Prevod

This, too, is a tale of long ago. There was once a chamberlain of the fifth rank named Tachibana no Mochinaga, who held the office of Assistant Director of the Palace Table. When the Retired Emperor Toba went to Hosshōji for a service attended by a thousand monks, the Minister of the Left of Uji also went. A court noble’s carriage was traveling ahead of him. As the minister approached from behind, the carriage was halted, and the guards riding before the minister dismounted as they passed it. Mochinaga alone did not dismount. The minister wondered what this could mean, but continued on his way. After returning, he asked, “What was the meaning of that? A court noble met us and halted his carriage as a mark of respect, and all my guards dismounted. Some of them may be inexperienced, but why did you fail to dismount, Mochinaga?” Mochinaga replied, “What can Your Lordship mean? Proper courtesy, when someone traveling ahead finds Your Lordship approaching from behind, is to turn his carriage around to face yours, unhitch the ox, and rest the shafts on a stand while he lets you pass. That is what we call courtesy. Merely stopping his carriage and letting you pass with its rear turned toward you is not courtesy at all. It seemed to me an act of disrespect, and I thought, ‘Why should I dismount for such a man?’ That is why I remained mounted. Even if he had done so through ignorance, I thought of drawing alongside and saying a word to him; but I am an old man now, and so I held my tongue.” The Minister of the Left said, “Well, what is one to make of this?” He sent to ask that other lord—perhaps the Lord of Fuke—saying, “This is what happened. What ought one to do in such a case?” The reply was, “Mochinaga is a retainer of the old school.” In former times, they would unhitch the ox and set a stand beneath the shafts, much as one sets down a stool to sit upon. That, they say, was proper courtesy.