Konjaku Monogatarishū Vol. 2, Tale 1: Śuddhodana's Death #1 (part 8)

Fig. 1: 然レハ
諸ノ衆生皆俄
ニ踊リ騒ク

We continue the description of Śuddhodana's funeral from last time:

然（さ）レバ諸ノ衆生（しゅじょう）皆俄（にわか）ニ踊リ騒グ。

So many living things all suddenly [began] to hop up and down and make a racket  (fig. 1).

Fig. 2: 水ノ上
ニ有ル船ノ波
ニ値ヘルカ
如シ

The first word, 「然レバ」, can be read in modern Japanese as either 「しかれば」 or 「されば」, but a classical Japanese dictionary only lists the reading 「されば」, which is why I selected it.

Also note the use of the word 「踊リ」. The modern meaning of the verb 「踊る」 refers to dancing. But the original meaning was equivalent to the modern Japanese word 「飛び跳ねる」: to jump or hop up and down.

水ノ上ニ有ル船の波ニ値（あ）ヘルガ如シ。

They were like boats on the water being struck by waves (fig. 2).

Note the irregular use of the kanji 「値」 for the verb 「与える」. It seems like it was selected purely for its phonetic value here, as its meaning ("price"/"cost"/"value") is not used at all here.

Fig. 3: 其ノ
時ニ四天
王佛ニ
申シ請テ
棺ヲ荷ヒ
奉ル 

I'm not sure how to grammatically parse the phrase 「値ヘル」. Since 「ガ如シ」 has to be preceded by a verb in the attributive form （連体形）, 「ル」 is likely an auxiliary verb in that form. It is most likely the perfective verb 「り」, which itself is preceded by the perfective/realis form （已然形） of yodan verbs. This makes sense, since the yodan verb 「値フ」 would be 「値ヘ」 in the perfective form. However, I couldn't find an entry 「値フ」 in any dictionaries, so I'm not entirely sure.

Edit: Chris has suggested that 「値ヘル」 is actually a contraction of 「値（あ）ひ」＋「ある」.  However, it's still not clear exactly what the meaning of this is.

其ノ時ニ四天王（してんおう）仏ニ申シ請（うけ）テ、棺ヲ荷（にな）ヒ奉ル。

At that time, the Four Heavenly Kings asked the Buddha [for permission to] shoulder the coffin (fig. 3). 

The Four Heavenly Kings (caturmahārāja, or चतुर्महाराज, in Sanskrit) mentioned here "are the protectors of the world and fighters of evil."

Fig. 4: 佛
此レヲ許
テ荷ハシ
メ給フ

The word 「荷ヒ」 is related to the modern Japanese word 「荷なう」, and appears to have the same meaning: "to carry on [one's] shoulders".

仏此（こ）レヲ許（ゆるし）テ荷ハシメ給フ。

The Buddha permitted this, and had them shoulder [the coffin] (fig. 4).

Fig. 5: 佛ハ
香爐ヲ取テ
大王ノ前ニ
歩ミ給フ

The construct 「荷ハシメ給フ」 can be broken down into the previously encountered verb 「荷フ」 in the imperfective form （未然形）, followed by the causative auxiliary verb 「しむ」 in the continuative form （連用形）, followed by the honorific auxiliary verb 「給フ」, in the predicative form （終止形）.

仏ハ香炉こうろヲ取とつテ大王ノ前ニ歩あゆミ給フ。

The Buddha, holding an incense burner, walked in front of the Great King (fig. 5).

Fig. 6: 其
墓所ハ
霊鷲山
ノ上也

By "in front", I'm guessing it means "in the front of the procession", one with the Buddha in front and the Four Heavenly Kings following him, shouldering the coffin.

其（その）墓所（むしょ）ハ霊鷲山（りょうじゅせん）の上也（なり）。

The graveyard was on top of Vulture Peak (fig. 6).

Note that the reading used for 「墓所」 is not a modern one (which would be either 「はかしょ」 or 「ぼしょ」). Rather, it's the classical reading 「むしょ」.

