Читать книгу Tales of Okinawa's Great Masters онлайн

52 страница из 66

I remember that it was around August of 1942 when I was researching Matsumura’s family lineage that I came across a fifth-generation descendent in the Sogenji district of Naha. There, in an area nicknamed Shimaguaa, I had an opportunity to observe a rusty old Kannon (the Buddhist goddess of mercy) statue about fifteen centimeters in length, a Jigen-ryu makimono, and a shikishi (inscription card), which had been handed down in the Matsumura family. The makimono was so badly rotted that most of its message was unintelligible. However, I still remember one phrase clearly. It read: When holding a sword one should be in the same mood as holding a fishing pole.”

The shikishi, obviously written by a scholarly brush, read: “Matsumura Peichin dono, Omokageo Miruni Nagorino Masurunari, Kimiwa kikokuo nasuto omoeba Ishuin Yashichiro” (To Matsumura Peichin, I am extremely saddened knowing that you will soon depart, [signed] Ishuin Yashichiro). It is obvious that Ishuin was saddened by his friend’s return to Okinawa. Like my other research, I too had copied this valuable document but, like all my other belongings, it was destroyed in the holocaust of October 10, 1944.