Page:Anthology of Japanese Literature.pdf/385

Rh Kyorai said, “Shadō thinks that the last line should be ‘monkey of the moon,’ but I think that ‘guest’ is better.” The Master said, “How can he suggest such a word as ‘monkey’? What had you in mind when you wrote the poem?” Kyorai answered, “One night, when I was walking in the mountains by the light of the harvest moon, composing poetry as I went along, I noticed another poet standing by the crags.” The Master said, “How much more interesting a poem it would be if by the lines ‘Here too is someone, guest of the moon’ you meant yourself. You must be the subject of the verse.”

[Shimokyō was a very quiet district of Kyoto.]

Bonchō

This verse at first lacked an opening line, and everyone from the Master downward tried to think of one. At length the Master settled on the above line. Bonchō said “yes” to it, but still didn’t seem satisfied. The Master said, “Bonchō, why don’t you think of a better opening line? If you do, I’ll never write another haiku.” Kyorai said, “Anyone can see how good a line it is, but it’s not so easy to appreciate that no other line would do. If members of some other school heard what you said, they would think that you were ridiculously pleased with yourself, and they would make up any number of opening lines. But the ones which they considered to be good would seem laughably bad to us.”

[The difference in subjects suited to the classical waka and the haiku.]

Kyorai