Edit: in the comments, Chris has suggested that 「墓所」 could also be read using kun'yomi, as 「はかどころ」.

Vulture Peak, which we encountered in a previous post, comes up again in fig. 6.

Finally, we once again encounter the archaic copula 「也」. It has appeared before, in a previous Konjaku post (see fig. 2).

Shunshoku Umegoyomi Vol. 1: The Yōshi (part 3)

Fig. 1: それから宅へ
出入もならず。

Fig. 2: 音信
不通とさ
れたのは。
みんな此方
がふつゝか
ゆゑ。

Things have been very busy over the last month, but I finally got a chance to write another post. Also, it's gotten to the point now that most of the time for creating a post is spent constructing the annotated images, such that my translations sit in Google Docs for a while before I get around to actually putting up the corresponding post. Hopefully I can come up with an easier/faster solution for annotation at some point - it would certainly allow me to post much more often.

Today we continue to learn about Tanjirou's misfortunes:

"From then on, [I] didn’t even go to and from the house (fig. 1). The break in contact was entirely because of my incompetence (fig. 2)."

Fig. 3: また
そのうへに
養子先の身
上はふんさ
んして。

 The only thing to note in fig. 1 is the pattern 「ならず」. It can likely be parsed as 「なら」, the imperfective form （未然形） of 「なる」, followed by the negative auxiliary verb 「ず」. As explained in this dictionary entry, the meaning is equivalent to the modern Japanese 「でない」 or 「ではない」.

In fig. 2, we see the phrase 「音信不通」, meaning "break in contact" or "having no communication with". Note that 「みんな」 here actually means "everything" (paraphrased as "entirely" in the translation above), rather than "everyone". That particular meaning is listed in Tangorin as a secondary entry.

Fig. 4: まだ後日
にはこれがある
と。

We also see the word 「ふつゝか」, which means, among other things, "inexperienced" or "incompetent". Finally, 「ゆゑ」, equivalent to 「ゆえ」 in modern kana or 「故」 in kanji, means "reason"/"cause".

"And on top of that, the assets that didn’t come from [my] adoption were dispersed (fig. 3). Later, saying 'I have this,' (fig. 4) the clerk Matsubei [produced a bond] for 500 ryō he had lent to Hatakeyama-sama (fig. 5). [He said that] he would give this to me in return [for giving him]  (fig. 6) 70 of the remaining 100 ryō of [the funds from the adoption that were] dispersed (fig. 7). He said he would give it to the others later, (fig. 8) [but] saying he was going to [the capital] Kyoto [lit. ascending], he disappeared (fig. 9)."

Near the end of fig. 3, we see the word 「ふんさん」.  This is most likely the word 「ぶんさん」（「分散」 in kanji) with the dakuten missing. It means "scatter" or "disperse".

In fig. 8, we see the verb 「登る」, which has a literal meaning of "to ascend", but can also refer to the act of going to the capital. Remember that Umegoyomi is set during the late Edo period, when Kyoto was still the official capital of Japan. As the novel itself is set in Edo, we can assume that Matsubei has absconded to Kyoto. This claim is strengthened by the fact that 「登る」 is preceded by the place name 「上方」, which referred to the "Kansai region (esp. during Edo period)".

The rest is fairly self-explanatory, but one word to note is 「其身」(in fig. 9), which literally means "body". In this context, I used the pronoun "he" instead in the translation.

Fig. 9: 其身
は上方へ登
るといつて
行方なく。

Fig. 8: 後は他の
者へつかはし
ますといつて

Fig. 7: 分散
残りの百両は。
私が七十両。

Fig. 6: この証
文はおまへ
に上ますそ
の代り。

Fig. 5: 言て番
頭松兵へが。
畠山さまへ出
してある五百
両。

Konjaku Monogatarishū Vol. 2, Tale 1: Śuddhodana's Death #1 (part 7)

Fig. 1: 失
セ給フ間
ニハ御枕
上ニ佛
難陀二人
在シマス

Fig. 2: 御
跡の方ニ
ハ阿難羅
睺羅二人
候ヒ給フ

Last time, Śuddhodana's life finally came to an end. But the story doesn't end there:

失（う）セ給フ間ニハ御枕上（おちんじょう）ニ仏・難陀二人在（ま）シマス、御跡（みあと）ノ方ニハ阿難・羅睺羅二人候（さ）ヒ給フ。

As [Śuddhodana] vanished, the Buddha and Nanda were both at his bedside (fig. 1), while Ānanda and Rāhula were both at his feet (fig. 2).

