国宝「瓢鮎図」 National Treasure "Hyonen-zu" (Calabash and Catfish)

国宝「瓢鮎図」

 谷崎潤一郎の小説『猫と庄造と二人のをんな』に「...追い詰められるまでは瓢箪鯰に受ケ流してゐて」と書いてある。瓢箪鯰とは、辞書によれば（「瓢箪で鯰を押える」から ) ぬらりくらりとして要領を得ないさま、と定義。

先日、京都の妙心寺の塔頭・退蔵院を訪れた時、「瓢鮎図」の水墨画を見た。1415年頃に描かれた国宝である。

男が瓢箪を持って鯰を捕らえようとしている。水墨画に書かれている文言は「空を飛ぶものは矢に糸を付けた射包（いぐるみ）でからめ捕り、水中を泳ぐものは網でとらえる。これが漁や猟の常法である。中が虚ろで丸く、コロコロした瓢箪で、鱗がなくネバネバした鮎を深い泥水の中で抑えつけることなど、一体できるであろうか」

この禅の公案に31人の禅僧が画賛を書いている。その図が「瓢鮎図」である。図書館で芳沢勝弘著『「瓢鮎図」の謎』を借りて来た。

１０人ぐらいの画賛を読んだが、全て禅問答で、ちんぷんかんぷんであった。

National Treasure "Hyonen-zu" (Calabash and Catfish)

A passage in “Neko to Shozo to Futari no Onna” (A Cat, Shozo, and Two Women) written by the famed Japanese author, Junichiro Tanizaki (1886-1965), reads: “[The protagonist] was pretending to be listening to her like a ‘hyotan-namazu’ (a calabash-catfish) until he was driven into a corner.” A dictionary defines ‘hyotan-namazu’ as a catfish that is slippery and difficult to catch because it is impossible to capture one with a calabash.

The other day, I saw an ink wash painting named Hyonen-zu (a calabash-catfish picture) in a sub-temple, Taizo-in, when I visited Myoshinji Temple in Kyoto. It was painted in 1415 and is a National Treasure.

In the painting, a man holding a bottle gourd is trying to catch a catfish. The inscription above the painting poses a Zen question: you catch a bird flying in the sky with an arrow attached to a thread; you catch a creature swimming in the water with a net. These are orthodox ways to catch birds or fish. However, how can you possibly hold down a slippery and scale-less catfish in muddy water with a round and empty gourd?

Each of the 31 Zen monks wrote a poetic inscription in an attempt to answer the question. The scroll painting of the Zen question and answers is called Hyonen-zu. I borrowed “The Mysteries of Hyonen-zu” written by Katsuhiro Yoshizawa from a library.

I read a dozen poetic inscriptions, but they were all Zen riddles. They were too difficult for me to understand.