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Dhammapada · narration sample

A one-minute narration sample. Every book in the library is narrated end to end — hear the rest in the app.

A Hundred Verses from Old Japan · 9 of 101

8. The Priest Kizen: Kizen Hōshi

8

The Priest Kizen

KIZEN HŌSHI

Waga iho wa Miyako no tatsumi Shika zo sumu Yo wo Uji yama to Hito wa iu nari.

MY home is near the Capital, My humble cottage bare Lies south-east on Mount Uji; so The people all declare My life’s a ‘Hill of Care’.

The priest Kizen lived on Mount Uji, which lies south-east of Kyōto, at this time the Capital. The word uji or ushi means ‘sorrow’; so he says that, as he lives on Mount Sorrow, his friends say his life is ‘a mountain of sorrows ‘. Notice also the two words yama to in the fourth line, which, if read as one word, form the ancient name of Japan. In the picture we see the priest sitting alone in his little hut, his poverty being shown by the patches on the roof.