{"collection":"myth-cosmogony","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_45933/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_45933","id":"gutenberg_45933","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/45933","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Historical Novels","Category: Mythology, Legends & Folklore","Category: Short Stories","Japanese fiction -- Translations into English"],"text":"Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this\n      file which includes the lovely original illustrations,\n      many of which are in color.\n      See 45933-h.htm or 45933-h.zip:\n      (https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/45933/pg45933-images.html)\n      or\n      (https://www.gutenberg.org/files/45933/45933-h.zip)\n\n\n      Images of the original pages are available through\n      Internet Archive. See\n      https://archive.org/details/romancesofoldjap00ozak\n\n\n\n\n\nROMANCES OF OLD JAPAN\n\nRendered into English from Japanese Sources\n\nby\n\nMADAME YUKIO OZAKI\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nBrentano's New York\n1920\n\n[Illustration: brentano]\n\n\n[Illustration: What was his breathless amazement to see\nthat the picture he so much admired had actually taken life\n... and was gliding lightly towards him--see here.]\n\n\n\nCONTENTS\n\n    THE QUEST OF THE SWORD\n    THE TRAGEDY OF KESA GOZEN\n    THE SPIRIT OF THE LANTERN\n    THE REINCARNATION OF TAMA\n    THE LADY OF THE PICTURE\n    URASATO, OR THE CROW OF DAWN\n    TSUBOSAKA\n    LOYAL, EVEN UNTO DEATH; OR THE SUGAWARA TRAGEDY\n    HOW KINU RETURNED FROM THE GRAVE\n    A CHERRY-FLOWER IDYLL\n    THE BADGER-HAUNTED TEMPLE\n\n\n\nILLUSTRATIONS\n\n\nWhat was his breathless amazement to see that the picture he so much\nadmired had actually taken life ... and was gliding lightly towards him\n_Frontispiece_\n\nMortally wounded, both men fell to the ground, and so fatal had been\nJurobei's thrusts that in a few minutes they breathed their last\n\nThe unhappy mother sadly followed with her eyes the pathetic little\nfigure disappearing on her unknown path\n\nGunbei had watched the execution of his cruel order from the veranda\n\nYendo draws his sword, when between him and the victim of his vengeance\nthere darts the lovely Kesa\n\nWataru little dreams that it is the last cup his wife will ever drink\nwith him\n\nTo his unspeakable horror and amazement the moonlight reveals the head\nof Kesa--his love!\n\nHis grandfather had been a retainer of Ota Dokan ... and had committed\nsuicide when his lord fell in battle\n\nHe glared fiercely at the apparition, and then, half unconsciously,\nturned for the _samurai's_ only safeguard, his sword\n\nTama's father was delighted when Hayashi proved to be an expert at\n_go_, and often asked him to come and spend the evening\n\nHe was suddenly startled to see a girlish form coming towards him in\nthe wavering shadows\n\nHayashi visits the temple where his lost love was buried and dedicates\nhis whole life to praying for the repose of her soul\n\n\"When I was eighteen years of age, bandits ... made a raid on our\nvillage and ... carried me away\"\n\nWhen the bride was led into the room and seated opposite Toshika, what\nwas his bewildering delight to see that she was ... the lady-love of\nhis picture\n\nUrasato's escape from the Yamana-Ya\n\nAs she spoke, Urasato leaned far out over the balcony, the picture of\nyouth, grace and beauty\n\nO Tatsu ... took her stand behind Urasato, and with deft fingers put\nthe disordered coiffure to rights\n\nSawaichi, turning his sightless face towards the altar, repeated the\nBuddhist invocation: \"_Namu Amida Butsu!_\"\n\nThere in the grey light of the breaking dawn, she could see the\nlifeless form of her husband stretched upon the ground\n\n\"Listen, Sawaichi!\" said the Heavenly Voice, \"Through the faith of your\nwife and the merits of her accumulated prayers, your lives shall be\nprolonged\"\n\n\"This is the head of Kanshusai, the son of the Lord Sugawara!\"\n\nThe box, which served her as a shield, was speedily cut in two, and\nthere appeared, unfolding and fluttering in the breeze, a little\nwinding-sheet and a sacred banner for the dead\n\n\"No, no,\" said Matsuo ... \"this is not the body of my boy. We are going\nto bury our young lord!\"\n\nFrom earliest times Kinu and Kunizo were accustomed to play together\n\nHer ghastly face and blood-stained garments struck terror to the souls\nof the petrified spectators\n\nKunizo, almost beside himself with happiness, did his utmost to\nminister to his beloved lady\n\nSuddenly a young girl appeared from the gloom as if by magic!\n\nHis beautiful hostess, seating herself beside the _koto_, began to sing\na wild and beautiful air\n\nAn old priest suddenly appeared ... staff in hand and clad in ancient\nand dilapidated garments\n\nWhat was the young man's astonishment to see a pretty young girl\nstanding just within the gate\n\nSuddenly he saw that the three performers had become _headless_!...\nLike children playing a game of ball, they tossed their heads from one\nto the other\n\nIn one of the dark corners of the temple-chamber, they came upon the\ndead body of an old, old badger\n\n\n\n\nTHE QUEST OF THE SWORD\n\n\nHis old widowed mother would not die happy unless he were\nrehabilitated, and to this end he knew that she and his faithful wife,\nO Yumi, prayed daily before the family shrine.\n\nHow often had he racked his brains to find some way by which it were\npossible to prove his unchanging fidelity to Shusen; for the true\nbig-hearted fellow never resented his punishment, but staunchly\nbelieved that the ties which bound him to his lord were in no wise\nannulled by the separation.\n\nAt last the long-awaited opportunity had come. In obedience to the\nmandate of the Shogun Ieyasu that the territorial nobles should reside\nin his newly established capital of Yedo during six months of the\nyear, the Daimio of Tokushima proceeded to Yedo accompanied by a large\nretinue of _samurai_, amongst whom were his chief retainers, the rivals\nShusen Sakurai and Gunbei Onota.\n\nLike a faithful watchdog, alert and anxious, jurobei had followed\nShusen at a distance, unwilling to let him out of his sight at this\ncritical time, for Gunbei Onota was the sworn enemy of Shusen Sakurai.\nBitter envy of his rival's popularity, and especially of his senior\nrank in the Daimio's service, had always rankled in the contemptible\nGunbei's mind. For years he had planned to supplant him, and Jurobei\nknew through traitors that the honest vigilance of his master had\nrecently thwarted Gunbei in some of his base schemes, and that the\nlatter had vowed immediate vengeance.\n\nJurobei's soul burned within him as this sequence of thoughts rushed\nthrough his brain. The tempest that whirled round him seemed to be in\nharmony with the emotions that surged in tumult through his heart.\n\nMore than ever did it devolve on him to see that his master was\nproperly safeguarded. To do this successfully he must once more become\nhis retainer. So Jurobei with vehement resolution clenched his hands\nover the handle of his umbrella and rushed onwards.\n\nNow it happened that same night that Gunbei, in a sudden fit of jealous\nrage and chagrin, knowing that his rival was on duty at the Daimio's\nPalace, and that he would probably return alone after night-fall,\nordered two of his men to proceed to Shusen's house and to waylay and\nmurder Shusen on his road home. Once and for all he would remove Shusen\nSakurai from his path.\n\nMeanwhile Jurobei arrived at Shusen's house, and in the heavy gloom\ncollided violently with the two men who were lying in ambush outside\nthe gate.\n\n\"Stop!\" angrily cried the assassins, drawing their swords upon him.\n\nJurobei, recognizing their voices and his quick wit at once grasping\nthe situation, exclaimed:\n\n\"You are Gunbei's men! Have you come to kill my lord?\"\n\n\"Be assured that that is our intention,\" replied the confederates.\n\n\"I pray you to kill me instead of my lord,\" implored Jurobei.\n\n\"We have come for your master and we must have his life as well as\nyours. I have not forgotten how you cut me to pieces seven years ago. I\nshall enjoy paying back those thrusts with interest,\" returned one of\nthem sharply.\n\nJurobei prostrated himself in the mud before them. \"I care not what\ndeath you deal me, so long as you accept my life instead of my lord's.\nI humbly beg of you to grant my petition.\"\n\nInstead of answering, one of the miscreants contemptuously kicked him\nas he knelt there.\n\nJurobei, whose ire was now thoroughly provoked, seized the offending\nleg before its owner had time to withdraw it, and holding it in a\nclutch like iron, inquired:\n\n\"Then you do not intend to grant my request?\"\n\n\"Certainly not!\" sneered the wretches.\n\nJurobei sprang to his feet and faced them. Without more ado they both\nset upon him with their weapons.\n\nOverhead the storm increased in violence. The floodgates of heaven\nwere opened, peals of heavy thunder shook the earth with their dull\nreverberations, and the inky skies were riven with blinding flash upon\nflash of forked lightning, which lit up the dark forms and white faces\nof the combatants, and glinted on their swords as they parried and\nclashed together in mortal strife.\n\nNow Jurobei was an expert swordsman of unusual and supple strength.\nHe defended himself with skill and ferocity, and soon his superiority\nbegan to tell against the craven couple who were attacking him. It\nwas not long before they realized that they were no match for such a\npowerful adversary, and turned to flee. But Jurobei was too quick for\nthem, and before they could escape he cut them down.\n\nMortally wounded, both men fell to the ground, and so fatal had been\nJurobei's thrusts that in a few minutes they breathed their last.\n\nBy this time, the fury of the storm having spent itself, the sky\ngradually lifted and the moon shone forth in silver splendour between\nthe masses of clouds as they rolled away, leaving the vast blue vault\nabove clear and radiant and scintillating with stars.\n\nJurobei raised a jubilant face heavenwards and thanked the gods for\nthe victory. He had rescued his master from death. He felt that the\nsacrifices that he and O Yumi had made in the past--the breaking up\nof the old home and the parting from their baby-daughter and the old\nmother--had not been in vain. The prescience, which had warned him\nthat evil was hanging over Shusen, and which had made him so restless\nand uneasy of late, had been fulfilled, and he had forestalled the\ndastardly intention of the treacherous Gunbei and his two scoundrels.\n\nIn the stillness after the tumult of the fray, Jurobei's ear caught the\nsound of approaching footsteps. Turning in the direction from whence\nthey came, there in the bright moonlight he clearly discerned the form\nof his beloved master, crossing the bridge.\n\n\"Oh, my lord! Is it you? Are you safe?\" he exclaimed.\n\n\"Who is it?\" demanded the startled _samurai._\"Ah--it is Jurobei! What\nbrings you here at this hour?\" Then noticing the two lifeless bodies\nlying across the path, he sharply interrogated, \"What does this mean?\nHas there been a fight? What was the cause of the quarrel?\"\n\n\"They are Gunbei's assassins. They were waiting in ambush for your\nreturn, by Gunbei's order. I found them here. They attacked me and I\nkilled them both, the cowards!\"\n\nShusen started. An exclamation of dismay escaped him.\n\n\"It is a pity that you should have killed those particular men at this\njuncture.\" He mused for a few seconds, gazing at the dead faces of his\nwould-be murderers. \"I knew these rascals. My purpose was to let them\ngo free, and to lure them over to our side: they could soon have been\npersuaded to confess the crimes of their master.\"\n\nJurobei realized that he had blundered. Overcome with disappointment,\nhe sank upon the ground in a disconsolate heap.\n\n\"The intelligence of inferior men cannot be relied upon,\" said Jurobei\nwith chagrin. \"Alas, they unwittingly err in their judgment. I did not\ngive the matter enough consideration. My sole idea was to save your\nlife at all costs, my lord! I have committed a grave error in slaying\nthem. With the intention of tendering abject apologies for my past\nmisconduct, which has lain upon me like a heavy yoke all these years, I\ncame here to-night. I killed these men to save your life--hoping that\nfor this service you would reinstate me. I beg of you to forgive my\nstupidity.\"\n\n[Illustration: Mortally wounded, both men fell to the ground, and so\nfatal had been Jurobei's thrusts that in a few minutes they breathed\ntheir last.]\n\nWith these words he drew his sword and was about to plunge it into\nhimself and rashly end his life by _hara-kiri_, by way of expiation.\n\nShusen seized his arm and stopped him in the act. \"This is not the\ntime to die! It would be a dog's death to kill yourself here and now.\nPerform some deed worthy of a _samurai_ and then I will recall you as\nmy retainer. You are a rash man, Jurobei! In future think more before\nyou act.\"\n\n\"Oh, my lord, do you really forgive me? Will you indeed spare a life\nforfeited by many errors committed in your service?\" and Jurobei gave a\nsigh of relief.\n\n\"Certainly I will,\" replied Shusen, aware that the affinity existing\nbetween lord and retainer is a close relationship not to be lightly\nsevered.\n\n\"You were about to throw away your life,\" he continued, \"for what you\nconsidered a _samurai's_ duty. I commend that, anyhow! I tell you now\nto wait until you have accomplished some real work in the world. Listen\nto what I have to say.\n\n\"From generation to generation the Lords of Tokushima have entrusted\nto the care of our house one of their most valuable treasures and\nheirlooms, a talisman of the family, the Kunitsugu sword. At the end of\nlast year we gave a banquet and entertained a large number of friends.\nWhile the attention of every one was absorbed in waiting upon the\nguests, some robber must have entered the house and stolen the sword,\nfor on that night it disappeared.\n\n\"In my own mind I have strong suspicions as to who the guilty party\nmay be, but as yet there is no proof. While I was pondering in secret\nover possible ways and means of bringing the theft to light, another\ncomplication has arisen.\n\n\"It has come to my knowledge that Gunbei, our enemy, is organizing a\nconspiracy to make an attack upon the life of my lord, the Daimio of\nTokushima. My whole attention must be concentrated on this plot, to\ncircumvent which requires very subtle and adroit handling, so that it\nis impossible for me to take any steps in the matter of the sword at\nthe present time. There is no one to whom I can entrust this important\nmission except yourself, Jurobei. If you have any gratitude for all\nthat I have done for you, then stake your life, your all, in the search\nfor the lost sword.\n\n\"There is no time to lose! This is January and our Daimio's birthday\nfalls on the third of March. The sword must be laid out in state on\nthat festive occasion in the palace. I shall be disgraced and my\nhouse ruined if the sword be not forthcoming that day. My duties at\nthe palace make it impossible for me to undertake the search. Even\nsupposing that I were at liberty to go in quest of the sword, to do\nso would bring about my undoing, which is just what our enemy Gunbei\ndesires. You are now a _ronin_ [a masterless _samurai_], you have\nno master, no duty, no appearances to maintain. Your absence from\nour midst will cause embarrassment to no one. Therefore undertake\nthis mission, I command you, and restore the sword to our house. If\nyour search is crowned with success, I will receive you back into my\nhousehold, and all shall be as it was between us in former times.\"\n\nWith this assurance Sakurai took his own sword from his girdle and\nhanded it to Jurobei as a pledge of the compact between them.\n\nJurobei stretched out both hands, received it with joy, and reverently\nraised it to his forehead.\n\n\"Your merciful words touch my heart. Though my body should be broken to\npieces I will surely not fail to recover the sword,\" replied Jurobei.\n\nHe then began to examine the dead men hoping to find their purses, for\nin his new-formed resolution he realized the immediate need of money in\nhis search for the lost treasure.\n\n\"Stop, stop!\" rebuked Shusen, \"take nothing which does not belong to\nyou, not even a speck of dust.\"\n\n\"_Kiritori goto wa bushi no narai_\" [Slaughter and robbery are a\nknight's practice], answered Jurobei, \"has been the _samurai's_ motto\nfrom ancient times. For the sake of my lord I will stop at nothing.\nI will even become a robber. In token of my determination, from this\nhour I change my name Jurobei to Ginjuro. Nothing shall deter me in my\nsearch for the sword. To prosecute my search I will enter any houses,\nhowever large and grand they may be. Rest assured, my lord. I will be\nresponsible for the finding of the sword.\"\n\n\"That is enough,\" returned his master. \"You have taken the lives\nof these two men--escape before you are seized and delivered up to\njustice.\"\n\n\"I obey, my lord! May all go well with you till I give you a sign that\nthe sword is found.\"\n\n\"Yes, yes, have no fear for me. Take care of yourself, Jurobei!\"\nanswered Shusen.\n\nJurobei prostrated himself at his master's feet.\n\n\"Farewell, my lord!\"\n\n\"Farewell!\"\n\nAnd Shusen Sakurai and his faithful vassal separated.\n\n\n\n\nPART II\n\n\nOn the quest of the lost sword Jurobei and his wife left Yedo buoyant\nwith high hope and invincible courage.\n\nThe sword, however, was not to be found so easily. Jurobei was\nuntiringly and incessantly on the alert, and week followed week in his\nfruitless search; however, his ardour was unabated, and firm was his\nresolution not to return until he could restore the missing treasure\nupon which the future of his master depended. Possessing no means of\nsupport, Jurobei became pirate, robber, and impostor by turns, for the\n_samurai_ of feudal times considered that all means were justified in\nthe cause of loyalty. The obstacles and difficulties that lay in his\npath, which might well have daunted weaker spirits, merely served to\ninflame his passion of duty to still greater enthusiasm.\n\nAfter many adventures and hairbreadth escapes from the law, the\nvicissitudes of his search at last brought him to the town of Naniwa\n(present Osaka) where he halted for a while and found it convenient to\nrent a tiny house on the outskirts of the town. Here Jurobei met with a\nman named Iz\u00e6mon who belonged to the same clan--one of the retainers of\nthe Daimio of Tokushima and colleague of Shusen Sakurai.\n\nNow it happened that an illegitimate half-sister of the Daimio by a\nserving-woman had sold herself into a house of ill-fame to render\nassistance to her mother's family which had fallen into a state of\ngreat destitution. As proof of her high birth she had in her possession\na _Kodzuka_[1] which had been bestowed on her in infancy by her father,\nthe Daimio. Iz\u00e6mon, aware of her noble parentage, chivalrously followed\nher, and in order to redeem the unfortunate woman borrowed a sum of\nmoney from a man named Butaroku, who had proved to be a hard-hearted\nwretch, continually persecuting and harassing Iz\u00e6mon on account of the\ndebt. Jurobei was distressed by Butaroku's treatment of his clansman,\nand magnanimously undertook to assume all responsibility himself. The\nday had come when the bond fell due and the money had to be refunded.\nJurobei was well aware that before nightfall he must manage by some way\nor another to obtain the means to satisfy his avaricious creditor or\nboth himself and Iz\u00e6mon would be made to suffer for the delay.\n\nAt his wit's end he started out in the early morning, leaving his wife,\nO Yumi, alone.\n\nShortly after his departure a letter was brought to the house. In those\nremote days there was, of course, no regular postal service, and only\nurgent news was transmitted by messengers. The arrival of a letter\nwas, therefore, looked upon as the harbinger of some calamity or as\nconveying news of great importance. In some trepidation, therefore,\nO Yumi tore open the communication, only to find that her fears were\nconfirmed. It proved to be a warning from one of Jurobei's followers\nwith the information that the police had discovered the rendezvous of\nhis men--some of whom had been captured while others had managed to\nescape. The writer, moreover, apprehended that the officers of law\nwere on the track of Jurobei himself, and begged him to lose no time\nin fleeing to some place of safety. This intelligence sorely troubled\nO Yumi. \"Even though my husband's salary is so trifling yet he is a\n_samurai_ by birth. The reason why he has fallen so low is because he\ndesires above all things to succeed in restoring the Kunitsugu sword.\nAs a _samurai_ he must be always prepared to sacrifice his life in his\nmaster's service if loyalty demands it, but should the misdeeds he has\ncommitted during the search be discovered before the sword is found,\nhis long years of fidelity, of exile, of deprivation, of hardship will\nall have been in vain. It is terrible to contemplate. Not only this,\nhis good qualities will sink into oblivion, and he will be reviled as\na robber and a law-breaker even after he is dead. What a deplorable\ndisgrace! He has not done evil because his heart is corrupt--oh, no,\nno!\"\n\nOvercome with these sad reflections, she turned to the corner where\nstood the little shrine dedicated to Kwannon, the Goddess of Mercy and\nCompassion, and sinking upon her knees she prayed with the earnestness\nof a last hope, that the holy Kwannon would preserve her husband's life\nuntil his mission should be accomplished and the sword safely returned\nto its princely owner.\n\nAs she was kneeling before the shrine there floated into the room from\noutside the sound of a pilgrim's song chanted in a child's sweet treble.\n\n    _Fudaraku ya!_\n    _Kishi utsu nami ya_\n    _Mi Kumano no_\n    _Nachi no oyama ni_\n    _Hibiku takitsuse_.\n\n    Goddess of Mercy, hail!\n      I call and lo!\n    The beat of surf on shore\n      Suffers a heaven-change\n    To the great cataract's roar\n      On Nachi's holy range\n    In hallowed Kumano.[2]\n\nO Yumi arose from her knees and went out to ascertain who the singer\ncould be. A little girl about nine years of age was standing in the\nporch. On her shoulders was strapped a pilgrim's pack. Again she sang:\n\n     _Furusato wo_\n    _Harubaru, kokoni_\n     _kii--Miedera_\n    _Hana no Miyako mo_\n     _Chikaku naruran_.\n\n    From home and birth\n    Far ways of earth\n      Forwandered here\n    Kii's holy place\n    A sojourn's space\n      Receives me, ere\n    Anon thy bowers,\n    City of Flowers,[3]\n      (Life's goal) draw near.\n\nWhen she saw that some one had appeared, her song ceased, and she\nplaintively added:\n\n\"Be kind enough to give alms to a poor little pilgrim.\"\n\n\"My pretty little pilgrim,\" answered O Yumi, \"I will gladly give you\nsome alms,\" and placing a few coins in a fold of paper she handed it\nout to her.\n\n\"I thank you from my heart!\" responded the child in grateful accents.\nBy the manner in which these words were uttered, and in spite of the\ntravel-stained dress and the dust of the road, it was apparent to\nO Yumi that the little girl before her was no common beggar, but a\nbeautiful and well-born child. Naturally of a fair complexion, her eyes\nwere clear and bright, her dishevelled hair was long and jet black. The\nhardships of the pilgrimage had left their mark upon the child, she was\nthin and seemed so weary, that it filled the heart with pity. O Yumi\nfound her thoughts carried back to the infant she had been compelled\nto leave behind in the old home seven long years before, when she and\nJurobei had followed their lord Shusen Sakurai to Yedo.\n\nFor some inexplicable reason she felt strangely touched by the plight\nof the little girl before her, and reflected sadly that her own\nchild--so far away, and deprived at such an early age of her mother's\nlove and care--would now be somewhat of the same age and size as the\nlittle pilgrim.\n\n\"Dear child,\" said O Yumi, \"I suppose you are travelling with your\nparents. Tell me what province you came from?\"\n\n\"My native province is Tokushima of Awa,\" was the reply.\n\n\"What?\" exclaimed O Yumi. \"Did you say Tokushima? That is where I was\nborn, too! My heart thrills at hearing the beloved name of the place of\nmy birth. And so you are making a pilgrimage with your parents?\"\n\nThe woman's question was a reasonable one, for a Buddhist pilgrim\nwanders around from temple to temple all over the country to worship\nthe founder of their faith and patron saints, and it was most unlikely\nthat a child of such tender years should set out alone upon so long and\narduous a journey. It was, indeed, a great distance from Tokushima, in\nthe Island of Shikoku, to the town of Naniwa. But the little girl shook\nher head and answered in forlorn accents:\n\n\"No, no. I have not seen my parents for seven years. I have left my\nhome in Awa and come upon this long pilgrimage entirely in the hope of\nfinding them.\"\n\nOn hearing these words O Yumi became agitated in mind. Perchance this\nchild might prove to be her own daughter! Drawing near the little\npilgrim and scanning her features eagerly, she asked:\n\n\"Why do you go on this pilgrimage to seek your parents? Tell me their\nnames?\"\n\n\"When I was only two years of age my parents left our native place. I\nhave been brought up entirely by my grandmother. For several months\nnow we have had no news of them, since they followed our lord to Yedo;\nthey seem to have left Yedo, but no one knew whither they went. I am\nwandering in search of them: my one wish being to look upon their faces\nif but once again in this life. My father's name is Jurobei of Awa and\nmy mother is called O Yumi.\"\n\n\"What? Your father is Jurobei and your mother O Yumi?\" stammered out\nthe astonished parent, greatly taken aback by this statement. \"And they\nparted from you when you were two years of age, and you were brought up\nby your grandmother?\"\n\nOh! there was no room for doubt. An angel must have guided the\nwandering footsteps of the little pilgrim, for it was indeed her own\nlittle daughter, the sole blossom of her youth and early married life.\nThe more carefully O Yumi regarded the child, the more her memory\nconvinced her that in the young face before her she could trace the\nbaby features so sadly missed for seven long years--and finally her\neager eyes detected an undeniable proof of her identity--a tiny mole\nhigh up on the child's forehead.\n\nThe poor mother was on the verge of bursting into tears and crying out:\n\"Oh, oh! You are indeed my own, O Tsuru!\" But with a painful effort she\nrealized what such a disclosure would mean to the child.\n\n\"Who knows!\" reflected the unhappy woman. \"My husband and I may be\narrested at any moment. I am indeed prepared for the worst that\nmay befall us--even to be thrown into prison--but if I disclose my\nidentity to O Tsuru, she must inevitably share our misery.[4] It is in\nthe interest of my poor child's welfare that I send her away without\nrevealing the truth which would expose her to untold trouble and\ndisgrace.\"\n\nIn those ancient times the criminal law enacted that innocent children\nshould be implicated in the offences of the parents, and that the same\nsentence of punishment should cover them also. Love gave clearness to\nthe workings of her mind, and in a moment O Yumi remembered what was\nthreatening them and the inexorable decrees of the law. Involuntarily\nher arms were extended with the mother's instinct to gather the child\nto her heart, but she quickly controlled her emotion and did her best\nto address the little girl in a calm voice:\n\n\"Oh, yes, I understand. For one so young you have come a long, long\nway. It is wonderful that alone and on foot you could traverse such a\ngreat and weary distance, and your filial devotion is indeed worthy of\npraise. If your parents could know of this they would weep for joy. But\nthings are not as we wish in this sad world, life is not as the heart\nof man desires, alas! You say your father and mother had to leave you,\ntheir little babe, for whose sake they would gladly sacrifice their own\nsouls and bodies. My poor child, they must have had some very urgent\nreason for parting from you in this way. You must not feel injured nor\nbear them any resentment on that account.\"\n\n\"No, no,\" replied the little one intelligently, \"it would be impious\neven to dream of such a feeling. Never have I felt resentment even\nfor a single moment against my parents, for it was not their wish or\nintention to forsake me. But as they left me when I was only a baby I\nhave no recollection of their faces, and whenever I see other children\nbeing tended and cherished by their mothers, or at night hushed to\nrest in their mother's arms, I cannot help envying them. I have longed\nand prayed ever since I can remember that I might be united to my own\nmother, and know what it is to be loved and cherished like all the\nother children! Oh, when I think that I may never see her again, I am\nvery, very sad!