芥川龍之介【译文】《圣人》（英文版）——Akutagawa Ryunosuke
The Sage
Long ago a man went to find work in Osaka. I don't remember what his name was. But since he just worked as a kitchen helper, we can call him Gonsuke.
Gonsuke stepped into an employment agency and asked the clerk, who was sucking on his pipe, for help in finding a job. "Oh, clerk! I'd like to become a Taoist immortal; please direct me to the proper place."
The clerk's mouth dropped open and wouldn't say anything for a moment.
"Clerk? Can you hear me? I want to be a sage, so please send me to the proper place."
"I'm truly sorry, but . . ." And then the clerk went back to puffing his pipe. "No one has ever come to this shop in connection with a position for a sage, so I'm afraid you'll have to look elsewhere."
But Gonsuke did not give up. He came closer to the clerk and began to explain his logic: "There must be some mistake. Do you recall what's written on the sign at your door? Doesn't it say 'Jobs of All Kinds?' Since it says 'All Kinds,' you must be able to find me a position. If that wasn't true, your sign would be a lie, wouldn't it?"
When you look at it that way, it's no wonder Gonsuke was upset. The clerk took evasive action, and accepted Gonsuke's request: "No, the sign isn't lying. If you want me to find a position that's suitable for a sage, please come back tomorrow. I'll spend today looking for one."
This did not mean the clerk knew where one trained to become a sage, or even if such a thing was possible. So as soon as Gonsuke left, the clerk went to the home of the neighborhood doctor, where he explained Gonsuke's request.
"What do you think, doctor? What is the best sort of work to do to learn to become an immortal?"
The doctor was puzzled too. He sat awhile with his arms folded, gazing at the pine tree in his garden. But as the clerk finished speaking, there was a voice from the next room. It was the doctor's wife, who was nicknamed the Old Fox.
"Send him to me! If he comes here, I'll make him a sage in a few years."
"Really? That's wonderful! I'm deeply indebted. I just knew there must be a close relationship between sages and doctor."
The clerk, who knew no better, bowed again and again, then went back overjoyed. But the doctor turned around with a pained look, and bitterly called to his wife: "What kind of foolishness was that? You can't teach that country boy anything, no matter how long he works at it. What are you going to do when he finds out?"
But the doctor's wife didn't apologize. In fact, she laughed derisively and shut the doctor up: "You just keep yourself still! There's no way an honest fool like you can feed himself in this bitter world."
As promised, the yokel Gonsuke came back with the clerk the next morning. This time Gonsuke had prepared himself for his first interview by putting on a formal coat complete with family crests. He still looked like an ordinary farmer, though. His appearance was at least surprising-- the doctor stared as he would at some wild beast from India. He spoke with a tone of disbelief.
"I hear you would like to become a sage. Where did you get an idea like that?"
"There's no real reason. But when I saw Osaka Castle, I thought that even great men like Hideyoshi die sooner or later. Life passes, no matter how much honor and glory you get."
"And so you're you're willing to do anything, if you can just become an immortal?" The crafty wife hardly opened her mouth as she spoke.
"That's right. I'll do anything if I can just become a sage."
"Then come and serve me for 2O years. If you do, at the end of the 20th year I'll teach you the secrets of the immortals."
"You really will? Nothing would make me happier than that."
"But in return you will work 2O years with no pay at all."
"Yes, yes. I understand."
And so for the next 2O years Gonsuke worked for the Old Fox. He hauled water. He cut firewood. He cooked. He swept. When the doctor went out he went along to carry the medicine chest. And he never asked for a penny in payment-- you could search throughout Japan and never find such a precious servant.
But finally the 2O years had passed, and Gonsuke again put on the crested coat he had come in, and went before his master and mistress. He spoke of payment for the service he had politely provided for 2O years.
"The time has come to teach me, as you promised so long ago, the secret of becoming a sage who will never grow old and die."
As Gonsuke spoke, his master-- the doctor-- sat tight-lipped. He had let Gonsuke work for 2O years, and he didn't know the least thing about the secrets of the sages. There was only one thing he could say:
"My wife is the one who knows the secret of being a sage. Have her teach you."
