Saito Musashi-Bō Benkei - Tales of the Wars of the Gempei Being the Story of the Lives and Adventures #223238

When a character is found going down through the ages, in sympathy with the men of his own race, in times so different as to find his age old fashioned and out of touch, we can be sure that there 1s found ln him something which appeals to the men of the race as characteristic of themselves. Yoshitsune and Benkei are peculiarly such characters. As far as familiarity and sympathy go they are as close to the Japanese of to-day' as to those of seven hundred years ago. These ancient heroes of the twelfth century could be received into this twentieth century Japan with far less astonishment on the part of this latter-day man than of themselves. They would find themselves with a far larger circle of acquaintance than they possessed in their own times, and one which regarded them with equal respect and admiration. Just what they really were is another story, which is told later on in these pages. What is emphasized here is the living interest. I know of nothing like it in the West, apart from the feeling of the Spaniard toward Don Quixote and for much the same reason.