\"\n\nThe lonely child had begun to sob while pouring out the grief that lay\nso near her heart, and the tears that she could no longer restrain were\ncoursing, _porori, porori_, down her cheeks.\n\nO Yumi felt as though her heart was well-nigh breaking. Indeed, the\nwoman's anguish at being an impotent witness of the sorrows of her\nforsaken child was of far greater intensity than the woes of the little\ngirl's narration, yet as she answered, the mother's heart felt as\nthough relentless circumstances had transformed her into a monster of\ncruelty!\n\n\"In this life there is no deeper _Karma_-relation than that existing\nbetween parent and child, yet children frequently lose their parents,\nor the child sometimes may be taken first. Such is the way of this\nworld. As I said before, the desire of the heart is seldom gratified.\nYou are searching for your parents whose faces you could not even\nrecognize, and of whose whereabouts you are entirely ignorant. All the\nhardships of this pilgrimage will be endured in vain unless you are\nable to discover them, which is very improbable. Take my advice. It\nwould be much better for you to give up the search and to return at\nonce to your native province.\"\n\n\"No, no, for the sake of my beloved parents,\" expostulated the child,\n\"I will devote my whole life to the search for them, if necessary. But\nof all my hardships in this wandering life the one that afflicts me\nmost is that, as I travel alone, no one will give me a night's lodging,\nso that I am obliged to sleep either in the fields or on the open\nmountain-side; indeed, at times I seek an unwilling shelter beneath the\neaves of some house, from whence I am often driven away with blows.\nWhenever I go through these terrible experiences I cannot help thinking\nthat if only my parents were with me I should not be treated in this\npitiless way. Oh! some one must tell me where they are! I long to see\nthem ... I long ...\" and the poor little vagrant burst out into long\nwailing sobs.\n\nThe distracted mother was torn between love and duty. Oblivious of\neverything, for one moment she lost her presence of mind and clasped\nher daughter to her heart.\n\nShe was on the point of exclaiming:\n\n\"My poor little stray lamb! I cannot let you go! Look at me, I am your\nown mother! Is it not marvellous that you should have found me?\"\n\nBut only her lips moved silently, for she did not dare to let the child\nknow the truth. She herself was prepared for any fate however bitter,\nbut the innocent O Tsuru must be shielded from the suffering which\nwould ultimately be the lot of her father and mother as the penalty\nfor breaking the law. Fortified by this resolution, the Spartan mother\nregained her self-control and managed to repress the overwhelming tide\nof impulse which almost impelled her, in spite of all, to reveal her\nidentity.\n\nHolding the little form closely to her breast she murmured tenderly:\n\n\"I have listened to your story so carefully that your troubles seem to\nhave become mine own, and there are no words to express the sorrow and\npity I feel for your forlorn condition. However, 'while there is life\nthere is hope' [_inochi atte monodane_]. Do not despair, you may some\nday be united to your parents. If, however, you determine to continue\nthis pilgrimage, the hardships and fatigues you must undergo will\ninevitably ruin your health. It is far better for you to return to the\nshelter of your grand-mother's roof than to persist in such a vague\nsearch and with so little prospect of success. It may be that before\nlong your parents will return to you, who knows! My advice is good, and\nI beg you to go back to your home at once, and there patiently await\ntheir coming.\"\n\nThus O Yumi managed to keep up the pretence of being a stranger, and\nat the same time to give to her own flesh and blood all the help and\ncomfort that her mother's heart could devise. But nature would not be\ndisguised, and although she knew it not, a passion of love and yearning\nthrilled in her voice and manner and communicated itself to the child's\nheart.\n\n\"Yes, yes,\" answered the little creature in appealing tones. \"Indeed, I\nthank you. Seeing you weep for me, I feel as if you were indeed my own\nmother and I no longer wish to go from here. I pray you to let me stay\nwith you. Since I left my home no one has been so kind to me as you. Do\nnot drive me away. I will promise to do all you bid me if only you will\nlet me stay.\"\n\n\"Do you wish to make me weep with your sad words?\" was all that O Yumi\ncould stammer out, her voice broken with agitation. After a moment\nshe added: \"As I have already told you, I feel towards you as though\nyou were indeed my own daughter, and I have been wondering if by any\nmeans it would be possible to keep you with me. But it cannot be. I am\nobliged to seem cold-hearted and to send you away, and all that I can\ntell you is that for your own sake you must not remain here. I hope you\nfully understand and will return to your home at once.\"\n\nWith these words O Yumi went quickly to an inner room, and taking all\nthe silver money she possessed from her little hoard she offered it to\nO Tsuru, saying:\n\n\"Although you are travelling in this solitary and unprotected state you\nwill always find some one ready to give you a night's lodging if you\ncan offer them money. Take this. It is not much, but receive it as a\nlittle token of my sympathy. Make use of it as best you can and return\nto your native province without delay.\"\n\n\"Your kindness makes me very happy, but as far as money is concerned\nI have many _koban_ [coins of pure gold used in ancient times], I am\ngoing now. Thank you again and again for all your goodness to me,\"\nreplied O Tsuru in wounded accents, and showing by a gesture that she\nrefused the proffered assistance.\n\n\"Even if you have plenty of money--take this in remembrance of our\nmeeting. Oh ... you can never know how sad I am at parting from you,\nyou poor little one!\"\n\nO Yumi stooped down and was brushing away the dust which covered the\nhem of O Tsuru's dress.\n\n\"Oh, you must never think that I want to let you go.... Your little\nface reminds me of one who is the most precious to me in all the world,\nand whom I may never see again.\"\n\nOvercome with the passion of mother-love, she enfolded the poor little\nwayfarer in a close embrace, and the little girl, nestling in the arms\nof her own mother, thought she was merely a stranger whose pity was\nevoked by the recital of her sufferings.\n\nInstinct, however, stirred in her heart, and she could not bear the\nthought of leaving her new-found friend. But since it was impossible\nfor her to stay with this compassionate woman, nothing remained but for\nher to depart. Slowly and reluctantly she passed out from the porch,\nagain and again wistfully looking back at the kind face, and as O Tsuru\nresumed her journey down the dusty road she murmured a little prayer:\n\n\"Alas! Shall I ever find my parents! I implore thee to grant my\npetition, O great and merciful Kwannon Sama!\" and her tremulous voice\ngrew stronger with the hopefulness of childhood as she chanted the song\nof the pilgrim.\n\n      _Chichi haha no_\n    _Megumi mo fukahi_\n      _Kogawa-dera_\n    _Hotoke no chikai_\n      _Tanomoshiki Kana_.\n\n    Father-love, mother-love,\n    Theirs is none other love\n      Than in these Courts is mine.\n      Safe at Kogawa's shrine,\n    Yea, Buddha's Vows endure,\n    Verily a refuge sure.\n\nMeanwhile, from the gate, the unhappy mother sadly followed with her\neyes the pathetic little figure disappearing on her unknown path into\nthe gathering twilight, while the last glow of sunset faded from the\nsky. The little song of faith and hope sounded like sardonic mockery in\nher ears. In anguish she covered her face with her sleeves and sobbed:\n\n\"My child--my child--turn back and show me your face once more! As by\na miracle her wandering footsteps have been guided to the longed-for\nhaven from far across the sea and the distant mountains. Oh, to have\nruthlessly driven her away! What must our _Karma_-relation have been in\nprevious existences! What retribution is this! What must have been my\nsin to receive such punishment!\"\n\nWhile these torturing reflections voiced themselves in broken utterance\nher daughter's shadow had vanished in the gloom, and O Yumi, standing\nat the gate, felt her grief become unbearable.\n\nVividly there arose before her mind the bitter pangs of leaving the\nold home and her baby child, and the misfortunes and poverty which\nhad come upon them ever since Jurobei's discharge; the weariness and\ndisappointment of the months of fruitless search for the lost sword;\nthe homesickness of the exile banished from his own province and his\nlord's service by cruel circumstances; the disgrace which had now\nfallen upon her husband; all the accumulated pain of the past hushed\nto rest by the narcotic necessity of bearing each day's burden and\nmeeting with courage and resource the ever-recurring difficulties and\ndangers of their hunted life. All these cruel phantom shapes arose to\nhaunt the unhappy woman with renewed poignancy, sharpened by the agony\nof repression which her mother-love had been enduring for the past\nhour. Neither the arrow of hope which pierces the looming clouds of the\nfuture, nor the shield of resignation, would ever defend her again in\nthis sorrow of sorrows. Suddenly a new resolve stirred her to action.\n\"I can bear this no longer!\" she cried frantically. \"If we part now we\nmay never meet again. I cannot let her go! From the fate that threatens\nus there may still be some way of escape. I must find her and bring her\nback.\"\n\nHastily gathering up the lower folds of her _kimono_ she rushed out\ninto the road that wound between the rice-fields and the dark gnarled\npines. The evening wind had begun to moan through the heavy branches,\nand as it tossed them to and fro, to her fevered imagination they\nseemed to be warning her to retrace her steps and to wave her back\nwith ominous portent. On and on she sped along the lonely road into\nthe shadowy vista beyond which her child had disappeared into the\ndarkness....\n\n[Illustration: The unhappy mother sadly followed with her eyes the\npathetic little figure disappearing on her unknown path.]\n\n\n\n\nPART III\n\n\nThe temple bell was booming the hour of parting day as Jurobei\ndisconsolately hurried home. All his attempts had failed to procure\nthe money wherewith to pay Iz\u00e6mon's debt to Butaroku, and knowing that\nButaroku was the kind of man to take a merciless revenge, he was in a\nmood of profound depression.\n\nSuddenly in the road he came upon a group of beggars surrounding a\nlittle girl dressed as a pilgrim. The wretches, thinking her an easy\nprey to their cupidity, were tormenting the poor little wayfarer and\ntrying to wrest from her the contents of her wallet, but she was\nbravely defending herself and resisting their attacks with great spirit.\n\nSeeing how matters stood, Jurobei promptly drove the beggars away\nwith his stick, and then, to avoid the return of her assailants, he\ncompassionately took the child by the hand and led her home with him.\n\nBut alas! by a fatal mischance they had taken a different road to that\nchosen by O Yumi.\n\nAs soon as they reached the porch he called out:\n\n\"I have come back, O Yumi!\"\n\nContrary to his expectation there was no response, and entering hastily\nhe found the cottage empty and in darkness.\n\n\"How is it that the place is deserted? Where can O Yumi have gone to at\nthis hour?\" he grumbled as he groped his way across the room and set\nlight to the standing lantern.\n\nThen by its fitful glow he sank down upon the mats in gloomy\nabstraction and the lassitude of disappointment, and pondered seriously\non the desperate straits to which he and his wife were reduced: the\nsituation seemed hopeless, for well he knew that no clemency could be\nexpected from the enemy and unless some money was forthcoming that very\nnight he was a lost man. All at once a thought struck him. He beckoned\nthe little pilgrim to draw near.\n\n\"Come here, my child! Those rascally beggars from whom I rescued you\nwere trying to steal your wallet. Tell me, have you much money with\nyou?\"\n\n\"Yes, I have what several kind people have given me,\" was her reply.\n\n\"Let me see how much you have?\" demanded Jurobei peremptorily.\n\nO Tsuru, for indeed it was she, took out a little bag, and reluctantly\noffered a few coins for her inquisitor's inspection.\n\n\"Is this all you have, child?\" he persisted impatiently.\n\n\"No, no, I have several _koban_[5] besides,\" answered the girl, her\nchildish mind exaggerating the amount.\n\n\"Oh, indeed, so you have many _koban_?\" Jurobei mused for a few\nminutes. Here was an unexpected opportunity to satisfy the avarice of\nButaroku. \"Let me take care of the _koban_ for you. It is not safe for\nyou to keep them,\" said Jurobei, stretching out his hand towards her.\n\n\"No, no!\" replied O Tsuru, shaking her head with decision. \"When my\ngrandmother was dying she made me promise faithfully never to show the\nmoney to any one, as it is tied together with a very precious thing. I\nmust not give or show the bag to any one.\"\n\nJurobei, who saw deliverance from his debt of honour in the money he\nsupposed the child to carry, tried to frighten her into giving it up\nto him, but she was firm in her refusal, and rose to her feet with the\nintention of escaping from her persecutor.\n\n\"Oh, I will stay here no longer. You frighten me!\" she exclaimed,\nmoving towards the porch.\n\nJurobei, in fear lest his last hope should fail, seized her by the\ncollar of her dress.\n\n\"Oh, oh, help, help!\" loudly screamed the girl in terror.\n\n\"What a noise, what a noise!\" exclaimed Jurobei in exasperation, and\nalarmed lest the neighbours should overhear the child's cries, he\nroughly attempted to stifle her screams with his hand across her mouth.\n\nFor a few minutes, as a snared bird flutters in the net of its captor,\nthe hapless O Tsuru put forth all her strength and endeavoured\ndesperately to disengage herself; her struggles then subsided and she\ngrew still.\n\nJurobei began to reason with her without removing his hold:\n\n\"There is nothing whatever to fear! The truth is I am in pressing need\nof some money. I do not know how much you have, but lend it to me for a\nfew days. During that time stay here quietly. I will take you to visit\nthe Temple of Kwannon Sama, and we will go every day to see the sights\nof the city near by and amuse ourselves. Never fear, only lend me all\nyou have like a good child.\"\n\nAs he freed her she fell to the ground.\n\n\"What is the matter?\" said Jurobei, anxiously bending over her little\nform.\n\nThere was no answer. She lay quite still with no sign of life or motion.\n\n\"Oh, oh!\" exclaimed Jurobei. Thinking that she had fainted, he fetched\nwater and sprinkled her pale face and tried to force a few drops\nbetween her closed lips, but there was not even a flicker of response.\n\nThe child lay dead before him. Worn out with the hardships and fatigues\nof the long, long pilgrimage, as a frail light flickers out before\na rough gust of wind, her waning strength had failed in that last\nstruggle. The griefs of earth were left behind and the brave little\nsoul had set out on its longer journey to the _Meido_ (Hades).\n\nJurobei was thoroughly alarmed. In that tragic moment he knew not what\nto do. However, hearing his wife's returning footsteps, he hastily\nmoved the body to one side of the room and covered it with a quilt.\n\nO Yumi entered the room in great perturbation.\n\n\"Oh, oh! Help me to look for her, help me! While you were out this\nafternoon, wonderful to tell! who should come here in search for us but\nour own child, O Tsuru. How I longed to reveal myself to her, the poor,\npoor little one! But the knowledge that she must share our miserable\nfate when we are arrested, which may be at any moment now, forced me\nto send her away without telling her that I was her mother. After she\nhad gone I could not bear the thought of never seeing her again. I ran\nafter her, but she had disappeared! She cannot have gone far. I came\nback to fetch you. Let us look for her together.\"\n\nJurobei was dumbfounded at this totally unexpected intelligence. He\nstood up as though ready to start out into the night.\n\n\"How was she clothed? What kind of dress did she wear?\" he asked\nhurriedly.\n\n\"She wore a long-sleeved robe brightly patterned with designs of spring\nblossoms, and on her shoulders she carried a pilgrim's pack.\"\n\n\"She carried a pilgrim's pack!\" echoed Jurobei forlornly, and seized\nwith an icy trembling. The frightful truth had flashed upon his brain.\nHe knew that he had killed his own child!\n\nO Yumi, wondering at his hesitation, prepared to start out again.\n\n\"You need not go to look for our child!\" Jurobei hoarsely muttered.\n\"She is already here!\"\n\n\"Has she come back?\" cried O Yumi in excitement. \"Tell me where she is.\"\n\n\"She is lying there under that quilt,\" he replied, pointing to where\nthe body lay.\n\nO Yumi quickly crossed the room and drew back the coverlet. \"My child!\nOh, my child! At last, at last I may call you so!\" cried the delighted\nmother sinking on her knees in a transport of joy.\n\nLong and tenderly she gazed at the little figure, lying prone before\nher. But how strange that her clothes were still unloosened and the\nheavy pack had not been unstrapped from the tired shoulders. O Yumi\ntouched her hands and found them cold. Panic-stricken, she listened at\nthe child's breast only to find her fears confirmed and that the little\nform was still and lifeless.\n\n\"Oh, oh, oh!\" wailed O Yumi, \"She is dead! She is dead!\"\n\nThe shock was too deep for tears. For a moment the unhappy woman was\nparalysed.\n\nThen turning to her husband:\n\n\"You must know how she died. Tell me! Tell me!\" she gasped distractedly.\n\nThe half-dazed Jurobei related as well as he could all the events of\nthat fatal afternoon. He finished his recital:\n\n\"I put my hand over her mouth to stop her screaming, and on releasing\nher she fell to the ground. I had no intention of killing her and\npitied the poor unfortunate girl, though I had no idea that she was\nmy little Tsuru. That I should have slain our own child must be the\nresult of sin committed in one of the former states of existence, alas!\nForgive me, O Yumi! Forgive me!\" and the stricken man broke down and\nwept.\n\n\"Was it you, her father, who killed her?\" cried O Yumi, in horror.\n\n\"Oh, my child, my own child!\" she sobbed. \"It was your fate to come\nin search of such cruel, unnatural parents. When you told me of the\nhardships you had suffered in looking for them, my soul was pierced\nwith woe. When I refrained from making myself known to you I felt as\nthough my heart must break. It was only the depth of my love for you\nthat made me drive you away from our door. If only I had kept you here\nthis would never have happened. This calamity has come upon us as a\nresult of my driving you away. Forgive me, oh, forgive me! O Tsuru,\nO Tsuru!\" and the miserable mother gathered the lifeless form of her\nlittle daughter to her breast and rocked herself to and fro in the\nfrenzy of grief unutterable.\n\n\"Words are useless. What is done can never be undone. If only I had\nnot known that she possessed the money to help me out of this crisis\nit would never have happened. Money is a curse!\" he said in broken\naccents, as he took out from the folds of the child's dress the bag\ncontaining the coins. Opening it only three _ryo_[6] were disclosed.\n\n\"What a miserable pittance! Can this be all? I made a mistake in\nthinking she had a great deal. This certainly must be retribution for\nsome bad action in my previous existence!\"\n\nHis hand still searching the bag came upon a letter. He drew it forth\nand read the address:\n\n         \"_To Jurobei and his Wife!_\"\n\n\"Ah! this is my mother's handwriting!\"\n\nJurobei tore it open and began to read:\n\n     \"Ever since the day you left home we must have felt mutual\n     anxiety concerning each other's health and welfare. This is\n     the natural feeling between parent and child, so I shall\n     not write more upon this subject, but inform you of the\n     real reason for this letter without further detail.\n\n     \"First of all what I wish to tell you is, that it has come\n     to my knowledge that Onota Gunbei has the lost Kunitsugu\n     sword in his possession. Immediately I tried to obtain\n     indisputable evidence of this fact, but as I am only a\n     stupid woman, on second thoughts I feared that were I to\n     take any steps in this direction it might result in more\n     harm than good.\n\n     \"Intending, therefore, to seek you out and let you proceed\n     in this matter, I began to prepare myself and O Tsuru for\n     the journey. But at the last moment I was suddenly taken\n     with a mortal illness and was compelled to relinquish\n     all hope of setting out to find you. I write this letter\n     instead. As soon as it reaches your hands return home at\n     once.\n\n     \"Restore the sword to its rightful owner and earn your\n     promotion--for this I shall wait beneath the flowers and\n     the grass.\"\n\n\"Oh,\" exclaimed Jurobei, \"then it was Gunbei who stole the sword. How\ngrateful I am to my mother for this discovery. But what a cruel blow to\nthink that she is dead!\"\n\nO Yumi took the letter from his hand and continued to read aloud:\n\n     \"My greatest anxiety now is concerning little O Tsuru left\n     helpless and friendless, and about to start alone on this\n     journey. If by the mercy and help of the Gods she reaches\n     you safely, bring her up tenderly and carefully. She is a\n     clever child. She writes and plays the _koto_ well, besides\n     being clever at her needle, and can skilfully sew _cr\u00eape_\n     and silken robes. I myself have taken pains to instruct\n     her, and am proud of my pupil. Give her an opportunity of\n     showing her handiwork, and then praise her both of you.\n\n     \"She brings with her the medicine which I have found by\n     experience to suit her best. Should she ail at any time,\n     fail not to administer it. Although repetition is irksome,\n     yet again I beg you to take every care of my precious\n     grandchild.\"\n\nHere O Yumi, unable to read further, broke down in lamentations and\ncried aloud.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nNow the spiteful Butaroku, finding that Jurobei did not come to pay\nIz\u00e6mon's debt according to agreement, was highly incensed. Knowing that\nthe authorities were on the alert to seize Jurobei, he maliciously went\nand lodged information of his whereabouts.\n\nJust at the moment they had finished reading the momentous letter the\nofficers of the law arrived outside the house with a great noise,\nshouting and clamouring.\n\nJurobei and O Yumi, to gain a few minutes' time, snatched up the body\nof O Tsuru and quickly concealed themselves in a back room.\n\nThe police entered and a scene of wild confusion ensued. Confident of\nfinding their prey hidden somewhere in the cupboards, they broke down\nthe walls, the _shoji_, the boards of the ceiling, and even the little\nshrine dedicated to the Goddess Kwannon.\n\nJurobei had in those few moments braced himself up for a desperate\nfight. He would rather die than surrender to the law before his mission\nof finding the sword had been accomplished. Like a whirlwind he rushed\ninto the room where his adversaries were battering down all before\nthem, and like a demon of fury he attacked them, mortally slashing with\nhis sword each man that attempted to lay hands on him.\n\nThe savage bravery of his onslaught was terrific, and so dexterous and\nunerring was his aim that he seemed possessed of superhuman strength:\nhis opponents were terror-stricken, and in a few minutes, like a\nspider's nest, when the threads of the binding web are broken by rough\ncontact, they fled for their very lives and rushed scattered in all\ndirections.\n\n\"Now is our time! Let us escape!\" cried O Yumi.\n\nBoth began to run from the wrecked house.\n\n\"You have forgotten our child!\" Jurobei whispered brokenly.\n\n\"She needs our anxiety no more. She is safe beyond the suffering of\nthis world. We will bury her here before we leave.\"\n\nHurriedly retracing their steps they re-entered the house, and seizing\nthe debris that lay strewn in all directions, placed it in a heap\nupon the little corpse. It was the work of a few moments to light the\ntorches: this was the sole alternative that was left them to prevent\ntheir beloved dead from falling into the desecrating hands of callous\nstrangers.\n\nIt was impossible to carry the body with them in their flight.\n\nAs the flames crackled and blazed up, Jurobei and O Yumi stood side by\nside, praying for the departed soul with uplifted hands placed palm to\npalm, while they watched the burning of their child's funeral pyre.\n\n\n\n\nPART IV\n\n\nIt was springtime, and in the town of Tokushima the cherry-blossoms\nwere bursting into bloom. The second of March[7] had come, and Onoto\nGunbei was secretly rejoicing in the wicked thought that his schemes\nfor the disgrace of his rival had been successful. Sakurai once removed\nfrom his path, his own advancement would be certain. To-morrow Sakurai\nmust take the Kunitsugu sword to the palace and lay it in state before\nthe Daimio. For reasons of his own Gunbei knew that this would be a\nmatter of impossibility. Sakurai would therefore be suspected of having\nstolen it and his degradation would be the certain result.\n\nGunbei's sinister features relaxed into a malignant smile as he proudly\nstalked along the road on his way to the shrine at the western end of\nthe town.\n\nTwo of his retainers were following at a respectful distance in his\nrear.\n\nHe had reached the precincts of the temple when one of these men came\nhurrying up:\n\n\"My lord! Jurobei, the man for whom you are constantly on the look out,\nis in that tea-house close by. I have just recognized him. What steps\nshall we take?\"\n\n\"Very good!\" said his master. \"You have done well. Let us hide\nourselves, and when he leaves the place rush upon him unawares and\nseize him.\"\n\nJurobei, after a short time, walked out from the hostelry. His mind was\nentirely engrossed with the thought that the sword must be retrieved\nfrom Gunbei's possession before the morrow, the third of the third\nmonth.\n\nAs he abstractedly strolled along, the enemy lying in ambush pounced\nupon him from behind. But his years of _ronin's_ hard and reckless life\nhad trained his muscles to such phenomenal strength that in the tussle\nthat followed, within a few rounds, he came off triumphantly the victor.\n\nGunbei, who had been a spectator of this unequal contest, drew his\nsword.\n\nJurobei, noting his action, caught up one of Gunbei's men and used him\nas a shield to ward off the blows.\n\nThe news of the fight was soon carried to Sakurai, who immediately\nhurried to the spot.\n\nDirectly he became aware of the identity of Gunbei's opponent, he\nshouted:\n\n\"What presumption to stand up and attack your superior. Surrender at\nonce!\"\n\nHe then turned to Gunbei.\n\n\"I will take him, therefore put up your sword.\"\n\nJurobei, who understood that this was strategy on his master's part,\nobediently allowed himself to be bound. Sakurai then handed him over to\nGunbei, who gave him in charge of his henchmen and bade them conduct\nhim to his house.\n\nGunbei's joy was extreme at having Jurobei in his power. He ordered him\nto be secured to a tree in the inner garden while he stood and mocked\nat him.\n\n\"Ho, Jurobei! I have a grudge to pay off against you. Why did you kill\ntwo of my men three months ago--tell me that?\"\n\n\"I slew them because they intended to murder my master,\" replied\nJurobei.\n\n\"Indeed! I believe that you are also the man who stole the sword for\nwhich your master is responsible--ho, ho, ho! You are both robbers, you\nmust have connived at the theft of the sword together--confess!\"\n\n\"You may say what you like of me, but you lie with regard to Shusen.\"\n\nIn a rage Gunbei and his accomplices put their sheathed swords beneath\nthe ropes which bound Jurobei, and twisted them round and round so that\nthey cut into the flesh and inflicted great torture on their victim.\n\nNow it happened that Takao, the Daimio's illegitimate half-sister, whom\nIz\u00e6mon had been enabled to rescue from the infamous quarter through\nJurobei's help, had been taking refuge in Sakurai's home. Here she had\nbeen seen by Gunbei, who had fallen madly in love with her beauty, and\nhad planned to make her his mistress. One day in the absence of Sakurai\nhe had sent his retainer, Dotetsuke, to carry her off by force.