Page:Things Japanese (1905).djvu/348

336 "Other kinsfolk may be likened unto the rushes: husbands and wives are but useless stones.

"He that loveth iniquity beckoneth to misfortune: it is, as it were, the echo answering to the voice.

"He that practiseth righteousness receiveth a blessing: it cometh as surely as the shadow followeth the man.

"Be reverent when thou goest past a grave: alight from thine horse when thou goest past a Shintō shrine.

"When thou art near a Buddhist temple or pagoda, thou shalt not commit any unclean act: when thou readest the sacred writings, thou shalt do nothing unseemly.

"Human ears are listening at the wall: speak no calumny, even in secret.

"Human eyes look down from the heavens: commit no wrong, however hidden.

"When a hasty word hath once been spoken: a team of four horses may pursue, but cannot bring it back.

"The flaw in a mace of white jade may be ground away: but the flaw of an evil word cannot be ground away.

"Calamity and prosperity have no gate: they are there only whither men invite them.

"From the evils sent by Heaven there is deliverance: from the evils we bring upon ourselves there is no escape.

"The gods punish fools, not to slay but to chasten them: the teacher smiteth his disciple, not from hatred but to make him better.

"Though the sins committed by the wise man be great, he shall not fall into hell: though the sins committed by the fool be small, he shall surely fall into hell.

"Life, with birth and death, is not enduring: and ye should haste to yearn after Nirvana.

"The body, with its passions, is not pure: and ye should swiftly search after intelligence.