He spoke bluntly, but doctor's wife was calm.
"Well, I'll teach you the secret, but you'll have to do what I say, no matter how difficult it seems. Otherwise you won't become a sage, and what's more, you'll be punished by death if you don't work free for the next 2O years."
"Yes, yes! I'll do whatever you say, no matter how difficult." Gonsuke could hardly hold in his excitement as he waited for the doctor's wife to speak.
"Climb up that tree, then."
The doctor's wife new nothing about becoming a sage, of course, so she had to give Gonsuke some impossible task he could never accomplish. And when he failed, she would have an unpaid servant for 2O more years. But as soon as she spoke, Gonsuke ran into the garden and began to climb the pine tree.
"Higher! Climb right to the top!" The Old Fox leaned on the railing watching Gonsuke up in the tree. Soon she could see the crested coat he wore, right at the very top of the tree.
"Now release your right hand!"
Hugging the tree trunk tightly with his left arm, Gonsuke slowly let go with his right hand.
"Good! Now release the left hand!"
"No! Wait!" The doctor came out to the railing with a worried look. "If he lets go with his left hand, the yokel will fall. And if he falls down onto the rocks, he's sure to die!"
"This is none of your business. Let me take care of it. Now, release the left hand!"
Before she had even finished speaking, Gonsuke let go with his left hand. Of course when one climbs to the top of a tree and lets go with both hands, there is nothing to do but fall. Before the doctor could even gasp, the formal coat with crests Gonsuke was wearing was gone from the top of the pine tree. But strangely enough he was not falling; he hung there on the midday sunlight like a puppet on strings.
"I am very grateful!" Gonsuke called down politely. "Thanks to you I can become a sage!" And peacefully treading the air, he climbed up and up into the clouds.
No one knows what happened to the doctor and his wife. The pine tree in the doctor's garden, though, remained for many years. I have heard that Yodoya Tatsugoro went to the trouble of moving this huge pine to his own garden so he could view it in the snow.
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Long ago a man went to find work in Osaka. I don't remember what his name was. But since he just worked as a kitchen helper, we can call him Gonsuke.
Gonsuke stepped into an employment agency and asked the clerk, who was sucking on his pipe, for help in finding a job. "Oh, clerk! I'd like to become a Taoist immortal; please direct me to the proper place."
The clerk's mouth dropped open and wouldn't say anything for a moment.
"Clerk? Can you hear me? I want to be a sage, so please send me to the proper place."
"I'm truly sorry, but . . ." And then the clerk went back to puffing his pipe. "No one has ever come to this shop in connection with a position for a sage, so I'm afraid you'll have to look elsewhere."
But Gonsuke did not give up. He came closer to the clerk and began to explain his logic: "There must be some mistake. Do you recall what's written on the sign at your door? Doesn't it say 'Jobs of All Kinds?' Since it says 'All Kinds,' you must be able to find me a position. If that wasn't true, your sign would be a lie, wouldn't it?"
When you look at it that way, it's no wonder Gonsuke was upset. The clerk took evasive action, and accepted Gonsuke's request: "No, the sign isn't lying. If you want me to find a position that's suitable for a sage, please come back tomorrow. I'll spend today looking for one."
This did not mean the clerk knew where one trained to become a sage, or even if such a thing was possible. So as soon as Gonsuke left, the clerk went to the home of the neighborhood doctor, where he explained Gonsuke's request.
"What do you think, doctor? What is the best sort of work to do to learn to become an immortal?"
The doctor was puzzled too. He sat awhile with his arms folded, gazing at the pine tree in his garden. But as the clerk finished speaking, there was a voice from the next room. It was the doctor's wife, who was nicknamed the Old Fox.
"Send him to me! If he comes here, I'll make him a sage in a few years."
"Really? That's wonderful! I'm deeply indebted. I just knew there must be a close relationship between sages and doctor."