\n\nTakao, now installed beneath Gunbei's roof, was obliged to listen to\nhis dishonourable advances, but so far had managed to repel them. She\nwas in the secret of the lost sword, and her purpose was to use the\npresent occasion as an opportunity of laying hands on it if possible.\n\nOn hearing the commotion she opened the _shoji_ and eagerly scanned\nthe direction whence it arose. To her astonishment and distress\nshe recognized in the bound and helpless form none other than her\nvaliant friend Jurobei. The thought that she owed her deliverance\nfrom her wretched past to his chivalrous generosity flashed through\nher mind. Trained to resource and intrigue, on the spur of the moment\nshe resolved to pretend that Jurobei was her brother. This feigned\nrelationship would afford them facilities for consultation concerning\nthe sword. Impetuously advancing to the edge of the veranda, she looked\nearnestly at the captive and uttered a piteous cry:\n\n\"Oh, oh! it is my brother! Oh! my poor brother!\"\n\n\"This is interesting!\" jeered Gunbei. \"Are you really brother and\nsister?\"\n\nTakao implored Gunbei to release Jurobei.\n\n\"If you listen to me I will set him free,\" replied Gunbei, whose desire\nwas all the more inflamed by her rejection of his suit. \"But if you\nrefuse to obey me, I will torture him with both fire and water.\"\n\nTakao wept with her face hidden in her sleeves. \"Is it possible that\nyou are a _samurai_?\" she sobbed.\n\n\n\"Does your heart know no sympathy--no mercy? This is unendurable! I\ncannot bear to see it!\"\n\n\"It is you who know no sympathy either for me or your brother. I have\nmade conditions with you, Takao. It rests entirely with you. Accept my\nlove and you are both free.\"\n\n\"Such a matter cannot be decided of my own will. I am a woman and not a\nfree agent. I must consult my elder brother.\"\n\n\"Very well,\" responded Gunbei, \"if you cannot decide this by yourself,\nby all means consult with your elder brother Jurobei--and come to a\ngood understanding. I will leave you both for a while.\"\n\nAt a sign Gunbei's henchmen released Jurobei. \"Persuade your sister\nto obey me and I will forgive you all and set you free. I must have\nTakao's affection. Think well, and give me an answer that will gladden\nme.\"\n\nThen turning to Takao he continued:\n\n\"If you finally reject my proposals you shall both be cruelly put\nto death. Your two lives depend upon your will. I shall await your\ndecision in the inner part of the house.\"\n\nHere Gunbei retired. Blinded by his wild passion for the unfortunate\ngirl he was unable to see the resolution expressed on both their faces.\nBoth his mind and soul were clouded by the desire to possess at all\ncosts the beautiful woman who defied him. Unaware of her high birth,\nthe knowledge of which would have abashed him in his pursuit of her, he\nconsidered that she was the legitimate prey to his will.\n\nTakao and Jurobei were left alone. They entered the room, crossing the\nveranda. Seating themselves, Jurobei made a profound obeisance at a\nrespectful distance from Takao.\n\n\"Even though it is for the sake of the Kunitsugu sword, it is a\nsacrilege that the close relative of our noble Daimio should for one\nmoment be called the sister of such a poor fellow as myself.\"\n\n\"It is not worth while to trouble your mind about these trifles while\nthe finding of the sword is at stake. Think not of who is master or\nservant. We must find the sword this very night.\"\n\n\"Yes, yes,\" replied Jurobei, \"I have the same purpose as yourself.\nNow is a good opportunity. Gunbei is madly in love with you. For a\ntime pretend to listen to his wooing--whatever he may say do not let\nit anger you--then while he is off his guard draw out the sword he is\nwearing from its sheath: if the _habaki_ (the ring which secures the\nguard to the blade) is of gold, ornamented with carven butterflies\nand flowers, and the markings on the edge of the blade is the\n_midare-yake_,[8] be sure that it is the missing Kunitsugu sword. Then\ngive me a sign. Till that moment I will be waiting in concealment close\nat hand.\"\n\n\"Yes, yes,\" answered Takao. \"Although Gunbei's attentions are hateful\nto me, it is my duty, for the sake of the sword, to pretend to yield\nto him for a short time. In this way Sakurai will be saved. Let us\nagree upon a signal. I will go to the stream and, throwing some cherry\nflowers into it, I will repeat:\n\n    _Hana wa sakura:_\n    _Hito wa bushi._\n\n    The cherry is first among flowers:\n    The warrior first among men.\"\n\nThey separated quietly. Takao sank upon the mats, musing sadly. The\nprospect that lay before her was utterly revolting to her mind.\nMeanwhile Gunbei, eager to know the result of the conference he had\npermitted between the two, quietly entered the room from behind.\n\nHer attitude of dejection greatly enhanced her pale and aristocratic\nbeauty, and Gunbei thought that she looked more ravishingly lovely than\nhe had ever seen her before. The sight of her inflamed his longing to\npossess her as his own.\n\n\"What a woman!\" he thought to himself. \"She shall be mine!\"\n\nAs he moved across the room, Takao, who was hitherto unaware of his\npresence, started to her feet.\n\n\"No, no,\" remonstrated Gunbei in seductive accents, \"I cannot allow you\nto run away--do not deceive yourself for one moment. I have come for\nyour answer, Takao. It is 'Yes,' is it not?\"\n\nHe thought that as he found her alone and in this pensive frame of mind\nthat Jurobei must have persuaded her to become his paramour. His pulses\nthrobbed and the blood in his veins ran fire. In his overmastering\npassion he did not notice that his would-be victim shuddered as he took\nher hand and drew her close to him till she was reclining on his knees.\nDreamily he whispered:\n\n\"Takao, you are as beautiful as an angel. Yield to my desire and I will\nmake you my wife. Only listen to me, and all shall be as you wish both\nfor yourself and your brother, Jurobei.--Come, come! Let us belong to\neach other!\" and he endeavoured to draw her towards the inner room.\n\nTakao, in the meantime, had rested her hand on the hilt of his sword\nand was about to draw it from its sheath.\n\n\"What are you doing, Takao! Why do you touch my sword?\" asked Gunbei\nsharply, roused out of his reverie of love.\n\n\"Think of me no more! With this sword I will cut off my hair and become\na nun. You may rest assured that never shall another man touch me all\nmy life.\"\n\nWith these words she attempted to draw the sword from his girdle.\n\nGunbei, thwarted in his longing for the beautiful woman, now lost his\ntemper. He pushed her roughly to one side:\n\n\"You scorn my love then? You are an obstinate creature! Instead of\nforgetting you I will torture Jurobei. You shall soon know what my\nhatred means.\" Clapping his hands, he called his confidential servant:\n\n\"Dotetsuke! Dotetsuke!\"\n\nWhen the man appeared his master wrathfully gave the imperious command:\n\n\"Tie up that woman to yonder cherry-tree.\"\n\nDotetsuke obediently dragged Takao into the garden and bound her with\nthe rope that had a little time before made Jurobei a prisoner to the\nsame tree.\n\nGunbei, who had watched the execution of his cruel order from the\nveranda, retired into the room to meditate sulkily on his ill-success.\nHis heart was bitter within him with chagrin and baffled desire.\n\nSuddenly, through a small side gate, there appeared a priest of\nsinister appearance who, approaching the balcony, saluted Gunbei.\n\n\"According to your wishes I have prayed seven days in succession for\nthe Daimio of Tokushima to be seized with mortal illness. Where is my\nreward?\"\n\n\"Do not speak so loudly!\" reproved Gunbei. \"You may be overheard! You\nshall be duly compensated for your services later. This is not the\ntime. Return at once!\"\n\n\"Yes, yes, I will obey you, but do not forget to let me have the money\nsoon.\"\n\nAnd Kazoin, the wicked priest, fingering his rosary and praying for\nevil, departed as stealthily as he had come.\n\nMeanwhile the unhappy Takao was left alone. She struggled to free her\nhands from the cords that cut into her tender flesh, but in vain.\n\n\"What shall I do?\" she sobbed. \"Jurobei must be waiting for my answer.\nI must find some means of letting him know my condition. Is there no\nway by which I can get free? I am powerless to find the sword or to\nhelp Shusen.\"\n\nShe struggled desperately against the tree and in her anguish she\nmurmured:\n\n\"Gunbei is surely a devil in human form. He has stolen the sword\nhimself in order to incriminate others. Shusen will be lost and his\nhouse ruined unless we can recover it this very night.\"\n\nIn her violent efforts to wrench herself free the cherry-tree was\nshaken and several blossoms fell into the stream. The falling flowers\nbrought hope and comfort to Takao's heart.\n\n\"The holy Buddha has come to our aid,\" she reflected. \"Jurobei\nwill surely see the flowers in the water, and think that it is the\npre-arranged signal.\"\n\nMeanwhile Jurobei, from his hiding-place, was watching the stream,\nwaiting with impatience for the promised sign. Just as he was beginning\nto chafe at the unexpected delay he caught sight of a cluster of white\nblossoms floating down the current of the rivulet.\n\n\"Ah, then it was the Kunitsugu sword which Gunbei stole and wore on his\nperson, never letting it out of his sight night or day.\"\n\n\n[Illustration: Gunbei had watched the execution of his cruel order from\nthe veranda.]\n\n\nCreeping along within the shadow of the trees he stealthily made his\nway across the inner garden towards the room where he expected to find\nTakao.\n\nBut what was his surprise when he came upon her bound to the\ncherry-tree.\n\n\"Jurobei, at last you have come!\" she gasped.\n\n\"Takao Sama, whatever has happened? Why are you treated like this?\"\n\n\"It is because I could not endure Gunbei's hateful attentions,\" she\nanswered, weeping. \"Help me, I cannot move!\"\n\nJurobei set to work to unfasten the ropes and in a few minutes Takao\nwas released.\n\n\"Leave this matter to me!\" advised Jurobei. \"I will find some means of\noutwitting Gunbei yet.\"\n\nAnd Jurobei, followed by Takao who was endeavouring to arrange her\ndisordered robes, boldly strode into the room of his enemy.\n\nThe screens were pushed aside and Gunbei appeared. He glared fiercely\nat the intruding couple.\n\n\"How dare you release that woman without my permission?\"\n\n\"It is my intention to counsel her to comply with your wishes,\" replied\nJurobei, \"therefore have I set her free--to give her to you as my\nsister.\"\n\n\"Ya, Jurobei, have your powers of persuasion induced your sister to\nconsent to my proposals?\" inquired Gunbei in mocking tones.\n\n\"Yes, I know not which I am, an elder brother or a go-between. If you\nhave any other work for me, I am at your service.\"\n\n\"Ha, ha!\" sneered Gunbei, \"then as your sister agrees to please me we\nshall now be members of the same family. As a sign that we are closely\nrelated, take this by way of congratulation,\" and suddenly drawing his\nsword, he slashed at Jurobei.\n\nJurobei's keen eye forestalled the action, and, skilled fencer that he\nwas, like lightning he seized a bucket close at hand and, holding it\nup, adroitly parried the rain of blows with this improvised shield.\n\n\"What does this mean?\" he exclaimed. \"This is too much attention even\nfrom a relative. It is troublesome. Surely so much ceremony between\nmembers of the same family is unnecessary. Please take it back.\"\n\nGunbei's answer was another wild attack on Jurobei, who nimbly avoided\nthe thrusts.\n\nWhile his whole attention was engrossed in trying to cut down Jurobei,\nTakao stole behind him and snatched the long sword hanging at his side\nfrom its sheath.\n\n\"Here is the Kunitsugu sword,\" she joyfully exclaimed.\n\nOn hearing these words, Gunbei turned like a demon of fury upon her.\n\n\"If you have found it I will kill you both,\" shouted Gunbei.\n\nBut before he could execute his threat Jurobei seized him from behind.\n\nDotetsuke, a secret supporter of Shusen Sakurai, and who all this time\nhas acted the part of a spy and pretended accomplice in Gunbei's vile\nschemes, now escorted his real master upon the scene.\n\nSakurai loftily addressed his unmasked foe.\n\n\"Your villainous plots are all laid bare, and it is impossible for you\nto escape justice. Confess all and pray for mercy.\"\n\nGunbei, choking with rage, flung off Jurobei and rushed upon his\nabhorred rival.\n\nSakurai skilfully parried the onslaught, seized Gunbei, and with a\nprodigious effort hurled him out into the garden.\n\n\"Dotetsuke!\" called Sakurai, \"come and help us!\"\n\n\"Yes, yes!\" answered the man, as he ran to Jurobei's assistance in\nholding the wretch down.\n\nGunbei started.\n\n\"What? Are you also on Shusen's side?\" and he gnashed his teeth in\nimpotent fury.\n\n\"You have won!\" He turned to Shusen. \"It is useless for me to attempt\nto conceal the truth. I stole the sword, thereby hoping to bring about\nyour ruin. I can say no more. Take the sword and return to your house.\nDoes not that suffice?\"\n\n\"The sword is but a small part of the crimes you have committed.\nListen, villain that you are! You have done a much greater wrong. Our\nLord, the Daimio of Tokushima, has loaded you with favours, and you,\nlike a dastardly traitor, have requited his kindness by conspiring to\ncompass the death of your benefactor.\"\n\n\"Silence, Shusen! That is a lie. I have always hated you as my rival,\nbut I have borne no spite towards our Lord. What proof could you\npossibly have for such base allegations?\" and Gunbei stared hard at his\naccuser.\n\nShusen smiled superciliously as he clapped his hands. In answer to the\nsummons, Iz\u00e6mon led in a prisoner, Kazoin, the wicked priest.\n\n\"Here are my witnesses of your schemes against the life of the Lord of\nTokushima.\"\n\nGunbei realized his checkmate: there was nothing to be gained by lying\nfurther. He was a declared traitor. In desperation he attempted to\nrally his strength and attack Sakurai again, but he was promptly seized\nand again thrown down into the garden.\n\n\"You are a bad man, Gunbei. Our Lord shall judge you.\" Then turning to\nthe men he gave the command:\n\n\"Bind him, hand and foot!\"\n\nWhen the mortified Gunbei lay helpless and cringing at his mercy,\nShusen turned to his trusty vassal and addressed him, saying:\n\n\"Jurobei, I promote you in my service. You are a true and faithful\nknight. Let us rejoice, for we have triumphed and our enemy will\nreceive his deserts--he is defeated!\"\n\nTakao here brought forward the sword and placed it slowly and\nceremoniously before Jurobei who had staked his life, his house, his\nall, and lost his only child in the tragic search.\n\n\"It is found in time!\" she said. \"Look, the dawn breaks! It is the\nmorning of the third of March!\"\n\nReceiving the weapon with a profound bow, Jurobei, on bended knees,\nraised it aloft in both hands and presented it to his feudal master,\nsaying:\n\n\"To your keeping is at last restored the stolen treasure of our\nDaimio!\" and thus ended the\n\n_Quest of the Lost Sword_\n\nNote.--Kunitsugu was the name of a famous swordsmith who lived at the\nend of the Kamakura Period, 1367.\n\n\n\n[Footnote 1: A small knife which fits into the hilt of a sword.]\n\n[Footnote 2: The Shrines of Kumano or The Three Holy Places date from\nthe first century B.C., and are famous for their healing powers. The\nNachi waterfall is the third of these ancient shrines, and is No. 1 of\nthe thirty-three places sacred to Kwannon, the Goddess of Mercy.]\n\n[Footnote 3: Lit. Flower-Capital = Kyoto.]\n\n[Footnote 4: In old Japan the sentence of imprisonment, execution, and\neven crucifixion fell on the wife as well as all the children, even to\nthe youngest babe of the criminal.]\n\n[Footnote 5: _Koban_ = the name of an ancient pure gold coin elliptical\nin shape, worth about one _Yen_, but the purchasing value perhaps a\nhundred times what it is in the present day.]\n\n[Footnote 6: _Ryo = Yen_, about two shillings, but in those times equal\nto perhaps a hundred times its present value.]\n\n[Footnote 7: March by the old calendar fell a month later than the\npresent way of reckoning.]\n\n[Footnote 8: Swords of different smiths were distinguished by the\nmarks on their blades, formed by the different methods of welding. The\n_midare-yake_ is an undulating line like the waves of the sea.]\n\n\n\n\nTHE TRAGEDY OF KESA GOZEN\n\n\nThe beautiful tragedy of Kesa Gozen has been familiar to me since\nthe days of my early youth, when hand in hand I walked the school\ngarden with Fumiko, my friend, and listened with the ardour of a\nromance-loving nature to the many stories of old Japan, and more\nespecially of its heroines of antiquity, with which she loved to make\nme familiar.\n\nFumiko was the daughter of a naval officer, well versed in the\nliterature of her own land, and a good English scholar. I had only\njust come to Japan, an Anglo-Japanese girl who had been brought up in\nEngland, knowing nothing of my fatherland. \"Friendships are discovered,\nnot made,\" says a philosopher, and in our case this was true. In\nher delightful and sympathetic companionship I began to forget the\nheart-aching homesickness for my motherland, and to learn to accustom\nmyself to the strange country to which fate and my father had brought\nme. There is nothing more pitiful than the abysmal loneliness and utter\nhopelessness of the young, cut off from those they love, and planted\nin antipodal surroundings; they have no experience to tell them that\nmisery, like joy, is but a condition of time, and that both pass and\nalternate. Who can say what drew us together? Yet never was I happier\nthan when she put her hand in mine and made me her confidante, and\ngreat was my sorrow when she married and left me to pace the garden\nalone and to the memory of all the stories she had told me. To her I\nowe my awakening to the beauty of Japanese romance and the love of\nthose old tragedies.\n\nMany years have passed since then, but when I was told that Danjiro was\nacting the drama of Kesa Gozen at the Kabukiza Theatre my mind flashed\nback to those convent-like days when Fumiko and I\n\n    _Lo, as some innocent and eager maiden_\n      _Leans o'er the wistful limit of the world_,\n\n    _Dreams of the glow and glory of the distance_,\n      _Wonderful wooing and the grace of tears_,\n    _Dreams with what eyes and what a sweet insistence_\n      _Lovers are waiting in the hidden years_,\n\nstirred to life stories of love and duty, old as the dawn which first\nbroke upon the island empire, yet ever new and living while hearts\nthrob to the music of the ideal.\n\nBut I am long in coming to the story of Kesa Gozen. This beautiful and\ntouching story of the Japanese ideal of woman's character and morals\nis told in the drama called _Nachi-No-Taki Chikai No Mongaku_, \"The\nPriest Mongaku at the Waterfall of Nachi\" (it is characteristic of the\nJapanese that they have ignored the heroine in the title of the drama),\nwhich was acted by Danjiro Ichikawa, the star of the Japanese stage, at\nthe Kabukiza Theatre during the month of October 1902. The heights of\nromance and tragedy are scaled, and the pathos of a woman's unflinching\nand voluntary sacrifice of life, rends the heart. The heroine is not a\nFrancesca da Rimini, caught up by the whirlwind of passion and blown\nwhithersoever it listeth, but a woman who finds herself confronted by\na vehement and determined love, out of the toils of which she sees no\nescape, and so, in the prime of youth and beauty, to save her husband's\nname, her mother's life, and her own virtue, she calmly arranges by\nstratagem to die by the hand of her impetuous and would-be lover.\n\nThese tragic events took place in the year 1160, and a full account of\nthem may be found in the \"Gempei Seisuiki,\" a record of the rise and\nfall of the two great rival clans, the Taira[1] and the Minamoto, whose\nstruggles for supremacy disturbed Japan for many years, and find a\nparallel in the conflicts of the White and Red Roses in England.\n\nWhat is known historically of the story is this. Kesa, the heroine, was\nthe only child of a widowed mother called Koromogawa, after the place\nof her residence during her married life. The word \"Koromo\" means the\nvestments of a priest, and her daughter was consequently called \"Kesa,\"\nwhich means the \"stole,\" her real name being Atoma. Both her father and\ngrandfather were knights. The mother and daughter led a secluded life,\nalways bordering on poverty, and at times menaced by actual want.\n\nKoromogawa took charge of an orphaned nephew, a boy, a few years\nolder than Kesa, and the two young cousins grew up together, with\nthe old-fashioned result that the lad fell in love with the lass. At\nthe age of sixteen, Yendo Morito, called away probably on business\nconnected with his clan, had to leave Kesa, just then budding into\nexquisite beauty. Before leaving he entreated his aunt to promise him\nKesa in marriage. Koromogawa complied. Yendo did not return for five\nyears, and in the meantime, Watanabe Wataru, a wealthy and handsome\nyoung warrior, proposed for the hand of Kesa. The mother, probably in\nconsideration of the advantages of the match from a worldly point of\nview, neglected her promise to Yendo, and married Kesa to Wataru, who\nalso was the girl's cousin. After they have been married two years\nYendo Morito returns and sees his lovely young cousin by accident.\nHis boy's love, cherished fondly during long years of absence, flames\ninto a man's overmastering passion at sight of her. He learns, to his\ndespair, that she is married to another, and in his wrath determines\nto kill his aunt who, by her faithlessness to her promise, has made\nhis life a misery. He rushes out and entering his aunt's house draws\nhis sword upon her. She, to gain time, weakly promises that he shall\nsee Kesa that very evening. Yendo, fain to be content with this hope,\nretires, and Koromogawa summons her daughter by a letter.\n\nWhen Kesa arrives she finds that her mother has made all arrangements\nto kill herself, and on learning the circumstances she undertakes to\nsee her cousin, and quiets her distressed parent. Then she interviews\nMorito and tells him that she has always loved him, but before she\ncan be his he must first put her husband out of the way. To this he\nwillingly consents. She bids him come that night to the house, where\nshe will make her husband wash his hair and drink wine so that he may\nsleep soundly. Yendo is to steal in at midnight and, by feeling for\nthe damp hair, find and slay his rival. Kesa returns home, washes her\nown hair, and sleeps in the room she has pointed out to Yendo, having\ncarefully put her husband to sleep in an inner room.\n\nThis is an interesting psychological point, and is perhaps obscure to\nthe Western reader. The ethical training of a Japanese woman teaches\nher that in any great crisis she is the one to be sacrificed. Kesa,\nrather than be the cause of a quarrel which would involve her husband\nand her mother in a blood-feud with Yendo, puts herself out of the way,\nand by doing so not only saves the lives of all concerned, but preaches\na silent and moving sermon to her kinsman, whose ungoverned conduct is\ncontrary to the teaching of all Japanese moralists.\n\nThe mad and reckless lover comes, but when he thinks to gaze with\ntriumph on the severed head of his hated rival he is stricken with\nhorror to find that he has murdered the woman he loved so passionately.\nHe confesses his crime to the husband and they both become monks. Years\nafter, from the obscurity of the monastery, having survived a long\ninterval of austere life and self-inflicted penances, there rises into\nthe prominence of political life a monk called Mongaku, who is the\nfriend and counsellor of the great Shogun, Yoritomo, the head of the\nMinamoto clan. Mongaku, the monk, is the knight Yendo Morito.\n\nIt is the opinion of some that Kesa really loved Yendo, but her filial\nobedience obliged her to marry the man whom her mother chose for her.\nThen, when she found how great was her cousin's love for her, and\nknowing that in her heart she returned his love, but that she could not\nbe his without sin, she went gladly to her death, rejoicing, doubtless,\nthat it was by the sword of her beloved she should perish.[2]\n\nThis version is the more beautiful and tragic, for we have a woman\ntriumphant in the face of the strongest temptation that can ever beat\nagainst a human heart. The invincible yearning of the flesh must have\nbeen there, but the soul battled bravely and won. The power of beauty,\nthe joy of conquest in love, these are hers; but Kesa, remaining\nfaithful to duty, by her death places the honour of the family beyond\nall danger of blemish through her.\n\nThe present drama does not recognize this latter version, but is\nfounded on the former. The tragedy is epic from beginning to end, and\n\"is lifted from the outset into the high region of things predestined.\"\nFate, like some dread spider, weaves her fatal web of love and doom,\nand Kesa is caught in the meshes. The grand simplicity of the play\nand the purity of purpose of the heroine recall the Greek drama\nand the Roman tragedy of _Lucretia_. Kesa allows herself no petty,\ndespicable dalliance with admiration; vanity lures her not from the\nnarrow path of right. She sees that nothing will swerve Yendo from his\nirresistible passion, and she resolves to die. \"Fear in the face of\ndanger dies,\" and having quickly made up her mind she never vacillates\nnor looks back, but moves forward with the dignity of sublime reserve\nto pre-determined and self-imposed death. And Kesa was only seventeen\nyears of age. Think of it!\n\n\n\nAct I. The play begins with a scene in the open air. A new bridge has\nbeen built near the town of Osaka, which can be seen with the hills\nand pine-trees in the distance. Numbers of Buddhist priests appear in\ngorgeous robes and offer prayers for the safety of the new bridge.\n\nSome village officials, a retainer of Yendo Morito, who is\nsuperintendent of the works, and Watanabe Kaoru, a brother-in-law to\nKesa, the heroine, appear, and the young knight tells those present\nthat his brother's wife Kesa is coming to see the opening of the new\nbridge.\n\nIn a few minutes Kesa, the picture of youth and grace, in lovely\n_cr\u00eape_ robes, her face hidden by a gossamer gown held over her head\nwith both hands (an ancient custom resembling the Turkish _yashmak_),\ncomes fluttering over the bridge like some radiant moth, followed by\ntwo attendants, Tamakoto and Otose. Before saluting her brother-in-law\nKaoru, she removes the gauze veil and reveals to all a face of\nsurpassing loveliness--gracefully oval in shape, a complexion white\nas the lily, lips crimson as the bud of the peach blossom, and long\nalmond eyes, surmounted by eyebrows like the crescent of the new moon.\nShe speaks to her brother-in-law, who tells her that he is going to\nsee her cousin, Yendo Morito, the superintendent of the new bridge.\nKesa then prepares to retire and, donning the gauze-robe _yashmak_,\nher attendants helping, she turns to go home. As she moves away\nYendo Morito, on horseback, crosses the bridge and, catching sight\nof the beautiful woman, watches her disappear into the distance. The\npriest and officials bow in polite salutation, but he is oblivious to\neverything near him, for his gaze is riveted on the retreating figure\nof Kesa. He thrills with rapturous emotion at the sight, and happy\nmemories of their childhood and early youth rush over him.\n\nThe tragedy begins here. Yendo Morito, after several years' absence,\nsees his cousin for the first time and, shaken with a mighty love, now\nlearns that she, who was promised to him in his boyhood, is already the\nwife of another--of his kinsman, Watanabe Wataru.\n\n\n\nAct II. The curtain is pulled aside upon the maternal home of Kesa,\na small thatched cottage in the country near Kyoto. The whole aspect\nof the little home denotes genteel poverty, tranquil retirement, and\nspotless cleanliness. The two ladies who accompanied Kesa in the first\nAct, Tamakoto and Otose, are discovered in the little sitting-room\ndiscoursing. Koromogawa, an old lady with flowing grey hair, comes out\nfrom an inner room and receives her two visitors. In the course of\nconversation they ask her to tell them the reason why she has lived so\nlong in such a remote place as the province of Mutsu. In compliance\nwith their request, Koromogawa says:\n\n\"I am the daughter of a knight who held the province in tenure for his\nservices to his feudal lord. My husband was a retainer of the Governor\nof Mutsu, and so when we were married we went and lived at Koromogawa.