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3. A Gospel of One Letter – Lafcadio Hearn

Posted by ancroiait on December 31, 2011
Posted in: 日本語. Tagged: A gospel of one letter, Dust, hito ., Irish authors, Irish writers, Japan, Lafacadio Hearn, literature, Matsue, Rhapsody, Yakumo Koizumi, 日本語.

Athbhliain linn is smaoiním ar an ghrian ag éirí is an tSeapáin agus Éireannach ann a bhí beagnach chomh Seapáineach le Haiku.

Míniú de dhíth, is dócha. Ainm Gréigeach aige cé gur Angla-Éireannach a bhí ann freisin. Phós sé sa tSeapáin is ghlac sé le ainm Seapáineach ann: Yakumo Koizumi. Seachas a ghrá do chuile shórt Seapáineach, b’aorthóir is ealaíontóir den scoth é. Foghlaim níos mó faoi anseo

Lafacadio Hearn’s house in Matsue, Japan.

Inniu roinnim 2 shliocht uaidh: Dust agus Rhapsody.

1. A Gospel of One Letter ó Dust

人

First she draws in the dust a stroke sloping downwards from right to left,

then she draws another curving downwards from left to right,

joining the two so as to form the perfect ji, or character,

hito, 人, meaning a person of either sex, or mankind.

Then she tries to impress the idea of this shape on the baby memory

by help of a practical illustration,—probably learned at school.

She breaks a slip of wood in two pieces,

and manages to balance the pieces against each other

at about the same angle as that made by the two strokes of the character.

“Now see,” she says: “each stands only by help of the other.

One by itself cannot stand. Therefore the ji (letter) is like mankind.

Without help one person cannot live in this world;

but by getting help and giving help everybody can live.

If nobody helped anybody, all people would die” – Lafcadio Hearn

From “Dust”, an article in The Atlantic Monthly, November, 1896

Portrait of Lafcadio Hearn

2. Rhapsody

Because people cannot see the color of words, the tints of words, the secret ghostly motion of words;
Because they cannot hear the whispering of words, the rustling of the procession of letters, the dream-flutes and dream-drums, which are thinly and weirdly played by words;
Because they cannot perceive the pouting of words, the frowning and fuming of words, the weeping, the raging and racketing and rioting of words;
Because they are insensible to the phosphorescing of words, the fragrance of words, the noisomeness of words, the tenderness or hardness, the dryness or juiciness of words – the interchange of values in the gold, the silver, the brass and the copper of words –
Is that any reason why we should not try to make them hear, to make them see, to make them feel?

–          Lafcadio Hearn

Sinaestéise aige, is léir.

あけましておめでとうございました。Athbhliain faoi mhaise. May you smell the fragrance of words and be blessed.

Ar scáth a chéile a mhaireann na daoine.

Seo Kwaidan sa Bhéarla 

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