of Buddhism), it would have consoled him a little. In the Scriptures it was not written that the nose of Shaributsu was long. “Ryuju” and “Mamei” (Buddhist Saints) of course had ordinary noses like anyone else. In addition to that he searched in all the tales of “Shintan” (the Hindoo word for China, used in the Buddhist scriptures). The ears of Ryu Gen Toku (a Chinese hero) of Shokukan, were long, and he thought sadly that, if it had only been his nose that was long instead of his ears, he would have perhaps been greatly pleased to read of it.
I should not mention it perhaps, but though he worried himself in a negative way, he also felt it imperative at other times that he should find some way to have his nose shortened. At such times he tried to discover any possible way to have it done. He had tried drinking “Karasuuri” (a fruit used for medicial purposes), and he had even rubbed his noses with an acid taken from the bodies of rats, but though he experimented in many kinds of ways and put forth every effort that was possible to reduce the size of his nose, it still hung its five or six unsightly inches from above his lips.
Unexpectedly, in the autumn of a certain year, a disciple priest of his, who had gone to Kyoto on some business, and also to attend to some private matters of the Naigu, happened to meet a certain doctor with whom he was acquainted. This doctor had once emigrated from China, and was now in the position of “Guso” (someone giving his services to a temple where
