Prevod

This, too, happened long ago. There was a man known as the Sanjō Middle Counselor, a son of the Sanjō Minister of the Right. A gifted scholar, he knew all about the affairs of China and of this country. He was shrewd, bold, and overbearing, and played the shō mouth organ with consummate skill. He was tall and immensely fat—so fat, indeed, that his size caused him great discomfort. He summoned the physician Shigehide and said, “What am I to do about growing so terribly fat? My body is so heavy that even sitting down and getting up is a dreadful ordeal.” Shigehide replied, “In winter, you should eat your rice steeped in hot water, and in summer, in cold water.” The Counselor followed his advice, but went on growing fat just as before. At his wits’ end, he summoned Shigehide again. “I have done as you told me, but it has had no effect. Let me show you how I eat my rice with cold water.” He called for his attendants, and when one of his retainers appeared, he said, “Bring me rice with cold water, as usual.” A little later, a serving stand was brought in. The man carrying it leaned to one side under its weight before setting it down in front of his lord. On it there was nothing but a chopstick rest. Next came a man bearing a tray of food, which he placed on the serving stand. On the central dish were some ten pieces of white dried melon, each cut to a length of about three inches. There were also about thirty sweetfish prepared as sushi, pressed broad and flat, with just their heads and tails cut off. A large metal bowl accompanied them, and everything was set out on the stand. Another retainer came in carrying a great silver pitcher with a silver ladle standing in it, plainly struggling with its weight. When the bowl was passed to him, he scooped rice into it with the ladle, piling it high, then poured a little water in at the side and presented it to his lord. The Counselor drew the stand closer and took up the bowl. If it looked large even in the hands of so enormous a man, it must have been a bowl of no ordinary size. He ate five or six pieces of dried melon, biting each into about three mouthfuls. Next he comfortably ate five or six sweetfish, finishing each in about two bites. Then he drew the rice and water toward him, and scarcely had he swept his chopsticks through the bowl twice before all the rice was gone. “More,” he said, handing it back. After this had happened two or three times, the pitcher was empty, and they went to fill it again. Watching all this, Shigehide said, “Even if you take rice and water as medicine, you will never grow any thinner if you eat it in such quantities!” And with that he fled. So the Counselor grew more and more like a sumo wrestler.