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(★)(Translated by Kazuo Okamoto／ ◆WENCESLAU DE MORAES : Wenceslau Jose de Sousa Moraes was born on May 30, 1854, in Lisbon, Portugal. His father was a government functionary ; his mother, Maria Amelia Figuereido Moraes was of a noble lineage, well educated, intelligent and fond of letters. His father also had a taste for literature, which seems to have influenced the young son into a frenzy of reading.／ He had two sisters, both being married while he was far away from them. In accordance with his father´s wish, after having graduated from Elementary and Middle school courses, he chose the cheapest education, the military at first, but soon abandoned it to enter the navy. With the aid of his uncle, he could finish the preparatory course in October 1873 and graduated at the Naval School in July 1875 when he was 21 years old. In the same year he was promoted to cadet, and five years later to second lieutenant. He became first lieutenant in the next year, then lieutenant captain in 1891 and frigate captain in 1893.／ As a navy officer, he often navigated along the coast of Africa, having been stationed three times in Mozambique and once in Timor. In 1888, he embarked at Lisbon for Macau, staying there for 3 years. There, he was seduced by the charm of the East from which he was never to be free.／ He distinguished himself as the commander of the shabby old gunboat ´Tejo´, returning safely from the Far Eastern colony to Lisbon, nevertheless, after only a short stay in the city, again he left to occupy the post of Vice Commander of the Port of Macau, never coming home again to Portugal.／ There, he began to write down his impressions of Oriental life, frequently travelling to China, and to Japan on official business. This resulted in the work ´Landscapes of China and Japan´. His impressions of Chinese society and cities, where he was repelled by the promiscuity and bad odor of the filth, were not pleasant. In contrast, since his first visit to Japan, he was much charmed by the Japanese people. The delicate and graceful women, the richness of the legends, and the courteous life and society, which still conserved some aspects of ancient religious rites, attracted him.／ In 1898 came the greatest disappointment of his career. Another man, inferior to him in rank was nominated to the vacant post of the Commander of the Port. Proud and sensitive as he was, and not willing to remain under the authority of the less qualified colleague, it occurred to him to go to Japan which had attracted him for a long time. Friends in Portugal, who were concerned about him launched a strong campaign in favor of his appointment. The petition was successful and in 1899 he was appointed consul, at first and later Consul general in Kobe.／ On request from a Japanese in Tokushima, Wenceslau sketched his biography briefly one year before his death. In the latter part of it, he says that he believed himself unable to exercise his public duties because of illness, and applied for dismissal from the position of consul. He then retired to Tokushima, where he could find an appropriate resting-place.／ His biography however, could never be completely told without the women who played such an important part in his life : Maria Isabel, for whom he suffered a passinate love in his youth, and the black beauty Arrussi, for whom he fell violently and foolishly love in Mozambique.／ The third, at Macau, was Atchan, a girl of mixed race born of an English father and Chinese mother. He bought and married her legitimately and fathered two sons. The family life was broken by his coming to Japan, having abandoned his official career in the colony, in the year 1898. In Japan, Moraes could enjoy twelve of his happiest years, married to Oyone, from 1900 till 1912, when his most beloved wife died, aged 38. Before coming to Tokushima, he was said to have lived with Nagahara Den, his maid servant, in reality a substitute for his dead wife. On coming to retire in Tokushima, he was served by Koharu, Oyone´s niece. She also became his common-law wife, taking the responsibility from her deceased aunt, but she too died at the young age of 23, in the year 1916. He was then 62 years old. Since then he lived quite alone as far as women are concerned till he dies in complete solitude in the year 1929 at the age of 75. His ashes were buried under the tombstone which he had dedicated to Koharu, in the cemetery of Chooonji Temple, beingjoined with the spirit of the last beloved one.／ ◆POSTSCRIPT : The author, quoting from the ´Tosa Nikki´, ´Makurano-Sooshi´, ´Tsurezure-Gusa´ and ´Hoojooki´, among the finest and most popular essays of classic Japanese literature, wrote about his life in Tokushima in the style of a diary. Wenceslau, throughout his works, remembers the dead, confessing that he desired to live in solitude, supported only by those recollections.