassions, a warrior should say things that will be remembered later. Saitou always said 'If I go into battle when I am past 60, I will dye my hair and beard to make myself look young. It is childish, I know, to compete with the youths for first place, but I don't want to suffer the humiliation of being dismissed as an old man.' Sure enough, he has dyed his hair--have it washed and see for yourself."

[fujiwara]

***continued***

Said Hatakeyama to Yoritomo, "Of course, I will do whatever you ask, but I should like to remind you of the Great Bodhisattva Hachiman's vow, in which he promises to protect our land and out people first of all. How can an outsider compare with your own flesh and blood?Kajiwara is nothing but a temporary useful tool - Yoshitsune is a brother who has given you years of loyal devotion. Even if you believe there is some truth in Kajiwara's accusations, give Yoshitsune a grant of land - Kyushu perhaps - and present him with Izu and Suruga, which you have just offered me. to show your good will when you meet. It would be a magnanimous gesture to make him warden of Kyoto, too, and let him guard your rear." With this blunt advice he withdrew.

Yoritomo allowed the matter to drop - perhaps he aggreed with Hatakeyama of perhaps for some other reason, who can say? After news fo these events reached Yoshitsune in Koshigoe, he drew up and dispatched one oath of fealty after another. When they had all been rejected, he sent a letter to Kamakura. This was his letter:

To His Excellency the Governer of Inaba:
I, Minamoto Yoshitsune, venture to address you.
Having overthrown the enemies of the court and erased the infamy of his military defeat as His Lordship's deputy and the bearer of an imperial commission, I had supposed that my deeds would be commended: yet, to my distress, pernicious slanders have caused accomplishments of uncommon merit to be ignored. Though innocent, I am blamed; though deserving, and guilty of no error, I have incurred His Lordships's displeasure. What can I do but weep bitter tears! Since I have not been permitted to refute false accusations, to even to enter Kamakura, I have been obliged to remain idle for days, with no means of expressing any feelings. I have been denied the privledge of seeing His Lordship for so long that the blood bond between us seems to have vanished. Is this the karma of a previous existence? Am I being punished for evil acts committed in my last life? Alas! unless the august spirit of my father cahnces to be reborn, who will plead m,y cause or pity my condition? At the risk of appearing querulous, I must say to you that never since birth have I enjoy a moment's peace of mind - never, from the time of my journey in my mother's arms to Uda District in Yamato, an infant orphaned by my father's death. Though able to preserve my useless life, I could not safely frequent the capital, but was obliged to skulk in out-of-the-way places, dwell in distant lands, and serve commoners. When at last, through sudden good fortune, I was sent to the capital to crush the Taira clan, I first punished Kiso Yoshinaka, and then set about the destruction of the Heike. I whipped my mount over precipitous cliffs, heedless of life in the face of the enemy; I braved the perils of wind and wave on the boundless sea, ready to sink to the bottom as food for monsters of the deep. Battle dress was my pillow, arms were my profession - yet, as in the past, my sole desire was to comfort the spirits of the dead. As regards my appoinment as lieutenant of fifth rank, was that not a remarkable honor for a member of our family? Yet how deep is my present misery: how acute my suffering! Desparing of obtaining a hearing through any means short of divine assistance, I have repeatedly sumbitted oaths of loyalty inscribed on the backs of talimans from temples and shrines, to which I have sworn by the gods and all the great and small shrines in Japan, and by the spirits of the underworld, but no pardon has been given. This is the land of the gods. Since the gods consider my petition unworthy, my sole remaining recourse is to implore you to do me the kindness of bringing this message to His Lordship's attention and a suitable time in order to persued him of my innocence. Once his forgiveness is secured, my heirs and I will rejoice in the "superabundent happiness of accumulated goodness," and I will end my life in peace,. Finding it is impossible to write as I feel, I have confined myself to bare essentials.

Humbly and respectfully submitted,
Minamoto Yoshitsune
Fifth day, sixth month, second year of Genryaku

When the letter was read aloud, it drew tears from Yoritomo, to say nothing of all the others who heard it, downto the very ladies-in-waiting. The questino of Yoshitsune's loyalty was laid aside, and Yoritomo inclined to view that his brother, who enjoyed the favor of the ex-Emperor, would after all be the best possible warden of Kyoto. as for Yoshitsune, he deferred entirely to Yoritomo's judgement. But as autumn drew to a close and winter set in, the vengeful Kajiwara work so uncessingly to blacken Yoshitsune's character that Yoritomo at length began to believe his stories.

[Saionji Shonagon]

Otagiri said:

Now there's an A&S event I would go see. Makiwara-hime reenacts the finale at Dan-no-ura If you need someone to row the boat, I used to run white-water rafts ...

I read that right. You did. [Sniff] You just told me to go jump in a lake. [Fidget huffily with fan] I'm appalled.
Do you have ANY idea how tacky an I.R.O. life vest looks over a karaginu mo? I thought you had better taste than that.

Besides, Monkey Boy, YOU got to hear me tell it in front of an audience for the first time. ;->

M.