\nMy daughter Kesa was born to me there. Soon after my husband died, and\nI went back with my child to my old home, and have since lived a quiet\nand humble life. On my return the people of this neighbourhood called\nme after the place, Koromogawa, where my married life had been spent,\nand my daughter was called Kesa, though her real name is Atoma. She\ngrew up here and married Watanabe Wataru.\"\n\nAt this point an official named Gorokuro, who seems to be on friendly\nterms with the old lady, comes in and sits by the charcoal hearth and\nmakes a cup of tea for every one present. The hearth is square, sunk in\nthe floor, and the kettle hangs, gipsy fashion, over the fire, as is\nthe way in the houses of the poorer classes. While serving tea Gorokuro\ncomplains of the behaviour of Yendo Morito during the building of the\nbridge. This young and impetuous knight treated the workmen in such a\nrigorous manner that insubordination resulted, and he, Gorokuro, had\ngreat trouble in controlling them. This incident gives the key to the\nyoung knight's character. Koromogawa apologizes to Gorokuro for the\ntrouble her nephew Yendo has given him.\n\nWhile this conversation proceeds, Kesa, accompanied by one of her\nhusband's retainers, Kisoda by name, arrives. Having dropped her\nsandals on the stepping-stone to the veranda, she removes her veiling\nrobe, enters the house, and greets the old lady with low bows. She says\nthat, whilst on her way home from visiting a temple with her husband,\nshe has come to see her mother. In a little while the two ladies,\nTamakoto and Otose, take their leave, and Kesa and her mother retire to\nan inner room.\n\nYendo Morito is now seen approaching the house along the _hana-michi_,\nand announces himself at the gate. Koromogawa, in answer to the call,\ncomes out to receive him and asks his business. He replies that\nhis business is private and that he must speak with her in secret.\nKoromogawa then ushers her nephew into a back room, and the passing of\nthe daylight is marked by the lighting of a candle. As he enters the\nhouse he starts at the sight of a woman's sandals on the steps, and\nevidently guesses that Kesa is near at hand. Little dreaming of the\nstorm that is brewing, the old lady asks her nephew to be seated. He\nominously remains standing with his hand upon his sword. Suddenly the\nyoung knight's eyes flash, he snatches the sword from its sheath, and\nseizing his astonished aunt, his pent-up sense of injury and the misery\nof his thwarted hopes find vent in these words:\n\n\"Prepare to die at once! You are my enemy, and I am of the Watanabe\nclan, who never allow their enemies to live even for a day.\"\n\n\"What wrong have I done you that you should wish to kill me?\" exclaims\nthe terrified woman.\n\n\"Five years ago, before I went away, you promised to give me Kesa in\nmarriage. I come back, and at the opening of the Watanabe bridge I see\nher, but only as the wife of another. I have always loved Kesa, and\nnow I am bitterly disappointed and sick--sick with hopeless love and\ndespair. It is true no correspondence has passed between us, but that\nhas nothing to do with your promise. Ever since I last saw Kesa I have\nbeen ill, and I cannot and will not live without her. This is all your\nfault. You are my enemy, you shall die! and I will then kill myself. We\nwill die together--prepare yourself!\"\n\n\"Wait a moment!\" shrieks the terrified mother. \"I did not mean to break\nmy promise, but Wataru compelled me to give her to him. If you really\nstill love her I will get her back somehow or other. Only calm yourself\nand listen to reason.\"\n\nBut the young knight is reckless to madness; the old woman's pleading\nis lost upon him and, perhaps guessing that Kesa is in the next room,\nhe determines to appeal to her filial piety so as to make her appear.\nHe raises his sword and seizes his aunt again, but he has no time\nto strike: the sliding of a screen, the rustle of a woman's silken\ngarments, and between Yendo and the victim of his vengeance there darts\nthe lovely Kesa--his arm is stayed by her small hand, and, tremulous\nwith agitation, a voice he has longed to hear for many lonely years\nsays:\n\n\"Spare my poor old mother!\"\n\nThe mother throws herself between Kesa and Yendo, crying:\n\n\"I am ready to die. You must not sacrifice your virtue to save me.\"\n\n[Illustration: Yendo draws his sword, when between him and the victim\nof his vengeance there darts the lovely Kesa]\n\nKesa again intervenes between her lover and her mother; again the\nmother throws herself in an agony of dread between them; but at\nlast Kesa persuades the old woman to retire and to leave all to her\ndiscretion. Koromogawa then goes into the next room. The knight fixes\nhis gaze upon his beautiful cousin, he trembles with emotion, and the\nresolve to possess her strengthens within his storm-tossed soul. She\nbelongs to him by prior right. He had asked for her, and she had been\npromised to him before Wataru thought of her; what right had her mother\nto give her to Wataru? Anger sweeps away all remembrance of the past\nand of what he owes his aunt. Jealousy and desire, and hatred of the\none whom he thinks has wronged him, alone remain. In vain Kesa gently\npleads and expostulates. As if impatient of the delay of his vengeance,\nYendo once more seizes his sword and rushes towards the inner room.\nThen Kesa wheels round upon him, and with her cheek close to his, her\ngorgeous _cr\u00eape_ draperies touching him and her hand upon his arm, she\nwhispers in his ear:\n\n\"I have always loved you, Yendo. If you really love me as you say, you\nmust first put my husband out of the way, and I am yours.\"\n\n\"How can I kill him?\" whispers the determined man.\n\n\"Come to-morrow night and steal into the bedroom of my husband. I shall\nmake him drunk with wine. You can identify him by touching his hair,\nfor I shall induce him to wash it before retiring, and you will find\nthe locks wet.\"\n\nAs Kesa whispers her plan the tense figure of the desperate knight\nrelaxes from its stern purpose of murder. Thrilling with hope and\npassion, he turns to her, and in the attitude of her abandonment and\nyielding to his will he sees the vision of their united happiness--the\ngratification of his passionate desires. Little does his wild and\nlawless nature dream of the escape which the noble woman will force\nout of the toils fast closing round her. The picture as the two stand\ntogether is intensely dramatic, and vibrates with the portent of a\nmighty crisis.\n\n\n\nAct III opens upon the fine residence of Watanabe Wataru, the husband\nof Kesa. The gleaming cream wood of the veranda and the posts, the\nfineness of the matting, the dainty white and gold of the walls\nand screens are all part of the exquisite refinements of a wealthy\nJapanese home. Kesa and her husband are discovered sitting side by side\nin a room opening on the garden. A large slab of granite forms the\nstepping-stone from the veranda and a line of irregular slabs makes a\npathway to the bamboo gate which shuts off the outer garden. The whole\narrangement and the atmosphere are realistic of a Japanese home.\n\nThe young people, both magnificently robed, have only just retired\nto their sitting-room, for they have been entertaining guests at a\nbanquet. The only furniture in the room is a sword-stand, on which the\nknight places his long weapon, the insignia of _samurai_ honour. Before\nthem is a small low table[3] (_sambo_) of white wood, on which stands\na white wine-jar and her husband's drinking-cup. Kesa dismisses the\ntwo servants in attendance, and then proceeds to pour out some wine\nfor her husband. Wataru little dreams that it is the last cup his wife\nwill ever drink with him, though to her, knowing her premeditated and\nself-arranged doom, the little ceremony has not only a sacrificial\nsymbolism, but the appalling pathos and irrevocable pitilessness of a\nlast love rite.\n\n[Illustration: Wataru little dreams that it is the last cup his wife\nwill ever drink with him.]\n\nWataru drains the wine-cup and, handing it to Kesa, pours the wine out\nfor her. Kesa drinks, and then, overcome at last by a sadness which\nher husband does not understand, turns away and weeps. She explains\nthat her tears spring from the thought of the unchangeable love between\nhusband and wife, which would last even after death. He replies that\nthe knowledge of their mutual faithfulness should be a joy and not a\ngrief. While thus conversing in the hush of night, the deep mellow\ntone of a temple bell announces the hour of midnight. Kesa persuades\nher husband to retire to her own bedroom this night. On her knees she\npushes aside the screens leading to an inner room, and as he passes\nin she bows with her head to the floor, and then closes them after\nhim. Never will she see her husband again, yet her self-control is so\ngreat that she gives no sign of the emotion which must have surged over\nher at that moment. She knows that it is an eternal farewell, yet she\nallows Wataru to pass from her sight with only the usual greeting.\n\nFor a little time she stands like one dazed; then, recollecting\nherself, she disappears for a few minutes and returns along the\nveranda. Now, for the first time, those that do not know the story\ndivine the tragic end. Her long black hair streams, wet and heavy, over\nher shoulders, and she feels it as she moves along to make sure that\nit is quite wet. On her arm she carries one of her husband's _kimono_\nand his ceremonial cap, all necessary for the deception of Yendo. Her\naspect expresses hopeless grief and resignation. Twice in her slow\nprogress to the outer room she stops and weeps. She looks out upon the\nstill garden, and the coolness of the fragrant air and the soothing\nsilence of the autumn night must seem to mock her woe. At the second\noutburst of grief it seems for a moment as if her resolution has failed\nher. She lays her cheek, in a passion of yearning and tenderness, on\nthe robe she carries, and her tears fall fast at the thought of her\nhappy wedded life, so soon to be cut short by the lawless desire of\nanother man. There will be no one to pray for her old mother when she\ndies--it should be a daughter's duty to offer the daily incense to\na mother's departed spirit; she can never know the pride of bearing\na son to preserve the name of her husband's family. Oh! the pity of\nit--the pity of it! These, and more than these, must have been her sad\nthoughts. That she was loth to leave the world we learn by the poem,\nwritten in these moments of anguish, which she left with her farewell\nletter to her mother. She raises her head at last and comes forward.\nHer husband's honour, her mother's life, and her own purity are at\nstake; the weakness of sorrow vanishes--there is no other way than\nthis. Her beauty is the sin, for it has roused Yendo's passion: her\nbeauty must pay the penalty--her life is the sacrifice.\n\nTo-night--as she planned when she rushed in upon the tumultuous scene\nbetween her mother and Yendo--she will sleep in her husband's room, and\nwhen Yendo her cousin comes, instead of killing her husband, his sword\nwill cut off her own head. She lifts the bamboo curtain which hangs\nbefore the room at the end of the veranda and passes to her doom.\n\nThe stage is darkened and empty. An impressive interval of silence\nand inaction follows. The audience throbs with the sustained sense of\nimpending catastrophe and fatality hanging over the house. The awful\npregnancy of the situation is intensely realistic, and its contrasts\nare strikingly dramatic. In the inner room--his wife's room, their\nhappy bridal chamber--lies the husband, wrapt in peaceful sleep,\npitifully unconscious of the tragedy which is being enacted within a\nfew feet of him. In the outer room the young wife lies waiting in the\nlonely dark for the sword of her lover. Who can realize the tension of\nthose last minutes, stretched to eternity by the agony of suspense?\nIf by any chance her plan fails, her husband or her cousin will be\nkilled, or both. What if Wataru, roused by some slight noise, come out\nto find Yendo approaching the room where she has arranged to sleep;\nwhat construction must he put upon these circumstances. And then, her\nsenses sharpened by suffering and by the unutterable loneliness of the\nawful situation, she thinks that she catches the first faint sound of\nYendo's stealthy footsteps. She counts them as they draw near, and as\nthe bamboo curtain is raised and the swish of the sword falls upon her\nin the dark, she smiles to think that the struggle is over, that she\nhas triumphed, and thus she faces death with the magnificent courage\nwith which she had planned it.\n\nYendo Morito arrives. His long sleeves are looped back, ready for\nhis dreadful work, and in his hand he carries a drawn sword. Swiftly\nand noiselessly he moves along the veranda; pauses for a few moments\noutside the room where lies asleep, as he imagines, the only obstacle\nbetween him and the woman he loves--loves so passionately, madly,\nand blindly that he is willing to use the murder of his kinsman as a\nstepping-stone to reach her. He enters.\n\nThe stage revolves. The courtyard of a temple is the next scene,\nsurrounded by a wall with stone steps leading up to the outer court.\nThe murderer is seen coming out upon the top of the steps into the\nmoonlight: he carries something covered under his arm. Turning towards\nthe flood of moonlight with a fierce and unholy joy at the thought\nof gazing on his rival's head, he uncovers what he carries. To his\nunspeakable horror and amazement the moonlight reveals the head of\nKesa--his love--not that of Wataru, whom it was his purpose to kill.\nUnable to believe his eyes, he raises the head by the wet hair once\nmore into the full light of the moon. There is no mistake. He recoils\nin a great revulsion of feeling as the truth forces itself upon his\nunwilling, shrinking mind, all his strength goes from him, he reels and\nstaggers like a drunken man, and gasping for breath, he falls upon the\nsteps overcome with uttermost anguish and remorse. In that awful moment\nhe sees the hideousness of his crime and the wickedness of his heart in\nits true light. The cloud of darkness, as the Japanese say, rolls back\nfrom his soul, and he is smitten to earth with the sense of his guilt\nand misery.\n\n[Illustration: To his unspeakable horror and amazement the moonlight\nreveals the head of Kesa--his love!]\n\n\nThe fourth scene of this Act represents the front gate of Wataru's\nhouse. It is the morning following the last scene. Outside stand\nnumerous tradesmen--the rice-man, the fishmonger, and some\n_samurai_--all unable to effect an entrance, for, though late in the\nmorning, the house is still closed. After repeated knocking, Kisoda and\nOtose appear and tell them that, on account of an unfortunate event\nwhich has occurred in the house, they must be asked to withdraw for the\nday. The tradesmen then go grumbling away.\n\nThe next scene represents the familiar chamber where Wataru and Kesa\nsat together the evening before. In the middle of the room lies an\nominous pile of quilts covering the remains of Kesa, splendidly dead\nby her own will. Before the corpse of his young wife sits the husband,\nthe picture of mute and stoic grief. Opposite him is Koromogawa. Behind\nher again are Tamakoto and Otose. Wataru tells them that last night\nhe slept in his wife's room in compliance with her wish, while she\nretired to his room. That in the morning he found her killed and her\nhead carried away, and that no clue or trace of the murderer can be\ndiscovered. He says he can hardly speak for grief at the loss of Kesa\nand the disgrace his knighthood has suffered.\n\nAn attendant here rushes in and says that Yendo insists on seeing\nWataru. Wataru sends a message to say that he cannot receive him now.\nThe servant returns to say that Yendo is forcing his way into the\nhouse, and that it is impossible to check him. Yendo rushes in like a\nwhirlwind and seats himself outside the room, on the veranda. He lays\nthe head down before them all and confesses his crime, with all the\ncircumstances relating to it. Then comes the most heart-rending part\nof the tragedy. The old mother tenderly unwraps the head and, folding\nit to her bosom, gives way to a loud and long paroxysm of grief. Wail\nafter wail bursts from her. She rocks herself in wild abandonment to\nthe poignancy of an overwhelming and totally unexpected sorrow. The\n_samurai_ stoicism of the husband avails him not in this hour of bitter\ntrial. He wipes his slow tears furtively away. Tamakoto brings out a\nletter of Kesa's found in the room where she was killed. Yendo snatches\nup the letter, spreads it out before him, and reads it aloud. It is\naddressed to her mother, and may be rendered into English as follows:\n\n\"I have always heard [this is a humble form of expression which women\nare supposed to use--they must never assert a fact] that woman is a\nsinful creature [because of her beauty, which lures men to sin]. I\nfear that many people [meaning her mother, husband, and admirer] are\nin danger of their lives because of me. Mother, I know that you will\nsorrow much if I die, and I am sorrowful, thinking of the grief which\nI must cause you. I intend to expiate my sin [meaning the sin of being\nbeautiful, which has caused Yendo to love her] by death. Weep not for\nme, and though it should be my place to pray for you, I beseech you to\npray for the rest of my soul when I have departed on the journey of\ndeath. I can understand your sorrow, and this is the only anxiety I\nfeel at this moment.\"\n\nMorito now presents his sword to Wataru and requests him to take life\nfor life, and to behead him in order to avenge his wife's death. Wataru\nreplies that he has no wish to kill him, since he has confessed and\nrepented of his crime. \"Let us forsake this worldly life and become\nfollowers of Buddha, and spend the rest of our lives in praying for\nKesa.\"\n\nThen and there the two knights, first Wataru and then Yendo, take their\nswords and cut off their queues of hair.[4] Tamakoto brings in a low\ntable, and on this Koromogawa places the head of Kesa. A tray with an\nincense-burner is now placed before the ghastly presence. The stricken\nmother, having set the incense burning, takes her rosary and bows her\nhead in prayer to the brave departed spirit. Wataru now moves towards\nthe extempore shrine, and worships with his face hidden.\n\n[Illustration: Yendo draws his sword, when between him and the victim\nof his vengeance there darts the lovely Kesa]\n\n\nIn the presence of transcendent virtue and sublimely unselfish heroism,\nthe sinner is forgotten. The silent scene of woe and desolation is too\nmuch for the penitent Yendo; he rises, and with one last-lingering\nlook turns to go into his lifelong retreat from the world. Thus the\nstupendous tragedy, from the pitch of distraction and calamity, is\nbrought to a quiet and reconciling close.\n\nNote.--The title of the play, _The Priest Mongaku at the Waterfall\nof Nachi_, is taken from the last scene, which represents the monk\nMongaku undergoing his self-inflicted penance of sitting under this\nfamous waterfall where he would have died had not two Buddhist\ndeities descended from Heaven to rescue him. This I have omitted as\nI considered it an anti-climax. It is an historical fact, however,\nthat Mongaku, to purge himself of his sins, did undergo these terrible\nausterities and sufferings.\n\n\n[Illustration: His grandfather had been a retainer of Ota Dokan ... and\nhad committed suicide when his lord fell in battle.]\n\n\n[Footnote 1: The writer's father traces his descent from Taira no\nKiyomori, the clan's chieftain.]\n\n[Footnote 2: This is the interpretation that the writer and her friend\nput upon the heroine's conduct.]\n\n[Footnote 3: These simple white utensils are always used in Shinto\nceremonies.]\n\n[Footnote 4: Buddhist priests shave their heads.]\n\n\n\n\nTHE SPIRIT OF THE LANTERN\n\n\nSome three hundred years ago, in the province of Kai and the town\nof Aoyagi, there lived a man named Koharu Tomosaburo, of well-known\nancestry. His grandfather had been a retainer of Ota Dokan,[1] the\nfounder of Yedo, and had committed suicide when his lord fell in battle.\n\nThis brave clansman's grandson was Tomosaburo, who, when this story\nbegins, had been happily married for many years to a woman of the same\nprovince and was the proud father of a son some ten years of age.\n\nAt this time it happened, one day, that his wife fell suddenly ill\nand was unable to leave her bed. Physicians were called in but had to\nacknowledge themselves baffled by the curious symptoms of the patient:\nto relieve the paroxysms of pain from which she suffered, _Moxa_ was\napplied and burned in certain spots down her back. But half a month\npassed by and the anxious household realized that there was no change\nfor the better in the mysterious malady that was consuming her: day by\nday she seemed to lose ground and waste away.\n\nTomosaburo was a kind husband and scarcely left her bedside: day and\nnight he tenderly ministered to his stricken wife, and did all in his\npower to alleviate her condition.\n\nOne evening, as he was sitting thus, worn out with the strain of\nnursing and anxiety, he fell into a doze. Suddenly there came a change\nin the light of the standing-lantern, it flushed a brilliant red, then\nflared up into the air to the height of at least three feet, and within\nthe crimson pillar of flame there appeared the figure of a woman.\n\nTomosaburo gazed in astonishment at the apparition, who thus addressed\nhim:\n\n\"Your anxiety concerning your wife's illness is well-known to me,\ntherefore I have come to give you some good advice. The affliction\nwith which she is visited is the punishment for some faults in her\ncharacter. For this reason she is possessed of a devil. If you will\nworship me as a god, I will cast out the tormenting demon.\"\n\nNow Tomosaburo was a brave, strong-minded _samurai_, to whom the\nsensation of fear was totally unknown.\n\nHe glared fiercely at the apparition, and then, half unconsciously,\nturned for the _samurai's_ only safeguard, his sword, and drew it from\nits sheath. The sword is regarded as sacred by the Japanese knight and\nwas supposed to possess the occult power assigned to the sign of the\ncross in medi\u00e6val Europe--that of exorcising evil.\n\nThe spirit laughed superciliously when she saw his action.\n\n\"No motive but the kindest of intentions brought me here to proffer\nyou my assistance in your trouble, but without the least appreciation\nof my goodwill you show this enmity towards me. However, your wife's\nlife shall pay the penalty,\" and with these malicious words the phantom\ndisappeared.\n\n[Illustration: He glared fiercely at the apparition, and then, half\nunconsciously, turned for the _samurai's_ only safeguard, his sword.]\n\nFrom that hour the unhappy woman's sufferings increased, and to the\ndistress of all about her, she seemed about to draw her last breath.\n\nHer husband was beside himself with grief. He realized at once what a\nfalse move he had made in driving away the friendly spirit in such an\nuncouth and hostile manner, and, now thoroughly alarmed at his wife's\ndesperate plight, he was willing to comply with any demand, however\nstrange. He thereupon prostrated himself before the family shrine\nand addressed fervent prayers to the Spirit of the Lantern, humbly\nimploring her pardon for his thoughtless and discourteous behaviour.\n\nFrom that very hour the invalid began to mend, and steadily improving\nday by day, her normal health was soon entirely regained, until it\nseemed to her as though her long and strange illness had been but an\nevil dream.\n\nOne evening after her recovery, when the husband and wife were sitting\ntogether and speaking joyfully of her unexpected and almost miraculous\nrestoration to health, the lantern flared up as before and in the\ncolumn of brilliant light the form of the spirit again appeared.\n\n\"Notwithstanding your unkind reception of me the last time I came, I\nhave driven out the devil and saved your wife's life. In return for\nthis service I have come to ask a favour of you, Tomosaburo San,\" said\nthe spirit. \"I have a daughter who is now of a marriageable age. The\nreason of my visit is to request you to find a suitable husband for\nher.\"\n\n\"But I am a human being,\" remonstrated the perplexed man, \"and you are\na spirit! We belong to different worlds, and a wide and impassable gulf\nseparates us. How would it be possible for me to do as you wish?\"\n\n\"It is an easier matter than you imagine,\" replied the spirit. \"All\nyou have to do is to take some blocks of _kiri_-wood [_Paulownia\nImperialist_] and to carve out from them several little figures of men;\nwhen they are finished I will bestow upon one of them the hand of my\ndaughter.\"\n\n\"If that is all, then it is not so difficult as I thought, and I will\nundertake to do as you wish,\" assented Tomosaburo, and no sooner\nhad the spirit vanished than he opened his tool box and set to work\nupon the appointed task with such alacrity that in a few days he had\nfashioned out in miniature several very creditable effigies of the\ndesired bridegroom, and when the wooden dolls were completed he laid\nthem out in a row upon his desk.\n\nThe next morning, on awaking, he lost no time in ascertaining what\nhad befallen the quaint little figures, but apparently they had found\nfavour with the spirit, for all had disappeared during the night. He\nnow hoped that the strange and supernatural visitant would trouble them\nno more, but the next night she again appeared:\n\n\"Owing to your kind assistance my daughter's future is settled. As a\nmark of our gratitude for the trouble you have taken, we earnestly\ndesire the presence of both yourself and your wife at the marriage\nfeast. When the time arrives promise to come without fail.\"\n\nBy this time Tomosaburo was thoroughly wearied of these ghostly\nvisitations and considered it highly obnoxious to be in league with\nsuch weird and intangible beings, yet fully aware of their powers of\nworking evil, he dared not offend them. He racked his brains for some\nway of escape from this uncanny invitation, but before he could frame\nany reply suitable to the emergency, and while he was hesitating, the\nspirit vanished.\n\nLong did the perplexed man ponder over the strange situation, but the\nmore he thought the more embarrassed he became: and there seemed no\nsolution of his dilemma.\n\nThe next night the spirit again returned.\n\n\"As I had the honour to inform you, we have prepared an entertainment\nat which your presence is desired. All is now in readiness. The wedding\nceremony has taken place and the assembled company await your arrival\nwith impatience. Kindly follow me at once!\" and the wraith made\nimperious gestures to Tomosaburo and his wife to accompany her. With a\nsudden movement she darted from the lantern flame and glided out of the\nroom, now and again looking back with furtive glances to see that they\nwere surely following--and thus they passed, the spirit guiding them,\nalong the passage to the outer porch.\n\nThe idea of accepting the spirit's hospitality was highly repugnant to\nthe astonished couple, but remembering the dire consequences of his\nfirst refusal to comply with the ghostly visitor's request, Tomosaburo\nthought it wiser to simulate acquiescence. He was well aware that in\nsome strange and incomprehensible manner his wife owed her sudden\nrecovery to the spirit's agency, and for this boon he felt it would\nbe both unseemly and ungrateful--and possibly dangerous--to refuse.\nIn great embarrassment, and at a loss for any plausible excuse, he\nfelt half dazed, and as though all capacity for voluntary action was\ndeserting him.\n\nWhat was Tomosaburo's surprise on reaching the entrance to find\nstationed there a procession, like the train of some great personage,\nawaiting him. On their appearance the liveried bearers hastened to\nbring forward two magnificent palanquins of lacquer and gold, and at\nthe same moment a tall man garbed in ceremonial robes advanced and with\na deep obeisance requested them not to hesitate, saying:\n\n\"Honoured sir, these _kago_[2] are for your august conveyance--deign to\nenter so that we may proceed to your destination.\"\n\nAt the same time the members of the procession and the bearers bowed\nlow, and in curious high-pitched voices all repeated the invitation in\na chorus:\n\n\"Please deign to enter the _kago!_\"\n\nBoth Tomosaburo and his wife were not only amazed at the splendour\nof the escort which had been provided for them, but they realized\nthat what was happening to them was most mysterious, and might have\nunexpected consequences. However, it was too late to draw back now,\nand all they could do was to fall in with the arrangement with as\nbold a front as they could muster. They both stepped valiantly into\nthe elaborately decorated _kago_; thereupon the attendants surrounded\nthe palanquins, the bearers raised the shafts shoulder high, and the\nprocession formed in line and set out on its ghostly expedition.