Note the term 「枕上」 — it means "a person's bedside", in this case Śuddhodana's. As for 「候ひ」, that is the continuative form （連用形） of the verb 「候ふ」, which is an archaic verb for "to be".

I wasn't entirely sure about the furigana for the kanji in 「在シマス」, but based on dictionary entries like 「在（ましま）す」, I guessed that the text had an alternate writing where 「しま」 had been moved from the furigana into the okurigana.

Edit: as explained by Matt in the comments below, 「御跡」 means "feet", rather than the literal meaning of "remains".

Fig. 4: 佛末
世ノ衆生ノ
父母ノ養育
ノ恩ヲ不報
サラム事ヲ
誡シメ給ハ
ムカ為メニ

カクテ葬送そうそうノ時ニ、仏末世まっせノ衆生しゅじょうノ父母ノ養育ノ恩ヲ報もくハザラム事ヲ誡いまシメ給ハムガ為メニ、父ノ御棺おかんヲ荷になハムト為す給フ時ニ、大地震動だいじしんどうシ、世界安やすカラズ。

Fig. 3: カクテ
葬送ノ時ニ

Thus, during the funeral (fig. 3), in order to warn people in the far future about failing to repay their debts of gratitude to their parents for their upbringings, the Buddha (fig. 4) went to shoulder his father’s coffin, when (fig. 5) a major earthquake hit, and the world was not calm (fig. 6).

 The first point of confusion in fig. 4 is the meaning of the phrase 「末世の衆生」. According to the explanation on this page, it refers to "people [the masses] in the distant future", which makes sense in this context.

Fig. 5: 父ノ
御棺ヲ荷ハ
ムト為給フ
時ニ

Next, we see the kanji 「恩」 by itself. It has a couple of meanings, including "favor", "obligation", and "debt of gratitude". I think either of the last 2 would apply here.

There is also the verb 「報ふ」, which means "to repay [a debt]". Note how it is in the Sinitic "negative first" grammatical format in the original text. I have changed it to the Japanese equivalent in the quoted text above.

「報ふ」 is in the imperfective form here （未然形）, followed by the negative auxiliary verb 「ず」, which is also in the imperfective form and takes on the form 「ざら」. Finally,  we see the auxiliary verb 「む」 in the attributive form （連体形）, which has several possible meanings. I think it takes on the "hypothetical" meaning here, since it refers to something that happens in the distant future.

That same verb is encountered at the end of 「給ハム」, but there takes on the meaning of intention ("in order to"). It's also seen with this meaning in fig. 5: 「荷ハム」.

Fig. 6: 大
地震動シ
世界不ス

The meaning of 「御棺」 is explained here — it's a polite way of referring to the coffin that Śuddhodana was placed in.

The kanji 「為」 is used in fig. 5 for a different purpose than it is at the end of fig. 4. Here, it represents the verb 「為（す）」, which has the same meaning as the modern verb 「する」.

At the end of fig. 6, there is another Sinitic negative pattern — 「不安ス」. The okurigana 「ス」 is missing dakuten. This is very interesting, as it must be the auxiliary negative verb 「ず」, even though there is also a 「不」 in the original text.

Shunshoku Umegoyomi Vol. 1: The Yōshi (part 2)

Fig. 1: 主「さ
れバサ。今
さら考て見り
やア。

Fig. 2: やつ
はり鬼兵へ
が。先の番
頭の松兵へ
となれ合て

Last time, we found out about Tanjirou's stint as a yōshi. Now we get into the details of what actually happened to him:

Master [Tanjirou]: "Well...when I think about it now (fig. 1), after all, Kihei was conspiring with the previous head clerk, Matsubei (fig. 2), and as soon as the door was closed, being fully aware of [the state of] the household assets, [he] immediately [made] me a yōshi (fig. 3)."

