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| Perhaps the best cover of any version of Gorin no Sho - and the picture is one of Kuniyoshi's depictions of Musashi. |
Published by Overlook Press
in 1974, this was the first translation of Musashi’s
work into English, and for a long time, the only one. One might occasionally
pick up fragments in other works – I am particularly reminded of one story in
an illustrated book on samurai in my secondary school library, a story about a
fan-wielding master of saiminjutsu
who managed to persuade Musashi that he was carrying a sword). It has been
around for so long, certainly in my life, that it has become part of the
landscape. The phrases it used, even the title
itself – A Book of Five Rings (Scrolls of the Five Elements would be more
accurate, but it doesn’t have quite the same ring) have become familiar. Other
translators may have chosen to alter some of these classic formulations,
sometimes for better, sometimes for worse, but the shadow of the original
continues to hang over them. It is not easy to assess.
But this is escaping the issue. Does it deserve respect for more than its
merits as a forerunner in this genre?
First, it should be noted how well it has
stood up in the forty-five years since it was first published. Victor Harris (who died in 2017) was an experienced kendoka, an expert on the Japanese sword
(President of the Token Society of Great Britain), and head of the Japanese
Department of the British Museum. He was deeply involved in this field. For all
that, A Book of Five Rings was a relatively early work. Would he have liked
to change anything? I have no idea, but I have read that he would sometimes refer
to Musashi in his teaching, so I am sure his understanding and appreciation of the
work deepened and matured over the many years since he first worked on the
translation.
Despite
the fact that I no longer use it as my translation of choice, it is still a
good choice for anyone interested in Musashi’s writing, although its strengths
as a book (at least in the original version) perhaps weigh stronger than the
absolute qualities of the translation. Compared to all the subsequent works, it
is better set out as a book – the care given to the layout and spacing of the
text makes it exceptionally easy to read and consult; the front matter,
although not extensive, is relevant (especially for those days when very few in
the west had heard of Musashi). It is clear and well-written, and despite being
somewhat dated (Musashi ‘scholarship’ has come on a lot since those days)
provides a good overview of the standard view of Musashi’s life and significant
duels. There is a slip in the general historical background when he confuses
his shogunates, but this is a minor detail (and shouldn’t be used to judge what
is a serious and well-considered work.) It has atmosphere, and this is
something that is often overlooked – it shouldn’t be. There is also a good
choice of art and photographic references – most of the subsequent translations
have followed his lead on this – including some difficult-to-find pictures
which are rarely seen elsewhere.
There are weaknesses, but these are not
fatal flaws. Chief among these is the writing style, which has a tendency to be
somewhat opaque. I do not necessarily feel that translations should read as if
the writers were our contemporaries – given Musashi’s background and class,
(and style in the original) there is a degree of terseness that is not easy to
preserve in English, but in this work, the meaning is not always as clear as it
might be. I feel that there is a lack of authority, perhaps because of the
author’s lack of grounding in the technique (although he was a serious kendo
practitioner and was later involved in older styles of Japanese sword arts, kendo
and kenjutsu are different animals), as if he didn’t quite understand the finer
points of the techniques he was writing about. I hesitate to say it, especially
in view of his continued involvement in the field and obvious facility with the
language, but it looks to me as if he was unsure of what it was Musashi was
saying in some places. This is natural enough, especially in descriptions of
sword technique, but translation is also an act of imaginative creation: as a
writer, the translator attempts to reimagine the meaning of the words and
translate their message with reference to the wording and style of the original
as necessary. I feel as if Harris sometimes gives more weight to the words than
to the meaning, with the result that something that is quite clear in the
Japanese is suddenly open to a range of interpretations in English. But this is
the translator’s art – any translation may be more or less successful at this.
Some of his successors have made more informed decisions, better decisions I
feel – but they also had something to work with, as Harris did not.
Yes, it still stands on its own merits. For
anyone serious about looking into Gorin no Sho, I would recommend other
versions as well, or perhaps primarily, and if your Japanese is up to it, versions
in Japanese, preferably in both the modern and original Japanese. The language
Musashi uses is not generally difficult (although a few sections might prove
problematic) and the Japanese certainly gives a more visceral feel to the work.
But if this is a step too far at the moment, you won’t go far wrong with the
Victor Harris translation – a book to inform and inspire.
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