F.V. Dickinsと『竹取物語』

抄録

It was in 1888 thatTHE OLD BAMBOO-HEWER'S STORY (Taketorimonogatari) was translated into English for the first time and published in London by F. V. Dickins. Eight years later, in 1906, he revised it completely and included it in hisPRIMITIVE & MEDIAEVAL JAPANESE TEXTS. In the preface he wrote, “I desire here to acknowledge my great indebtedness to the writings of Dr. Aston, Prof. B. H. Chamberlain, Dr. Karl Florenz and Sir Ernest Satow : to my friend, Mr. Minakata Kumagusu.”
Kumagusu stayed in London from 1892 to 1900. During his stay, he met F. V. Dickins, then registrar of University of London. According to Kumagusu's diary, Dickins showed him his translation ofTAKETORIMONOGATARIand asked for his opinion. On reading it, Kumagusu criticised it severely from his point of view as a Japanese. The diary says Dickins got very angry, because he was proud of his rendering. However, Dickins accepted Kumagusu's helpful advice. It took him eight years to revise it thoroughly. This shows that Dickins was fascinated by the story of Kaguyahime, simple, graceful and genuinely Japanese.