Young Samurai _ The Way Of The Dragon - Chris Bradford [134]
‘Forever bound to one another.’
She bowed to him.
Jack returned her bow.
When he looked up again, she was gone.
For several long moments, Jack gazed at the rising sun. He questioned if he’d made the right decision. But he knew in his heart of hearts that it was his only option. He couldn’t stay. In Japan, the Shogun wanted him dead. In England, his little sister needed him.
Turning to face the long road ahead, Jack took his first step, alone, upon the Way of the Warrior… and home.
NOTES ON THE SOURCES
The following quotes are referenced within Young Samurai: The Way of the Dragon (with the page numbers in square brackets below) and their sources are acknowledged here:
[Page 86] ‘He who works with his hands is a mere labourer. He who works with hands and head is a craftsman. But he who works with his hands, head and heart is an artist’ by Louis Nizer (lawyer and author, 1902–94).
[Page 152] ‘A nation that draws too broad a difference between its scholars and its warriors will have its thinking done by cowards, and its fighting done by fools’ by Thucydides (Greek historian, 471 BC–400 BC).
[Page 405] ‘When it is dark enough, you can see the stars’ by Charles Austin Beard (American historian, 1874–1948).
The following haiku are referenced within Young Samurai: The Way of the Dragon. The page number are in square brackets below and the sources of the haiku are acknowledged here:
Flying of cranes
as high as the clouds –
first sunrise.
[page 82] Source: haiku by Chiyo-ni, 1703–75
Look! A butterfly
has settled on the shoulder
of the great Buddha.
[page 83] Source: haiku by Bashō, 1643–94
Letting out a fart –
it doesn’t make you laugh
when you live alone.
[page 87] Source: anon., seventeenth century
Evening temple bell
stopped in the sky
by cherry blossoms.
[page 88] Source: haiku by Chiyo-ni, 1703–75
Take a pair of wings
from a dragonfly, you would
make a pepper pod.
[page 169] Source: haiku by Kikaku, 1661–1707
Add a pair of wings
to a pepper pod, you would
make a dragonfly.
[page 170] Source: haiku by Bashō, 1643–94
“She may have only one eye
but it’s a pretty one,”
says the go-between.
[page 203] Source: anon., senryu, seventeenth century
Temple bell
a cloud of cherry blossom
Heaven? Hanami?
[page 204] Source: haiku after Bashō, 1643–94
I want to kill him,
I don’t want to kill him…
Catching the thief
and seeing his face,
it was my brother!
[page 207–8] Source: after maekuzuke, seventeenth century
Haiku Notes
The principles of haiku have been described in this book from the point of view of writing this style of poetry in English, so may not necessarily be accurate for true haiku written in kanji script.
Haiku is actually a late nineteenth-century term introduced by Masaoka Shiki (1867–1902) for the stand-alone hokku (the opening stanza of a renga or renku poem), but the term is generally applied retrospectively to all hokku, irrespective of when they were written. For purposes of clarity and to aid understanding for today’s modern reader, the term haiku has been used throughout this book.
For further information on writing haiku, please refer to The Haiku Handbook by William J. Higginson (New York: Kodansha, 1989).
JAPANESE GLOSSARY
Bushido
Bushido, meaning the ‘Way of the Warrior’, is a Japanese code of conduct similar to the concept of chivalry. Samurai warriors were meant to adhere to the seven moral principles in their martial arts training and in their day-to-day lives.
Virtue 1: Gi – Rectitude
Gi is the ability to make the right decision with moral confidence and to be fair and equal towards all people no matter what colour, race, gender or age.
Virtue 2: Yu – Courage
Yu is the ability to handle any situation with valour and confidence.
Virtue 3: Jin – Benevolence
Jin is a combination of compassion and generosity. This virtue