Musashi - Eiji Yoshikawa [364]
“Why do you consider Musashi a great swordsman? You—you say you saw the fight the other day, but let me assure you, I, Sasaki Kojirō, also saw it. As the official witness, I observed every detail. Later, I went to Mount Hiei and lectured to the student priests on what I’d seen. Moreover, at the invitation of some eminent scholars, I visited several subsidiary temples and gave more lectures.
“Now, unlike me, you men know nothing about swordsmanship.” Condescension was creeping into Kojirō’s voice. “You see only who won and who lost, then you join the herd and praise Miyamoto Musashi as though he were the greatest swordsman who ever lived.
“Ordinarily, I wouldn’t bother to refute the prattle of ignoramuses, but I feel it’s necessary now, because your erroneous opinions are harmful to society at large. Moreover, I wish to expose your fallacies for the benefit of these distinguished scholars who accompany me today. Clean out your ears and listen carefully! I’ll tell you what actually happened at the spreading pine and what kind of man Musashi is.”
Obedient noises issued from the captive audience.
“In the first place,” declaimed Kojirō, “let us consider what Musashi really has in mind—his ulterior purpose. To judge from the way he provoked this last bout, I can only conclude that he was trying desperately to sell his name, to make a reputation for himself. To do this, he singled out the House of Yoshioka, the most famous school of swordsmanship in Kyoto, and cleverly picked a fight. By falling victim to this ruse, the House of Yoshioka became Musashi’s stepping-stone to fame and success.
“What he did was dishonest. It was already common knowledge that the days of Yoshioka Kempō were over, that the Yoshioka School had fallen into decline. It was like a withered tree, or an invalid close to death. All Musashi had to do was give a push to an empty hulk. Anyone could have done the same, but no one did. Why? Because those of us who understand The Art of War already knew the school was powerless. Second, because we did not wish to sully the honored name of Kempō. Yet Musashi chose to provoke an incident, to place challenging signs on the streets of Kyoto, to spread rumors and finally to make a great spectacle of doing what any reasonably skillful swordsman could have done.
“I couldn’t begin to enumerate all the cheap, cowardly tricks he resorted to. Consider, for example, that he contrived to be late both for his bout with Yoshioka Seijūrō and for his encounter with Denshichirō. Instead of meeting his enemies head on at the spreading pine, he came by a roundabout way and employed all sorts of base stratagems.
“It’s been pointed out that he was only one man fighting against many. That’s true, but it’s only part of his devilish scheme for promoting his name. He knew full well that because he was outnumbered, the public would sympathize with him. And when it comes to the actual fighting, I can tell you—I observed it personally—it was little more than child’s play. Musashi managed to survive for a time with his clever tricks, then, when the chance to flee presented itself, he ran. Oh, I have to admit that to a certain extent he displayed a kind of brute strength. But that doesn’t make him an expert swordsman. No, not at all. Musashi’s greatest claim to fame is his ability to run fast. At making a rapid getaway, he is without equal.”
The words were now streaming from Kojirō’s mouth like water over a dam.
“Ordinary people think it’s difficult for a lone swordsman to fight against a great number of opponents, but ten men are not necessarily ten times stronger than one man. To the expert, numbers are not always important.” Kojirō then gave a professional critique of the battle. It was easy to belittle Musashi’s feat, for despite his valor, any knowledgeable observer could have picked out flaws in his performance. When he got around to mentioning Genjirō, Kojirō was scathing. He said the boy’s murder was an atrocity, a violation of the ethics of swordsmanship, that could not be condoned from any point of view.
“And let