In fig. 1, we see the phrase 「今さら」, which is of course the same as 「今更」. In this case, it specifically has the first definition listed on Tangorin: "now", including the parenthetical "after such a long time".

At the beginning of fig. 2 is 「やつはり」. This is equivalent to 「やっぱり」. There's just a large 「つ」 and a 「は」 without a handakuten. The meaning stays the same.

Fig. 3: 直に
戸を塞身上
を承知でお
れを急養子。

Some online sources have suggested that Kihei is written here as 「鬼兵へ」, rather than 「鬼兵」. However, I don't see that being true (at least with this manuscript), since then the bottom of 「兵」 would be missing from the script.

Edit: as Chris has suggested below, his kuzushiji dictionary suggested that this is actually 「兵へ」. The bottom radical in 「兵」 is essentially omitted. This applies both for Kihei （鬼兵へ） and Matsubei （松兵へ）, in fig. 2 and 6.

Fig. 4: そ
んなこと
は露しら
す。這入
て見れば
借金の。

Also note the use of the phrase 「なれ合」 — this is equivalent to 「馴れ合い」, which can mean "conspiracy".

"[I] knew very little [about all] that. When I entered the family (fig. 4), I also married the mountain (fig. 5) of debt (fig. 4), and so (fig. 5), for that reason, I also had Kihei (fig. 6) stamp a 100 ryō (fig. 7) coin and gave it to my adoptive family, but it turned out to be a waste [of money] (fig. 8)."

In fig. 4, we see the kanji 「露」. Although the common meaning is "dew", it can also mean "a small quantity" （「わずかなこと」）.

Fig. 5: 山
も縁つく
とふそて
と。

We also see the pattern 「しらき」. I wasn't entirely sure about having 「き」 at the end, but nothing else made sense grammatically. I couldn't figure out which kanji this kana would be derived from, though. If it is actually 「き」, in grammatical terms it would be the predicative form （終止形） of 「き」, an auxiliary verb that indicates that the preceding verb is in the personal past. Since the preceding verb has to be in the continuative form （連用形）, I'm not sure why it's 「しら」 (the original verb presumably being 「知る」), but perhaps it's using a non-yodan conjugation (I don't have my dictionary with me, so I can't check).

Edit: as Chris explains below, the kana after 「しら」 is actually 「す」, derived from the kanji  「須」. This is a little confusing because the dakuten have been omitted here. The correct way to read this is 「しらず」, which is the imperfective form （未然形） of the verb 「知る」 followed by the negative auxiliary verb 「ず」, in its predicative form （終止形）.

Fig. 6: 思つ
たゆへに鬼
兵へにも。

There is also an irregular form of 「入る」 — 「這入る」. Both are pronounced 「はいる」.

At the end of fig. 4 is the word 「借金（しゃっきん）」, which is read as 「しゃくきん」 here instead, but retains its meaning.

In fig. 5, we see the phrase 「縁つく」, which is equivalent to 「縁づく」, also written as 「縁付く」 — "to marry".

Fig. 7: 判を
おさせた
百両の。

In fig. 7, we see the term 「おさせた」, which is the past tense and causative form of 「押す」. This word appears to have been formed according to modern Japanese grammar. Once again, it may be that the author switches back and forth when going from narration (classical) to dialogue (modern). This particular instance occurs while Tanjirou is speaking, so the modern form was used.

The kanji 「両」 refers to a premodern Japanese currency, the ryō. As mentioned in that article, 100 ryō would have been a very significant amount of money, particularly for someone as poor as Tanjirou (perhaps he became poor as a result of wasting all this money).

Fig. 8: 金も
養家へいれ
仏事。

The phrase 「いれ仏事」, also written as 「入（い）れ仏事（ぶつじ）」, refers to pointlessly throwing money at something （「むだな出費」）. It's very interesting how dakuten are included for the furigana 「ぶつ」, but excluded for 「事」, which has its furigana written as 「し」, rather than 「じ」.

