More Ryōkan

Ryōkan loved to play with the village children and

 there are many related stories.  One of my favourites

 tells of him being so absorbed in the game of hide 

and seek that he was still hiding in the haystack long

 after the children had all gone home to bed.



     Indeed a long, hazy spring day

     Has gone away at last,

     As I forget myself playing with the children

     Bouncing balls and singing and songs.



     Ah how happy am I 

     To go out in the fields

     And gather tender herbs running about

     With the merry, merry village children.

Sometimes he found the life difficult -

     In the world of dreams

     I've been dreaming on and on

     And upon waking up

     How loneliness pierces me

When Ryōkan was sixty nine and nearing the end of his 

life he met a beautiful young nun and poet named 

Teishin. Though Teishin was only 28, they fell in love.

 They exchanged several beautiful love poems.



  Here is a taste of the correspondence between them.



(On her first visit to  Ryōkan) 

     Wondering if it's a dream, 

     I'm filled with joy,

     Never wake me if it's a dream.

     Leave me, please, in this joy, forever.

        -Teishin

 ( Answer) 

     Slumbering in the dream land,

     Talking about the dream

     Why not float our dream

     On the stream of eternity.

          - Ryōkaan

( Now I have to go)

     Good-bye, dear Master,

     Please let me come again,

     Tracing along the path,

     Through weeds growing so thick.

          -Teishin

(Answer)

     Please come again, please,

     If you don't mind the poor hut.

     Why not come and see me again,

     Through the dwey way of eulalia.

           -Ryōkaan

     

Teishin nursed him in his final illness and after his 

death she devoted her life to compiling his poems and

writings and published a book called Hachisu no Tsuyu 

( A Dewdrop from a Lotus).