“Being thus reprimanded, the signification of the whole affair suddenly dawned upon the mind of Rin-zai, and he exclaimed:  ’There is not much, after all, in the Buddhism of Obak.’  Whereupon Dai-gu took hold of him, and said:  ’This ghostly good-for-nothing creature!  A few minutes ago you came to me and complainingly asked what was wrong with you, and now boldly declare that there is not much in the Buddhism of Obak.  What is the reason of all this?  Speak out quick! speak out quick!’ In response to this, Rin-zai softly struck three times his fist at the ribs of Dai-gu.  The latter then released him, saying:  ’Your teacher is Obak, and I will have nothing to do with you.’

“Rin-zai took leave of Dai-gu and came back to Obak, who, on seeing him come, exclaimed:  ’Foolish fellow! what does it avail you to come and go all the time like this?’ Rin-zai said:  ’It is all due to your doting kindness.’

“When, after the usual salutation, Rin-zai stood by the side of Obak, the latter asked him whence he had come this time.  Rin-zai answered:  “In obedience to your kind instruction, I was with Dai-gu.  Thence am I come.’

And he related, being asked for further information, all that had happened there.

“Obak said:  ’As soon as that fellow shows himself up here, I shall have to give him a good thrashing.’  ’You need not wait for him to come; have it right this moment,’ was the reply; and with this Rin-zai gave his master a slap on the back.

“Obak said:  ’How dares this lunatic come into my presence and play with a tiger’s whiskers?’ Rin-zai then burst out into a Ho,[FN#85] and Obak said:  ’Attendant, come and carry this lunatic away to his cell.’”

[FN#85] A loud outcry, frequently made use of by Zen teachers, after Rin-zai.  Its Chinese pronunciation is ‘Hoh,’ and pronounced ‘Katsu’ in Japanese, but ‘tsu’ is not audible.

8.  The Courage and the Composure of Mind of the Zen Monk and of the Samurai.

Fourthly, our Samurai encountered death, as is well known, with unflinching courage.  He would never turn back from, but fight till his last with his enemy.  To be called a coward was for him the dishonour worse than death itself.  An incident about Tsu Yuen (So-gen), who came over to Japan in 1280, being invited by Toki-mune[FN#86] (Ho-jo), the Regent General, well illustrates how much Zen monks resembled our Samurais.  The event happened when he was in China, where the invading army of Yuen spread terror all over the country.  Some of the barbarians, who crossed the border of the State of Wan, broke into the monastery of Tsu Yuen, and threatened to behead him.  Then calmly sitting down, ready to meet his fate, he composed the following verses

“The heaven and earth afford me no shelter at all;
I’m glad, unreal are body and soul. 
Welcome thy weapon, O warrior of Yuen!  Thy trusty steel,
That flashes lightning, cuts the wind of Spring, I feel.”