[fujiwara]

I beg, O Cousins, for your gracious patience, as I tell one final tale of prowess most puissant. Hearken, and hear the story of the Fall of Satou Tadanobu.

Now clad in the cherry blossom armour and silver helmet left behind by his lord Yoshitsune, and bearing his sword and the bow and arrows also left, Tadanobu waited for the arrival of the two hundred Houjou warriors. Soon the emeny appeared, their vanguard pressing into the main courtyard while the rear ranks remained outside the gate. Houjou Yoshitoki shieled himself behind a shrub in the hedge adjoining the kemari grounds.

"Tadanobu, you coward! You will never escape. Come out into the open. Our commander is Lord Houjou, and I am Houjou Yoshitoki. Come out at once!" he shouted.

Swiftly knocking a shutter from the veranda, Tadanobu fitted an arrow to his bow. "I have something to say to Houjou Yoshitoki. What a pity that you are so ignorant! In the Hougen and Heiji wars, when the adversaries were exalted personages, men could fight with clear consciences, unawed my even an Emperor or Ex-Emperor. This is something entirely different - it's nothing but a private quarrel. Yoshitomo's son Yoritomo is our lord's brother. Even though the two of them have been separated by slander, Yoritomo will change his mind when he finds out that the stories are lies. Then there will be trouble!" With these words, Tadanobu leapt down from the veranda, took a stance under the eaves, and began to release arrows in rapid succession. Three of Yoshitoki's retainers fell dead, and two others were wounded; the rest crowded back toward the eastern edge of the pond like leaves scattered by the wind, intent on gaining the outer gate.

"For shame, Yoshitoki!" shouted the men in the rear. "It's only one man. Go back and fight!"

Pressed in from all sides, the retreating warriors swerved their mounts and attacked grimly. Tadanobu soon exhausted his sixteen arrows. He cast aside his quiver, drew his sword, and wheeled and slashed like a madman among the enemy host, killing innumerable men and horses. Then he offered his body as a target for arrows, with his armour pushed up stiffly. The missiles of ordinary soldiers were deflected, but the best archers found their marks, and soon the arrows standing in his armour were so numerous that his senses began to fail.

Since escape was impossible, Tadanobu determined to kill himself before his increasing weakness permitted the enemy to seize and behead him. Waving his sword, he jumped swiftly to the veranda and turned to the west, palms joined. "Lord Yoshitoki! Although your young retainers from Iza and Surugu are making a disgraceful spectacle of themselves, forget them while you watch the self-destruction of a man of courage! If ever and eastern warrior is driven to suicide by loyalty to his master, calamity, or the prospect of decapitation by the enemy, let this be his example! Inform the Lord of Kamakura of the my last words and the manner of my death."

"So be it. Let him cut open his belly in peace, and take his head afterward."

Tadanobu, in a calm voice, recited thirty buddha invocations. "Let the benefits of my meritorious conduct be enjoyed by others as well..." With his sword he cut cleanly through his armour lacing. Resting on one knee, he drew the upper part of his body erect. Then he made a deep incisino under his left arm and ripped open his belly from the pit of his stomach almost to his navel. drawing the blade steadily up toward his right side. When he had wiped the sword he inspected his handiwork.

"An excellent blade! Moufusa was as good as his word when he promised to make me a fine weapon. It cuts a man's belly with no trouble at all. If I leave it behaind, I supposed with will be sent east with my remains. Rather than allow the youths there to pass on its merits, I shall take it with me to hell." He wiped it again, sheathed it, and placed it under his knees. Grasping the mouth of his wound to force it apart, he plunged his fist into his belly, tossed his bowels onto the veranda, and shoved the hilt of the sword into the pit of his stomach, with the scabbard pointed down below his hipbone. "That's how I treat the sword I take to hell." He began to recite buddha invocations with joined hands, breathing evenly and giving no indication of being about to die. Then, with life still remaining in his body, he began to reflect aloud on the uncertainty of worldly things.

"The human lot in this world is hard! Young or old, who knows how long he'll last! WHy are some men destined to be killed by a single arrow, while I cannot die when I cut open my own belly? Mine is an unfortunate karma. Is it because I am too devoted to Yoshitsune that I linger like this? Let me go to hell in peace after I look once more on the sword His Lordship gave me." He picked up the unsheathed weapon, thrust the point into his mouth, and stood erect, gripping his knees. The he released his hands and fell forward on his face. The sword guard stuck in his mouth and the tip came out through the hair on the side of his head.

What a tragic death! Tadanobu perished by his own hand at the age of twenty-eight, at eight o'clock in the morning on the sixth day of the first month of the second year of Bunji.

[fujiwara]

I beg your forgiveness, Cousins, for one tale has become three. Though now the fire within burns brighter having retold the tales of our ancestors.

Otagiri-dono, your lesson is well received, and I am grateful for it.

Domo arigatou gozaimasu,

Fujiwara

[Saionji Shonagon]

fujiwara said:

Though now the fire within burns brighter having retold the tales of our ancestors.

It does indeed. THIS is why we do these things, Cousin.

Makiwara