a€?Excuse me, but the painter from Shiodaa€™s is here,a€? he announces, in a tone of deep deference that strikes me as rather funny.
a€?Is that so? Let him come in.a€?
I replace Ryonen at the entrance. The room is tiny. Therea€™s a sunken hearth in the middle, with an iron kettle singing quietly on the coals. The abbot is seated beyond it, a book in his hands.
a€?Come on in,a€? he says, removing his glasses and laying the book aside.
a€?Ryonen. Ryoooonen!a€?
a€?Ye-e-e-s!a€?
a€?A cushion for the guest, please.a€?
a€?Ye-e-e-e-s!a€? Ryonena€™s drawn-out cry floats back from somewhere in the distance.
a€?Ia€™m glad youa€™ve come. You must be quite bored here.a€?
a€?The moonlight was so lovely, I just wandered over.a€?
a€?Ita€™s a fine moon,a€? he says, opening the paper screens at the window.
Nothing is visible outside except two stepping-stones and a single pine tree. The flat garden ends at what appears to be a precipice, with the hazy moonlit sea directly below. Looking out produces the sensation of a sudden expansion of the spirit. The lights of fishing boats twinkle here and there out at sea, seeming at the far horizon to lift into the sky and imitate the stars.
a€?What a lovely view! Ita€™s a waste to keep the shutters closed, Your Reverence.a€?
a€?Thata€™s true. But then, I see it every night.a€?
a€?This view would stil be lovely however many nights you saw it. If it were me, Ia€™d stay up al night just to gaze.a€?
The abbot laughs. a€?Of course youa€™re an artist, so wea€™re bound to be a bit different.a€?
a€?You too are an artist, Your Reverence, when you find such a view beautiful.a€?
a€?Yes, thata€™s true enough, I suppose. Even I can do the odd Bodhidharma painting. Look at this one hanging here. This scrol painting was done by a predecessor. Ita€™s very good, isna€™t it?a€?
I look at the Bodhidharma painting on the scrol in the little alcove. As a painting, ita€™s dreadful. Al you can say for it is that ita€™s not vulgarly ambitious. The painter has made not the slightest attempt to conceal its clumsiness. It is a naA?ve work. This predecessor must have been a similar type, someone who cared nothing for pretension.
a€?Ita€™s an unsophisticated painting, isna€™t it?a€?
a€?Thata€™s al our sort of painting requires. It only needs to reveal the paintera€™s nature.a€?
a€?Ita€™s better than the sort thata€™s skil ful but worldly.a€?
The abbot laughs. a€?Wel , wel , thata€™s a good enough compliment, I suppose. Now tel me, are there such things as doctors of painting these days?a€?
a€?No, there arena€™t.a€?
a€?Ah, I see. Because I met a doctor the other day.a€?
a€?Real y?a€?
a€?I suppose a doctor is a fine thing to be, eh?a€?
a€?Yes, I imagine so.a€?
a€?Youa€™d think therea€™d be doctorates for painters too. I wonder why there arena€™t.a€?
a€?In that case, there ought to be doctorates for abbots as wel , oughtna€™t there?a€?
He laughs again. a€?Yes, wel , maybe so. . . . Now what was his name, the fel ow I met the other day? I must have his name card here somewhere.a€?
a€?Where did you meet him? In Tokyo?a€?
a€?No, here. I havena€™t been to Tokyo for twenty years or more. I hear those things they cal a€?trainsa€™ are running these days. I wouldna€™t mind taking a ride on one to see what ita€™s like.a€?
a€?Therea€™s nothing very interesting about them. Theya€™re noisy things.a€?
a€?Wel , you know the sayinga€”a€?The dogs in a misty country wil bark at the sun, the cows in a hot country wil pant at the moon.a€™ Ia€™m a country fel ow, so Ia€™d probably have a hard time coping with trains, in fact.a€?
a€?Oh, Ia€™m sure youa€™d cope perfectly wel . They real y are very boring things.a€?
a€?Is that so?a€?
Steam is pouring from the iron kettle. The abbot takes a pot and cups from the nearby tea chest and proceeds to make us tea.
a€?Have a cup of coarse-leaf tea. Ita€™s not the delicious tea that Mr. Shioda makes, mind you.a€?
a€?Ia€™m sure ita€™s perfectly fine.a€?
a€?You look as if you wander about a lot. Now, is that in order to paint?a€?
