“Indolence is never a stranger to illusion.

“It is so delightful to foresee a solution which conforms to our desires!

“For certain natures, stained with moral atrophy, it is far sweeter to hope for that which will be produced without pain.

“One begins by accelerating this achievement, so earnestly desired, by using all the will-power, and one becomes accustomed progressively to regard desires as a reality, and, aided by indolence, man discounts in advance an easy success.

“False enthusiasm, or rather enthusiasm without deliberate reflection, always enters into these illusions, which are accompanied by persuasion and never combatted by common sense.

“Vanity is never foreign to these false ideas, which are always of a nature to flatter one’s amour propre.

“We love to rejoice beforehand in the triumph which we believe will win and, aided by mental frivolity, we do not wish to admit that success can be doubted.

“The dislike of making an effort, however, would quickly conceal, with its languishing voice, the wise words of common sense, if we would listen momentarily to them.

“And, lastly, it is necessary to consider credulity, to which, in our opinion, is accorded a place infinitely more honorable than it deserves.”

And now the sage, Yoritomo, establishes the argument which, by the aid of common sense, characterized these opinions.

According to him, “It does not belong to new and vibrating souls, as many would have us believe.

“When credulity does not proceed from inveterate stupidity, it is always the result of apathy and weakness.

“Unhappiness and misfortune attend those who are voluntarily feeble.

“Their defect deprived them of the joy derived from happy efforts.  They will be the prey of duplicity and untruth.

“They are the vanquished in life, and scarcely deserve the pity of the conqueror; for their defeat lacks grandeur, since it has never been aurioled by the majestic strength of conflict.”

Following this, the Shogun speaks to us of those whom he calls the ardent seekers after illusion.

One evening he related the following story:  “Some men started off for an island, which they perceived in the distance.

“It looked like a large, detached red spot, amid the flaming rays of the setting sun, and the men told of a thousand wonders about this unknown land, as yet untrodden by the foot of man.

“The first days of the journey were delightful.  The oars lay in the bottom of the boat untouched, and they just allowed themselves to drift with the tide.  They disembarked, singing to the murmur of the waters, and gathered the fruits growing on the shores, to appease their hunger.

“But the stream, which was bearing them onward, did not retain long its limpidity and repose; the eddies soon entrapped the tiny bark and dragged the men overboard.