Konjaku Monogatarishū Vol. 2, Tale 1: Śuddhodana's Death #1 (part 6)

Fig. 1: 大
王佛ノ御
手ヲ取テ
我カ御胸
ニ曳寄セ
給フ時ニ

We continue with the next segment of Śuddhodana's story:

大王、仏ノ御手（おて）ヲ取（とり）テ我（わ）ガ御胸（おむね）ニ曳寄（ひきよ）セ給フ時ニ、阿羅漢果（あらかんか）ヲ得給（えたまひ）ヌ。

The Great King took the Buddha's hand and pulled it close to his own chest, at which point (fig. 1) he [Śuddhodana] ended up achieving arhathood (fig. 2).

Fig. 2: 阿
羅漢果ヲ
得給ヌ

The first thing to note is of course the term arhat (Sanskrit: अर्हत). It essentially refers to someone who has achieved nirvana. Note that, just as with anāgāmi (see fig. 5), the final kanji 「果」 represents the suffix -hood. Therefore, the Japanese term for arhat would be just 「阿羅漢」. This is a purely phonetic representation, as the first two kanji have been encountered before in unrelated contexts, such as the names Ānanda （阿難） and Rāhula （羅睺羅）.

Another interesting observation for fig. 1 is how the kana 「セ」 actually looks much more like its hiragana equivalent 「せ」. This appears to be one of the few cases in this text where a kana favored the modern hiragana style over the katakana version.

Fig. 3: 其ノ
後暫ク有テ
大王ノ御命
絶畢給ヒヌ

The final point of interest is the verb ending at the end of fig. 2. Note that we have the verb 「得（う）」 ("to achieve") in its continuative form （連用形）, which is 「得（え）」. Next is the honorific verb 「給フ」, also in the continuative form. Finally is the auxiliary verb 「ヌ」, which is in the predicative form （終止形） and has the perfective （完了） function. The verb not only indicates the completion of an event/action, it also signifies that it occurred naturally, which is where the "ended up" part of the translation comes from. This is comparable to the modern Japanese 「なってしまった」.

其ノ後暫ク有（あり）テ、大王ノ御命（おいのち）、絶畢（たへはて）給（たま）ヒヌ。

After that, some time passed, and the Great King's life came to an end (fig. 3).

Fig. 4: 其ノ
時ニ城ノ
内上下ノ人

I treated 「其ノ後」 as a compound meaning "after that". Other than for that, the most confusing part of fig. 3 was the compound 「絶畢」, which I couldn't find a dictionary entry for. The meaning was pretty clear (and redundant), as the first kanji means "discontinue", while the second means "finish". However, I wasn't sure about the reading. What I've selected above, 「ぜつひつ」, is just based on the on'yomi of the two kanji. However, it might be read as 「ぜっぴつ」, which is the modern reading for 「絶筆」, which has the same first kanji and a similar second kanji (it also has the on'yomi reading 「ひつ」).

Edit: as Chris has suggested in the comments below, it is more likely that 「絶畢」 is read as 「たへはて」, since supplementary verbs such as 「給ふ」 must be preceded by a verb, rather than a nominal compound. Verbs are usually written using kun'yomi, making 「ぜつひつ」 or 「ぜっぴつ」 unlikely readings.

Fig. 5: 皆哭
キ悲ム事无
限シ

其ノ時ニ、城ノ内、上下の人、皆哭（な）キ悲（かなし）ム事限リ无シ。

At that time, inside the castle, the people, from top to bottom (fig. 4), everyone wept and grieved without limit (fig. 5).

There's not too much to say here. We see an alternate kanji for the verb for "to weep" （泣く）. That verb is in the continuative form, followed by the verb 「悲む」 in the attributive form (also 「悲む」), as it is immediately followed by a noun （事）.

The same pattern with 「无限シ」 that we've seen many times before is repeated here.