／ In the early years of this century, the provincial cities of Japan, with the exception of Kobe, Yokohama, Nagasaki and a few others, were considered almost uninhabitable for Western people, because of the complete lack of every comfort of Western style of living. Nevertheless, the author dared to choose Tokushima as a place of hermitage, in which to proceed with his long desired research into the spirit, the culture and particularly the women of this exotic land.／ Lafcadio Hearn chose Matsuye in which to settle himself for the first time in Japan. Matsuye at that time, was more or less the same sort of provincial city as Tokushima, and must have presented as many difficulties, until he achieved professional success and a happy marriage.／ In contrast to Hearn, Moraes came to Tokushima to live the last part of his life, not seeking any social position and being quite detached from worldly pleasures.／ This way of life seemed to have changed his natural character. From being sociable, friendly and gay, even vivacious in former times, he became reticent and indifferent to clothes or food. This was partly because of his inadequate Japanese, but at the same time, he did not involve himself in any social circle where he might talk with others. He disliked to be approached, especially by those who were merely curious. Even those who came to see him from far off Tokyo, or from other distant places, were sometimes refused an interview. Though he was patient enough to receive them, he would talk very little, showing himself full of resentment, especially if they were talkative.／ Nevertheless, it is very curious and inconsistent that his voiceless monologues were so eloquent, when pausing alone in the cemetery or sitting at his writing desk. Those who listened were the dead, Oyone and Koharu, and the people of his native country, living far away. He writes ´There in no boundary of language when we talk to each other in the world of dream´, and ´When a man has no friends among the living, he has no other consolation than to talk with the dead´. It was the monologue, the typical literary style of the Japanese classic diaries, letters and essays, which Moraes considered the greatest literature of this country. This is apparent not only in ´The Bon-odori in Tokushima´ but also in ´Oyone and Koharu´, ´A Glimpse of the Japanese Soul´, and even in ´A Glimpse of the History of Japan´.／ Despite his desire to be free from all ceremonial or official duties, he was eager to introduce the unique character of ancient Japanese literature to the people of Portugal. At the same time he wished to present his own works written in the Japanese style. This was certainly the first such an attempt by a Westerner. He tried also to educate the Portuguese reader in the characteristics and peculiarities of things Japanese. He points out the extreme ignorance of the Portuguese people about Japan, despite the fact that it was their pioneer-navigators who discovered and introduced this Far-Eastern island empire to the Western world. Therefore, he started writing a first step text-book about Japan, in order to revive the Portuguese national concern. This lack of interest stemmed from the drastic isolation policy enforced by Japan about four hundreds years ago against all foreigners, and which lasted until the time of Moraes.／ The readers in this country were obviously surprised when they received such exotic reportage, despatched from this far away land, and learned that Wenceslau had gone to a provincial city quite unknown to them, having retired from his official function in Kobe.／ How is his daily life in Tokushima? Is he living there contentedly? These were matters of great concern to the people of Portugal. In accordance with a request from Bento Carqueja, of the ´O Commercio do Porto´, he soon sent the manuscript of ´Bon-odori´. The date at the head of each chapter shows the date of the newspaper in which it was published.／ He entrusted the family Buddhist shrine, containing the cenotaphs of his dead wives, Oyone and Koharu, to Chiken-in, the nun of the temple Jiun-an, humble nun-temple which stood on a hillock in the suburb about one hour´s walk from the author´s hermitage. Moraes put two volumes of his works, ´The Bon-odori in Tokushima´, and the ´Oyone and Koharu´, into the drawer of the shrine, as if to dedicate those works to the spirits of the dead. The motive can be well understood by his words written on the title page, ´in wistful longing for the dead´.