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Oni (myth): Difference between revisions
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→An iron club for a demon
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:'''ONI NI KANABÔ : ''AN IRON CLUB FOR A DEMON''''' | :'''ONI NI KANABÔ : ''AN IRON CLUB FOR A DEMON''''' | ||
Gives another dimension to the [[Iron Demon]] (KANAONI), too. | Gives another dimension to the [[Iron Demon]] (KANAONI), too. | ||
As for the ''moral meaning'' of the proverb (a strong being, when supplemented by a tool, is ''very'' strong, so ''what''?), here it is : | |||
:'''great power should be given only to the strong/worthy''' | |||
That last thing was taken from ''In Ghostly Japan'', which you can read either [http://books.onelang.com/In-Ghostly-Japan/index.htm#HOME here] (top of [http://www.literaturehead.com/section/hearn%252c-lafcadio/in-ghostly-japan/34.html page 34) or [http://www.literaturehead.com/book/hearn%252c-lafcadio/in-ghostly-japan.html here] (middle of the [http://books.onelang.com/In-Ghostly-Japan/Japanese-Buddhist-Proverbs.htm Japanese Buddhist Proverbs chapter]). | |||
Another proverb with a similar meaning is "[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benkei Benkei] ni [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naginata naginata]" (Benkei is a legentary fighting monk). There's also the Western allegory of Hercules with his massive club (and lion skin) as mentioned earlied. | |||
Basically it means that great tools (primarily tools of death : any great power holds some kind of danger) should be handled by the ones who are worthy of them. The juxtaposition of the two proverbs "Oni ni kanabô, Benkei ni naginata" is rare (I only found it in some guy's signature) and the moral meaning would be somewhat weaker. | |||