It’s a dog’s life – a lesson from Japanese history － これぞ、犬の一生 ～日本史からの教訓～ －

Nobody ever told me that Japanese history could be so much fun!

I studied history at university, and have lived in Japan for around ten years, so perhaps I should have found an interest in Japanese history much sooner.  But until now I didn’t investigate it much except to decide that I would rather have been a samurai than a ninja.

I would have  come to it much earlier if I had known about the shogun who was as eccentric as any modern day leader of Pyongyang.  I have been reading recently about Tokugawa Tsunayoshi, the fifth Tokugawa shogun, who ruled from 1680 to 1709.  

He was raised as a scholar, rather than a samurai, and was deeply interested in Buddhism and neo-Confucian Chinese writers.  He was also, apparently a bit of a mummy’s boy, and relied heavily on his mother’s advice.

He is famous for his “edicts on compassion for living things”, which have a lovely title but seem mostly to have been a list of things that people could be executed for doing.  In particular the edicts made it an offence punishable by death to harm a dog.  Tsunayoshi had been born in the year of the dog and his mother always impressed on him the need to be kind to those animals.  This edict earned Tsunayoshi the pejorative nickname of the dog-shogun.

At this time the capital city Edo already had a number of stray dogs living off scraps and what they could scavenge.  Many were sick and half starved.  It sounds like a lovely and compassionate thought to let these poor creatures live, to give food to them and protect them.

But as Tsunayoshi must have read in his studies of Buddhism, life is suffering.  If you give extra food to a group of wild animals, and protect them from being killed, they will not enjoy the ease and comfort for long.  Instead, their numbers will rapidly increase until they are half starved again, but at a much higher population density.

This is exactly what happened in Edo.  The city became filled with wild dogs, which sometimes banded together and attacked children and other weak pedestrians.  By 1695 there were so many dogs that they caused the city to stink horribly.  Tsunayoshi’s solution was to gather up 50,000 of the dogs and move them to special kennels in the city’s suburbs, where they were fed rice and fish at the taxpayers’ expense.

Tsunayoshi died at the age of 62 and the terror of his compassion ended.  Some sources say that he planned to pass the shogunate on to his young male lover, and his appalled wife may have assassinated him.  According to this theory, quoted on Wikipedia, fearing that Tsunayoshi’s plan would cause so much scandal and division that it would ignite a terrible civil war, she killed him and then herself.  The mighty shogun killed by his own wife?  Didn’t I say that he was a mummy’s boy? 

Vocabulary:

a dog’s life – a miserably unhappy existence.  For example: He has been living a dog’s life since his wife left him.

to be eccentric – to be unconventional and slightly strange

to be neo-Confucian – to be later works, based on Confucianism, or revivals of older Confucian ideas.

Confucianism – The system of beliefs based on the writings of Confucius, called 孔子 in Japanese.

a mummy’s boy – This is a slang term, meaning a boy or man who is overly influenced by or reliant upon his mother

an edict – an official order or command, given by someone in authority

compassion – sympathetic pity or concern for the suffering of others

to execute – to punish by killing

to be pejorative – to be meant or used in a negative way

to scavenge – to hunt for food or materials discarded by others

to stink – to smell terribly

a kennel – a man-made home for dogs

to be appalled – to be shocked and horrified

to assassinate – to kill by deliberate plan, especially of important political figures

 

 

Last words on madness, 2 － 狂気についての最後の言葉2 －

This is the second and final part of Guy de Maupassant’s short story, “Mad”.  Please note that this story contains some violence and is not suitable for younger readers. 

In the first part of this story, the narrator tells of his passion for a beautiful woman, his lover.  He cannot control his desire when he is with her, and so feels like her slave.  He sees, or imagines that he sees, her desire for him growing weaker.  So he becomes suspicious that she will leave him and insanely jealous of whatever new passions she might feel…

An edited version of Guy de Maupassant’s “Mad”, part 2 (of 2): 

At times she would say:

"Men disgust me!"

Then I became jealous of her indifference, of her thoughts, which I knew to be impure, and when she awoke sometimes with that same lazy look I suffocated with anger. An irresistible desire to choke her and make her confess the shameful secrets of her heart took hold of me.

Am I insane? No.

One night I saw that she was happy. I felt, in fact I was convinced, that a new passion controlled her. As of old, her eyes shone, she was feverish and her whole body fluttered with love.

I feigned ignorance, but I watched her closely. I discovered nothing however. I waited a week, a month, almost a year. She was radiantly, ideally happy; as if soothed by some passing caress.

