Sunday, February 17, 2019
Like Ants
Yoshida Kenkō (c. 1283–c. 1352), Tsurezuregusa (Essays in Idleness), no. 74, tr. Donald Keene:
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They flock together like ants, hurry east and west, run north and south. Some are mighty, some humble. Some are aged, some young. They have places to go, houses to return to. At night they sleep, in the morning get up. But what does all this activity mean? There is no ending to their greed for long life, their grasping for profit. What expectations have they that they take such good care of themselves? All that awaits them in the end is old age and death, whose coming is swift and does not falter for one instant. What joy can there be while waiting for this end?