\n\nThe night was still and very dark. Thick masses of sable cloud obscured\nthe heavens, with no friendly gleams of moon or stars to illumine\ntheir unknown path, and peering through the bamboo blinds nothing met\nTomosaburo's anxious gaze but the impenetrable gloom of the inky sky.\n\nSeated in the palanquins the adventurous couple were undergoing a\nstrange experience. To their mystified senses it did not seem as if the\n_kago_ was being borne along over the ground in the ordinary manner,\nbut the sensation was as though they were being swiftly impelled by\nsome mysterious unseen force, which caused them to skim through the\nair like the flight of birds. After some time had elapsed the sombre\nblackness of the night somewhat lifted, and they were dimly able to\ndiscern the curved outlines of a large mansion which they were now\napproaching, and which appeared to be situated in a spacious and\nthickly wooded park.\n\nThe bearers entered the large roofed gate and, crossing an intervening\nspace of garden, carefully lowered their burdens before the main\nentrance of the house, where a body of servants and retainers were\nalready waiting to welcome the expected guests with assiduous\nattentions. Tomosaburo and his wife alighted from their conveyances\nand were ushered into a reception room of great size and splendour,\nwhere, as soon as they were seated in the place of honour near the\nalcove, refreshments were served by a bevy of fair waiting-maids in\nceremonial costumes. As soon as they were rested from the fatigues of\ntheir journey an usher appeared and bowing profoundly to the bewildered\nnew-comers announced that the marriage feast was about to be celebrated\nand their presence was requested without delay.\n\nFollowing this guide they proceeded through the various ante-rooms\nand along the corridors. The whole interior of the mansion, the\nsumptuousness of its appointments and the delicate beauty of its\nfinishings, were such as to fill their hearts with wonder and\nadmiration.\n\nThe floors of the passages shone like mirrors, so fine was the quality\nof the satiny woods, and the richly inlaid ceilings showed that no\nexpense or trouble had been spared in the selection of all that was\nancient and rare, both in materials and workmanship. Certain of the\npillars were formed by the trunks of petrified trees, brought from\ngreat distances, and on every side perfect taste and limitless wealth\nwere apparent in every detail of the scheme of decoration.\n\nMore and more deeply impressed with his surroundings, Tomosaburo\nobediently followed in the wake of the ushers. As they neared the\nstately guest-chamber an eerie and numbing sensation seemed to creep\nthrough his veins.\n\nObserving more closely the surrounding figures that flitted to and fro,\nwith a shock of horror he suddenly became aware that their faces were\nwell known to him and of many in that shadowy throng he recognized the\nfeatures and forms of friends and relatives long since dead. Along\nthe corridors leading to the principal hall numerous attendants were\ngathered: all their features were familiar to Tomosaburo, but none of\nthem betrayed the slightest sign of recognition. Gradually his dazed\nbrain began to understand that he was visiting in the underworld, that\neverything about him was unreal--in fact, a dream of the past--and\nhe feebly wondered of what hallucination he could be the victim to\nbe thus abruptly bidden to such an illusory carnival, where all the\nwedding guests seemed to be denizens of the _Meido_, that dusky kingdom\nof departed spirits! But no time was left him for conjecture, for on\nreaching the ante-room they were immediately ushered into a magnificent\nhall where all preparations for the feast had been set out, and where\nthe Elysian Strand[3] and the symbols of marriage were all duly\narranged according to time-honoured custom.\n\nHere the bridegroom and his bride were seated in state, both attired in\nelegant robes as befitting the occasion. Tomosaburo, who had acted such\na strange and important part in providing the farcical groom for this\nunheard-of marriage, gazed searchingly at the newly wedded husband,\nwhose mien was quite dignified and imposing, and whose thick dark locks\nwere crowned with a nobleman's coronet. He wondered what part the\nwooden figures he had carved according to the spirit's behest had taken\nin the composition of the bridegroom he now saw before him. Strangely,\nindeed, his features bore a striking resemblance to the little puppets\nthat Tomosaburo had fashioned from the _kiri_-wood some days before.\n\nThe nuptial couple were receiving the congratulations of the assembled\nguests, and no sooner had Tomosaburo and his wife entered the room than\nthe wedding party all came forward in a body to greet them and to offer\nthanks for their condescension in gracing that happy occasion with\ntheir presence. They were ceremoniously conducted to seats in a place\nof honour, and invited with great cordiality to participate in the\nevening's entertainment.\n\nServants then entered bearing all sorts of tempting dainties piled\non lacquer trays in the form of large shells; the feast was spread\nbefore the whole assemblage; wine flowed in abundance, and by degrees\nconversation, laughter, and merriment became universal and the\nbanquet-hall echoed with the carousal of the ghostly throng.\n\nUnder the influence of the good cheer Tomosaburo's apprehension and\nalarm of his weird environment gradually wore off, he partook freely of\nthe refreshments, and associated himself more and more with the gaiety\nand joviality of the evening's revel.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nThe night wore on and when the hour of midnight struck the banquet was\nat its height.\n\nIn the mirth and glamour of that strange marriage feast Tomosaburo had\nlost all track of time, when suddenly the clear sound of a cock's crow\npenetrated his clouded brain and, looking up, the transparency of the\n_shoji_[4] of the room began to slowly whiten in the grey of dawn.\nLike a flash of lightning Tomosaburo and his wife found themselves\ntransported back, safe and sound, into their own room.\n\nOn reflection he found his better nature more and more troubled\nby such an uncanny experience, and he spent much time pondering\nover the matter, which seemed to require such delicate handling. He\ndetermined that at all costs communications must be broken off with the\nimportunate spirit.\n\nA few days passed and Tomosaburo began to cherish the hope that he had\nseen the last of the Spirit of the Lantern, but his congratulations on\nescaping her unwelcome attentions proved premature. That very night,\nno sooner had he laid himself down to rest, than lo! and behold, the\nlantern shot up in the familiar shaft of light, and there in the lurid\nglow appeared the spirit, looking more than ever bent on mischief.\nTomosaburo lost all patience. Glaring savagely at the unwelcome\nvisitant he seized his wooden pillow[5] and, determining to rid himself\nof her persecutions once and for all, he exerted his whole strength and\nhurled it straight at the intruder. His aim was true, and the missile\nstruck the goblin squarely on the forehead, overturning the lantern and\nplunging the room into black darkness. \"Wa, Wa!\" wailed the spirit in\na thin haunting cry, that gradually grew fainter and fainter till she\nfinally disappeared like a luminous trail of vanishing blue smoke.\n\nFrom that very hour Tomosaburo's wife was again stricken with her\nformer malady, and no remedies being of any avail, within two days it\ntook a turn for the worse and she died.\n\nThe sorrow-stricken husband bitterly regretted his impetuous action\nin giving way to that fatal fit of anger and, moreover, in appearing\nso forgetful of the past favour he had received from the spirit. He\ntherefore prayed earnestly to the offended apparition, apologizing with\nhumble contrition for his cruelty and ingratitude.\n\nBut the Spirit of the Lantern had been too deeply outraged to return,\nand Tomosaburo's repentance for his rash impulse proved all in vain.\n\nThese melancholy events caused the unhappy husband to take a strong\naversion to the house, which he felt sure must be haunted, and he\ndecided to leave that neighbourhood with as little delay as possible.\n\nAs soon as a suitable dwelling was found and the details of his\nmigration arranged, the carriers were summoned to transport his\nhousehold goods to the new abode, but to the alarm and consternation of\nevery one, when the servants attempted to move the furniture, the whole\ncontents of the house by some unseen power adhered fast to the floor,\nand no human power was available to dislodge them.\n\nThen Tomosaburo's little son fell ill and died. Such was the revenge of\nthe Spirit of the Lantern.\n\n\n[Footnote 1: 1513, date of Ota Dokan's death.]\n\n[Footnote 2: _Kago_ = palanquins.]\n\n[Footnote 3: _Horai Dai_, the Eastern fairyland, where death and\nsickness never come, and where the fabulous old couple of Takasayo,\nparagons of conjugal felicity and constancy, live for ever in the\nshade of the evergreen pines, while storks and green-tailed tortoises,\nemblems of prosperity and ten thousand years of life, keep them\ncompany.]\n\n[Footnote 4: _Shoji_, the sliding screens which takes the place of\ndoors and windows in a Japanese house--the framework is of a fine\nlattice-work of wood, covered with white paper sufficiently transparent\nto let in the light.]\n\n[Footnote 5: The old Japanese pillow was a wooden stand, on the top\nof which was a groove; in this was placed a small roll of cotton-wool\ncovered with silk or _cr\u00eape_, etc.]\n\n\n\n\nTHE REINCARNATION OF TAMA\n\n\n    \"Felt within themselves the sacred\n      passion of the second life.\n    Hope the best, but hold the Present\n      fatal daughter of the Past.\n    Love will conquer at the last.\"\n\nTENNYSON\n\nN.B.--It is a common Japanese belief that the soul may be re-born more\nthan once into this world. A Buddhist proverb says:\n\n    _Oya-ko, is-s\u00e9_\n    _Fufu wa, ni-s\u00e9_,\n    _Shu ju wa, sans\u00e9_.\n\n    Parent and child for one life;\n    Husband and wife for two lives;\n    Master and servant for three lives.\n\nUnder the strong provocation of the passions of love, loyalty and\npatriotism, the soul may be reincarnated as many as seven times. The\nhero Hirose, before Port Arthur in 1904, wrote a poem during the last\nmoments of his life saying that he would return seven times to work for\nhis country.\n\n\n\n\nTHE REINCARNATION OF TAMA\n\n\nMany years ago in Yedo,[1] in the district of Fukagawa, there lived a\nrich timber merchant. He and his wife dwelt together in perfect accord,\nbut though their business prospered and their wealth increased as the\nyears went by, they were a disappointed couple, for by the time they\nhad reached middle age they were still unblessed with children. This\nwas a great grief to them, for the one desire of their lives was to\nhave a child.\n\nThe merchant at last determined to make a pilgrimage to several temples\nin company with his wife, and to supplicate the gods for the long\nyearned-for joy of offspring. When the arduous tour was over they both\nwent to a resort in the hills noted for its mineral springs, the woman\nhoping earnestly that the medicinal waters would improve her health and\nbring about the desired result.\n\nA year passed and the merchant's wife at last gave birth to a daughter.\nBoth parents rejoiced that the Gods had answered their prayers. They\nreared the child with great care, likening her to a precious gem held\ntenderly in both hands, and they named her Tama, the Jewel.\n\nAs an infant Tama gave promise of great beauty, and when she grew into\ngirlhood she more than fulfilled that promise. Their friends all\ndeclared that they had never seen such loveliness, and people compared\nher to a morning-glory, besprinkled with dew and glowing with the\nfreshness of a summer dawn.\n\nShe had a tiny mole on the side of her snowy neck. This was her sole\nand distinguishing blemish.\n\nTama, the Jewel, proved a gifted child. She acquired reading and\nthe writing of hieroglyphics with remarkable facility, and in all\nher studies was in advance of girls of her own age. She danced with\ngrace, and sang and played the _koto_ enchantingly, and she was also\naccomplished in the arts of flower-arrangement and the tea-ceremony.\n\nWhen she reached the age of sixteen her parents thought it was time\nto seek a suitable bridegroom for her. Very early marriages were\nthe custom of the day, and besides that her parents wished to see\nher happily established in life before they grew older. As she was\nthe only child, her husband would become the adopted son, and thus\nthe succession to the family would be secured. However, it proved\nexceedingly difficult to find anyone who would meet all their\nrequirements.\n\nNow it happened that near-by in a small house there lived a man by the\nname of Hayashi. He was a provincial _samurai_, but for some reason\nor other had left his Daimio's domain and settled in Yedo. His wife\nwas long since dead, but he had an only son whom he educated in the\nrefinements of the military class. The family was a poor one, for all\n_samurai_ were trained to hold poverty in high esteem; and to despise\ntrade and money-making.\n\nBoth father and son led simple lives and eked out their small patrimony\nby giving lessons in the reading of the classics and in calligraphy,\nand by telling fortunes according to the Confucian system of\ndivination. Both were respected by all who knew them for their learning\nand upright lives.\n\nAt the time this story opens the elder Hayashi had just died and the\nson, though only nineteen years of age, carried on his father's work.\n\nThe young man was strikingly handsome. Of the aristocratic type, with\nlong dark eyes, aquiline features and a pale, cream-like complexion, he\nattracted notice wheresoever he went, and though shabbily dressed he\nalways bore himself with great dignity. He was a musician and played\nthe flute with unusual skill, and the game of _go_[2] was his favourite\npastime, a taste which made him very popular with older men.\n\nHe often passed the rich merchant's house and Tama, the Jewel, noticed\nthe young man coming and going with his flute. Questioning her nurse,\nshe learned all there was to know about his history, his poverty, his\nscholarly attainments, his skill as a musician and the recent sorrow he\nhad sustained in the death of his father.\n\nBesides being attracted by his good looks, the beautiful Tama's\nheart went out in sympathy to the young man in his misfortune and\nloneliness, and she asked her mother to invite him to the house as her\nmusic-master, so that they might play duets together--he performing on\nthe flute to her accompaniment on the _koto_.\n\nThe mother consented, thinking the plan an excellent one, and the young\n_samurai_ became a frequent visitor in the merchant's house. Tama's\nfather was delighted when Hayashi proved to be an expert at _go_, and\noften asked him to come and spend the evening. As soon as dinner was\nover the merchant would order the chequer-board to be brought and\nHayashi was then invited to try his hand at a game.\n\nIn this way the intimacy deepened till by degrees the young man was\ntreated like a trusted member of the family.\n\nThe young master and pupil thus meeting day by day, presently fell in\nlove, for heart calls to heart when both are young and handsome and\nthe bond of similar tastes cements the friendship. Choosing themes and\nsongs expressive of love they communicated their sentiments to one\nanother through the romantic medium of music, and the two instruments\nblended in perfect harmony, the _koto's_ accompaniment giving an ardent\nresponse to the plaintive melody of the young man's flute, which wailed\nforth the hopeless passion consuming his soul for the lovely maiden.\n\n[Illustration: Tama's father was delighted when Hayashi proved to be an\nexpert at _go,_ and often asked him to come and spend the evening]\n\nTama's parents were totally unaware of all that was happening, but her\nnurse soon guessed the secret of the young couple. The woman, who\nloved her charge faithfully and devotedly, could not bear to see her\nunhappy, and foolishly helped the lovers to meet each other in secret.\nWith these unexpected opportunities they pledged themselves to each\nother for all their lives to come, and tried to think of some way by\nwhich they could obtain the old people's consent to their marriage. But\nHayashi guessed that the merchant was ambitious for his daughter, and\nknew that it was improbable that he would accept a son-in-law as poor\nand obscure as himself. So he postponed asking for her hand until it\nwas too late.\n\nAt this time a rich man whom Tama's parents deemed a suitable match for\ntheir daughter presented his proposals, and Tama was suddenly told that\nthey approved of the marriage and that she must prepare for the bridal.\n\nTama was overwhelmed with despair. That day Hayashi had promised to\ncome and play his favourite game with her father. The nurse contrived\nthat the lovers should meet first, and then Tama told Hayashi of\nthe alliance which had been arranged. Weeping, she insisted that an\nelopement was the only solution to their difficulties. He consented\nto escape to some distant place with her that very night. Gathering\nher in his arms he tried to still her sobbing, and Tama clung to him,\ndeclaring that she would die rather than be separated from him.\n\nThey were thus surprised by her mother, and their secret could no\nlonger be concealed. Tama was taken from him gently but firmly and\nshut up like a prisoner in one room. The vigilance of the parents being\nin this manner rudely awakened, the mother never allowed the girl out\nof her sight, and Hayashi was peremptorily forbidden the house.\n\nThe young man, fearing the wrath of her parents, went to live in\nanother part of the city, telling no one of his whereabouts.\n\nTama was inconsolable. She pined for her lover and soon fell ill.\nHer elaborate trousseau and the outfit for the bridal household was\ncomplete but the wedding ceremony had to be postponed.\n\nBoth parents became very anxious for, as the days went by, instead of\ngetting better their daughter visibly wasted away and sometimes could\nnot leave her bed, so weak did she become. To distract her mind they\ntook her to places of amusement like the theatre, or to gardens noted\nfor the blossoming of trees and flowers. Then finally they carried her\nto places like Hakone and Atami, hoping that the mineral baths and the\nchange of air and scene would cure her. But it was all to no purpose,\nTama grew worse in spite of the devotion lavished upon her. Seriously\nalarmed, the parents called in a doctor. He declared Tama's malady to\nbe love-sickness, and said that unless she were united to the man she\npined for that she might die.\n\nHer mother now begged the father to allow the marriage with Hayashi\nto take place. Though he was not the man of their choice in worldly\nposition, yet if their daughter loved him, it were better that she\nshould marry him than that she should die.\n\nBut now arose a difficulty of which they had not dreamed. Hayashi had\nmoved away no one knew whither, and all their frantic efforts to trace\nhim were fruitless.\n\nA year passed slowly by. When Tama was told that her parents had\nconsented to her marrying her beloved, she brightened up with the hope\nof seeing him again, and appeared to regain her health for a short\ntime. But as month followed month and he never came, the waiting and\nthe sickening disappointment proved too much for the already weakened\nframe of the young girl. She drooped and died just as she had attained\nher seventeenth birthday.\n\nIt was springtime when the sad event occurred. Hayashi had never\nforgotten the beautiful girl nor the vows they had mutually plighted,\nand he swore never to accept another woman as his wife. He longed for\nnews of Tama, but he realized how imprudent and blameable his conduct\nhad been in entering into a secret love-affair with a young girl, and\nhe feared that her father might kill him were he to return even for a\nsingle day to the vicinity. Weakly he told himself that she had in all\nprobability forgotten him by this time and was surely married to the\nman of her parents' choice.\n\nOne fine morning he went fishing on the Sumida river. When evening\nbegan to fall he turned homewards. As he sauntered along the river\nembankment, the water lapping softly and dreamily at his feet, he\nwas suddenly startled to see a girlish form coming towards him in the\nwavering shadows of declining day. Light as a summer zephyr she glided\nfrom under the arches of the blossom laden cherry-trees with the sunset\nflaming behind her. He remembered long afterward that she had seemed\nrather to float over the ground than to walk.\n\nTo his utter astonishment he at once recognized Tama, and his heart\nleapt with joy at sight of her. After the first salutations he\nlooked at her closely and congratulated her on her good health and\never-increasing beauty. He then asked her to tell him all that had\nhappened since they were cruelly parted.\n\nIn the saddest of tremulous voices Jewel answered: \"After you left the\nhouse my old and devoted nurse was dismissed for having helped us to\nmeet in secret. From that day to this I have never seen her, but she\nsent me word that she had returned to her old home.\"\n\n\"Then you are not married yet?\" asked Hayashi, his heart beating wildly\nwith hope as he interrupted her.\n\n\"Oh, no,\" replied Tama, looking at him strangely, \"do you think that I\ncould ever forget you? You are my betrothed forever, even after death.\nDo you not know that the dread of that marriage being forced upon me\nand my pining for you made me ill for a long time. Sympathizing with\nmy unhappiness, my parents broke off my engagement and then tried to\nfind you. But you had entirely disappeared leaving no trace behind.\nTo-day I started out, resolved to find you with the help of my old\nnurse. I am on my way to her now. How happy I am to find you thus. Will\nyou not take me to your house and show me where you live?\"\n\n[Illustration: He was suddenly startled to see a girlish form coming\ntowards him in the wavering shadows]\n\nShe then turned and walked with him as he led the way to their humble\ndwelling. Now that her parents had consented to her marrying him they\nneed not wait long, he told himself. How fortunate he was that he\nshould have gained such faithful and unchanging love as that of his\nbeautiful Tama.\n\nAs they went along exchanging blissful confidences as to their undying\nlove for one another, he told her of his oath never to wed another\nwoman for her dear sake.\n\nThey entered the house together, the nearness of her sweet presence\nthrilling him to his finger-tips. Impatiently he knelt to light\nthe lamp, placed ready on his low writing table, then with joy\ninexpressible at the anticipation of all that the future held for them,\nhe turned to speak to her.\n\nBut to his utter bewilderment Tama was gone. He searched the house and\ngarden, and with a lantern went and peered down the road, but she was\nnowhere to be seen. She had vanished as suddenly and mysteriously as\nshe had appeared.\n\nHayashi thought the incident more than strange; it was eerie in the\nextreme. Returning alone to his empty room, he shivered as a chill of\nforeboding seemed to penetrate his whole being, withering as with an\nicy breath the newly awakened impulses of hope and longing. A thousand\nrecollections of his love crowded upon him, and kept him tossing\nuneasily upon his pillow all through the night. With the first break of\ndawn he was no longer able to control his feverish anxiety for news of\nher, and rising hurriedly, he at once set out for Fukagawa.\n\nEagerly he hastened to the house of an old friend to make inquiries\nregarding the merchant's family and especially about Tama. To his\ndismay he learned that she had passed away but a few days before, and\nlistened with an aching heart to the account of her long illness. And\nhe knew that she had died for love of him.\n\nHe returned to his home stupefied with grief and tormented with\nself-reproach.\n\n\"Oh, Tama! Tama! My love!\" he cried aloud in his anguish, as he threw\nhimself down in his room and gave way to his despair. \"Had I but known\nof your illness I would have come to you. It was your spirit that\nappeared to me yesterday. Oh! come to me again! Tama! Tama!\"\n\nFor weeks he was ill, but when he recovered and was able to think\ncollectedly, he could not endure to live longer in such a world of\nmisery. He felt that he was responsible for the untimely death of the\nyoung girl. To escape from the insupportable sorrows of life he decided\nto enter a Buddhist monastery, and joined the order of itinerant monks\ncalled _Komuso_.[3]\n\nLike the monks in the middle ages in Europe the _Komuso_ enjoyed\nsanctuary. They were chiefly _samurai_ who wished to hide their\nidentity. Sometimes a breach of the law, such as the killing of a\nfriend, obliged the _samurai_ to cut the ties which bound him to his\nDaimio; sometimes a family blood-feud forced him to spend his years in\ntracking down his enemy; sometimes it was disgust of the world, sorrow\nor disappointment, as in the case of Hayashi: these various reasons\noften caused men to bury themselves out of remembrance in the remote\nlife of these wandering monks.\n\nThe _Komuso_ were always treated with great respect, they enjoyed the\nhospitality of inns and ships, and a free pass unquestioned across all\ngovernment barriers.\n\nThey wore the stole but not the cassock, and they did not shave their\nheads like the priesthood. They were distinguished by their strange\nheadgear, which was a wicker basket worn upside down, reaching as far\nas the chin and completely hiding the face. The rules of their order\nforbade them to marry, to eat meat, or to drink more than three cups\nof wine, and when on duty they might not take off their hats or bow\nto anyone, even to their parents. Outside these restrictions, though\nnominally priests, their lives were practically those of laymen,\nand when not on service they spent their time much as they liked in\npractising the military arts or in study.\n\nAs a mental discipline the _Komuso_ were under obligation to go out\ndaily to beg for alms, holding a bowl to receive whatever was bestowed\nupon them. They affected flute playing. This instrument was cut from\nthe stem nearest the root, the strongest part of the bamboo, and was\nthus able to serve a double purpose. It gave the monk, who carried\nnothing with him, the means of earning his daily food, and when\nnecessary was used as a weapon in self-defence.\n\nHayashi, being skilful with his flute, chose the life of the _Komuso_\nas being the best suited to him.\n\nBefore leaving Tokyo he visited the temple where his lost love was\nburied and knelt before her tomb. He dedicated his whole life to\npraying for the repose of her soul and for a happier rebirth. Her\n_kaimyo_ (death-name) he inscribed on heavy paper, and wheresoever he\nwent he carried this in a fold of his robe where it crossed his breast.\nIt was, and still is, the custom of the _Komuso_ to perform upon the\nflute as a devotional exercise at religious services.\n\nAs each year came round he always made his way to some tranquil spot\nand rested from his penitential wanderings on the anniversary of the\ndeath of Tama.\n\nStaying in an isolated room he then set up her _kaimyo_ in the alcove,\nand placing an incense burner before it, kindled the fragrant sticks\nand kept them alight from sunrise to sunset. Kneeling before this\ntemporary altar he took out his flute, and pouring the passionate\nbreath of his soul into the plaintive, quivering notes, he reverently\noffered the music to her sweet and tender spirit, remembering the\ndelight she had always taken in those melodies before the blossom of\ntheir love had been defrauded of its fruit of consummation by the\nblighting blast of interference.\n\n[Illustration: Hayashi visits the temple where his lost love was\nburied, and dedicates his whole life to praying for the repose of her\nsoul.]\n\nAnd gradually, as time went by, the burden of sorrow and the tumult of\nremorse slipped from his soul, and peace and serenity, the aftermath of\nsuffering, came to him at last.\n\nHe roamed all over the country for many years, and finally his\njourneyings brought him to the mountainous province of Koshu. It\nwas nightfall when he reached the district and he lost his way in\nthe darkness. Worn out with fatigue, he began to wonder where he\nshould pass the night, for no houses were to be seen far or near, and\neverywhere about him there was nothing but a heaping of hills and a\nwild loneliness.\n\nFor hours he strayed about, when at last, peering into the gloom far up\non the mountain side, a solitary light gleamed through the heavy mists.