Kokon chomonju

三九六    鳥羽僧正侍法師の繪を難じ法師の所説に承伏の事

同(おなじ)僧正の許(もと)に、繪かく侍法師ありけり。あまりに好(すき)ならひければ、後(のち)ざまには僧正の筆をも恥(はじ)ざりけり。此(この)事を、僧正ねたましくやおもはれけん、いかにもして失を見出さんとおもひ給處(たまふところ)に、或(ある)時件(くだんの)僧、人のいさかひして、腰刀にて突合(つきあひ)たるを書(かき)て、自愛してゐたりけるを、僧正み給(たまふ)に、其つきたる刀、せなかへこぶしながら出(いで)たりけり。よき失と思(おもひ)てのたまひけるは、「わ僧が繪書(ゑかき)ながくとゞむべし。いかなる物(もの)か、人を突(つく)に拳(こぶし)ながら背へいづる事あるべき。つかぐちまでつきたるなどをこそ、いかめしき事にはいふを、これはあるべくもなき事也。かく程の心ばせにては、繪かくべからず」といはれければ、此(この)僧かい畏(かしこまり)て、「其(その)事に候。これは故實(こしつ)に候なり」といふを、僧正いはせもはてず、「わ法師が繪の故實、片腹いたし」といはれけるを、すこしも事とせず、「さも候はず。ふるき上手どものかきて候おそくづの繪などを御覧も候へ。その物の寸法は分に過(すぎ)て大(おほき)に書(かき)て候事、いかでか實(まこと)にはさは候べき。ありのまゝの寸法にかきて候はゞ、見所なき物に候故に、繪そらごとゝは申(まうす)事にて候。君のあそばされて候物の中にも、かゝる事はおほくこそ候らめ」と、へりもを(お)かずいひければ、僧正理にお(を)れていふ事なかりけり。

396    Matter of Toba Sojo criticizing a picture by an attendant monk and accepting the monk's view

Under the same Sojo there was an attendant monk who draws pictures. Being that he so much likes [drawing], when he finished [his work he drew], and in time [as a result] he was not inferior to even Sojo's brush. Sojo was envious of this [attendant's] brush, and thinking he would somehow find some fault, one time the said bonze, [he] drew some people quarreling, and stabbing each other with waist swords, and [he] himself loved [took pride in] [the picture], and when Sojo looks [at it], a sword on [the picture], was coming out of a back with a fist [together with the fist that was still gripping it].　Thinking [this] a good fault, [Sozo] said -- "My bonze should stop drawing for a long time [forever]. What kind of thing [is it / is this], [where] there could be something [a situation] in which [ == (where) it is possible that ] [one] stabs a person and [the sword] comes out of the back with a fist. Stabbing up to the hilt and the like indeed, to say [this] is something magnificent, this is something the possibility of which does not exist [ == this is something which is not possible == this is impossible]. With a state of heart of such extent [with such a set of heart], [one] should not draw pictures." -- whereupon, this bonze with dignity [said] -- "[It] is [in fact] that. This is an old practice." -- but Sojo, not letting him speak to the end, said -- "[Someone like] my monk [expounding on the] old practices of pictures, it's painful to be beside you [ == don't make me laugh == don't be silly == what do you know about such things]." -- but [the monk] not in the least making something [of this] [making nothing at all of this == remaining calm ], said -- modesty [humility, courtesy] undaunted [not flinching] -- "That is not so. Look at the pictures of images of laying and resting which were drawn by the old masters. As for the dimensions of those things, that [the masters] drew them to a size that was excessive in proportion, why should it in fact [of course, rightly] be so [like that]? If one draws [brushes] [something] in the dimensions of its state of existence [as it actual appears], [the picture] will be something which does not have anything to see [will not be worth seeing], hence [it] is a matter [fact] that [people, masters] say a picture is something in the air. Among the things [pictures] you have rendered [done] as well, as for such things ["soragoto" pictures], [I] suppose there are many indeed" -- hence Sojo, bending to reason, had nothing to say.

Notes and commentary

Toba Sōjō (鳥羽僧正), also known as Kakuyō (覚猷 1053-1140), was a Tendai monk and artist of the late Heian period, and an older contemporary of Emperor Toba (1103-1156). Toba the emperor reigned from 1107 to 1123, when too young to rule, and did not rule until a few years after he was forced to abdicate.

Kakuyu the monk is rumored (without evidence) to have drawn, or had a hand in drawing, the picture scroll known as "Comic pictures of birds and beasts" (鳥獣戯画 Chōjū giga). The scroll shows rabbits, frogs, monkeys, and other non-human animals frollicing in anthropomorphic poses. Satirical drawings of this kind flourished during the Edo and Meiji periods, when they were known as "Tobae" (鳥羽絵).

draws pictures reflects 繪かく, a verb which was probably read "ekaku" and understood to mean 繪を書く (e o kaku) -- or "brush pictures". Today the verb "egaku" is usually graphed 描く or 画く and is used to mean "draw" [pictures] regardless of the drawing medium or method.

brush reflects 筆, which was probably read "fude" -- meaning either "brush" as an object or "brushing" as an action.

drawing pictures reflects 繪書, which is glossed ゑかき (wekaki, ekaki) and represents a nominalization of 繪かく (see above).

My bonze reflects わ僧 (wa sō) and my monk reflects わ法師 (wa hōshi). "Wa" (わ) -- "my" as in "waga " (我が) -- was used toward subordinates.

pictures of images of laying and resting reflects おそくづの繪 (osokudzu no we) -- "spring pictures" (春画 shunga) according to the annotation (headnote 18).

Kojien (5th edition) graphs the phrase 偃息図の絵 (osokuzu no e), which it attributes to Book 11 of Kokon chomonjū by way of citing the rest of the line that is translated here. Kojien also equates the expression with 春画 (shunga) or "spring pictures" -- the most familiar present-day term for such pictures.

Kojien parenthetically notes that 偃息 means 男女同衾 (danjo dōkin) -- literally "man woman same futon" or "a man and woman sleeping together". The Chinese term 同衾共枕 (tóngqīngòngzhĕn) means "same quilt, shared pillow.

偃息 -- "yānxī" in Chinese and "ensoku" in Sino-Japanese -- means "cease and stop" in the sense of "collapsing on one's back and sleeping" or "laying down and resting". Here it is pressed into the service of representing the Japanese word おそく (osoku) -- which would conjecture means either "late (at night)" (晩く osoku) or "rest" (お息 o-soku).

old masters reflects ふるき上手ども, which could be read "furuki jōzu domo" or "old skilled ones". Other possible readings of 上手 -- meaning a person who is highly skilled at something -- are uwate, jōshu, and jōte -- made plural by ども (domo). Here ふるき means "old" in the sense of "from old" or "in the past".

those things (その物) alludes to the "private parts" (陰部 inbu) depicted on the pictures (headnote 19).

a picture is something in the air reflects 繪空事 (esoragoto), which is glossed "pictures (絵画 gaiga) [are] a matter, not of drawing [objects] realistically (写実的に shajitsuteki ni), [but] of exaggeratingly expressing [them]" (headnote 21).

you reflects 君 (kimi), then a term of address toward a person one served or was otherwise of superior status. Today the term is mostly used between friends, or by men toward their girlfriends or wifes, or by supervisors toward underlings in an office, and the like. Throughout the narrative, terms of address and verbs reflect the status difference between Sojo and his assistant.