Musashi - Eiji Yoshikawa [258]
Thinking it would be a shame for her to lose her vegetables after going to all the trouble of finding them, he picked them up and, basket in hand, started off after her. After a minute or so, two men came into view.
They had spread a rug on the sunny southern side of a gentle slope. There were also various implements used by devotees of the tea cult, including an iron kettle hanging over a fire and a pitcher of water to one side. Taking the natural surroundings for their garden, they had made themselves an open-air tea room. It all looked rather stylish and elegant.
One of the men seemed to be a servant, while the other’s white skin, smooth complexion and well-composed features brought to mind a large china doll representing a Kyoto aristocrat. He had a contented paunch; self-assurance was reflected in his cheeks and in his posture.
“Kōetsu.” The name rang a bell, for there was at this time a very famous Hon’ami Kōetsu living in Kyoto. It was rumored, with considerable envy, that he had been granted an annual stipend of one thousand bushels by the very wealthy Lord Maeda Toshiie of Kaga. As an ordinary townsman, he could have lived magnificently on this alone, but in addition he enjoyed the special favor of Tokugawa Ieyasu and was frequently received in the homes of high noblemen. The greatest warriors of the land, it was said, felt constrained to dismount and walk by his shop on foot, so as not to give the impression that they were looking down on him.
The family name came from their having taken up residence on Hon’ami Lane, and Kōetsu’s business was the cleaning, polishing and appraising of swords. His family had gained a reputation as early as the fourteenth century and had flourished during the Ashikaga period. They had later been patronized by such leading daimyō as Imagawa Yoshimoto, Oda Nobunaga and Toyotomi Hideyoshi.
Kōetsu was known as a man of many talents. He painted, excelled as a ceramist and lacquer-maker and was regarded as a connoisseur of art. He himself considered calligraphy to be his forte; in this field he was generally ranked with acknowledged experts like Shōkadō Shōjō, Karasumaru Mitsuhiro and Konoe Nobutada, the creator of the famous Sammyakuin Style, which was so popular these days.
Despite his fame, Kōetsu felt that he was not fully appreciated, or so it would seem from a story that was going around. According to this tale, he often visited the mansion of his friend Konoe Nobutada, who was not only a nobleman but currently Minister of the Left in the Emperor’s government. During one of these visits, the story went, the talk turned naturally to calligraphy and Nobutada asked, “Kōetsu, who would you select as the three greatest calligraphers in the country?”
Without the slightest hesitation, Kōetsu answered, “The second is yourself, and then I suppose Shōkadō Shōjō.”
A little puzzled, Nobutada asked, “You start with the second best, but who is the best?”
Kōetsu, without so much as a smile, looked directly into his eyes and replied, “I am, of course.”
Lost in thought, Musashi stopped a short distance from the group.
Kōetsu was holding a brush in his hand, and on his knees were several sheets of paper. He was studiously sketching the flow of water in a stream close by. This drawing, as well as earlier efforts lying scattered about on the ground, consisted solely of watery lines of a sort that, to Musashi’s eye, any novice might be able to draw.
Looking up, Kōetsu said quietly, “Is something wrong?” Then, with steady eyes, he took in the scene: Musashi on one side and on the other his mother trembling behind the servant.
Musashi felt calmer in the presence of this man. He was clearly not the sort of person he came into contact with every day, but somehow he found him appealing. His eyes held a profound light. After a moment they began to smile at Musashi, as if he were an old acquaintance.
“Welcome,