見猿聞か猿言わ猿 mizarukikazaruiwazaru See No Evil, Hear No Evil, Speak No Evil

See not, hear not, say not: the three monkeys read aloud. The sentence is a pun the spelling keeps: 猿, monkey, is read saru, and in the negative ending -zaru the same sound says not, so each word is at once a monkey and a refusal. The Japanese names no object; the evil is the English formula's word. The old sense is restraint about other people's faults, and the tradition adds a fourth monkey, that not seeing, hearing and saying are the easy three and not thinking is the hard one; today it is also said of looking away. Whether you take it as a rule of restraint or as the three monkeys everyone knows is yours.

We want you to be as happy with the meaning as you are with Master Takase's art. To learn more, visit Philology of 見猿聞か猿言わ猿.

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