The Three Priests
[Sannin Hōshi]
Among the characteristic literary products of the Muromachi Period were the Otogi sōshi (or nursery tales). These were for the most part children’s stories of didactic intent, but sometimes they rose above the rather elementary level of the medium and became genuine literature. The finest of these stories is generally considered to be “The Three Priests.” It is of the “confessional” variety of Otogi sōshi. In this translation only the stories of the first two priests are given; the third priest’s story is in no way connected with the other two. The authorship is unknown, and the date can only be surmised as probably early sixteenth century.
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Mount Kōya lies far from the capital. It is a remote place, where no human voices are heard, where many lofty peaks tower, and such profound silence fills the valleys that ever since Kōbō Daishi[1] here entered the Realm of Meditation it has been counted a holy site to await the coming of the Buddha of the Future. There are platforms for those who wish to sit in contemplation, and halls where salvation may be gained by invoking the name of Amida. At this mountain, where one may live in retreat from the world in whatever manner one chooses, there met three priests, come together by chance from the different places where they had their abodes. In the course of a conversation one of them said, “We are all three priests. Let us each confess to the others why he has abandoned the world. This can surely do no harm, for they say that confession reduces the sins.”
- ↑ Also called Kūkai (see page 63). Kōbō Daishi founded a monastery on Mount Kōya and died there.
