Sōseki: Ten Nights' Dreams - The Sixth Dream

I had heard the great Unkei was carving the figures of the two Temple Guardians, the ancient Niō, at the main gate of Kokoku Temple, so I walked out to see it. There were many people already there before me all talking about the project.

Before the main gate stood a red pine tree five or six ken high, spreading its branches out against the blue sky far above at an angle that partially screened its roof. The green of the pine tree and the vermilion of the lacquered gate reflected each other in beautiful harmony. The tree was well placed so that one heavy branch extended obliquely to avoid blocking the left side of the gate. It seemed somehow old-fashioned to let the branch stick out over the roof that way. It could have been the Kamakura period.

However, the people looking at it, including me, were of the Meiji era. Most of them were rickshaw drivers. They must have been standing there because they were tired of waiting for passengers.

One said, that’s what I call big!

That must be harder than it takes to make a man, said another.

Still another said, do they still carve the Niō nowadays? I thought that was all way back when.

It looks plenty strong all right. They say there was never anyone as strong as the Niō. They say they were even stronger than Yamato-takeru-no-mikoto, that ancestor god of the Emperor himself. This speaker with his kimono tucked in was not wearing a hat. He seemed somehow uncultured.

Unkei was working with his chisel and hammer, unconcerned about his reputation among the onlookers. He never turned to look at them. Perched on his high place he went on carving the first Niō.

Unkei was wearing the strange headgear of a bygone era and had his sleeves tied across his back. Anyway, his whole aspect was that of another age. He seemed to be ill-matched with his noisy audience. It was strange to be watching him there. I wondered why he was still alive in this modern period.

Unkei, however, was carving away as if everything were absolutely normal. A young man who was looking up at him turned to me and began extolling his work, saying, he is great. We are beneath his notice. He seems to be telling us that he and the Niō are the world’s only heroes. He is splendid.

I thought that his words were interesting. I glanced at him and he said at once, look how he uses his chisel and hammer. That’s exquisite mastery.

He was now carving the Niō’s eyebrow a sun sideways and in the precise instant that he turned over the blade of the chisel, he brought the hammer down. He planed the hard wood and thick shavings flew with the sound of the hammer as the side of an angry noise emerged. He seemed to have an unconcerned way of working, yet his hand was perfectly sure.

He uses the chisel in such an offhand manner. How can he make the eyebrow and the nose the way he wants? I was so impressed that I began talking to myself. No, the young man at my side observed. He doesn’t do it with his chisel. All he does is just dig out the eyebrows and nose already buried in the wood. It’s like digging stones out of the ground. He cannot make a mistake.

What a discovery. So this is what sculpture is! It occurred to me that if that is all there is to it, anybody can do it. I suddenly longed to make a statue of the Niō for myself, so I went home there and then.

I got the chisel and hammer out of my toolbox. In the backyard there was a large stack of oak wood, already saved for firewood after a recent storm had scattered tree branches about.

I chose the biggest one and began to cave it vigorously, but unfortunately I couldn’t seem to find the Niō. I couldn’t find one in the next piece, either. Nor was it in the third. I caved in the stacked wood piece after piece, and in none was hidden the Niō. At last I had to accept the fact that the Niō does not reside in the wood of the Meiji period. I also learned the reason why Unkei is alive today.

(Natsume Sōseki)

My comment:

Unkey lived in the twelfth century and the story takes place in the modern era. The great master of the Kamakura period had the faith, the devotion, the humility, the patience to become intimate with the world of his gods; there was no more distinction between him, his art, the Universe of his art; so, along with them he transcended time and went beyond spatial boundaries. Again, History disappears, overwhelmed by the Eternity of Cosmos.



(Sōseki)