At last I guessed. No, I am not insane, I swear I am not. How can I explain this horrible thing? How can I make myself understood? This is how I guessed.

She came in one night from a long ride on horseback and sank exhausted in a seat facing me. An unnatural flush coloured her cheeks and her eyes,—those eyes that I knew so well,—had such a look in them. I was not mistaken, I had seen her look like that; she loved! But whom? What? I almost lost my head, and so as not to look at her I turned to the window. A servant was leading her horse to the stable and she stood and watched him disappear; then she fell asleep almost immediately. I thought and thought all night. My mind wandered through mysteries too deep to understand. Who can understand the strange whims of a sensual woman? 

Every morning she rode madly through hills and each time came back lazy and exhausted. At last I understood. It was of the horse I was jealous—of the wind which caressed her face, of the leaves and of the dewdrops, of the saddle which carried her! I resolved to be revenged. I became very attentive. Every time she came back from her ride I helped her down and the horse made a vicious rush at me.

 

She would pat him on the neck, kiss his nostrils, without even wiping her lips. I watched for my chance. One morning I got up before dawn and went to the path in the woods she loved so well. I carried a rope with me, and my pistols were hidden in my breast as if I were going to fight a duel. I drew the rope across the path, tying it to a tree on each side, and hid myself in the grass. Presently I heard her horse's hooves, then I saw her coming at a furious pace; her cheeks flushed, an insane look in her eyes. She seemed in bliss; transported into another world.

As the animal approached the rope he struck it with his fore legs and fell. Before she had struck the ground I caught her in my arms and helped her to her feet. I then approached the horse, put my pistol close to his ear, and shot him—as I would a man. 

She turned on me and dealt me two terrific blows across the face with her riding-whip which knocked me over. As she rushed at me again, I shot her!

 

Tell me: am I mad?

 

Vocabulary:

to disgust someone – to cause someone to have a very unpleasant reaction.  For example: The taste of Marmite disgusts me!

to suffocate – to die from being unable to breathe.  For example: When there was a fire, a man suffocated because of the smoke.

to be irresistible – to be something which cannot be resisted; something you cannot fight against.

to choke somebody – to make it hard for someone to breathe, usually by pushing hard on their throat

to flutter – to make quick, soft movements, like the movements of a butterfly’s wings

to feign ignorance – to pretend not to know

to soothe – to give comfort to; to calm

a caress – a stroke, or gentle and loving touch

a flush – the reddening of the skin, when blood rushes to it.

to lose one’s head – to lose control of one’s mind or emotions

a whim – a sudden desire

to be sensual – to be pleasant to the physical senses; to be sexually attractive

a duel – an arranged fight between two men to defend their honour, sometimes fought with pistols

hooves – the hard parts of the feet of animals like horses

 

 

 

Last words on madness, 1 － 狂気についての最後の言葉1 －

My last two blog posts have concerned psychopaths and mental disorder.  So I thought I would finish off the topic with a wonderful short story on the theme of madness. 

For the very top quality madness, as perhaps you will know from your own experience, you have to go to France.  So below is a short story by French writer Guy de Maupassant.  It is a little long for a blog post so I’ll put it up in two parts.  You will have to wait one more week for the ending. 

The language in the version I had was very challenging, so I have edited it in order to make it simpler.  This was first published in French in 1882.

 

An edited version of “Mad” by Guy de Maupassant, part 1 (of 2): 

Am I insane or jealous? I don’t know which, but I suffer horribly. I committed a crime it is true. But is not insane jealousy, betrayed love, and the terrible pain I endure enough to make anyone commit a crime, without actually being a criminal? 

I have loved this woman to madness —and yet, is it true? Did I love her? No, no! She owned me body and soul, I was her plaything, she ruled me by her smile, her look, the divine form of her body. It was all those things that I loved but the woman contained in that body, I despise her; hate her. I always have hated her, for she is impure. She is but a mass of soft flesh in which lives impurity! 

The first few months of our union were deliriously strange. Her eyes were three different colors. No, I am not insane, I swear they were. They were gray at noon, shaded green at twilight, and blue at sunrise. In moments of love they were blue and nervous. Her lips trembled and often the tip of her pink tongue could be seen, as that of a reptile ready to hiss. When she raised her heavy lids and I saw that passionate look, I shuddered, not only for the unceasing desire to possess her, but for the desire to kill this beast. 

When she walked across the room each step resounded in my heart. When she disrobed and emerged impure but radiant from the white mass of linen and lace, a sudden weakness seized me, my limbs gave way beneath me, and my chest heaved; I was faint, coward that I was!

