It does happen, of course, that the priesthood has been on bad terms with womankind for some three thousand years. You see, Buddhism teaches that women are evil. Fiends. Messengers of hell. I've spent years immersed in the scriptures, so it's no accident that you and I fight all the time.

Think what you like. There are people who die by remaining alive and others who gain life by dying.

To the courtiers flushed with wine, life was pleasure, and pleasure life.

It's interesting, isn't it? Being in the world.

Monks transgress the Laws of the Buddha, stir up the common people, store wealth and weapons, and spread rumors; under the guise of religion, they are nothing more than self-serving agitators.

It's no good to want to win still more when you have already won.

The bitter winds in February were sometimes called the First East Winds, but the longing for spring somehow made them seem more piercing.