其ノ音、城ヲ響カス。

Fig. 6: 其ノ音
城ヲ響カス

Those sounds reverberated through the castle (fig. 6).

The only thing of interest in fig. 6 is the verb ending. It is the verb 「響ク」 in the imperfective form （未然形） followed by the causative （使役） auxiliary verb 「す」 in the predicative form. It indicates the imposition of a deliberate action by someone on something/someone (in this case, that would be the sounds of the weeping causing reverberation through the castle). The word 「響かす」 exists as a verb by itself in modern Japanese, with the meaning of "to make something resound".

其ノ「悪（あく）」後、忽（たちまち）七宝ノ棺ヲ作（つくり）テ、大王ノ御身（おんみ）ニハ香湯（かうたう）ヲ塗（ぬり）テ錦ノ衣ヲ着セ奉リテ棺ニ入レ奉レリ。

After the "evil" [passed], a coffin was immediately made using the seven treasures (fig. 7). The Great King's body was coated with scented hot water [i.e., it was bathed], and brocaded clothing was put on him. Then he was placed in the coffin (fig. 8).

Fig. 7: 其ノ惡後
忽七寶ノ棺ヲ
作テ

Fig. 8: 大王ノ御
身ニハ香湯ヲ塗
テ錦ノ衣ヲ着セ
奉リテ棺ニ入レ
奉レリ

The first thing to note in fig. 7 is the use of the word 「悪」. I wasn't sure what the implications of it were here. Although there weren't quotation marks in the original text, they were in the transcription, so I kept them, both in my transcription and in my translation. As for the reading, it could be 「わる」 as well; I wasn't sure.

Edit: as Chris has suggested in the comments, it appears that the kanji in the original manuscript for 「惡」 is an itaiji (variant kanji) that is actually the 「西」 radical on top instead (and the 「心」 radical still on bottom). It's not clear why it's used here though.

Edit 2: it has been confirmed (by Chris) in an itaiji dictionary that the kanji with a 「西」 on top and a 「心」 on the bottom is a variant of 「惡」.

I'm guessing it refers to some sort of evil spirits, but I can't find any references to the existence of such a concept in Buddhism. I'm not an expert on the topic though, so I might have missed some stuff. Similarly, the use a coffin is perplexing when cremation is standard. Likely, the coffin was a temporary device used for ceremonial transportation of the body to the cremation location. In any case, that question will probably be resolved in a future post.

I didn't fully understand how to parse 「忽七宝」. By itself, 「七宝」 refers to the seven treasures of Buddhism, namely gold, silver, pearls, agate, crystal, coral, and lapis lazuli. 「忽」 can mean "immediately", which I thought was the most appropriate definition to use here.

Moving on to fig. 8, the reading for 「香湯」 (written as 「こうとう」 in modern Japanese) is something I was able to derive from dictionary entries such as this one. However, I couldn't find an entry for 「香湯」 itself, so I just guessed at the meaning based on the two separate kanji and the context.

We see another instance of 「せ」 vs. 「セ」 (as mentioned previously in the comments on fig. 1) in the verb 「着セ」. The second stroke of 「せ」 is clearly visible in the original manuscript. 「着セ」 is the continuative form of the premodern word 「着きす」, which has the same meaning as the modern 「着せる」.

Fig. 8 ends with 「入レ奉レリ」, which can be broken down as 「入レ」＋「奉レ」＋「リ」. The first part is the verb 「入（い）ル」 ("to put inside") in its shimo-nidan "ra" form, where the continuative form would be 「入レ」. Next is the honorific verb 「奉ル」 in the realis (perfective) form （已然形）. It is in this form because following it is the auxiliary verb 「リ」, which requires the preceding verb to be in that form. 「リ」 itself is in the predicative form, and takes on the perfective （完了） meaning here.

Shunshoku Umegoyomi Vol. 1: The Yōshi

Fig. 1: 私き
やア今日帰
ると直に住
けへをねが
つて。

Yonehachi finishes her monologue (finally):

"If I return [home] today, I'll immediately ask [permission] to change houses (fig. 1)."