／ A copy of ´The Bon-odori´ which I had obtained in Brasil before the war, was lost in a fire during the conflict. I had tried in vain for a long time since to find another copy. Coming to Tokushima where the author himself sleeps for ever, I paid a visit to the Nun-temple in the afternoon of a hot summer day in 1954. There I was favored with a chance discovery of the same copy, covered with dust, in the drawer of the family shrine or ´Butsudan´. The nun, who was not of course the same to whom Moraes had directly entrusted the shrine, permitted me to copy them. Untying the books I could feel the author´s pulse and breath on every page, and could see his invisible handprints traced since 1916. With those books in my hand, I felt as if I were confronted with that hairy Lusitanian hermit writer himself.／ The general contours and features of the city of Tokushima, as sketched by Moraes, have of course changed. The war fires did not spare the former hermitage of the author from being reduced to ashes. As to customs and traditions of the Province, some have developed, others withered or faded, and others remain as ever.／ Among the most remarkably developed, the Bon-odori is held every year and, sponsored by the prefectural and the municipal governments, is increasing in scale and popularity. But to those who have observed this unique folk dance in the province during some thirty or more years, the simplicity, the naivete and the plainness that had characterized it, seems to have gone. Instead, the rather gorgeous, luxurious modern review gives us the impression of being degenerated, vulgarized and frivolous. Little is left of the orthodox raison d´etre of its origin.／ The author, of course, wrote his works, including of the `Bon-odori`, to be read by the people of Portugal, and his beloved `dead ones`, wishing for nothing to be read by the Japanese, or translated into any other language. It is said that the author himself never was sure of the accuracy of all his works. Indeed we find some obvious points in his description which seem incorrect. I know someone concerned with this matter who once suggested that the translation of Moraes should be made only by a Japanese, so that any defects or mistakes could be covered favorably for the author and to the benefit to Japan. I am quite against such an approach. Let Moraes be as he is in his works. In deference to him, I have dared to translate his original Portuguese into English, as faithfully as possible, without any modification or amendment to the original. I am sure this is the only just course for any translator.／ Another important issue for me with this project was that neither Portuguese nor English is my native Language. After having completed the first rough translation with my modest ability, I had little confidence in my knowledge of the languages. I was always embarrassed about how to turn into current English, without any queer, odd traces of the original tongue. To get it revised by a native speaker was therefore essential. By good luck, there appeared quite unexpectedly a distinguished sympathizer, who extended a helping hand with my work. This was Mr. Thomas Rimer, then director of the American Cultural Center in Kobe. Having my manuscript thus revised into a form which allows for smooth reading, the real value of this unique Latin author´s pro-Japanese description can surely be understood, free from the barrier which has shut him inside a world of two languages --Portuguese and Japanese. Had it not been for Thomas Rimer´s aid, this long cherished project of mine could never have borne fruit. At least half the credit for this work must go to him. Another who was most helpful to me with the work, Dr. Armando Martins Janeiro, then Ambassador of Portugal to Japan, must be mentioned with many thanks. He rendered me all possible assistance and encouragement. Besides these, I still have to mention those who joined in this project of mine as strong supporters : Junzo Yamamoto, the Mayor of Tokushima City : Eiichi Hayashi and Hideo Teramura, professors of Osaka University of Foreign Studies : Jorge Dias, professor of Kyoto University of Foreign Studies and Mr. Hajime Ikeda, manager of the Union Service Publishing Agency, Osaka ; to all of them I am very much obliged and offer many thanks.／ It is now about half century since Moraes died here in 1929. The other day I happened to pay a memorial address to his tomb, which stands in the cemetery of Chooonji temple, only some two kilometers from where I live. Hoping to present these translations of his works successively, I could not help but wonder how he might feel about my project. Exposing this rather shy character, who always tended to conceal something of himself at the bottom of his heart, we might be expected to hear this rare hermit writer cry out like some latter day Julius Caesar, VENI, AMAVI, SCRIBI ! (Tokushima, October 1978, Kazuo Okamoto).`) |
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