HOSOKAWA YUSAI
細川幽斎
Hosokawa Hyobu-taiyu Fujitaka Yusai was deeply versed in poetry and the tea philosophy.
細川兵部太夫藤孝幽斎は茶の湯哲学者と詩人、達人です。
*”Yusai was what might be called the walking dictionary of literature to the Ashikaga Shogun.” Tokutomi Soho : (Kinsei Nihon Kokuminshi.)
「幽斎は足利家将軍の歩く文献辞典である。」とＴＯＫＵＴＯＭＩ ＳＯＨＯが「近世日本国民史」で言っています。
In the Sekigahara campaign he held castle of Tanabe in Tanba, his province, with five hundred men for Ieyasu, and there detained a large army for sixty days so that they were unable to take part in the decisive battle.
関が原の合戦の時、彼は丹波田辺城主、家康側に付き５００人の兵隊と城を守りました。そして、敵から六日の間防御することを強いられ、決戦には参加することが出来ませんでした。
And so anxious was the Emperor that he or his books might be damaged that he issued an Edict that the castle should be vacated, but not until it had served its purpose.
そして最大の心配憂いはその時の皇帝にあり、それは敵が城を陥落させた場合、彼と彼が執筆編纂した書物が損傷を受ける可能性が有ったからです。
The investing army too sympathized with the old poet who was then 67 so that they were considerate enough to forget to put many bullets into their guns.
実は敵兵も同様に思って居ました。年齢６７歳の老齢な詩人に対し、彼らは鉄砲に弾を込めずに包囲していたのです。
He possessed a number of very valuable tea vessels, among which the incense burner called ‘chidori' was especially famous.
幽斎は貴重な茶入を持っていましたが、その中でも「千鳥」と言う香炉はとても有名な物でした。
One evening in mid-autumn during the era Bunroku (1592~96) when the full moon had emerged from the peaks of Higashiyama and was shining brightly, Gamo Ujisato said to Sen- n- Rikyu “This is a perfect evening : I wonder how we can make the most of it?”
時は文禄（１５９２〜９６）、秋も深まったある日の晩、京都東山から満月が昇り、夜空に輝いていました。蒲生氏郷が千利休に言います、「素晴らしい晩ですね、何か相応しい趣向はないでしょうか？」
So the pair of them concluded that they could not do better than visit Fujitaka, and went off to his house.
そして二人は、藤孝殿の所へ行く以外無いだろうと言う事になり、家を出ました。
He was delighted to see them and did everything he could to entertain them.
幽斎は二人を見て大いに慶び、彼らを歓待しました。
There was not a cloud in the sky or a shadow on the moon, and the heavens shone bright in serene purity and their enjoyment of its beauty grew more and more keen till suddenly it occurred to Ujisato to ask their host if he would show them the famous Chidori incense burner, for the occasion seemed to him just the right one.
空には雲一つ無く、満月は影一つ無く真丸に輝いていました。そして夜空は穏やかで、一行の気分は最高となって、蒲生氏郷は藤孝に「千鳥香炉」を是非拝見したいと言い出したのです。
But when he made the request Fujitaka's face at once clouded to he put him off by saying : “To-night is not a suitable time ; I will show it to you on some other occasion.”
しかしその時、藤孝の表情は一瞬曇り「今晩は相応しくありません、又別の機会にお見せいたしましょう」っと言いました。
But Ujisato would take no refusal, urging that it would spoil a perfect evening if he did not accede.
しかし蒲生氏郷は納得せずに、こんな素晴らしい夜に見られないのはすべてが台無しになると言い続けました。
So Fujitada reluctantly and with a very displeased look went and got the incense burner, threw the ashes out of it and gave it to them to examine without putting it in its proper place in the alcove as would usually be done.
藤孝は憮然とし、顔を曇らせながらその場を離れ、その香炉を持って来て中の灰を取り出し彼らの方へ出しました。しかし、それは正式な拝見ではなくただ見せるっと言う行為、通常正式には床の間に飾るからです。
Ujisato took it and examined it carefully, pronouncing it to be indeed a masterpiece, but Fujitada made no acknowledgment of his praise, but put it away again without a word.
蒲生氏郷は早速手に取り注意深く拝見しました。食い入るように、もちろん彼も茶人なのです。しかし、藤孝は彼の賞賛に対し同意等はなく、黙って下げてしまったのです。
Ujisato could not understand his behavior at all, so when met Satomura Sho-ba, a teacher of Japanese verse, he told him about it and asked him what he thought could be the explanation, if any, of Fujitaka's curious churlishness, so unlike his ordinary courteous behavior.
兎に角氏郷は彼の行動が合点行きません。そして里村しょうばと言う詩の師匠に会った時、その出来事を話し意見を求めました。あんな礼儀正しい藤孝殿が、奇妙なそっけ無い行動をとった理由は何なのか？
Shoba looked blank at first, but after considering a while he suddenly smote his knee : “Ah, I have it,” he exclaimed, “indeed Yusai is a true poet! You know the verse of the Retired Emperor Juntoku :
しょうばは少し考込み、そして「解った！」っと膝を打ちました。そして説明します「幽斎は真の詩人だね！あなたは順徳天皇の詩を知っていますか？」
On Kiyomi beach,
Where the waves lap listlessly
‘Neath a cloudy sky;
See the flock of sea-birds cast
Their dark shadow on the moon.
清見の浜
波はとても静かで
雲一つ無い空
見よ、千鳥達の群れ
月に影を映して飛んでいる
Well, you see he didn't want his ‘Chidori' to cat any shadow on the moon, and so it was that he said that the night was not suitable.
「そう、彼は今宵の月にいかなる影も写したくなかったのだろう。だから、千鳥は相応しく無かった。
How very natural to a poetic mind like his.”
彼は本当の詩人と言える。」
Ujisato could not repress a sigh of chagrin at his own ignorance. “How in the world should one know a thing like that unless by asking a scholar such as yourself,” he replied, “and what learning and acuteness you possess to be able to unravel it. I must confess that I am thoroughly ashamed of my own denseness and ignorance.”
氏郷は合点と同時に後悔のため息をつき、「この世において、あなたの様な賢者に尋ねること以外、どのようにして物事が解るのでしょうか？」彼は続け「貴殿の様な勤勉と鋭さが物の本質探り当てられるのですね〜。私は自分の鈍感さと無知を恥じなければなりません。」
And henceforth he made a point of cultivating the acquaintance of Fujitaka the more, and found that he profited by it not a little.
それ以来、氏郷は藤孝との親交を深め多くを吸収しました。
And it is not only in the matter of Tea that humility is the mother of knowledge.
それは、茶の湯のことだけではなく、謙遜が知の母であると言う事です。