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XLI. DEEPLY MOVED.
A drop of oil falling on the face
of water will in time spread over all the expanse of the pond, they say.
In somewhat a similar manner, the casual thought which came to us three
- Ryōtaku Maeno, Jun-an Nakagawa and myself - has spread in the past
fifty years throughout the nation, here and there, to every corner, and
now we hear of a new translation being published every year.
This is very much like: "One dog
barks in earnest, and the whole street bays the moon." And so,
among the translations, there must be worthy works as well as poor ones.
But I should not dwell on that for the moment. Because I lived
long, I am able to see today's flowering of the learning. I am
rejoiced; also I am surprised.
But I have come across many men in
this profession telling tales erroneously of how all came about.
Therefore, I have endeavored here to set down in writing what I remember
though my accounts may not always be in order.
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XLII. CONCLUSION.
I repeat I am happy, very very
happy. With the path thus opened, the physicians in the coming
years, a hundred or a thousand years, will acquire true art of healing
for saving human lives. My hands and feet would not stay - I must
rise to dance in joy! This old man was fortunate enough to live
long so that he was enabled to watch with conscious interest the advance
of the learning from the very beginning to its marvelous flourishing
today.
Needless to say, such a fortune as
mine to see vividly the development process of Dutch learning all the
way from its incipiency through its present prosperity is owing to the
longevity that has been blessedly granted me, a privilege attributable
more than anything else to the peace maintained for a long period of
time. A man, no matter how earnest he may be in a cultural cause,
can never attain his end if the world is in the turmoil of warfare.
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In deep awe, I am reminded that this 12th
year of Bunka (1815) falls on the two hundredth anniversary of the great
god who rests on the Futara Mountain. The grace of this great god,
who brought unity and peace to the nation, has been extended even to as
humble an old man as myself like the light of the sun which illuminates
every corner, every nook, with its hallowed blessings. In awe, and
in reverence, I worship. Really, the grace is greater than I have
the power to revere.
In April of this year, I wrote this with my
hand, and I am sending it to Gentaku Ōtsuki. I am growing
old and feeble, I cannot think I shall ever again write anything as
lengthy as this. So, I have written it, knowing it to be the last
piece of mine while I am in this life. After you have corrected
the disorder in sequence and copied it clean, be good enough to show it
to my grandchildren and others.
Kyūkō-ō, eighty-three years old.
1815
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Translator's note:
Here Genpaku is referring to Ieyasu Tokugawa, the founder of the
Tokugawa line of Shogunate. He is enshrined as god, Tōshō
Gongen, in Nikkō which is situated at the foot of Mt. Nantai, otherwise
known as Futara Mountain.
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