Need Miyamoto Musashi quote translation.

[Simsim]

Hello ! I'm a martial artist and a big Musashi admirer. I would like this quote from the the Book of Five Rings (Book of Water) translated back to the original version : With water as the basis, the spirit becomes like water. Water adopts the shape of its receptacle, it is sometimes a trickle and sometimes a wild sea.

By the way, although I also admire Bruce Lee, his "Be water" quote was definitely a Musashi rip off... or let's say an homage ?

Anyway, thanks in advance !

 

[Toritoribe]

It is excerpted from the chapter Outline of the Five Books of this Book of Strategy in The Book of Earth, not The Book of Water.

此兵法の書、五卷に仕立事。
--------------------------
第二、水之巻。
水を本として、心を水になす也。
水ハ、方圓の器にしたがひ、
一てきとなり、さうかいとなる。
水にへきたんの色あり。清き所をもちゐて、
一流の事を此巻に書顕也。
劔術一通の理、さだかに見分、
一人の敵に自由に勝ときハ、
世界の人に皆勝所也。
人に勝といふ心ハ、千万の敵にも同意なり。
将たるものゝ兵法、ちいさきを大になす事、
尺のかねを以て大佛をたつるに同じ。
か様の儀、こまやかには書分がたし。
一を以万を知る事、兵法の利也。
一流の事、此水の巻に書記すなり。

五輪書 地之巻3

Outline of the Five Books of this Book of Strategy
---------------------------------------------------
Second is the Water book. With water as the basis, the spirit becomes like water. Water adopts the shape of its receptacle, it is sometimes a trickle and sometimes a wild sea. Water has a clear blue color. By the clarity, things of Ichi school are shown in this book.
If you master the principles of sword-fencing, when you freely beat one man, you beat any man in the world. The spirit of defeating a man is the same for ten million men. The strategist makes small things into big things, like building a great Buddha from a one foot model. I cannot write in detail how this is done. The principle of strategy is having one thing, to know ten thousand things. Things of Ichi school are written in this the Water book.

Miyamoto Musashi - "Go Rin No Sho" - A Book of Five Rings by Miyamoto Musashi

original classical version
水を本として、心を水になす也。
水ハ、方圓の器にしたがひ、
一てきとなり、さうかいとなる。

Modern kana usage and kanji version
水を本として、心を水になす也。水は、方円の器に随い、一滴となり、滄海となる。
Mizu wo moto to shite, kokoro wo mizu ni nasu nari. Mizu wa, houen no utsuwamono ni shitagai, itteki to nari, soukai to naru.

 

[Simsim]

Perfect ! Thank you so much for the thorough reply, and the clarification.