\nGreatly relieved he hastened towards it.\n\nAs soon as he knocked at the outer door of the cottage a ferocious\nlooking man appeared. When the stranger asked for a night's shelter he\nmorosely and silently showed him into the single room which, flanked\nby a small kitchen, comprised the whole dwelling. Hayashi, furtively\ngazing round him, noticed that there were no industrial implements to\nbe seen, but that in one corner were standing a sword and a gun.\n\nThe host clapped his hands. In answer to the call a young girl of about\nfifteen years of age appeared. He ordered her to bring the brazier and\nsome food for the guest. Then arming himself with his weapons, he left\nthe house.\n\nThe damsel waited on Hayashi attentively, and as she went to and fro\nfrom the kitchen she often glanced appealingly at him. Her attitude was\nthat of one frightened in submission, and Hayashi wondered how she came\nto be there, for, though begrimed with work, he could see that she was\nfair and comely, and her deportment was superior to her surroundings.\n\nWhen they were left alone the girl came and knelt before him, and\nbursting into tears sobbed out \"Whoever you may be I warn you to escape\nwhile there is yet time. That man whose hospitality you have accepted\nis a brigand and he will probably kill you in the hope of plunder.\"\n\nHayashi, with his heart full of compassion for the young girl, asked\nher how it was that she came to be living in so wild and desolate a\nplace, and the tale she told him was a pitiful one of wrong.\n\n\"My home is in the next province,\" she said, as she wiped away the\ntears with her sleeve. \"Just after my father's death this robber\nentered our house and demanded money of my mother. As she had none\nto give him he carried me away, intending to sell me into slavery.\nSoon after he brought me to this house, he was wounded on a marauding\nexpedition, and has since been confined to the house for a month. Thus\nit is that you find me here still. But he is now recovered and able to\ngo out once more. I implore you to take me with you, otherwise I shall\nnever see my mother again and my fate will be unendurable.\"\n\nBeing of a chivalrous nature Hayashi's heart burned within him at the\nsad plight of the little maid, and catching her up he fled out of the\nrobber's den into the night.\n\nAfter some time, when well away from the place, he set her down and\nthey walked steadily all night. By dawn they had crossed the boundary\nof Koshu and entered the neighbouring province. Once on the high road\nthe district was familiar to the girl and she gladly led the way to her\nown home.\n\nThe delight of the sorrowing mother on finding her kidnapped child\nrestored to her was great and unrestrained. She fell at his feet in a\npassion of gratitude and thanked him again and again.\n\nIn the meantime the rescued girl came to thank her deliverer.\nHayashi gazed at her in astonishment. Her appearance had undergone\nan extraordinary transformation. No longer the forlorn, neglected\ndrudge of the day before, a beautiful girl stood before him. And\nwonder of wonders! She was the living image of what his lost Tama\nhad been years ago. The tide of the past swept over him with its\nbitter-sweet memories, leaving him speechless and racked with the storm\nof his feelings. Not only was the likeness forcibly striking, but he\nalso beheld a little mark, the exact replica of the one he so well\nremembered on Tama's snowy neck.\n\nHe had thought that in the long years of hardship and renunciation of\nthe joys of life the tragic love of his youth lay buried, but the shock\nof the unmistakable resemblance left him trembling.\n\nIn a few minutes he was able to control his emotion and the power of\nspeech returned to him.\n\n\"Tell me,\" he said, turning to the mother, \"have you not some relatives\nin Tokyo? Your daughter is like one whom I knew many years ago, but who\nis now dead.\"\n\nThe woman regarded him searchingly and after a few moments of this\nclose scrutiny, she inquired:\n\n\"Are you not Hayashi who lived in Fukagawa fifteen years ago?\"\n\nHe was startled by the suddenness of the question, which showed that\nhis identity was revealed and that she knew of his past. He did not\nanswer but searched his brain, wondering who the woman could possibly\nbe.\n\nSeeing his embarrassment she continued, now and again wiping the tears\nfrom her eyes: \"When you came to the house I thought that your voice\nwas in some way quite familiar to me, but you are so disguised in your\npresent garb that at first I could not recall who you were.\n\n\"Fifteen years ago I served in the house of the rich timber merchant\nin Fukagawa and often helped O Tama San[4] to meet you in secret, for\nI felt great sympathy with you both, and if a day passed without her\nbeing able to see you, Oh! she was very unhappy. Her parents were\nfurious at the unwise part I had played and I was summarily dismissed.\nI returned home and was almost immediately married. Within a year I\ngave birth to a little daughter. The child bore a striking resemblance\nto my late mistress and I gave her the name of Jewel in remembrance\nof the beloved charge I had nursed and tended for so many years. As\nshe grew older not only her face and figure, but her voice and her\nmovements all vividly recalled O Tama San. Is not this an affinity of a\nprevious existence that my child should be saved by you who loved the\nfirst Tama?\"\n\nThen Hayashi, who had listened with rapt attention to the woman's\nstrange story, asked her the date of the infant's birth.\n\nMarvellous to relate it was the very day and hour, for ever indelibly\nengraven on his memory, that Tama, his first love, had appeared to him\non the bank of the Sumida river in the springtide fifteen years ago.\n\nWhen he told her of this uncanny meeting the woman said that she\nbelieved her daughter, the second Tama, to be the re-incarnation of\nthe first Tama. The apparition he had seen was the spirit of his love\nwho had thus announced her rebirth into the world to him. There could\nbe no doubt of this, for had not Tama told him herself that she was on\nher way to her old nurse. So strong was the affinity that bound them\nto each other that it had drawn Tama from the spirit-land back to this\nearth.\n\n\"Remember the old proverb, _the karma-relation is deep_,\" she added in\nconclusion.\n\nLater on she besought Hayashi to marry the second Tama, for she\nbelieved that only in this way would the soul of the first Tama find\nrest.\n\nBut Hayashi, thinking that the great difference in their present ages\nwas an obstacle to a happy union, refused on the score that he was\ntoo old and sad a man to make such a young bride happy. He decided,\nhowever, to stay on in the little household for a while, and to give\nany possible comfort and help to the old nurse whose loyal devotion to\nher mistress had figured so prominently and fatefully in his past.\n\nThus several months elapsed, bringing with them great and radical\nchanges in the land. The Restoration came to pass, and the new regime\nwas established with the Emperor instead of the Shogun at the helm of\nState. Schools were founded all over the country, and amongst many\nother old institutions the order of the _Komuso_ monks, to which\nHayashi belonged, was abolished by an edict of State.\n\nHayashi, during his stay in the village, had won his way into the\nhearts of the people and they now begged him to remain as teacher in\nthe new school, a position for which he was peculiarly fitted by the\nclassical education he had received from his father. He consented to\nthe proposition which solved the problem of his future, for under the\nnew laws it was forbidden him to return to his old life.\n\nThe mayor of the place was also much attracted by Hayashi's superior\ncharacter and dignity, and learning of the sad and romantic history of\nhis past, and believing, as all Japanese do, in predestined affinities,\npersuaded him that it was his fate, nay more, a debt he owed to the\npast, to marry Tama, the second, the re-incarnation of his first love.\n\nThe marriage proved a blessed one. The house of Hayashi prospered from\nthat day forth and as children were born to them the joy of their lives\nwas complete.\n\n\n\n[Footnote 1: The old name for Tokyo.]\n\n[Footnote 2: _Go_, a game played with black and white counters--more\ncomplicated than chess.]\n\n[Footnote 3: The sect was introduced from China in the Kamakura epoch\n(1200-1400), but it never became popular in the land of its adoption.\nUnder the Tokugawa Government (1700-1850) the _Komuso_ were used as\nnational detectives, but the privileges they enjoyed led to the abuse\nof the order by bad men, and it was abolished at the time of the\nRestoration. Later on the edict was rescinded, and these men in their\nstrange headgear may be seen to this day fluting their way about the\nold city of Kyoto.]\n\n[Footnote 4: In speaking women use the polite forms of speech, whereas\nmen drop them. The \"O\" is the honorific prefix to a woman's name and\n\"San\" or \"Sama\" is the equivalent of Mr. Mrs. or Miss according to the\ngender of the name. Nowadays high-class women drop the \"O\" before their\nindividual names, but add \"Ko\" after them. For instance, the name O\nTama San would now be Tama-Ko San.]\n\n\n\n\nTHE LADY OF THE PICTURE\n\n\nMany years ago, long before the present prosaic era, there lived in\nYedo a young man named Toshika. His family belonged to the aristocratic\nrank of the _hatamoto samurai_, those knights who possessed the right\nto march to battle directly under the Shogun's flag (_hata_), and his\nfather was a high official in the Tokugawa Shogunate.\n\nToshika, whose disposition was of a dreamy and indolent nature with\nscholarly tastes, had no occupation. He took life easily, and when his\nstudies were finished, he went to live at the family villa situated in\nthe suburb of Aoyama.\n\nToshika was not interested in society, and except for an occasional\nvisit to his home or to his favourite friend, he never went anywhere.\nFar from the world he spent his days quietly and pleasantly, reading\nbooks, tending and watering his flowers, practising the tea-ceremony,\nand composing poetry and playing on the flute. He was a young man of\nmany accomplishments and studied art. He collected curios and specimens\nof well-known calligraphy, which all Japanese prize greatly, and he\nparticularly delighted in pictures.\n\nOne day a certain friend whom Toshika had not seen for several months,\ncame to call upon him. He had just returned from a visit to the seaport\nof Nagasaki and knowing the young man's tastes had brought with him,\nas a present, a Chinese drawing of a beautiful woman, which he begged\nToshika to accept.\n\nToshika was very pleased with this acquisition to his treasures. He\nexamined the painting carefully, and though he could find no signature\nof the artist, his knowledge of the subject told him that it was\nprobably drawn by the well-known Chinese painter of the _Shin_ era.\n\nIt was the portrait of a young woman in the prime of youth, and Toshika\nfelt intuitively that it was a real likeness. The face was one of\nradiant loveliness, and the longer he gazed at it, the more the charm\nand fascination of it grew upon him. He carried it to his own room and\nhung it up in the alcove. Whenever he felt lonely he retired to the\nsolitude of his chamber, and sat for hours before the drawing, looking\nat it and even addressing it. As the days went by, gradually the\npicture seemed to glow with life and Toshika began to think of it as a\nperson. He wondered who the original of the portrait could have been,\nand said that he envied the artist who had been granted the happiness\nof looking upon her beauty.\n\nDaily the figure seemed more alive and the face more exquisite, and\nToshika, as he gazed in rapture upon it, longed to know its history.\nThe haunting pathos of the expression and the speaking wistfulness of\nthe dark soft eyes called to his heart like music and gave him no peace.\n\nToshika, in fact, became enamoured of the lovely image suspended\nin the alcove, and as the infatuation grew upon him he placed fresh\nflowers before it, changing them daily. At night he had his quilts[1]\nso arranged that the last thing he looked upon before closing his eyes\nin sleep was the lady of the picture.\n\nToshika had read many strange stories of the supernatural power of\ngreat artists. He knew that they were able to paint the minds of\nthe originals into their portraits, whether of human beings or of\ncreatures, so that through the spiritual force of the merit of their\nskill the pictures became endowed with life.\n\nAs the passion grew upon him the young lover believed that the spirit\nof the woman whom the portrait represented actually lived in the\npicture. As this thought formed itself in his mind he fancied that he\ncould see the gentle rise and fall of her breast in breathing, and that\nher pretty lips, bright as the scarlet pomegranate bud, appeared to\nmove as if about to speak to him.\n\nOne evening he was so filled with the sense of the reality of her\npresence that he sat down and composed a Chinese poem in praise of her\nbeauty.\n\nAnd the meaning of the high-flown diction ran something like this;\n\n    _Thy beauty, sweet, is like the sun-flower:_[2]\n    _The crescent moon of three nights old thy arched brows:\n    Thy lips the cherry's dewy petals at flush of dawn:_\n    _Twin flakes of fresh-fallen snow thy dainty hands._\n    _Blue-black, as raven's wing, thy clustering hair:_\n    _And as the sun half peers through rifts of cloud,_\n    _Gleams through thy robes the wonder of thy form._.\n    _Thy cheeks' dear freshness do bewilder me,_\n    _So pure, so delicate, rose-misted ivory:_\n    _And, like a sharp sword, pierce my breast_\n    _The glamour of thy dark eyes' messages_.\n\n    _Ah, as I gaze upon thy pictured form_\n    _I feel therein thy spirit is enshrined_,\n    _Surely thou liv'st and know'st my love for thee!_\n    _The one who unawares so dear a gift bestowed_\n    _Was verily the gods' own messenger_\n    _And sent by Heaven to link our souls in one_.\n\n    _'Tis sad that thou wert borne from thine own distant land_\n    _Far from thy race, and all who cherished thee;_\n    _Thy heart must lonely pine so far away,_\n    _In sooth thou need'st a mate to love and cherish thee._\n\n    _But sorrow not, my picture love,_\n    _For Time's care-laden wings will never dim thy brow_\n    _From poisoned darts of Fate so placidly immune;_\n    _Anguish and grief will ne'er corrode thy heart,_\n    _And never will thy beauty suffer change:_\n    _While earthly beings wither and decay_\n    _Sickness and care will ever pass thee by,_\n    _For Art can grant where Love is impotent,_\n    _And dowers thee with immortality_.\n\n    _Ah me! could the high gods but grant the prayer_\n    _Of my wild heart, and passionate desire!_\n    _Step down from out thy cloistered niche,_\n    _Step down from out thy picture on the wall!_\n    _My soul is thirsting for thy presence fair_\n    _To crown my days with rapture--be my wife!_\n    _How swift the winged hours would then pass by_\n    _In bliss complete, and lovers' ecstasy:_\n    _My life, dear queen, I dedicate to thee,_\n    _Ah! make it thus a thousand lives to me!_[3]\n\nToshika smiled to himself at the wild impossibility of his own chimera.\nSuch a hope as he had breathed to her and to himself belonged to the\nrealm of reverie, and not to the hard world of everyday life. Supposing\nthat beautiful creature to have ever lived and the portrait to be a\ntrue likeness of her, she must have died ages ago, long before ever he\nwas born.\n\nHowever, having written the poem carefully, he placed it above the\nscroll and read it aloud, apostrophizing the lady of the picture.\n\nIt was the delicious season of spring, and Toshika sat with the sliding\nscreens open to the garden. The fragrance of peach blossoms was wafted\ninto the room by the breath of a gentle wind, and as the light of\nday faded into a soft twilight, over the quiet and secluded scene a\ncrescent moon shed her tender jewel-bright radiance.\n\nToshika felt unaccountably happy, he could not tell why and sat alone,\nreading and thinking deep into the night.\n\nSuddenly, in the stillness of the midnight, a rustle behind him in the\nalcove caused him to turn round quickly.\n\nWhat was his breathless amazement to see that the picture had actually\ntaken life. The beautiful woman he so much admired detached herself\nfrom the paper on which she was depicted, stepped down on to the mats,\nand came gliding lightly towards him. He scarcely dared to breathe.\nNearer and nearer she approached till she knelt opposite to where he\nsat by his desk. Saluting him she bowed profoundly.\n\nThe ravishment of her beauty and her charm held him speechless. He\ncould not but look at her, for she was lovelier than anyone he had ever\nseen.\n\nAt last she spoke, and her voice sounded to him like the low, clear\nnotes of the nightingale warbling in the plum-blossom groves at\ntwilight.\n\n\"I have come to thank you for your love and devotion. Such a useless,\nugly[4] creature as myself ought not to be so audacious as to appear\nbefore you, but the virtue of your poem was irresistible and drew me\nforth. I was so moved by your sympathy that I felt I must tell you in\nperson of my gratitude for all your care and thought of me. If you\nreally think of me as you have written, let me stay with you always.\"\n\nToshika rejoiced greatly when he heard these words. He put out his\nhand and taking hers said, \"Ever since you came here I have loved you\ndearly. Consent to be my wife and we shall be happy evermore. Tell me\nyour name and who you are and where you come from.\"\n\nShe answered with a smile inexpressibly sweet, while the tears\nglistened in her eyes.\n\n\"My name is Shorei (Little Beauty). My father's name is Sai. He was\ndescended from the famous Kinkei. We lived in China at a place called\nKinyo. One day, when I was eighteen years of age, bandits came and made\na raid on our village and, with other fair women, carried me away.\nThus I was separated from my parents and never saw them more. For many\nmonths I was carried from place to place and led a wandering life.\nThen, alas! who could have foretold it, I was seized by bad men and\nsold into slavery. The sorrow, the anguish and the horror I suffered in\nmy helpless misery and homesickness you can never know. I longed every\nhour of the day for some tidings of my parents, for even now, I do not\nknow what became of them. One day an artist came to the house of my\ncaptivity and looking at all the women there, he praised my face and\ndescribed me as the Moon among the Stars. And he painted my picture and\nshowed it to all his friends. In that way I became famous, for everyone\ntalked of my beauty and came to see me. But I could not bear my life,\nand being delicate, my unhappy lot and the uncertainty of my father's\nand mother's fate preyed upon my mind, so that I sickened and died in\nsix months. This is the whole of my sad history. And now I have come to\nyour country and to you. This must be because of a predestined affinity\nbetween us.\"\n\nThe young man's heart was filled with compassion as he listened to the\nsorrowful tale of the unfortunate woman, who had told him all her woes.\n\nHe felt that he loved her more than ever and that he must make up with\nhis devotion for all the wretchedness she had suffered in the past.\n\nThey then began to compose poems together, and Toshika found that\nShorei had had a literary education, that she was an adept in\ncalligraphy and every kind of poetical composition. And his heart was\nfilled with a great gladness that he had found a companion after his\nown heart.\n\nThey both became intensely interested in their poetical contest and as\nthey composed they read their compositions aloud in turn, comparing\nand criticizing each other. At last, while Toshika was in the act of\nreciting a poem to Shorei, he suddenly awoke and found that he had been\ndreaming.\n\nUnable to believe that his delightful experiences were but the memories\nof sleep he turned to the alcove. His cherished picture was hanging\nthere and the lovely figure was limned as usual in living lines upon\nthe paper. Was it all a delusion? As he watched the exquisite face\nbefore him, recalling with questioning wonder the events of the evening\nbefore, behold! the sweet mouth smiled at him, just as Shorei had\nsmiled in his vision. Impatiently he waited for the darkness, hoping\nthat sleep would again bring Shorei to his side. Night after night she\ncame to him in his dreams, but of his happy adventure he spoke to none.\nHe believed that in some miraculous way the power of poetry had evoked\nthe spirit of the portrait. Centuries ago this ill-fated woman had\nlived and died an untimely death, and his love led her back to earth\nthrough the medium of an artist's skill and his own verse. Six months\npassed and Toshika desired nothing more in life than to possess Shorei\nas his bride for all the years to come.\n\n[Illustration: When I was eighteen years of age, bandits ... made a\nraid on one village and ... carried me away.]\n\nHe never dreamed of change, but at last, one night, Shorei came\nlooking very sad. She sat by his desk as was her wont, but instead of\nconversing or composing she began to weep.\n\nToshika was very troubled, for he had never seen her in such a mood.\n\n\"Tell me,\" he said anxiously, \"What is the matter? Are you not happy\nwith me?\"\n\n\"Ah, it is not that,\" answered Shorei, hiding her face in her sleeve\nand sobbing; \"never have I dreamed of such happiness as you have\ngiven me. It is because we are so happy that I cannot bear the pain\nof separation for a single night. But I must now leave you, alas! Our\naffinity in this world has come to an end.\"\n\nToshika could hardly believe her words. He looked at her in great\ndistress as he asked:\n\n\"Why must we part? You are my wife and I will never marry any other\nwoman. Tell me why you speak of parting?\"\n\n\"To-morrow you will understand,\" she answered mysteriously. \"We may\nmeet no more now, but if you do not forget me I may see you again ere\nlong.\"\n\nToshika had put out a hand and made as if to detain her, but she had\nrisen and was gliding towards the alcove, and while he imploringly\ngazed at her she gradually faded from his sight and was gone.\n\nWords cannot describe Toshika's despair. He felt that all the joy of\nlife went with Shorei, and he could not endure the idea of living\nwithout her.\n\nSlowly he opened his eyes and looked round the room. He heard the\nsparrows twittering on the roof, and in the light of dawn, as he\nthought, the night-lantern's flame dwindled to a fire-fly's spark.\n\nHe rose and rolled back the wooden storm-doors which shut the house in\ncompletely at night, and found that he had slept late, that the sun was\nalready high in the heavens.\n\nListlessly he performed his toilet, listlessly he took his meal, and\nhis old servants anxiously went about their work, fearing that their\nmaster was ill.\n\nIn the afternoon a friend came to call on Toshika. After exchanging the\nusual formalities on meeting, the visitor suddenly said:\n\n\"You are now of an age to marry. Will you not take a bride? I know of a\nlovely girl who would just suit you, and I have come to consult with\nyou on the matter.\"\n\nToshika politely but firmly excused himself. \"Do not trouble yourself\non my account, I pray you! I have not the slightest intention of\nmarrying any woman at present, thank you,\" and he shook his head with\ndetermination.\n\nThe would-be go-between saw from the expression of Toshika's face that\nthere was little hope in pressing his suit that day, so after a few\ncommonplace remarks he took his leave and went home.\n\nNo sooner had the friend departed than Toshika's mother arrived. She,\nas usual, brought many gifts of things that she knew he liked, boxes of\nhis favourite cakes and silk clothes for the spring season. Grateful\nfor all her love and care, he thanked her affectionately and tried to\nappear bright and cheerful during her visit. But his heart was aching,\nand he could think of nothing but of the loss of Shorei, wondering if\nher farewell was final, or whether, as she vaguely hinted, she would\ncome to him again. He said to himself that to hold her in his arms but\nonce again he would gladly give the rest of his life.\n\nHis mother noticed his preoccupation and looked at him anxiously many\ntimes. At last she dropped her voice and said:\n\n\"Toshika, listen to me! Your father and I both think that you have\narrived at an age when you ought to marry. You are our eldest son,\nand before we die we wish to see your son, and to feel sure that the\nfamily name will be carried on as it should be. We know of a beautiful\ngirl who will make a perfect wife for you. She is the daughter of an\nold friend, and her parents are willing to give her to you. We only\nwant your consent to the arrangement of the marriage.\"\n\nToshika, as his mother unfolded the object of her visit, understood the\nmeaning of Shorei's warning, and said to himself:\n\n\"Ah, this is what Shorei meant--she foresaw my marriage, for she said\nthat to-day I should understand; but she pledged herself at the same\ntime to see me again--it is all very strange!\"\n\nFeeling that his fate was come upon him he consented to his mother's\nproposal.\n\nShe returned home delighted. She had had little doubt of her son's\nconformance to his parents' wishes, for he had always been of a\ntractable disposition. In anticipation, therefore, of his consent to\nthe marriage, she had already bought the necessary betrothal presents,\nand the very next day these were exchanged between the two families.\n\nToshika, in the meantime, watched the picture day by day. This was his\nonly consolation, for Shorei, his beloved, visited him no more in his\ndreams. His life was desolate without her and his heart yearned for her\nsweet presence. Had it not been for her promise to come to him again he\nknew that he would not care to live. He felt, however, that she still\nloved him and in some way or other would keep her promise to him, and\nfor this waited. Of his approaching marriage he did not dare to think.\nHe was a filial son, and knew that he must fulfil his duty to his\nparents and to the family.\n\n[Illustration: When the bride was led into the room and seated opposite\nToshika, what was his bewildering delight to see that she was ... the\nlady-love of his picture]\n\nAs the days went by Toshika noticed that the picture lost by degrees\nits wonderful vitality. Slowly from the face the winning expression and\nfrom the figure the tints of life faded out, till at last the drawing\nbecame just like an ordinary picture. But he was left no time to pine\nover the mystery of the change, for a summons from his mother called\nhim home to prepare for the marriage. He found the whole household\nteeming with the importance of the approaching event. At last the\nmomentous day dawned.\n\nHis mother, proud of the product of her looms, set out in array his\nwedding robes, handwoven by herself. He donned them as in a dream, and\nthen received the congratulations of his relatives and retainers and\nservants.\n\nIn those old days the bride and bridegroom never saw each other till\nthe wedding ceremony. When the bride was led into the room and seated\nopposite Toshika, what was his bewildering delight to see that she was\nno stranger but the lady-love of his picture, the very same woman he\nhad already taken to wife in his dream life.\n\nAnd yet she was not quite the same, for when Toshika, a few days later,\njoyfully led her to his own home and compared her with the portrait,\nshe was even ten times more beautiful.\n\n\n[Footnote 1: The floor of the Japanese room is padded with special\ngrass mats over two inches thick. On these the bed quilts are laid out\nat night and packed away in cupboards in the daytime.]\n\n[Footnote 2: _Prumus Um\u00e9_, or Plum blossom, the Japanese symbol of\nwomanly virtue and beauty.]\n\n[Footnote 3: Rendered into English verse by my friend, Countess\nIso-ko-Mutsu.]\n\n[Footnote 4: It is a Japanese custom for a woman to speak thus\ndepreciatingly of herself.]\n\n[Illustration: Urasato's escape from the Yamana-Ya]\n\n\n\n\nURSATO, OR THE CROWN OF DAWN\n\n\nTHE POSITION AT THE OPENING OF THE STORY\n\n\nUrasato and Tokijiro are lovers. The child, Midori, is born of this\n_liaison_. Tokijiro is a _samurai_ in the service of a Daimyo, and has\ncharge of his lord's treasure department. He is a careless young man\nof a wild-oat-sowing disposition, and while entirely absorbed in this\nlove affair with Urasato, a valuable _kakemono_, one of the Daimyo's\nheirlooms, is stolen. The loss is discovered and Tokijiro, who is held\nresponsible, dismissed.