One day Shogun Iemitsu was talking with Takuan about various topics.
- Osho, everything I eat lately seems tasteless to me. Can you treat me to some delicacy?
- It's not difficult. Please come to my abode tomorrow at ten o'clock in the morning. I will treat you to delicious food. I will be the host and you the guest. I assure you, if you behave as a guest should, everything will be fine. And one more thing: once you come to see me, please do not leave until the end of the appointment. I must warn you about this in advance.
- Fine. I'm sure it will be a real feast. Tomorrow at ten o’clock I will be with you,” Iemitsu promised and, satisfied, went to his castle.
The next day, Iemitsu arrived at Takuan, accompanied by several servants. It was at the end of December. It had been snowing since early morning, and by the time the shogun arrived there was already a lot of snow. Despite the amount of snow, Iemitsu hoped that Osho would have a mountain feast waiting for him.
Osyo met him near the wicker gate.
“I’m glad you came without being afraid of bad weather,” said Osho.
“What are you talking about, Osyo, the land covered with snow looks so unusual,” answered the shogun.
“As you know, when Toyotomi Hideyoshi was still alive, during snowstorms he often went to Rikyu and enjoyed a taste of Zen in his home. Your humble servant does not possess the refined aesthetic taste of Rikyu, but you, Shogun, I am sure, possess all the virtues of Hideyoshi. As promised, I will treat you to the most delicious dishes.
Osho invited the shogun to the tea room, asked him to wait for a while and went to his room.
The snow fell and fell. From the tea room there was a beautiful view of the garden with snow-covered pine trees and a stone lantern reflected in the pond. Looking at this beautiful landscape, Iemitsu dreamed of the treats that Osho was preparing.
But despite his impatient waiting, Osho did not appear. From ten in the morning until three in the afternoon nothing happened. Even the impassive Iemitsu began to feel nervous. “What happened to Osyo? - thought Iemitsu. — Maybe cooking takes a long time? Usually, when I get tired of waiting, I leave, but today I can’t leave because I promised him to wait until the end of the reception.”
Meanwhile, there was nothing edible in the tea house except iced tea. The shogun and his minions were very hungry. At three o'clock Osyo appeared and said:
- I'm sorry for keeping you waiting so long. Please try my dishes,” and he invited Iemitsu to move to a small table. Two small square dishes were served on the table. The same dishes were served to the servants, who looked at them in bewilderment, not knowing what to do with them. Iemitsu hurriedly lifted the lid of the first dish. It contained boiled rice.
“Allow me,” Iemitsu said and, quickly filling his bowl with rice, began to eat.
Then he opened the second dish and found small yellow pieces there that tasted very good. Iemitsu smiled from ear to ear as he devoured the rice with this new dish.
“Osho, this is very tasty,” Iemitsu said and asked for more.
Osho looked at him with a smile. After finishing his meal, Iemitsu placed his chopsticks on the table and exclaimed:
—— Amazing! Never in my life have I eaten anything like this. By the way, what was that in the second course?
“Pickled radishes,” answered Osyo.
— Pickled radishes? Really? - The shogun was very surprised.
“Sir,” Osho began, “you occupy the highest position in the country and are the richest man in this country.” Because you eat the finest food every day, it does not make you happy. Your taste has been spoiled. A humble monk invited you to his place for a meal, made you wait until you were hungry, and then offered you his humble food. You were not offended, but, on the contrary, called her amazing. Now you know that in order to eat tasty food, a person must be hungry. I hope you pay attention to this.
So Osho paid tribute to the shogun's patience.
“Osyo, your treats today were wonderful and I really enjoyed them.”
But the servants began to whisper among themselves:
- How boring all this is! Osho fed us pickled radishes, calling it a delicious dish. Moreover, he gave us a boring lecture.
“Osho, the great Ieyasu, used to not eat for several days while the battle continued,” said the shogun. “I owe it to him that I became shogun.” I should follow his example.
“Truly you are an enlightened ruler,” Osho said, laughing. “I hope you will be more reasonable in the future.”
Osho then took a piece of paper and wrote a poem on it:
You are so picky - have you really forgotten about the bad harvest? In autumn, the monkey finds a lot of nuts in the mountain forest. - Osyo, this is a very nice poem, but I can’t appreciate it on a full stomach.
The shogun went back to the castle in good spirits. For a long time he could not forget the taste of pickled radishes, calling them “takuan zuke”. The next day, he called Osyo to the castle and asked for a recipe for pickling radishes. Subsequently, the shogun issued a decree that people use this recipe everywhere.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru