quick to seize an opportunity
one's whole life; one's lifetime
place to die; place of death
ambitious (heroic) undertaking; daring enterprise; grand scheme
inversion; opposition; conflicting; repulsion; contradiction
sage; wise man; wise person; buddha; bodhisattva; enlightened priest
indirection; indirectness
(in) dire straits; (in a) serious bind; (in a) big pinch
rise; swell; elevation; upsurge
feel compelled to; can't help but feel; can't help but do
to blow strongly and continuously; to brag endlessly; to boast ceaselessly
graceful; ladylike; modest; gentle; polite; quiet
thin veneer; hasty preparation; knowledge or skill learned as a stopgap; re-tempering a dull sword (so that it looks as if it's sharp, but is actually unusable)
guts; pluck; nerve; spirit
first day (e.g. at work, school); day one
in good taste; tasteful; (person) of refined taste; of cultivated tastes
arbor; arbour; bower; summer house; square gazebo
playful; sportive; pleasure-seeking; pleasure seeker; playful person
man of virtue; wise man; person of high rank; the four gentlemen (plum, chrysanthemum, orchid, and bamboo)
official business; government business; public business; public use; government use
to make narrower; to shut (an umbrella); to shrug (one's shoulders); to purse (one's lips)
don't worry about it; forget about it
Muromachi-period texts or annotations of texts used in Zen lectures; extracting from or excerpting (a classic)
small-boned; thin-boned; slender; slight
for some reason or other; somehow or other; by some chance
to curse someone to death; to put a deadly curse on someone
trickery; wiles; finesse; Machiavellism
to backfire; to have a harmful result
even more; still more; further
one's own handwriting; autograph
entrusting (everything to); leaving (a matter) entirely with