Page:A History of Japanese Literature (Aston).djvu/210

194 "When every one has retired to rest, to while away the long hours of night we put in order our little odds and ends of property. Among scraps of paper thrown away as not worth preserving, a handwriting or a sketch thrown off for amusement by one who is no more, catches the eye and brings up vividly the time when it was made. It is affecting too, after years have passed, to find a letter even from one who is still alive, and to think that it was written at such a date, on such an occasion.

"The articles their hands were familiar with remain unchanged (they have no hearts!) for all the long years that have elapsed. Alas! alas!"

"The man who writes a bad hand should not be deterred by that circumstance from scribbling letters. Otherwise he gets his friends to write for him, which is a nuisance."

"He is a fool who spends his life in the pursuit of fame or gain."

"The venerable priest Hōzen, being asked by a man whose drowsiness at prayers interfered with his religious duties, how he should remove this hindrance to devotion, replied, 'Pray earnestly enough to keep yourself awake.' This was an admirable answer.

"The same priest said, 'If you think your salvation is assured, it is assured; if you think it is not assured, it is not assured.' This is also an admirable saying.

"Another admirable speech of his was to this effect: 'If, notwithstanding that you are perplexed by doubts, you continue your prayers, you will be saved.'"

Kenkō with some friends once attended a race-meeting, not, one would think, a fit place for a Buddhist recluse to be seen. A crowd got between their carriage and the course, shutting out their view.