\n\nTo give Tokijiro the means of livelihood so that he may pursue the\nquest of the lost treasure, Urasato sells herself to a house of\nill-fame, the Yamana-Ya by name, taking with her the child Midori, who\nis ignorant of her parentage. Kambei, the knave of a proprietor, is\nevidently a curio collector, and it is to be gathered from the context\nthat the unfortunate young couple have some suspicion--afterwards\njustified--that by some means or other he has obtained possession of\nthe _kakemono_--hence Urasato's choice of that particular house.\n\nTokijiro's one idea is to rescue Urasato, to whom he is devoted, but\nfor lack of money he cannot visit her openly, and Kambei, seeing in him\nan unprofitable customer, and uneasy about the picture, for which he\nknows Tokijiro to be searching, forbade him the house, and persecutes\nUrasato and Midori to find out his whereabouts, in order, probably,\nthat he may have him quietly put out of the way.\n\nAs in all these old love stories the hero is depicted as a weak\ncharacter, for love of women was supposed to have an effeminizing and\ndebasing effect on men and was greatly discouraged among the _samurai_\nby the feudal Daimyo of the martial provinces. On the other hand,\nthe woman, though lost, having cast herself on the altar of what she\nconsiders her duty--the Moloch of Japan--often rises to sublime heights\nof heroism and self-abnegation, a paradox only found, it is said, in\nthese social conditions of Japan. Urasato reminds one of the beautiful\nsimile of the lotus that raises its head of dazzling bloom out of the\nslime of the pond--so tender are her sentiments, so strong and so\nfaithful in character is she, in the midst of misery and horror.\n\nThis recitation, freely rendered into English from the chanted drama,\ntells the story of Urasato's incarceration, of the lover's stolen\ninterviews, of the inadvertent finding of the picture, and of Urasato's\nand Midori's final escape from the dread Yamana-Ya.\n\n\n\n\nURSATO, OR THE CROW OF DAWN[1]\n\n\nThe darkness was falling with the tender luminosity of an eastern\ntwilight over the house; the sky was softly clouding, and a gentle wind\nsprang up and sighed through the pine-trees like a lullaby--the hush\nthat comes at the end of the day with its promise of rest was over all\nthe world, but in spite of the peaceful aspect of nature and of her\nsurroundings, Urasato, as she came from her bath robed in _cr\u00eape_ and\nsilken daintiness, felt very unhappy. To her world the night brought no\npeace or rest, only accumulated wretchedness and woe.\n\nMidori, her little handmaid, followed her fair mistress upstairs, and\nas Urasato languidly pushed open the sliding screens of her room and\nsank upon the mats, Midori fetched the tobacco tray with its tiny\nlacquer chest and miniature brazier all aglow, and placed it by her\nside.\n\nUrasato took up her little pipe, and with the weed of forgetfulness\nlulled for a while the pain of longing and loneliness which filled her\nheart. As she put the tobacco in the tiny pipe-bowl and smoked it in\none or two whiffs and then refilled it again, the tap, tap of the pipe\non the tray as she emptied the ashes were the only sounds, interluded\nwith sighs that broke the stillness. \"Kachi,\" \"Kachi,\" \"Kachi\" sounded\nthe little pipe.\n\nTokijiro, waiting hopelessly outside the fence in the cold, could not\nso forget his misery. He kept in the shadow so as not to be seen by the\nother inmates of the house, for if he were discovered he would lose\nall chance of seeing Urasato that evening and, perhaps, for ever. What\nmight happen if these secret visits were discovered he dared not think.\nTo catch one glimpse of her he loved he had come far through the snow,\nand after losing his way and wandering about for hours, he now found\nhimself outside the house, and waited, tired and cold and miserable, by\nthe bamboo fence.\n\n\"Life,\" said Tokijiro, speaking to himself, \"is full of change like a\nrunning stream. Some time ago I lost one of my lord's treasures, an\nold and valuable _kakemono_ of a drawing of a _garyobai_ (a plum-tree\ntrained in the shape of a dragon). I ought to have taken more care\nof the property entrusted to me. I was accused of carelessness and\ndismissed. Secretly I am searching for it, but till now I have found\nno clue of the picture. I have even brought my troubles to Urasato,\nand made her unhappy about the lost treasure. Alas! I cannot bear to\nlive longer. If I cannot see Urasato I will at least look upon little\nMidori's face once more and then take leave of this life for ever. The\nmore I think, the more our mutual vows seem hopeless. My love for this\nimprisoned flower has become deeper and deeper, and now, alas! I cannot\nsee her more. Such is this world of pain!\"\n\nWhile Tokijiro thus soliloquized outside in the snow, Urasato in the\nroom was speaking to her child-attendant, Midori.\n\n\"Midori, tell me, are you sure no one saw my letter to Toki Sama\nyesterday?\"\n\n\"You need have no anxiety about that, I gave it myself to Toki\nSama,\"[2] answered Midori.\n\n\"Hush,\" said Urasato, \"you must not talk so loudly--some one might\noverhear you!\"\n\n\"All right,\" whispered the little girl, obediently. Leaving Urasato's\nside she walked over to the balcony and looking down into the garden\nshe caught sight of Tokijiro standing outside the fence.\n\n\"There, there!\" exclaimed Midori, \"there is Toki Sama outside the\nfence.\"\n\nWhen Urasato heard these words joy filled her breast, a smile spread\nover her sad face, her languor vanished, and rising quickly from her\nseat on the mats, she glided to the balcony and placing her hands on\nthe rail leaned far out so that she could see Tokijiro.\n\n\"Oh! Tokijiro San,\" she exclaimed, \"you have come again at last, how\nglad I am to see you!\"\n\nTokijiro, on hearing her voice calling him, looked up through the pine\nbranches and the tears sprang to his eyes at sight of her, for into\nthe depths of love their hearts sank always deeper and the two were\nfettered each to each with that bond of illusion which is stronger than\nthe threat of hell or the promise of heaven.\n\n\"Oh!\" said Urasato, sadly, \"what can I have done in a former life that\nthis should be insupportable without the sight of you? The desire to\nsee you only increases in the darkness of love. At first, a tenderness,\nit spread through my whole being, and now I love--I love. The things\nI would tell you are as great in number as the teeth of my comb, but\nI cannot say them to you at this distance. When you are absent I must\nsleep alone, instead of your arm my hand the only pillow, while my\npillow is wet with tears longing for you,--if only it were the pillow\nof _Kantan_[3] I could at least dream that you were by my side. Poor\ncomfort 'tis for love to live on dreams!\"\n\nAs she spoke, Urasato leaned far out over the balcony, the picture of\nyouth, grace and beauty, her figure supple and fragile as a willow\nbranch wafted to and fro by a summer breeze, and about her an air of\nthe wistful sadness of the rains of early spring.\n\n[Illustration: As she spoke, Urasato leaned far out over the balcony,\nthe picture of youth, grace and beauty.]\n\n\"Oh! Urasato!\" said Tokijiro, sadly, \"the longer I stay here the worse\nit will be for you. If we are discovered not only you, but Midori also\nwill be punished, and as she does not know all how unhappy she will be,\nand what will you do then. Oh! misery!\"\n\nUrasato, overcome with the bitterness of their troubles and the\nhopelessness of their situation, and as if to shield Midori,\nimpulsively drew the child to her and, embracing her with tenderness,\nburst into tears.\n\nThe sound of footsteps suddenly startled them both. Urasato\nstraightened herself quickly, pushed the child from her, and wiped\naway her tears. Midori, always clever and quick-witted, rolled a piece\nof paper into a ball and threw it quickly over the fence. It was a\npre-arranged signal of danger. Tokijiro understood and hid himself out\nof sight. The screen of the room was pushed aside and not the dreaded\nproprietor nor his shrew of a wife, but the kindly and indispensable\nhair-dresser, O[4] Tatsu, appeared.\n\n\"Oh, courtezan,\" said the woman, \"I fear that I have kept you waiting.\nI wanted to come earlier, but I had so many customers that I could not\nget away before. As soon as I could do so I left and came to you ...\nbut, Urasato Sama, what is the matter? You have a very troubled face\nand your eyes are wet with tears ... are you ill? Look here, Midori,\nyou must take better care of her and give her some medicine.\"\n\n\"I wanted her to take some medicine,\" said Midori, \"but she said she\nwould not.\"\n\n\"I have always disliked medicine and, as Midori tells you, I refused to\ntake any. I don't feel well to-day, O Tatsu. I don't know why, but I\ndon't even wish to have the comb put through my hair--so I won't have\nmy hair dressed now, O Tatsu, thank you.\"\n\n\"Oh,\" answered O Tatsu, \"that is a pity--your hair needs putting\nstraight--it is very untidy at the sides; let me comb it back and you\nwill then feel better yourself, too--\"\n\n\"O Tatsu,\" said Urasato, hopelessly; \"you say so, but--even if the\ngloom that weighs down my spirit were lifted and my hair done up and\nput straight both would fall again, and knowing this, I am unhappy.\"\n\n\"Oh,\" replied O Tatsu, \"the loosened hair-knot which troubles you is my\nwork--come to the dressing-table ... come!\"\n\nUrasato could not well refuse the kindly woman and reluctantly allowed\nherself to be persuaded. She sat down in front of the mirror, but her\nheart was outside the fence with Tokijiro, and to wait till the woman\nhad done her work was a torture to her.\n\n\"Listen to me,\" said O Tatsu, as she took her stand behind Urasato\nand with deft fingers put the disordered coiffure to rights, \"people\ncannot understand the feelings of others unless they have themselves\nsuffered the same conditions. Even I, in past times, was not quite as I\nam now. It seems foolish to speak of it, but I always feel for you. If\nyou deign to listen to me I will tell you my story. Even such an ugly\nwoman as I am--there is a proverb you know, that says 'Even a devil at\neighteen is fascinating' (_oni mo juhachi_)--has had her day, and so\nthere was someone who loved even me, and he is now my husband,\" and\nO Tatsu laughed softly, \"ho-ho-ho.\" \"Well, we plighted our vows and\nloved more and more deeply. At last he was in need of money and came to\nborrow of me, saying 'Lend me two _bu!_'[5] or 'Lend me three _bu!_'\nusing me in those days only as his money-box. It must have been because\nour fate was determined in our previous life that I did not give him\nup. I let things go because I loved him. Youth does not come twice in a\nlife-time. He was in great distress and I sold all my clothes to help\nhim till my _tansu_[6] were empty, and then I filled them with his\nlove letters. Things came to such a pass that we thought of committing\nsuicide together. But a friend who knew what we were about to do\nstopped us, and so we are alive to this day. But things have changed\nsince then, and now, when there is some small trouble, my husband tells\nme he will divorce me, and there are times when I feel I hate him and\ndon't want to work for him any more. There is a proverb that 'the love\nof a thousand years can grow cold,' and it is true. Experience has\ntaught me this.\"\n\n[Illustration: O Tatsu ... took her stand behind Urasato and with deft\nfingers put the disordered coiffure to rights]\n\n\"O Tatsu Sama,\" answered Urasato, \"in spite of all you say, I have no\none to love me in this wide world, such an unfortunate creature as I\nam, so devotedly as you loved him.\"\n\n\"You may think thus now,\" said O Tatsu, \"for you have reached the age\nof love's prime. I know that people in love's despair often cut short\ntheir own lives, but while you have Midori to think of you cannot, you\nmust not, commit suicide. Duty and love exist only while there is life.\nOh dear, I have talked so much and so earnestly that I have forgotten\nto put in the _tsuto-naoshi_,\" and with the last finishing touches O\nTatsu put in the pincer-like clasp which holds together the stray hair\nat the nape of the neck.\n\nUrasato's eyes were dry, though her heart was full of sympathy and\nsorrow as she listened to O Tatsu's kind words of sympathy, and as a\nbedimmed mirror so was her soul clouded with grief. Midori, touched by\nthe sad conversation, dropped tears as she flitted about over the mats,\nputting away the comb box here and a cushion straight there.\n\n\"Well,\" said O Tatsu, as she bowed to the ground and took her leave,\n\"I am going yonder to the house of Adzumaya, good-bye!\" and with these\nwords she glided down the stairs and went out by the side door. Looking\nback as she did so, she called to Midori:\n\n\"Look here, Midori, I am going out by the side gate instead of by the\nkitchen--will you please fasten it after me.\" With these words she\nseized the astonished Tokijiro, who was hiding in the shadow, pushed\nhim inside and shut the gate (_pattari_) with a snap. With an unmoved\nface as if nothing unusual had occurred, O Tatsu put up her umbrella,\nfor snow had begun to fall, lighted her little lantern and pattered\naway across the grounds without once looking back.\n\nThus, through the compassionate help of another, Tokijiro was at last\nenabled to enter the house. He ran upstairs quickly, and entering the\nroom, caught hold of Urasato's hand.\n\n\"Urasato! I cannot bear our lot any longer. I cannot bear to live away\nfrom you--at last I am able to tell you how I long to die with you\nsince we cannot belong to each other any longer. But if we die together\nthus, what will become of poor little Midori. What misery--oh, what\nmisery! No--no--I have it; you shall not die--I alone will die; but oh!\nUrasato, pray for the repose of my soul!\"\n\n\"That would be too pitiless,\" said Urasato, while the tears fell like\nrain from her eyes, \"if you die to-night what will become of our\nfaithful little Midori and myself left behind? Let parents and child\ntake hands to-night and cross the river of death together. We will not\nseparate now, oh, no--no! Oh! Tokijiro San! you are too cruel to leave\nus behind.\"\n\nSome one was now heard calling from below.\n\n\"Urasato Sama! Urasato Sama!\" said a loud harsh voice, \"come\ndownstairs--you are wanted quickly, quickly--come!\"\n\nThen the sound of a woman's feet as she began to ascend the stairs\nreached the three inmates of the room.\n\nUrasato's heart beat wildly and then seemed to stop with fright. Quick\nas a flash of lightning she hid Tokijiro in the _kotatsu_[7] and\nMidori, with her usual quick-wittedness, fetched the quilt and covered\nhim over. Then she glided to the other side of the room. All this was\nthe work of a moment.\n\n\"O Kaya San,\" said Urasato, \"what is the matter? What are you making\nsuch a fuss about? What do you want with me now?\"\n\n\"Oh! Urasato,\" answered the woman as she entered the room, \"you pretend\nnot to know why I call you. The master has sent for you--Midori is to\ncome with you--such is his order!\"\n\nUrasato made no answer, but followed O Kaya, who had come to fetch\nher. Anxiety for Tokijiro hidden in the _kotatsu_, and fear concerning\nwhat the sudden summons might mean made her heart beat so that she\nknew not what to do. Both she and Midori felt that the woman was like\na torturing devil driving them along so much against their will--they\nseemed to feel her fierce eyes piercing them through from behind.\n\nO Kaya led them across the garden to another part of the house. The\nsoft twilight had been succeeded by a dreary night. It was February and\nthe night wind blew sharp and chill--the last snow of winter weighed\ndown the bamboos; while, like an emblem of courage and strength in the\nmidst of adversity, the odour of early plum blossoms hung upon the air.\nOvercome with anxiety, Urasato felt only the chill, and fear of the\nnight spread through her whole being. She started and shivered when\nbehind her Midori's clogs began to echo shrilly, like the voices of\nmalicious wood-sprites in the trees laughing in derision at her plight.\nHer heart grew thin with pain and foreboding. \"Karakong,\" \"karakong,\"\nsounded the clogs, as they scraped along. \"Ho, ho, ho!\" mocked the\nechoing sprites from the bamboo wood.\n\nThey reached the veranda of the house on the other side of\nthe quadrangle. O Kaya pushed open the _shoji_ disclosing the\ngrizzled-headed master, Kambei, seated beside the charcoal brazier\nlooking fierce and angry. When Urasato and Midori saw him, their heart\nand soul went out with fear as a light in a sudden blast.\n\nUrasato, however, calmed herself, and sitting down outside the room on\nthe veranda, put her hands to the floor and bowed over them. The master\nturned and glared at her.\n\n\"Look here, Urasato,\" said he, \"I have nothing but this to ask you.\nHas that young rascal Tokijiro asked you for anything out of this\nhouse--tell me at once--is such the case? I have heard so--tell me the\ntruth!\"\n\nUrasato, frightened as she was, controlled herself and answered quietly:\n\n\"Such are the master's honourable words, but I have no remembrance of\nanyone asking me for anything whatsoever.\"\n\n\"Um,\" said the master, \"I shan't get it out of you so easily I see,\"\nthen turning to O Kaya, he said, \"Here, O Kaya, do as I told you--tie\nher up to the tree in the garden and beat her till she confesses.\"\n\nO Kaya rose from the mats and catching hold of the weeping Urasato\ndragged her up and untied and pulled off her girdle. The woman then\ncarried the slender girl into the garden and bound her up with rope\nto a rough-barked, snow-covered pine-tree, which happened to be just\nopposite Urasato's room. O Kaya, lifting a bamboo broom threateningly,\nsaid, \"Sa! Urasato, you won't be able to endure this--therefore make\na true confession and save yourself. How can you be faithful to such\na ghost of a rascal as Tokijiro? I have warned you many times, but in\nspite of all advice you still continue to meet him in secret. Your\npunishment has come at last--but it is not my fault, so please do not\nbear me any resentment. I have constantly asked the master to pardon\nyou. To-night, out of pity, I begged him to let you off, but he would\nnot listen. There is no help for it, I must obey my orders. Come,\nconfess before you are beaten!\"\n\nSo O Kaya scolded and entreated Urasato; but Urasato made no reply--she\nonly wept and sobbed in silence.\n\n\"You are an obstinate girl!\" said O Kaya, and she lifted the broom to\nstrike.\n\nMidori now rushed forward in an agony of distress and tried to ward off\nthe blow about to fall on her beloved mistress. O Kaya flung the child\naway with her left arm, and bringing the broom down, began to beat\nUrasato mercilessly till her dress was disarranged and her hair fell\ndown in disorder about her shoulders.\n\nMidori could bear the sight no longer. She became frantic, and running\nto the wretched Kambei, lifted praying hands to him: then back again\nshe darted to catch hold of O Kaya's dress, crying out to both:\n\"Please, forgive her; oh, please, forgive her! Don't beat her so, I\nimplore you!\"\n\nO Kaya, now fully exasperated, seized the sobbing child.\n\n\"I will punish you too,\" and tied Midori's hands behind her back.\n\nTokijiro, looking down from the balcony of Urasato's room, had been a\ndistraught and helpless spectator of the whole scene of cruelty in the\ngarden. He could now no longer restrain himself and was about to jump\nover the balcony to the rescue. But Urasato happened at that moment to\nlook up and saw what he intended doing. She shook her head and managed\nto say, unheard by the others:\n\n\"Ah! this, for you to come out, no, no, no!\"\n\nThen, as O Kaya came back from tying up Midori, she quickly added to\nher, \"No, I mean you who have tied up Midori, you must be pitying\nher, you must be, O Kaya San--but in the presence of the master for\nthat reason it won't do! It won't do!\" and here she spoke, purposely,\nincoherently to O Kaya, while she signed to Tokijiro with her eyes that\nhe must not come out--that her words were meant for him under cover of\nbeing addressed to O Kaya.\n\nTokijiro knew that he could do nothing--he was utterly powerless to\nhelp Urasato, and if he obeyed his first impulse and jumped down into\nthe garden he would only make matters a thousand times worse than they\nwere, so he went back to the _kotatsu_, and bit the quilt and wept with\nimpotent rage.\n\n\"She is suffering all this for my sake--oh! Urasato! oh! oh! oh!\"\n\nKambei had now reached Urasato's side, and catching hold of her by the\nhair, said in a big voice, \"Does not your heart tell you why you are so\nchastized? It is ridiculous that Tokijiro should come in search of the\n_kakemono_ that was entrusted to me. Ha! you look surprised. You see I\nknow all. Look! Isn't the picture hanging there in my room? I allow no\none so much as to point a finger at it--Sa! Urasato, I am sure Tokijiro\nasked you to get him that--come--speak the truth now?\"\n\n\"I have never been asked to steal any such thing,\" answered Urasato,\nsobbing.\n\n\"Oh, you obstinate woman--will nothing make you confess? Here,\nMidori--where is Tokijiro? Tell me that first?\"\n\n\"I don't know,\" answered Midori.\n\n\"There is no reason why Midori should know what you ask,\" said Urasato,\ntrying to shield the child.\n\n\"Midori is always with you,\" said Kambei--\"and she must know,\" and\nturning to Midori he struck her, saying: \"Now confess--where is\nTokijiro hiding now?\"\n\n\"Oh, oh, you hurt me,\" cried the child.\n\n\"Well, confess then,\" said the cruel man, \"then I won't hurt you any\nmore!\"\n\n\"Oh ... Urasato,\" cried Midori, turning to her--\"entreat the master to\npardon me--if he kills me, before I die I can never meet my father whom\nI have never seen.\"\n\nTokijiro, upstairs in the balcony, heard all that was going on and\nmurmured:\n\n\"That is, indeed, natural, poor child.\"\n\nBut Kambei, unaware that he was heard and seen, beat the child again\nand again.\n\n\"I can't make out what you say, little creature,\" he screamed with\nrage. \"You shall feel the weight of this _tekki_[8] then we shall see\nif you will still not answer what is asked you.\"\n\nUnder this hell-like torture Midori could scarcely breathe. The poor\nchild tried to crawl away, but as she was bound with rope, she was\nunable to do so.\n\nThe cruel man once more caught hold of her roughly by the shoulder and\nbegan to beat her again. At last the child gave a great cry of pain,\nlost consciousness, and fell back as though dead.\n\nKambei was now alarmed at what he had done, for he had no intention\nof killing the child--only of making her tell him where Tokijiro was\nliving or hiding. He stopped beating her and stood on one side, angry\nenough at being thwarted by Urasato and Midori.\n\nUrasato raised her head and moaned to herself as she looked at the\nprostrate child.\n\n\"I am really responsible for the child's suffering,\" she said to\nherself--\"my sin is the cause of it all; forgive me, my child--you know\nit not, but I am your mother; and although you are only a child you\nhave understood and helped me. You saw that I was in love and always\nanxious about my lover. This is from a fault in your former life that\nyou have such a mother--ah! this is all, alas, fruit of our sins in\nanother existence,\" and Urasato's tears flowed so fast that, like\nspring rain, they melted the snow upon which they fell.\n\nO Kaya now came up to her, saying,\n\n\"What an obstinate creature you are! If you don't confess you shall\nwander in company with your child to the _Meido_,\"[9] and with these\nwords she raised her broom to strike.\n\nHikoroku, the clerk of the house, now came running upon the scene. He\nhad fallen in love with Urasato and had often pressed his suit in vain.\nWhen he saw how matters stood he pushed O Kaya away.\n\n\"You are not to help Urasato!\" screamed O Kaya, angrily.\n\n\"Go away, go away,\" said Hikoroku, \"this punishment is the clerk's\nwork--though I am only a humble servant, however humble I am I don't\nneed your interference.\"\n\nThen Hikoroku turned to Kambei and said apologetically.\n\n\"Excuse me, master, I have something to say to you; the matter is\nthis--that dear Urasato--no, I mean Midori and Urasato--I never forget\nthem, oh, no, no! I know their characters--they are good-hearted. This\npunishment is the clerk's work. If you will only leave Urasato to me\nI shall be able to make her confess. I am sure I can manage her. If\nyou will make me responsible for making Urasato confess, I shall be\ngrateful.\"\n\nKambei nodded his head, he was already tired, and said:\n\n\"Um--I would not allow anyone else to do this, but as I trust you\nHikoroku, I will let you do it for a while; without fail you must\nmake her confess, I will rest,\"--and with these words he went into\nthe house, intending to put the blame on Hikoroku if his regulation\nsuffered because of his treatment of Urasato.\n\nHikoroku accompanied his master to the house and bowed low as he\nentered. He then came back to Urasato.\n\n\"Did you hear what the master said? Did he not say that he would not\nentrust this to anyone else but _me_--only to me--Hikoroku--don't you\nsee what a fine fellow I am? If only you had listened to me before you\nneed never have suffered so--I would have helped you, Urasato San!\nPerhaps you suspect me as being to blame for all this; but no--indeed,\nI am not--you and I are living in another world. Will you not listen to\nme--Urasato San?--but oh!--you have a different heart--oh! what am I to\ndo?\" and he placed his hands palm to palm and lifted them despairingly\nupwards to Urasato, shaking them up and down in supplication.\n\nO Kaya had been listening to Hikoroku, for she was in love with him\nherself and was always jealous of the attention he paid to Urasato.\nShe now came up and said, as she shrugged her shoulders from side to\nside: \"Now Hikoroku Sama--what are you doing? What are you saying?\nNotwithstanding your promise to the master to make Urasato confess,\nyou are now talking to her in this way. Whenever you see Urasato you\nalways act like this without thinking of me or my feelings for you. I\nam offended--I can't help it! You will probably not get her to confess\nafter all. Well--I will take your place, so go away!\"\n\nAs O Kaya came up to Hikoroku he pushed her away, saying:\n\n\"No, never! You shall not hurt her--this is not your business--the\nmaster has entrusted it to me. As for you, it is ridiculous that you\nshould love me. How ugly you are! Ugh!--your face is like a lion's. Are\nyou not ashamed. Before the master I have no countenance left when I\nthink of what you say to me. Now then--go away O Kaya--I am going to\nuntie poor Urasato!\"\n\nO Kaya tried to push Hikoroku away. Hikoroku took up the broom and beat\nher without caring how much he hurt her. Mercilessly did he continue\nto beat her till she was overcome and, falling down on the snow, lay\nstunned for some time to come.\n\nHaving thus got rid of O Kaya, Hikoroku quickly released Urasato and\nMidori. As he lifted the child up she opened her eyes.\n\n\"Ya, ya! Are you still there, mother?\"\n\nDid Midori know that Urasato was her mother, or on returning to\nconsciousness was it instinct or affection that made her use the tender\nname?\n\nWhen she heard Midori's voice, Urasato felt that she must be in a\ndream, for she had feared that the child had been killed by Kambei's\nbeating.\n\n\"Are you still alive?\" she exclaimed, and caught the child in her arms\nwhile tears of joy fell down her pale cheeks.\n\nHikoroku looked on with a triumphant face, for he was pleased at what\nhe had done.\n\n\"Urasato Sama, you must run away, and now that I have saved you both\nI can't stay here. I, too, shall be tied up and punished for this. I\nshall run away, too! Well, it is certainly better to escape with you\nthan to remain here. Let us flee together now. Come with me. I must get\nmy purse, however, before I go. Please wait here till I come back with\nmy small savings--then I can help you; don't let anyone find you,\" and\nwithout waiting for Urasato's answer Hikoroku ran into the house.\n\nUrasato and Midori stood clasping each other under the pine tree. They\nwere shaking with cold and fatigue and pain. Suddenly a sound made them\nlook up. Tokijiro suddenly stood before them. He had climbed out on to\nthe roof, and walking round the quadrangle, had reached the spot where\nthey stood and then let himself down by the pine-tree. When the two saw\nhim they started for joy.\n\n\"Oh,\" said Urasato, scarcely able to make herself heard, \"how did you\nget here, Tokijiro?\"\n\n\"Hush,\" said Tokijiro, \"don't speak so loudly. I have heard and seen\nall--oh! my poor Urasato, it has caused me much pain to think that\nyou have suffered so much because of me; but in the midst of all this\nmisery there is one thing over which we can rejoice. As soon as I\nheard what Kambei said about the _kakemono_ I crept downstairs and\ninto the room he pointed out, and there I found my lord's long-lost\npicture. Look, here it is! I have it safe at last. The very one drawn\nby Kanaoka. Someone must have stolen it. I am saved at last--I am\nthankful. I shall be received back into my lord's service--I owe this\nto you, and I shall never forget it as long as I live.