第六段
Passage 6
Translation and Explanatory Notes
Embedded Files
Original Classical Japanese Texts
鬼あり。焰口と名づく。その貌、醜くして、痩せ枯れたり。口の中より、火燃えて、咽喉針の如し。髪乱れて、爪長く、牙長くして、甚だ恐れつべし。この鬼、阿難尊者に遇ひて、苦患の耐ヘ難きことを悲しむ。阿難尊者、これを聞きて、憐れみの心を起こして、鬼の苦を救ふべき有様を、仏に問ひ奉りて、仏号を唱へて、様々の施を行じて、鬼の苦患を救ひけり。
English Translation
There are ghosts. They are named Enkō (fire-breathing ghosts). That look, appearing hideously, are wasted and withered. From their mouth, fire burns. Their throats are like needles. Their hair is tangled, having long claws and long tusks, which is extremely and definitely frightening. It is said that this ghost, met Ananda and spoke in lament about the situation of difficulty in bearing pain. Ananda heard this, awoke his compassion heart, and consulted the Buddha respectfully about this situation of having to save the ghosts from pain. He chanted the Buddha's name, carried out various benevolent acts, and eventually saved the ghosts from sufferings.
Explanatory Notes
焔口 Enkō
焔口 Enkō
The word "Enkō" is a Buddhist term describing a type of hungry ghosts which fire burns from their mouth and have ugly appearances. Notice that Enkō also have the same long tangled hair as Jikisui as many hungry ghosts are depicted as having long-tangled hair among different Japanese scrolls. The image on the right is depicting an Enkō complaining about its sufferings of pain to Ananda.
Information and Image derived from Britannica Website. Accessible here: www.britannica.com/biography/Ananda-Buddhist-monk
阿難尊者 （あなんそんじゃ）
阿難尊者 （あなんそんじゃ）
Same like 目連, Ananda is also one of the ten disciples of the Buddha, and he is the cousin of the Buddha as well. Ananda was flourished at c.600 BCE - c.501 BCE and is known to be the Buddha's "beloved" disciple. The image on the left is a painting of Ananda.
Notable Grammar Structures and Vocabularies
咽喉針- It is likely that 咽喉 and 針 are separate. Can possibly be interpreted as 咽喉は針の如し.
如し- An auxiliary verb that usually appears in Classical Japanese literatures, meaning "like", or "as if".
つ- The つ in 恐れつ is an auxiliary verb that means certainty.
べし- 終止形 that means definitely. Note that in the same sentence, two auxiliary verbs that both mean certainty appear together. Therefore, 恐れつべし can possibly be interpreted as "絶対に恐れるんだ" in Modern Japanese.
仏号- The Buddha's name.
施を行じて- ほどこしをこうじて, to carry out benevolent acts.
けり- In Classical Japanese, けり can mean exclamation. It can also mean hearsay past, just like なり in Passage 2. The translation in this site is adhering to hearsay past.
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