「私き」 is an alternate form of the modern 「 私」 that we've encountered before (see fig. 3).

Fig. 2: 婦多
川へでも行
て辛抱して
おまはんの
身を少しも
樂にさせ申
てねへヱ
トしんじつ
見へし女の
いぢ男はし
ゞうふさい
でゐる

「けへる」 is clearly an alternate form of 「帰（かえ）る」. This also helps to explain 「住けへ」— it's just 「住み替える」, or "to change one's residence". 「ねがつて」 is of course 「願って」— "to desire".

"Even if we [have to] go to Futagawa or somewhere, I will endure it if it makes things a little more comfortable for your body [health], OK?" the woman [Yonehachi] said, and showed her true obstinacy, [at which] the man [Tanjirou] continued to keep [his mouth] shut (fig. 2).

First of all, we encounter the place name Futagawa （婦多川）. As explained here, it is just another name for Fukagawa （深川）, which is itself a former ward of the old Tōkyō City. It can be found in the modern day ward of Kōtō ward, which is made up of Fukagawa and Jōtō, another former Tōkyō City ward.

We see the odd calligraphed form of 「身」 from last time (see fig. 4) again here. Note how this time it has the reading 「み」, which made it quite easy to determine which kanji it was.

I wasn't entirely sure about how to transcribe the part I've got as 「させまして」, particularly the 「まし」. I couldn't think of anything else that made grammatical sense, but it seems like there might not be enough space for a 「し」. Edit: as Matt has suggested in the comments below, what I thought was 「まし」 is likely the kanji 「申」. The meaning is unaffected by this change, but the reading would be 「させもうして」.

In the togaki (see fig. 5), we see 「見へし」. This is the shimo-nidan "ya"  verb 「見ゆ」 in the continuative form （見へ） followed by the auxiliary verb 「き」 in the attributive form （連体形）. The auxiliary verb 「き」 has an irregular conjugation, in which the attributive form is 「し」. It is used to indicate personal past or recollection （体験回想）.

I wasn't entirely sure about the kana 「く」 in the left column of the togaki. However, nothing else fit the context, and 「久」 had the closest-looking kuzushiji form of all the parent kanji for 「く」.

「ふさいで」 is derived from the verb 「塞（ふさ）ぐ／鬱（ふさ）ぐ」, which means "to feel depressed", or "to mope".

Edit: as suggested by Matt in the comments below, what I read as 「ご」 is more likely 「ゞ」, meaning that 「しゞう」 (which would be read as 「しじゅう」 in modern Japanese) is most likely 「始終」, meaning "continuously" or (more literally) "from start to finish". This would then suggest that the meaning of 「塞ぐ」 is likely an alternate one — "to shut up" or "to close (one's mouth)".

Fig. 3: よね
「ヱモシそ
して養子
に

"Huh, then as for the house that adopted you as a son-in-law, well (fig. 3), why was it that its fortune suddenly collapsed, huh?" Yonehachi asked (fig. 4).

I wasn't entirely sure about the beginning of fig. 3 (the 「ヱモシ」 part), so if that looks wrong, let me know.

Fig. 4: ど
うした訳
で急に身
代がたゝ
なくなつ
たのであ
りますヱ

In fig. 3, we also see the term 「養子（ようし）」, which refers to an adopted son-in-law. As explained in this book, the yōshi system of adoption came into play in those families who wanted to prevent the extinction of their family name/lineage, or those families who felt their biological sons did not possess the competence necessary to adequately preserve and propagate that legacy. In such situations, a suitable man would be adopted into the family by having one of the family's daughters marry him. He would change his last name to that of his adoptive family, move into that family's house, and be removed from the koseki （戸籍）, or family registry, of his old family and added to that of his new family (this was essentially the same process regularly followed by women when they married into their husband's family). Individual yōshi might have risen from poor backgrounds to a place of sufficient prominence in society, or they might be sons from wealthy families who were not the firstborn, and thus had no responsibility (or right) to their own family's legacy.

