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kwaidan-第20章

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And I read; in Dr。 Howard's book; that the actual cost of freeing from

mosquitoes one American town of fifty thousand inhabitants; does not exceed

three hundred dollars!。。。







I wonder what would be said if the city…government of Tokyo  which is

aggressively scientific and progressive  were suddenly to command that

all water…surfaces in the Buddhist cemeteries should be covered; at regular

intervals; with a film of kerosene oil! How could the religion which

prohibits the taking of any life  even of invisible life  yield to such

a mandate? Would filial piety even dream of consenting to obey such an

order? And then to think of the cost; in labor and time; of putting

kerosene oil; every seven days; into the millions of mizutame; and the tens

of millions of bamboo flower…cups; in the Tokyo graveyards!。。。 Impossible!

To free the city from mosquitoes it would be necessary to demolish the

ancient graveyards; and that would signify the ruin of the Buddhist

temples attached to them; and that would mean the disparition of so many

charming gardens; with their lotus…ponds and Sanscrit…lettered monuments

and humpy bridges and holy groves and weirdly…smiling Buddhas! So the

extermination of the Culex fasciatus would involve the destruction of the

poetry of the ancestral cult; surely too great a price to pay!。。。







Besides; I should like; when my time comes; to be laid away in some

Buddhist graveyard of the ancient kind; so that my ghostly company should

be ancient; caring nothing for the fashions and the changes and the

disintegrations of Meiji (1)。 That old cemetery behind my garden would be a

suitable place。 Everything there is beautiful with a beauty of exceeding

and startling queerness; each tree and stone has been shaped by some old;

old ideal which no longer exists in any living brain; even the shadows are

not of this time and sun; but of a world forgotten; that never knew steam

or electricity or magnetism or  kerosene oil! Also in the boom of the big

bell there is a quaintness of tone which wakens feelings; so strangely

far…away from all the nineteenth…century part of me; that the faint blind

stirrings of them make me afraid; deliciously afraid。 Never do I hear

that billowing peal but I become aware of a striving and a fluttering in

the abyssal part of my ghost; a sensation as of memories struggling to

reach the light beyond the obscurations of a million million deaths and

births。 I hope to remain within hearing of that bell。。。 And; considering

the possibility of being doomed to the state of a Jiki…ketsu…gaki; I want

to have my chance of being reborn in some bamboo flower…cup; or mizutame;

whence I might issue softly; singing my thin and pungent song; to bite some

people that I know。









ANTS



I





This morning sky; after the night's tempest; is a pure and dazzling blue。

The air  the delicious air!  is full of sweet resinous odors; shed from

the countless pine…boughs broken and strewn by the gale。 In the neighboring

bamboo…grove I hear the flute…call of the bird that praises the Sutra of

the Lotos; and the land is very still by reason of the south wind。 Now the

summer; long delayed; is truly with us: butterflies of queer Japanese

colors are flickering about; semi (1) are wheezing; wasps are humming;

gnats are dancing in the sun; and the ants are busy repairing their damaged

habitations。。。 I bethink me of a Japanese poem:



     Yuku e naki:

Ari no sumai ya!

     Go…getsu ame。







'Now the poor creature has nowhere to go!。。。 Alas for the dwellings of the

ants in this rain of the fifth month!'







But those big black ants in my garden do not seem to need any sympathy。

They have weathered the storm in some unimaginable way; while great trees

were being uprooted; and houses blown to fragments; and roads washed out of

existence。 Yet; before the typhoon; they took no other visible precaution

than to block up the gates of their subterranean town。 And the spectacle of

their triumphant toil to…day impels me to attempt an essay on Ants。





I should have like to preface my disquisitions with something from the old

Japanese literature; something emotional or metaphysical。 But all that my

Japanese friends were able to find for me on the subject; excepting some

verses of little worth; was Chinese。 This Chinese material consisted

chiefly of strange stories; and one of them seems to me worth quoting;

faute de mieux。



               *







In the province of Taishu; in China; there was a pious man who; every day;

during many years; fervently worshiped a certain goddess。 One morning;

while he was engaged in his devotions; a beautiful woman; wearing a yellow

robe; came into his chamber and stood before him。 He; greatly surprised;

asked her what she wanted; and why she had entered unannounced。 She

answered: 〃I am not a woman: I am the goddess whom you have so long and so

faithfully worshiped; and I have now come to prove to you that your

devotion has not been in vain。。。 Are you acquainted with the language of

Ants?〃 The worshiper replied: 〃I am only a low…born and ignorant person;

not a scholar; and even of the language of superior men I know nothing。〃 At

these words the goddess smiled; and drew from her bosom a little box;

shaped like an incense box。 She opened the box; dipped a finger into it;

and took therefrom some kind of ointment with which she anointed the ears

of the man。 〃Now;〃 she said to him; 〃try to find some Ants; and when you

find any; stoop down; and listen carefully to their talk。 You will be able

to understand it; and you will hear of something to your advantage。。。 Only

remember that you must not frighten or vex the Ants。〃 Then the goddess

vanished away。





The man immediately went out to look for some Ants。 He had scarcely

crossed the threshold of his door when he perceived two Ants upon a stone

supporting one of the house…pillars。 He stooped over them; and listened;

and he was astonished to find that he could hear them talking; and could

understand what they said。 〃Let us try to find a warmer place;〃 proposed

one of the Ants。 〃Why a warmer place?〃 asked the other; 〃what is the

matter with this place?〃 〃It is too damp and cold below;〃 said the first

Ant; 〃there is a big treasure buried here; and the sunshine cannot warm the

ground about it。〃 Then the two Ants went away together; and the listener

ran for a spade。





By digging in the neighborhood of the pillar; he soon found a number of

large jars full of gold coin。 The discovery of this treasure made him a

very rich man。





Afterwards he often tried to listen to the conversation of Ants。 But he

was never again able to hear them speak。 The ointment of the goddess had

opened his ears to their mysterious language for only a single day。



               *







Now I; like that Chinese devotee; must confess myself a very ignorant

person; and naturally unable to hear the conversation of Ants。 But the

Fairy of Science sometimes touches my ears and eyes with her wand; and

then; for a little time; I am able to hear things inaudible; and to

perceive things imperceptible。







II





For the same reason that it is considered wicked; in sundry circles; to

speak of a non…Christian people having produced a civilization ethically

superior to our own; certain persons will not be pleased by what I am going

to say about ants。 But there are men; incomparably wiser than I can ever

hope to be; who think about insects and civilizations independently of the

blessings of Christianity; and I find encouragement in the new Cambridge

Natural History; which contains the following remarks by Professor David

Sharp; concerning ants:







〃Observation has revealed the most remarkable phenomena in the lives of

these insects。 Indeed we can scarcely avoid the conclusion that they have

acquired; in many respects; the art of living together in societies more

perfectly than our own species has; and that they have anticipated us in

the acquisition of some of the industries and arts that greatly facilitate

social life。〃







I suppose that a few well…informed persons will dispute this plain

statement by a trained specialist。 The contemporary man of science is not

apt to become sentimental about ants or bees; but he will not hesitate to

acknowledge that; in regard to social evolution; these insects appear to

have advanced 〃beyond man。〃 Mr。 Herbert Spencer; whom nobody will charge

with romantic tendencies; goes considerably further than Professor Sharp;

showing us that ants are; in a very real sense; ethically as well as

economically in advance of humanity; their lives being entirely devoted

to altruistic ends。 Indeed; Professor Sharp somewhat needlessly qualifies

his praise of the ant with this cautious observation:







〃The competence of the ant is not like that of man。 It is devoted to the

welfare of the species ra
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