The clerk, who knew no better, bowed again and again, then went back overjoyed. But the doctor turned around with a pained look, and bitterly called to his wife: "What kind of foolishness was that? You can't teach that country boy anything, no matter how long he works at it. What are you going to do when he finds out?"
But the doctor's wife didn't apologize. In fact, she laughed derisively and shut the doctor up: "You just keep yourself still! There's no way an honest fool like you can feed himself in this bitter world."
As promised, the yokel Gonsuke came back with the clerk the next morning. This time Gonsuke had prepared himself for his first interview by putting on a formal coat complete with family crests. He still looked like an ordinary farmer, though. His appearance was at least surprising-- the doctor stared as he would at some wild beast from India. He spoke with a tone of disbelief.
"I hear you would like to become a sage. Where did you get an idea like that?"
"There's no real reason. But when I saw Osaka Castle, I thought that even great men like Hideyoshi die sooner or later. Life passes, no matter how much honor and glory you get."
"And so you're you're willing to do anything, if you can just become an immortal?" The crafty wife hardly opened her mouth as she spoke.
"That's right. I'll do anything if I can just become a sage."
"Then come and serve me for 2O years. If you do, at the end of the 20th year I'll teach you the secrets of the immortals."
"You really will? Nothing would make me happier than that."
"But in return you will work 2O years with no pay at all."
"Yes, yes. I understand."
And so for the next 2O years Gonsuke worked for the Old Fox. He hauled water. He cut firewood. He cooked. He swept. When the doctor went out he went along to carry the medicine chest. And he never asked for a penny in payment-- you could search throughout Japan and never find such a precious servant.
But finally the 2O years had passed, and Gonsuke again put on the crested coat he had come in, and went before his master and mistress. He spoke of payment for the service he had politely provided for 2O years.
"The time has come to teach me, as you promised so long ago, the secret of becoming a sage who will never grow old and die."
As Gonsuke spoke, his master-- the doctor-- sat tight-lipped. He had let Gonsuke work for 2O years, and he didn't know the least thing about the secrets of the sages. There was only one thing he could say:
"My wife is the one who knows the secret of being a sage. Have her teach you."
He spoke bluntly, but doctor's wife was calm.
"Well, I'll teach you the secret, but you'll have to do what I say, no matter how difficult it seems. Otherwise you won't become a sage, and what's more, you'll be punished by death if you don't work free for the next 2O years."
"Yes, yes! I'll do whatever you say, no matter how difficult." Gonsuke could hardly hold in his excitement as he waited for the doctor's wife to speak.
"Climb up that tree, then."
The doctor's wife new nothing about becoming a sage, of course, so she had to give Gonsuke some impossible task he could never accomplish. And when he failed, she would have an unpaid servant for 2O more years. But as soon as she spoke, Gonsuke ran into the garden and began to climb the pine tree.
"Higher! Climb right to the top!" The Old Fox leaned on the railing watching Gonsuke up in the tree. Soon she could see the crested coat he wore, right at the very top of the tree.
"Now release your right hand!"
Hugging the tree trunk tightly with his left arm, Gonsuke slowly let go with his right hand.
"Good! Now release the left hand!"
"No! Wait!" The doctor came out to the railing with a worried look. "If he lets go with his left hand, the yokel will fall. And if he falls down onto the rocks, he's sure to die!"
"This is none of your business. Let me take care of it. Now, release the left hand!"
Before she had even finished speaking, Gonsuke let go with his left hand. Of course when one climbs to the top of a tree and lets go with both hands, there is nothing to do but fall. Before the doctor could even gasp, the formal coat with crests Gonsuke was wearing was gone from the top of the pine tree. But strangely enough he was not falling; he hung there on the midday sunlight like a puppet on strings.
"I am very grateful!" Gonsuke called down politely. "Thanks to you I can become a sage!" And peacefully treading the air, he climbed up and up into the clouds.
No one knows what happened to the doctor and his wife. The pine tree in the doctor's garden, though, remained for many years. I have heard that Yodoya Tatsugoro went to the trouble of moving this huge pine to his own garden so he could view it in the snow.
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