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The excerpt represents the core issue or deciding factor on which you must meditate, and is drawn from Kwaidan by Lafcadio Hearn: look for nothing but beauty, and so betook yourself to the person most
beautiful in outward appearance. Therefore many of the female attendants
ceased altogether to think about the right way of women, and began to study
how to make themselves appear splendid in the eyes of men. And the end of
it was that the Emperor Genso died a pitiful and painful death -- all
because of your light and trifling mind. Indeed, your real character can
easily be seen from your conduct in other matters. There are trees, for
example,-- such as the evergreen-oak and the pine,-- whose leaves do not
fade and fall, but remain always green;-- these are trees of firm heart,
trees of solid character. But you say that they are stiff and formal; and
you hate the sight of them, and never pay them a visit. Only to the
Kwaidan |