Konjaku Monogatarishū Vol. 2, Tale 1: Śuddhodana's Death #1 (part 5)

Fig. 1:
暫ク在
テ佛虛
空ヨリ
難陀阿
難羅睺
羅等ヲ
引将テ
來リ給
ヘリ

Last time, Śuddhodana was miraculously cured of his illness. Continuing the story:

暫（しばら）ク在（ありまし）テ、仏、虚空（こくう）ヨリ難陀・阿難・羅睺羅等ヲ引将テ来（きた）リ給ヘリ。

 After a while had passed, the Buddha, leading Nanda, Ānanda, Rāhula, etc. from the empty sky, arrived (fig. 1).

I was a little confused about the meaning of the sentence in fig. 1. 「ヨリ」 here functions as a grammatical equivalent to 「から」 in modern Japanese, so I based the translation on a literal interpretation of that. However, that seems a little off.

Fig. 2: 先
ツ大王佛
ヲ見奉テ
涙ヲ流シ
給フ事雨
ノ如シ

The meaning of 「虚空」 wasn't entirely clear either. On the one hand, it has the secular meaning of "empty sky" or "empty space". But it is also the Chinese translation （漢訳） of the Buddhist term Ākāśa (Sanskrit: "आकाश"). Perhaps there is some special significance here related to that meaning. Then again, the word might just have been selected because of the religious nature of the story, even though the meaning here is intended to be the first one I mentioned.

The pattern seen with the verb 「給フ」 at the end of fig. 1 is the same as that seen at the end of fig. 8 in this post (see the explanation there).

先ヅ大王、仏ヲ見奉（たてまつり）テ、涙ヲ流シ給フ事雨ノ如シ。

First, the Great King, seeing the Buddha, shed tears, as if it were raining (fig. 2). 

Fig.3: 合掌
シテ喜給フ
事无限シ

There's not much to say about fig. 2. Just keep in mind that 「給フ」 is in the attributive form （連体形） here, rather than the predicative form （終止形）. The two forms just happen to be identical in appearance, since 「給フ」 is a yodan verb.

合掌シテ喜（よろこび）給フ事限リ无シ。

[Śuddhodana] pressed his hands together, and his joy was limitless (fig. 3).

As indicated above, the word 「合掌」is a common Buddhist hand gesture, also known as añjali (Sanskrit: "अञ्जलि").

Fig. 4:
佛父ノ王
ノ御傍ニ
在シテ本
経シ説
給フニ

Additionally, in fig. 3, we see the same 「給フ」 as in fig. 2 (i.e., in the attributive form).

仏、父ノ王ノ御傍（おそば）ニ在（ありま）シテ本経（ほんぎょう）ヲ説（とき）給フニ、大王即（すなは）チ阿那含果（あなごんか）ヲ得給（たまひ）シ。

The Buddha was at his father's side and preached the main sutra, at which (fig. 4) the Great King immediately achieved anāgāmihood (fig. 5).

Fig. 5:
大王即チ
阿那含果
ヲ得給シ

I got pretty confused about fig. 4. First of all, there seems to be something missing between 「本」 and 「経」 in the original script, given the amount of blank space there. But they form a word together anyway, so I'm not entirely sure that's actually the case. Even if nothing is missing, though, what exactly is the "main sutra"? It seems to be a general term (i.e., doesn't refer to a particular sutra), so perhaps some more context is necessary here.

Edit: as Matt has suggested in the comments, this could be 「本生経」, or the sutras expounded by the Buddha during his lifetime. However, there is no definitive evidence/proof of that.

In fig. 5, we see the term 「即チ」, usually written as 「すなわち」 nowadays. Whereas the modern Japanese meaning is restricted to "that is" or "i.e.", in the premodern language, it also had the meaning "immediately". Given the context, that meaning seemed most appropriate.

Finally, we see the term 「阿那含」, which is a Buddhist ateji term meaning anāgāmi, or a person who has reached the third of the four stages of enlightenment. From the comments below by Matt, the suffix 「果」 indicates attainment of enlightenment as a result of Buddhist practice.