Each morning when she awoke I waited for that first look, my heart filled with rage and hatred for this beast whose slave I was; but when she fixed those blue eyes on me, that lazy look showing traces of sleep, it was like a burning, unquenchable fire within me, inciting me to passion. 

When she opened her eyes that day I saw a dull, indifferent look; a look devoid of desire, and I knew then she was tired of me. I saw it, knew it, felt right away that it was all over, and each hour and minute proved to me that I was right. When I beckoned her with my arms and lips she shrank from me.

"Leave me alone," she said. "You are horrid!" 

Then I became suspicious, insanely jealous; but I am not insane, no indeed! I watched her slyly; not that she had betrayed me, but she was so cold that I knew another would soon take my place.

 

Vocabulary:

to betray – to be unfaithful or disloyal

to endure – to bear something unpleasant, like pain or discomfort

to despise – to hate with intensity

deliriously – madly, crazily

twilight – The half light when the sun is below the horizon

to possess – to own

to disrobe – to undress; to take off a robe

to be radiant – to be glowing; shining

to be unquenchable – to be something which cannot be extinguished, put out or removed. For example: He has an unquenchable thirst for knowledge. He is always eager to learn new things.

to incite – to cause; inspire.  For example: His words incited the crowd to violence.

to be indifferent – to be without interest or emotion

to be devoid of something – to be entirely without something.  For example: He killed himself because he was devoid of hope.

to beckon – to make a motion encouraging someone to come closer

to shrink from – to move away from; to be unwilling to go near

slyly – cunningly; secretively

 

I’m not mad, honestly －狂ってないのよ、本当に－

In my last blog entry, I discussed Jon Ronson’s book, “The Psychopath Test”, explaining a test used to tell if someone is a psychopath or not.

One of the interesting true episodes which the book discusses is the case of a criminal in the UK who was found guilty of assaulting a homeless man.  He admitted that he had assaulted the man after an argument, and that he had severely injured him.

Before the trial, he expected to be found guilty and to be sentenced to around seven years in prison.  This, as you can imagine, was not an appealing prospect, so he hit upon a plan to make things easier for himself.  He decided to pretend that he was mad.

If he were found to have committed a crime whilst not being responsible for his own actions, he could not be punished.  Instead, he would be sent to a hospital for treatment.  He might then enjoy a few years of looking at the pretty nurses, doing a little therapy, and then be miraculously cured and released.  What a smart plan!

Well, no, not really.  At first the plan worked very well.  Quoting lines of dialogue from various films featuring psychopaths and madmen, the criminal successfully persuaded everyone that he was a dangerous psychopath.  So, naturally enough, he was sent to a kind of specialised prison-hospital for the criminally insane: serial rapists, killers and other people that you probably don’t want to live close to.  It wasn’t the pleasant, relaxing time looking at nurse’s legs that the criminal had imagined.

Realising his mistake, he confessed that he had only been pretending to be mad.  On consideration, he would prefer to go to a regular prison to serve his time after all.  But no one believed that he was sane.  In fact, no matter how he behaved, the doctors seemed to use it as a reason why he should stay in the hospital longer.  If he joined in group activities, the doctors said that this showed that the treatment was helping him and so he should stay longer.  If he refused to join in with the group activities, the doctors said that he was withdrawn and unable to fit into society, and that he had to stay longer.  He stayed in the hospital for more than 20 years, all the while trying to prove that he was not really mad.  Had he accepted responsibility for his crime at first, he would have been a free man much sooner.

Is there a moral to this story?  One lesson might be not to try to weasel out of responsibility for the things that you have done.

Another lesson might be that it is very difficult to define sanity and madness, or to categorise anyone as wholly sane or mad.  We all do things from “Bark!” time to time that others might think are strange.  How would you convince a sceptical doctor that you were “Woof, woof!” perfectly normal, like me?

 

Vocabulary:

an episode – An incident; a series of connected events

to assault someone – To commit a crime by being violent towards someone

to be sentenced – To be given a punishment by a court

to be appealing – To look good; to be desirable

a prospect – A possible, or probable, future event

therapy – Treatment, especially through discussion to solve mental problems

to confess something – to admit something

to be withdrawn – For a person to be isolated; not engaged with the outside world

to weasel out of something – To try to escape something that should be properly accepted, like responsibility or punishment for your actions

to be sceptical – To be critical; disbelieving; not prepared to easily accept things as they appear