Summary History of Syunkin
T. Junichiro
History of Syunkin
Who Moduya, known as Syunkin, was born in Osaka in the family of an apothecary in 1828. She was the most beautiful and most gifted of all the children of an apothecary, moreover, she had an even, cheerful disposition. But at eight, the girl suffered a misfortune: she was blind. Since that time, she left dancing and devoted herself to music. Her teacher was a master of the game against whom and Syamisene Sjunse. Syunkin was that lanky and diligent. She belonged to a rich family, she was engaged in music for her own pleasure, but so diligent that Master Sünce set her as an example to other students. The initiator at Syunkin was a boy, a servant in the shop of an apothecary named Sasuke. His parents gave him to the teachings of Father Syunkin in the very same year that Syunkin lost sight, and he was glad that he had not seen Syunkin before, how she was blinded – after all then the present beauty of the girl could seem to him flawed, and
Having lost her sight, Syunkin became capricious and irritable, but Sasuke tried to please her in everything and not only did not take offense at her cavils, but considered them a sign of special disposition. Sasuke secretly bought shamisen from everyone and at night, when everyone was asleep, began to learn how to play it. But one day his secret was revealed, and Syunkin undertook to train the boy herself. At that time she was ten years old, and Sasuke was fourteen. He called her “Mrs. Teacher” and took her lessons very seriously, she also scolded and beat him, for in that era teachers often beat pupils. Syunkin often brought Sasuke to tears, but there were tears not only of pain, but of gratitude: she spared no effort to deal with him! Parents somehow scolded Syunkin for too harsh treatment of the student, and she in turn chose Sasuke for the fact that he was a crybaby and she got it because of him.
Meanwhile, the character
Nevertheless, the mother suddenly noticed a suspicious change in the shape of her daughter. Syunkin in every possible way denied, but after a while to hide her position became impossible. How many parents did not try to find out who the father of the unborn child is, Syunkin never told them the truth. They questioned Sasuke and found with amazement that it was him. But Syunkin denied his paternity, and he did not want to hear about marrying him either. When the child was born, he was given up. Relations between Syunkin and Sasuke were not a secret to anyone, but all proposals to legalize their union with a marriage ceremony were answered with one voice that there was nothing between them and could not be.
When Syunkin was nineteen, Master Sünce died. He bequeathed his teacher’s license to his beloved apprentice and chose for himself the nickname Syunkin – Spring Lute. Syunkin began teaching music and settled separately from her parents. The faithful Sasuke followed her, but, despite their close relationship, still called her “mistress teacher”. If Syunkin behaved more modestly with people less gifted than she herself, she would not have so many enemies. Her giftedness, coupled with a difficult character, condemned her to loneliness. She had few students: the majority of those who began to learn from her did not stand up to the abuse and punishment and left,
When Syunkin was thirty-six years old, she was struck by another misfortune: one night someone splashed her face with boiling water from a teapot. And it is not known who and why it did it. Perhaps it was her pupil Ritaro, a brazen and depraved young man whom Syunkin put in place. Maybe the father of the girl she hit at the lesson so that she had a scar. Apparently, the villain’s actions were directed against Syunkin and against Sasuke:
If he wanted to make one Syunkin suffer, he would have found another way to take revenge on her. According to another version, it was one of the teachers of music – competitors Syunkin. According to the “Biography of Syunkin,” composed on behalf of Sasuke, when he was already an old man, a robber entered the room at night in Syunkin, but when he heard that Sasuke woke up, he escaped without taking anything, but having managed to throw the teapot into the head of Syunkin: her marvelous white skin sprinkled a few drops of boiling water. The trace of the burn was tiny, but Syunkin was shy of even such a small flaw and until the end of her life she was hiding her face under a silk veil. Further in the “Biography” it is said that, strangely enough, a few weeks later Sasuke started cataract and soon he went blind in both eyes. But if you take into account Sasuke’s deep feelings for Syunkin and his desire to hide the truth in other cases, it becomes clear that everything was not right. The beautiful face of Syunkin was severely disfigured. She did not want anyone to see her face, and Sasuke always shut his eyes, coming to her.
When Sukin’s wound was healed and it was time to remove the bandages, she burst into tears at the thought that Sasuke would see her face, and Sasuke, who also did not want to see her disfigured face, pierced both eyes. The sense of inequality that separated them even in moments of physical intimacy, disappeared, their hearts merged into one. They were as happy as ever. In the soul of Sasuke Syunkin forever remained young and beautiful. Even after becoming blind, Sasuke continued to faithfully take care of Syunkin. They took a girl-servant girl who helped them in the household and studied music with Sasuke.
In the first ten days of the sixth moon of the 10th year of the Meiji (1877) Syunkin fell seriously ill. A few days before, she and Sasuke had gone out for a walk, and she let her favorite lark out of the cage. The lark sang and disappeared into the clouds. In vain they waited for his return – the bird flew away, Since that time Syunkin was inconsolable and nothing could cheer her. Soon she fell ill and a few months later died. Sasuke kept thinking about her all the time, and since he had only seen his beloved in his lifetime only in his dream, there might not have been a clear boundary between life and death for him. Sasuke survived Syunkin for a long time and even after he was officially awarded the title of master and began to be called “teacher Kindai,” he considered his teacher and mistress much higher than himself.
His grave is on the left side of the grave of Syunkin, and the tombstone on it is half as large. The grave is tended by an old woman of about seventy – a former servant and a student named Teru, who remained faithful and devoted to the deceased masters… She was interviewed by a narrator who had read the “Biography of Syunkin” shortly before and became interested in its history. “When the Monk Ghazan from the Temple of Tenryu heard the story of Sasuke’s self-blindness, he praised him for comprehending the spirit of Zen, for, he said, with the help of Zen spirit, this man managed to change his whole life in an instant, turning the ugly into the beautiful and accomplishing the deed, to the deeds of the saints. “
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