Buddha Gozaemon佛五左衞門
1They Call Me Buddha Gozaemon
三十日日光山の麓に泊るあるじの云けるやう我名を佛五左衞門といふ萬正直を旨とする故に人かくは申侍るまゝ一夜の草の枕もうちとけて休み給へと云ふいかなる佛の濁世塵土に示現してかゝる桑門の乞食順禮ごとき人をたすけ給ふにやと主のなすことに心をとめてみるにたゞ無智無分別にして正直偏固のものなり剛毅木訥の仁に近きたぐひ氣稟の淸質尤尊ぶべし
On the thirtieth I lodged at the foot of Mount Nikkō. The host said, "My name is Buddha Gozaemon. Because I make honesty the root of everything, people call me so. Rest at ease, then, even on a pillow of grass for one night."
What buddha, I wondered, had shown himself in this muddied world of dust to help a man like me, a shaven-headed beggar on pilgrimage? So I watched what the host did, and he was simply a man without learning and without calculation, honest and stubbornly upright. He was of that kind who are firm and blunt and near to benevolence. The clear nature one is born with is what deserves the highest honor.