SHO-O DIVINES THE INTENTION OF HIS HOST
紹鴎が亭主の意図を予言する。
Sho -o was once invited to a Cha-no- yu by a wealthy man of Sakai , and it was the beginning of autumn.
秋の初め、紹鴎は堺の富豪の茶会へ招待をされました。
When he reached the house and entered the Roji he turned to his companions and said, “I see his idea. You will find that ha has Eikei's verse hung in his Tokonoma to-day.”
その屋敷へ着き露地へ入った時、彼は振向いて付人達へ言いました。「今日の趣向が分った、床には Eikei 上人の歌が掛けてある。」
The others did not understand what he meant, but when they entered the Tea-room sure enough there was the verse as he had predicted.
他の人たちはその意味が分らずにいました。そして、茶室に入った時に、まさに紹鴎が言ったと通りにこの歌が掛けてあったのです。
“What a lonely sight
When the clover-grass grows long
Round our dwelling-place
Not a trace of humankind
Truly an autumnal scene.”
八重葎 茂る宿の 寂しさに 人こそ見えぬ 秋はきにけり
It was written on fine Ogura paper and mounted as a kakemono.
小倉色紙に書かれた歌か表装され掛かっていました。
The other guests were naturally astonished at his insight and asked him how he was able to know that it would be so.
皆は当然のごとく洞察力にびっくり仰天し、紹鴎に尋ねました。どうして分ったのか？
“I knew that our host was no novice at Cha-no- yu ,” said Sho -o “and I noticed that to-day's meeting he had not swept away the fallen leaves or removed the withered grasses. He had just left the garden as it was and this lent it a most desolate and melancholy air, so that immediately that verse came to mind, and I imagined he would use it in the tokonoma to-day . . . especially as I heard that he had lately bought it.”
「彼は茶の湯の初心者ではない。」っと紹鴎は言って続けます。「亭主が今まで庭にいたにもかかわらず落ち葉や枯れた葉などが掃除されていない。この荒れた景色と哀れみのある空気で、私はこの歌が浮かんだのです。これは亭主の“演出”で今日の床の掛軸はこれに間違いないと思いました。」
“Well,” replied his pupils, “it is really wonderful what sense of fitness our host has, and how exactly the master's mind is in tune with it.”
「なるほど！」っと弟子達が叫びました。「亭主のなんという素晴しい気使いでしょう。それこそ、正に真の茶人同士の心の会話ですね！」
This seems to have been the first time this Ogura paper was used in the Tea-ceremony, but as this anecdote was associated with it, it soon became the fashion, while the ‘Clover-grass' kakemono was the more prized.
小倉色紙を茶の湯に使ったのはこの時が始めてでした。後に先ほどの“逸話”と重なって一つの流行となり、八重葎の掛け物はとても珍重されたのです。
This kind of device is only effective the first time. Repetition spoils it.
ただし、この試みの成功は一度だけの様で、繰り返すと新鮮味が無くなってしまいます。
The secret of a successful Tea lies in this harmony of the feeling of host and guests.
茶の成功の鍵とは亭主と客とのハーモニーに尽きるのです。
The host should adapt himself to the temperament of the guests and the guests should be able to add to their enjoyment by an understanding appreciation of the pains the host has taken to entertain them.
亭主は自分自身を客達すべての気持ちにあわせなければなりませんし、また客達は、自分達が楽しむのはもちろんの事、楽しませるために頑張った亭主の気持ちに感謝することも大切なのです。
This Ogura paper was originally in the possession of Kitabatake , Governor of Ise , who had pair of screens on which a hundred pieces of it, inscribed with verses, were mounted.
小倉色紙は伊勢の守護者、北畠家が持ち主です。１００組の色紙があり歌が刻まれ、表装されています。
When Socho , pupil of Sogi , went down to Ise he was presented with these screens, and when went away he took one with him and left the other behind.
Sogi の弟子である Socho という人が伊勢へ行った折これらの版を譲り受けました。そして伊勢を去る時、片方を持ちもう片方は置いていったのです。
This one was burnt soon after, so only the one in his possession remained, and on this there were only thirty verses.
その後、置いていった方は消失してしまい、持ち帰ったモノだけが残り、それは三十作品だけでした。
According to the Rojin Zatsuwa it was Sho -o who had two verses entitled Ama-no-hara and Yae-mugura (Clover-grass) mounted on Kakemono, but in the above story it seems to have been the wealthy host of Sho -o who had this done.
Rojin Zatsuwa と言う書物によれば、紹鴎がその内の Ama-no-hara と Yae-mugura を掛け物として所持していた様です。が、その前に紹鴎の師匠級の富豪が持っていたと言う説もあります。
Sho -o was once going to a Cha-no- yu with Rikyu when he caught sight of a flower vase with two handles in a curio shop.
紹鴎が利休主催の茶会へ行こうと歩いていると、古物商の店先にある取手が二つ付いた花瓶を見つけました。
He thought he would go in and buy it on his way back and did so only to find that Rikyu had forestalled him.
彼が買おうと決心し店に戻って見ると、丁度その時に利休がその花瓶を買ったところでした。
Being invited to a Tea some while after by Rikyu it occurred to him that this vase would be used, and so it turned out , for there it stood in the Tokonoma , but with one of its handles broken off.
買いそびれて利休の主催茶会へ、するとその壷が床の間に、花が生けられ飾ってあるではありませんか。 しかも、取手が片方欠けていました。
“Ah,” he said, “then I shall have no need of the hammer I brought in my sleeve to knock it off, for I could not bear the idea of it being used with both.”
「あ～」っと彼は一言、「そう、トンカチじゃなくって、私は袖で取手を壊したんです。取り合わせて使おうと思ったアイデェアは崩れさった、、、。」
When his younger sister was married to Hisada Gyobu , Rikyu made a tea-spoon which he named ‘O- furesode ' and gave it to her as a wedding present. It was because he was not very prosperous at this time that he gave it instead of a trousseau. Gyobu's son So- ei studied tea under Rikyu and founded the Hisada School . ‘O- fureode ' is still preserved in his family.
妹が久田行部という人物のところへとつぐ事になり、利休は「お振袖」と言う銘の茶杓を作って贈りました。この時分、利休はまだ駆け出しで裕福では無かったので花嫁道具を贈る余裕は無かったのです。行部の子 Soei は利休の下で茶の湯を学び、久田流を作りました。この「お振袖」と言う茶杓は久田家に伝来しています。
Chashaku or Tea-spoon
茶杓各部名称
(a) Dew-drop 露 (b) Scoop 櫂先 (c) Groove 樋
(d) Knot 節 (e) Grasp 追取 (f) Butt 切止