第2巻第3章 中国(承前)
[参考:Tengu:... The kanji that are pronounced "tengu" in Japanese can also be read as Chinese for heavenly dog (T'ien-kou). This refers to the Dog-star of ancient Chinese astronomy, which was held to be the soul of a young virgin eager to seize a child to take her place in the sky to allow her to be reincarnated as a mortal. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tengu] |
The Tuchun (The military Governor of the Province) gave a magnificent banquet, at which we first met the Deweys, who behaved with great kindness, and later, when I became ill, John Dewey treated us both with singular helpfulness. I was told that when he came to see me in the hospital, he was much touched by my saying, 'We must make a plan for peace' at a time when everything else that I said was delirium. There were about a hundred guests at the Tuchun's banquet. We assembled in one vast hall and then moved into another for the feast, which was sumptuous beyond belief. In the middle of it the Tuchun apologized for the extreme simplicity of the fare, saying that he thought we should like to see how they lived in everyday life rather than to be treated with any pomp.
To my intense chagrin, I was unable to think of a retort in kind, but I hope the interpreter made up for my lack of wit. We left Changsha in the middle of a lunar eclipse, and saw bonfires being lit and heard gongs beaten to frighten off the Heavenly Dog, according to the traditional ritual of China on such occasions. From Changsha, we travelled straight through to Peking, where we enjoyed our first wash for ten days. [参考] Drawing the bow at Sirius, the celestial Jackal, as it was done by emperors of Ancient China. |