22.—_Hotoké ni naru mo shami wo beru._ Even to become a Buddha one must first become a novice. 23.—_Hotoké no kao mo sando._ Even a Buddha’s face,—only three times.[19] [19] This is a short popular form of the longer proverb, _Hotoké no kao mo sando nazuréba, hara wo tatsu:_ “Stroke even the face of a Buddha three times, and his anger will be roused.” 24.—_Hotoké tanondé Jigoku é yuku._ Praying to Buddha one goes to hell.[20] [20] The popular saying, _Oni no Nembutsu_,—“a devil’s praying,”—has a similar meaning. 25.—_Hotoké tsukutté tamashii irédzu._ Making a Buddha without putting in the soul.[21] [21] That is to say, making an image of the Buddha without giving it a soul. This proverb is used in reference to the conduct of those who undertake to do some work, and leave the most essential part of the work unfinished. It contains an allusion to the curious ceremony called _Kai-gen_, or “Eye-Opening.” This _Kai-gen_ is a kind of consecration, by virtue of which a newly-made image is supposed to become animated by the real presence of the divinity represented. 26.—_Ichi-ju no kagé, ichi-ga no nagaré, tashō no en._ Even [the experience of] a single shadow or a single flowing of water, is [made by] the karma-relations of a former life.[22] [22] Even so trifling an occurrence as that of resting with another person under the shadow of a tree, or drinking from the same spring with another person, is caused by the karma-relations of some previous existence. 27.—_Ichi-mō shū-mō wo hiku._ One blind man leads many blind men.[23] [23] From the Buddhist work _Dai-chi-dō-ron_.—The reader will find a similar proverb in Rhys-David’s “_Buddhist Suttas_” (Sacred Books of the East), p. 173,—together with a very curious parable, cited in a footnote, which an Indian commentator gives in explanation. 28.—_Ingwa na ko._ A karma-child.[24] [24] A common saying among the lower classes in reference to an unfortunate or crippled child. Here the word _ingwa_ is used especially in the retributive sense. It usually signifies evil karma; _kwahō_ being the term used in speaking of meritorious karma and its results. While an unfortunate child is spoken of as “a child of _ingwa_,” a very lucky person is called a “_kwahō-mono_,”—that is to say, an instance, or example of _kwahō_. 29.—_Ingwa wa, kuruma no wa._ Cause-and-effect is like a wheel.[25] [25] The comparison of _karma_ to the wheel of a wagon will be familiar to students of Buddhism. The meaning of this proverb is identical with that of the _Dhammapada_ verse:—“If a man speaks or acts with an evil thought, pain follows him as the wheel follows the foot of the ox that draws the carriage.” 30.—_Innen ga fukai._ The karma-relation is deep.[26] [26] A saying very commonly used in speaking of the attachment of lovers, or of the unfortunate results of any close relation between two persons. 31.—_Inochi wa fū-zen no tomoshibi._ Life is a lamp-flame before a wind.[27]