\"\n\nFootsteps were heard approaching, Tokijiro hid himself behind a post of\nthe gate. He was only just in time.\n\nHikoroku came stumbling along across the garden from the other side of\nthe house.\n\n\"Here, here, Urasato San, we can now fly together--I have got my\nmoney--we can get out by the gate. Wait another moment, I will steal in\nand get the picture for you.\"\n\nAs soon as Hikoroku had gone again Tokijiro rushed forward, and seizing\nUrasato and Midori by the hand, hurried them out of the garden. Once\noutside they felt that they had escaped from the horror and death of\nthe tiger's mouth.\n\nHikoroku, not being able to find the picture, hastened back to the spot\nwhere he had left Urasato, when he ran into O Kaya, who had recovered\nconsciousness, and now picked herself up from the ground somewhat\nbewildered and wondering what had happened.\n\n\"Are you Hikoroku? Are you Hikoroku?\" she exclaimed, and caught him in\nher arms.\n\nCatching sight of her face, Hikoroku cried out with disgust and horror.\n\n\"Ya! Avaunt evil! Avaunt devil!\"\n\nThe three fugitives outside the gate heard Hikoroku's exclamation.\nTokijiro caught up Midori and put her on his back. Then he and Urasato\ntaking each other by the hand ran away as fast as they could. The\ndawn began to break and the birds to sing as they left the dread place\nbehind them. From far and near the crows began to wing their way across\nthe morning sky.\n\nHitherto _the crow of dawn_ had parted them--it now united them.\nThinking of this, Tokijiro and Urasato looked at each other with eyes\nbrimming over with tears, yet shining with the light of new-born hope.\n\n\n\n[Footnote 1: The Crow of Dawn, or _Akegarasu_, another name for the\nstory of _Urasato_. _Akegarasu_, literally rendered means \"Dawn-Crow.\"\nIt is an expression which typifies the wrench of parting at daybreak\nwhich lovers like Tokijiro and Urasato experience, when dawn comes\nheralded by the croak of a crow (_karasu_) flying across the half-lit\nsky--a sign that the time for the two to separate has come.\n\nThis story is taken from the _Gidayu_ or musical drama, in which the\nchanter mimes the voices and actions of the many different characters\nto an accompaniment on the _samisen_ (guitar or banjo).]\n\n[Footnote 2: Sama, a title equivalent to Mr. It is a polite term used\nfor both men and women.]\n\n[Footnote 3: This is an allusion to a Chinese story, related in the\nmusical drama, where a poor man of Kantan fell asleep and dreamed that\nhe became Emperor and had all that he could desire.]\n\n[Footnote 4: O is the honorific placed before female names of not more\nthan two syllables.]\n\n[Footnote 5: One _bu_ was about twenty-five sen in those days, but the\nequivalent of more than a yen in the present currency.]\n\n[Footnote 6: _Tansu_, Japanese chest of drawers.]\n\n[Footnote 7: A hearth sunk in the floor, covered with a grating and\nframework over which is thrown a quilt under which people sit to warm\nthemselves.]\n\n[Footnote 8: _Tekki_, the tiny metal bars which form the top of the\nandirons in a brazier.]\n\n[Footnote 9: _Meido_, Hades--the abode of the dead.]\n\n\n\n\nTSUBOSAKA\n\n     A story of Faith in Kwannon, the Manifestation of Mercy\n     (popularly known as the Goddess of Mercy)\n\n     N.B.--The Amida Buddha of the Shinshu sects of Japanese\n     Buddhism is the only Deity, and the Original and the\n     Unoriginated Buddha, Lord of Boundless Life and Light.\n     Amida promises to all, who with full trust and confidence\n     draw near and invoke His name, the safe Heaven of freedom\n     from sin and evil.\n\n     KWANNON is the Embodiment of Amida's Compassion, capable\n     of manifestation in many shapes for purposes of practical\n     succour. He is never manifested except for a suffering\n     creation.\n\n     The late Professor Lloyd says that it is a mistake to speak\n     of Kwannon as a female deity, that he is the son of Amida,\n     capable of appearing in many forms, male or female, human\n     or animal, according to circumstances.\n\n     See \"_Shinran and his Work_\" (Lloyd, p. 21).\n\n\n\nTSUBOSAKA\n\n\n     The shrine of Tsubosaka, where this popular story is\n     placed, has been celebrated for answers to prayers from\n     ancient times. Tradition relates that when the fiftieth\n     Emperor Kwammu lived in the capital of Nara, he was\n     smitten with eye trouble. The head priest, Doki Shonin, of\n     the Tsubosaka shrine offered up prayers to Kwannon, the\n     Manifestation of Mercy, for one hundred and seven days for\n     the Emperor's recovery. The prayer was efficacious and His\n     Majesty's sight was restored. Since that time Tsubosaka\n     has been known as a holy place to which pilgrims journey\n     to pray for blessings and especially for health in time of\n     illness.\n\nIn a certain village in the province of Yamato in Japan, close by the\nhill of Tsubo, there lived a blind man named Sawaichi and his wife, O\nSato.\n\nSawaichi was a honest, good-natured fellow, who earned a bare living by\ngiving lessons on the _koto_[1] and _samisen_.[2]\n\nO Sato was a faithful loving woman, who by washing and sewing, and such\nodd work, earned many an honest penny towards the maintenance of their\npoor little home.\n\nFor some time things had not gone well with the couple; they were\ngrowing poorer and poorer, and even the joyful singing of birds,\nand the sound of the temple bell, near by, emphazised their own\nwretchedness, and filled their souls with melancholy.\n\nOne morning Sawaichi got out his _samisen_, and striking some chords,\nbegan to play.\n\n\"Oh, Sawaichi San, what are you doing?\" said O Sato, \"I am glad to see\nthat you feel in better spirits to-day. It is good to hear you play the\n_samisen_ again,\" and she laughed as cheerfully as she could.\n\n\"Oh, oh, O Sato, do I look as if I were playing the _samisen_ for\namusement? Indeed, I am in no such mood. I am so depressed that I wish\nI could die. Nay, I am so choked with trouble that I feel as if I were\ngoing to die. Now, O Sato, I have something to say that I have been\nbrooding over for a long time, so please sit down and listen to me.\"\n\nO Sato sank softly on the mats near Sawaichi, and as she looked at the\nblind man, trying tenderly and carefully to divine what was troubling\nhim, she saw that he was unusually moved, and the tears of pity rose to\nher eyes.\n\nSawaichi cleared his throat, after waiting for a moment, and then went\non:\n\n\"How rapid is the passing of time. The proverb is true that 'Time flies\nlike an arrow.' Three years have passed since our marriage, and I have\nmeant to ask you this many times, O Sato! Why do you hide your secret\nfrom me so long? We have been betrothed since our youth upward, and we\nknow each other well. There is no need of secrecy between us. Why not\ntell me your secret frankly?\"\n\nO Sato stared at him helplessly. She could not in the least understand\nwhat was the meaning of these mysterious words. At last she said,\nhesitatingly:\n\n\"Whatever is the matter with you to-day, Sawaichi San? What are you\ntalking about? I don't in the least understand. In the whole of our\nmarried life I have never had any secret to keep from you. If you find\nanything in me that does not please you, tell me, and I will try to\nmend. Is not this the way between husband and wife?\"\n\n\"Well, then,\" said Sawaichi, \"I will tell you all since you ask me.\"\n\n\"Tell me everything,\" said O Sato, \"whatever it is that is troubling\nyou. I cannot bear to think that you are unhappy,\" and she drew closer\nto her poor blind husband.\n\n\"Oh, oh, O Sato, I will tell you all--I cannot bear it longer. It\nhurts me. Listen carefully! We have been married just three years now.\nEvery night between three and four o'clock I awake, and stretch out\nmy arms to you as you lie in your bed, but I have never been able to\nfind you, not even once. I am only a poor blind fellow and smallpox\nhas disfigured me hopelessly. It is quite natural that you cannot love\nsuch an ugly creature as myself. I do not blame you for this. But if\nyou will only tell me plainly that you love another, I will not be\nangry with you, only tell me! I have often heard people say, 'O Sato\nis a beautiful woman!' It is, therefore, natural that you should have\na lover. I am resigned to my fate and shall not be jealous, therefore\ntell me the truth--it will be a relief to know it.\"\n\nIt was a pitiful sight to see the afflicted man, for though he spoke\nquietly and with evident resignation, yet the despair in his heart\ncaused the tears to overflow his sightless eyes.\n\nO Sato could not bear to see her husband racked by these terrible\ndoubts. His words pierced her heart with pain. She clung to him\nsorrowfully.\n\n\"Oh, Sawaichi San! how cruel your suspicions are'! However low and mean\nI may be, do you think that I am the kind of woman to leave you for\nanother man? You are too unjust to say such things. As you know, my\nfather and mother died when I was a child, and my uncle, your father,\nbrought us up together. You were just three years older than I. While\nwe were thus growing up as boy and girl together, you took smallpox and\nbecame blind, alas! and your misfortunes accumulating, you were reduced\nto poverty. But even so, once betrothed, I will go through fire and\nwater with you, and nothing shall ever part us. Not only do I feel that\nwe are united till death, but it has been my one great hope to cure\nyour blindness. To this end, ever since we were wedded, I have risen\nwith the dawn and left the room stealthily, not wishing to disturb you.\nThinking nothing of the steep mountain road, I have climbed to the top\nof Tsubosaka every morning before it was light to pray to Kwannon Sama\nto restore your sight. Lately I have felt disappointed with Kwannon\nSama, for my prayer is never answered, though I have prayed earnestly\nfor three years, rising before the dawn to climb to her temple on the\nhill. Knowing nothing of all this you condemn me as being faithless to\nyou. It makes me angry, Sawaichi San!\" and here poor O Sato burst into\ntears and sobbed aloud.\n\nSawaichi realized how false his suspicions had been, and how unworthy\nthey were of his devoted wife. At first he could not speak but\nstammered pitifully. At last he found his voice and burst out:\n\n\"Oh, my wife, my wife! I will say nothing more. I have talked nonsense\nlike the poor blind fellow that I am. Forgive me, forgive me! How could\nI know what was in your heart?\" and here he joined his hands together,\nraising them in a gesture of entreaty, and then, with his sleeve, wiped\naway the tears from his eyes.\n\n\"Ah--no, no--not this! Do not ask pardon of your own wife, it is too\nmuch!\" said O Sato, in distress. \"I can face even death if your doubts\nare dispelled.\"\n\n\"The more you say, the more I am ashamed before you. Though you pray so\nearnestly, O Sato, my eyes will never recover their sight.\"\n\n\"What are you saying? Oh! what are you saying?\" exclaimed O Sato. \"It\nis only for you that I have borne all this, walking barefoot to the\nShrine of Kwannon Sama every day for three years, thinking nothing of\nthe wind or snow or frosts these wintry dawns.\"\n\n\"I am, indeed, grateful to you for your devotion. But as I harboured\nsuspicions of you for a long time, thinking evil of your good, even if\nI pray, my prayers to Kwannon can only be rewarded by punishment, and\nmy eyesight will never be restored.\"\n\n\"No, no, Sawaichi San, do not say such things,\" answered O Sato. \"My\nbody is the same as your body. Talk nonsense no more, but control your\nmind with firmness and come with me to Kwannon Sama and let us pray\ntogether.\"\n\nSawaichi rose from the mats, the tears falling from his eyes.\n\n\"Oh, my good wife, I am indeed grateful to you. If you are so\ndetermined I will follow. It is said that the grace of Buddha can make\na dead tree to blossom. My eyes are like a dead tree ... oh, oh, if\nonly they might blossom into sight! But though I am a great sinner ...\nwho knows? Perhaps in the next world? .. Now my wife, lead me as ever\nby the hand!\"\n\nO Sato busied herself opening the _tansu_ and getting out Sawaichi's\nbest clothes. She helped him to change, speaking encouraging words\nthe while. Then they set out together and climbed the steep ascent of\nTsubosaka, Sawaichi leaning on the staff in his right hand.\n\nThe couple at last reached the temple, breathless after the hard climb.\n\n\"Here we are, Sawaichi San,\" said O Sato, \"we have come to the temple,\nwe are now before the gate ... though prayer and devotion are important\nin the recovery of health, they say illness is often due to nerves.\nIf you allow yourself to be so low-spirited, your eyes will only grow\nworse. Therefore, at such a time, how would it be for you to sing some\nsong to cheer yourself?\"\n\n\"Yes, yes, O Sato, as you say, anxious brooding over my troubles is not\ngood for my eyes. I will sing some song.\"\n\nThen beating time with his stick tapping the ground, he began to hum:\n\n\"Chin--chin--tsu: chin--chin: tsu--chin--chin--tsu,\" tinkling in\nimitation of the _samisen_.\n\nSawaichi cleared his throat and began to sing:\n\n    _Is suffering the cause of love?_\n    _Or love the cause of suffering?_\n    _My love must vanish like the dew ..._\n\n    _Aita ... ta ... ta ..._\n\nThe words of the song were suddenly broken by a cry of pain as Sawaichi\nentered the gate of the temple and tripped on a stone.\n\n\"Oh, dear, I nearly fell over that stone ... I have forgotten the rest\nof the song ... what does it matter now ... ho--ho--ho,\" and he laughed\nto himself strangely and softly.\n\nThey had by this time come to the main temple and stood outside, O Sato\ngazing at the altar where Amida Buddha and Kwannon, the Manifestation\nof Mercy, reigned above the lotus flowers in the fragrant mists of\nincense.\n\n\"Sawaichi San, we have now come to Kwannon Sama.\"\n\n\"Oh, indeed! Are we already there?\" answered Sawaichi, \"how grateful\nI am!\" then turning his sightless face towards the altar he lifted\nbeseeching hands, and bowing his head reverently, he repeated the\nBuddhist invocation:\n\n\"_Namu Amida Butsu! Namu Amida Dai Butsu!_\" (All hail, Great Buddha!)\n\n\"Listen, Sawaichi,\" said O Sato, earnestly, \"this night let us stay\ntogether here and pray through the night without ceasing.\"\n\nThen they both began to pray. The chanting of their supplication rose\nup clearly in the stillness of the evening hour, and it seemed as if\nthe sand of Tsubosaka might become the golden streets of Paradise.\n\nSuddenly Sawaichi stopped and clutched hold of his wife.\n\n\"O Sato,\" he said, \"I must tell you the truth. I cannot believe. I came\nsimply because it was your wish. But I shall never recover my sight, of\nthat I feel sure.\"\n\n\"Why do you say such sad things?\" answered O Sato, clasping her hands.\n\"Listen! When the Emperor Kwammu was in Nara, the ancient capital, he\nsuffered with his eyes as you do. Then he prayed to Kwannon Sama and in\na short time he was healed. Therefore, pray without ceasing. Kwannon\nwill make no difference between the Emperor and ourselves, though we\nare as poor as worms. Believers must be patient and go forward slowly,\nand with quiet minds trust devoutly in the mercy of Kwannon. So great\nis his benevolence that He hears all prayers. Worship! Pray! Sawaichi\nSan! Pray! instead of wasting time in vain talk.\"\n\n[Illustration: Sawaichi, turning his sightless face towards the altar,\nrepeated the Buddhist invocation \"_Namu Amida Butsu_.\"]\n\nThus did O Sato encourage her husband. Sawaichi nodded his head and\nreplied:\n\n\"What you say is convincing. From to-night I will fast for three days.\nYou must return home, shut up the house and come again. The next three\ndays will decide my fate, whether I recover or not.\"\n\n\"Oh,\" said O Sato, joyfully, \"now you speak wisely. I will go back at\nonce and arrange everything for a three days' absence. But,\" she added\nanxiously, \"Sawaichi San, remember that this mountain is very steep,\nand higher up one comes to the top, which falls on the right into a\ndeep precipice. On no account must you leave the temple!\"\n\n\"Oh, no, never fear, I will put my arms round Kwannon to-night--ho, ho,\nho!\" and he laughed to himself.\n\nO Sato, never dreaming of what was in her husband's mind, hurried\nhomewards, blissfully content, thinking that her yearning hopes were\nrealized and that he at last believed.\n\nSawaichi listened to her retreating footsteps. When he could hear them\nno more, he knew himself to be alone. He fell flat to the earth and\ncried aloud in the bitterness and darkness of his soul.\n\n\"Oh! my wife, you will never know how grateful I am to you for all\nyour devotion to me these long years. Though gradually reduced to the\nstraits of poverty, you have never once lost sympathy with me. You have\nfaithfully loved such a miserable blind wretch as myself. Alas! knowing\nnothing of what was in your heart I even doubted your fidelity. Forgive\nme, O Sato. Forgive me! If we part now we may never meet again. Oh, the\npity of it!\"\n\nSawaichi lay on the ground and gave vent to the pent-up misery in his\nheart. After a few minutes he raised a despairing face and said aloud:\n\n\"I will not grieve any more. O Sato has prayed devoutly for three\nyears, and yet Kwannon gives no sign of hearing her supplication. What\nis the use of living any longer? There is only one thing I can do to\nshow my gratitude to you, O Sato! and that is to die and set you free.\nMay you live long, O Sato! and make a happy second marriage! Now, I\nremember that O Sato told me that there was a deep precipice on the\nright at the top of the hill. That is the best place for me to die. If\nI die in this holy place, I may hope to be saved in the next world.\nLucky it is that the night is far gone, and that there is no one about\n... oh, oh!\"\n\nWith these words Sawaichi rose to his feet. The temple bell, the last\nbefore the dawn, rang out in the silence. Sawaichi knew that there was\nno time to lose. Groping his way with his stick he hastened to the\ntop of the hill. Stopping to listen, he heard the sound of distant\nwater flowing in the valley beneath. In his distraught state of mind it\nsounded to him like a call from Buddha. With the prayer \"_Namu Amida\nButsu!_\" on his lips, he planted his stick on the edge of the hill, and\nwith a desperate leap threw himself out as far as he could over the\nside of the abyss. For a few moments the sound of the body crashing\nthrough the trees and undergrowth was heard as it fell in its progress\nof increasing impetus down the precipice: gradually growing fainter and\nfainter, the noise at last altogether ceased; then all was still on the\nlonely mountain side.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nKnowing nothing of all this, O Sato was hurrying back to her husband,\nslipping and stumbling along the familiar road in her anxiety to get to\nhim quickly. At last she reached the temple and looked round eagerly.\nSawaichi was nowhere to be seen.\n\n\"Sawaichi San!\" she called again and again. \"Sawaichi San!\"\n\nReceiving no answer to her repeated cries she hunted round the temple\ncourtyard, but with no result. Becoming fearful of what might have\nbefallen him, she called louder than before:\n\n\"Sawaichi San! Sawaichi San!\"\n\nRunning distractedly from the temple precincts, she hastened to the\ncrest of the hill, and there she tripped over her husband's stick. She\nnow knew what he had done. Frantically she rushed to the precipice and\ngazed far down into the abyss beneath. There in the grey light of the\nbreaking dawn she could see the lifeless form of her husband stretched\nupon the ground.\n\n\"Oh! what shall I do? This is too dreadful!\" she cried aloud in her\nanguish. Her body trembled in a paroxysm of pain. She called to her\nhusband, but only the mountain echoes answered her.\n\n\"Oh, my husband, my husband! You are too cruel--too cruel! Only with\nthe hope of saving you from blindness did I persevere in prayer for\nso long to Kwannon Sama. Alas! what will become of me, now that you\nhave left me alone? Now I remember there was something strange in your\nmanner when you sang that sad song coming up the hill. It may be that\nyou had already made up your mind to die. But how could I know? Oh!\nSawaichi San, if only I had known I would never have persuaded you\nto come to this place. Forgive me, oh, forgive me! There is no such\nmiserable woman in the world as myself. No one but God could know that\nDeath would separate us now. Blind man as you are, who cannot see in\nthis world, how will you travel alone amidst the dark shadows down the\nroad of Death? Who will lead you by the hand now? I feel as if I could\nsee you wandering and groping there all by yourself.\"\n\nHeartbrokenly she sobbed for some time. At last she shook herself\nwith resolution; then raised her tear-stained face to the seemingly\nunresponsive heaven above.\n\n[Illustration: There in the grey light of the breaking dawn she could\nsee the lifeless form of her husband stretched upon the ground]\n\n\n\"Oh, oh, I will lament no more. Everything that happens in this life is\nthe result of sin and affinity in our previous state of existence. I\nwill die too, and join Sawaichi in death.\"\n\nWith clasped hands she repeated the Buddhist prayer, \"_Namu Amida\nButsu_,\" and then, gathering all her strength for the fatal leap,\nsprang over the precipice and was gone.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nThe February morning broke clear and bright. Nor in the temple nor\non the hillside was there any trace of the pitiful tragedy that had\ntaken place during the night. The mists in the valley and over the\nmountains dispersed as the sun's rays, advancing swiftly from the east,\ntouched the world with the transforming magic of splendour of day. Then\nsuddenly a strange thing happened. In the rose and golden glory of\nthe unfolding pageant of the early rushing morning, there was wafted\nover the Tsubosaka valley the most wonderful and uplifting strains\nof music, and above the bodies of Sawaichi and O Sato appeared the\nholy and yearningly compassionate form of Kwannon shining in a great,\nall-space-illuminating radiance.\n\n\"Listen, Sawaichi!\" said the Heavenly Voice, \"Your blindness is the\nresult of sin in your former life. The end of this life had come\nfor you both, but through the faith of your wife and the merits of\nher accumulated prayers, your lives shall be prolonged. Therefore\nbelieve and devote your lives to prayer, and make a pilgrimage to the\nthirty-three holy places, where you must offer up thanks for the grace\nof Buddha. Awake, O Sato! O Sato! Sawaichi! Sawaichi!\"\n\nWith these words the divine vision disappeared; the temple bell pealed\nforth the hour of morning prayer, the birds began to sing, the priests\nto beat their gongs and drums, and to chant their orisons, and over the\nhillside villages and in the temple the world woke once more to life\nand work.\n\nThe two bodies lying in the valley rose up, wondering whether the\nvision which had restored them to life were a dream.\n\nVaguely they remembered the events of the night. O Sato gazed at\nSawaichi:\n\n\"Sawaichi San! My husband! Your eyes are open!\"\n\n\"Yes, yes, my eyes are open indeed! Oh, oh, my eyes are open, open,\nopen! My eyes are open at last! I can hardly believe it,\" cried\nSawaichi, joyfully.\n\n\"Remember that it is due to the mercy of Kwannon Sama,\" said O Sato.\n\n\"I am thankful, thankful, thankful!\" exclaimed Sawaichi. Then looking\nat his wife, he asked:\n\n\"But who are you?\"\n\n\"Why, I am your wife O Sato, of course!\" answered O Sato.\n\n[Illustration: \"Listen Saiwachi!\" said the Heavenly Voice, \"Through\nthe faith of your wife and the merits of her accumulated prayers, your\nlives shall be prolonged.]\n\n\"Oh, you are my wife, are you? How happy I am! This is the first time\nI see you. But how wonderful it all is. When I threw myself over the\nprecipice, I knew nothing more till Kwannon appeared to me in a great\nand marvellous light and told me that my blindness was the result of\nmisdeeds in a former life.\"\n\n\"I, too,\" said O Sato, \"followed you to death and leaped into the\nvalley where I saw you lying all alone. I, too, knew nothing till\nKwannon Sama called me. Your eyes are really open, Sawaichi San! Does\nit not seem a dream!\"\n\n\"No, no,\" said Sawaichi, \"it is no dream. The most merciful Kwannon\ncalled me back to life and by a miracle restored my sight. Ha, ha, ha!\nAs deep as the sea is my gratitude to Kwannon.\"\n\nTaking each other by the hand and smiling happily, they climbed to the\ntemple where they had prayed so despairingly the night before. As they\nwent along Sawaichi raised his hands in worship towards the sunlight.\n\nTo this poor couple, now so happily restored to life and joy and hope,\nthe hill of Tsubosaka did indeed seem Paradise through the mercy of\nKWANNON, the Embodiment of Amida's Compassion.\n\n\n[Footnote 1: The Japanese harp.]\n\n[Footnote 2: The Japanese banjo.]\n\n\n\n\nLOYAL, EVEN UNTO DEATH\n\nOr The Sugawara Tragedy\n\n\nNOTE.--For many centuries the Fujiwara nobles (the Empresses were\nalways chosen from this family) had secured for themselves supreme\ncontrol and influence over the Mikados in Kyoto. In the ninth century\nanother family of courtiers came into prominence, namely the Sugawara,\nwho eventually gained sufficient power with the Emperor to be a\nserious menace to the schemes of the Fujiwara. At the end of the ninth\ncentury there arose one especially, Lord Michizane Suguwara, brilliant\nstatesman, scholar, high-souled patriot and poet.\n\nThe Emperor Uda held him in high esteem and promoted him from the\nposition of his tutor to that of Minister of the Right.[1] In 898 the\nFujiwara succeeded in compelling Uda to abdicate in favour of his son,\na child of twelve years of age, expecting him to be a more pliant\ntool in their hands. This boy became the 60th Emperor, Daigo, who, by\nthe advice of his Imperial father, planned to give Michizane absolute\nauthority in state affairs. The jealousy of the vigilant Fujiwara\ncourtiers was fully aroused, and through the machinations of Lord\nTokihira (Fujiwara), Minister of the Left, his rival, Michizane, was\nfalsely accused of high treason and banished to Kiushiu where, in the\nhorrors of poverty and exile, he died in 903. Michizane is now known by\nthe posthumous title of Tenjin. Many Shinto temples have been erected\nin his honour, and students still worship his spirit as the patron god\nof letters and literature.\n\nThe following drama, one of the most popular in Japanese literature,\ntells the story of one heroic incident in the scattering of the\nSugawara family, and of the rescue of Lady Sugawara, and the loyalty of\nMatsuo and O Chiyo, his wife, vassals of the Sugawara.\n\nMatsuo, the better to serve his lord's cause, feigns to be unfaithful\nto him and to go over to the enemy--in fact, he acts the dangerous part\nof a spy. The Fujiwara Minister is completely deceived and, enlisting\nhis aid, reveals to Matsuo his secret plans for the final overthrow of\nthe exiled Sugawara and the murder of his son. So clever and thorough\nis Matsuo's dissimulation that even his own father and his brothers\nare deluded, and Matsuo is calumniated by all who know him, accused\nof disloyalty to his lord (an unpardonable offence in old Japan) and\ndisinherited by his family. Finally, in a crowning act of transcendent\ndevotion to the Sugawara House, Matsuo and O Chiyo, to save their young\nlord from death, willingly substitute their own child, Kotaro, in his\nplace. In the feudal days loyalty was the one great social obligation\nof the _samurai_ to his lord. And this spirit of loyalty often involved\npainful self-sacrifice. \"Life was freely offered, not only by him who\nwas bound by fealty to his lord, but by his children.\"\n\nThe following is a typical tragedy of its kind.\n\n\nPERSONS REPRESENTED\n\nLADY SUGAWARA, wife of the exiled Prime Minister or \"Minister of the\nRight\"--hiding from the enemy in Matsuo's house.\n\nMATSUO, a devoted vassal of Lord Michizane Sugawara.\n\nO CHIYO, wife of Matsuo.\n\nKOTARO, the little son of Matsuo and O Chiyo.\n\nSHUNDO GEMBA, the emissary of Lord Fujiwara Tokihira, triumphant enemy\nof Sugawara.\n\nTAKEBE GENZO, a schoolmaster in the suburbs of Kyoto, also vassal of\nthe Sugawara.\n\nTONAMI, wife of the schoolmaster.\n\nKANSHUSAI, Lord Sugawara's son, a handsome clever boy, eight years of\nage.\n\nSeveral village school children and their parents.\n\n\nSCENE I. Matsuo's cottage in Kyoto. Night.\n\nLanterns lighted in the room.\n\n\n\n\nLOYAL EVEN UNTO DEATH\n\nOr The Sugawara Tragedy\n\n\nIn the old capital of Kyoto, not far from the Imperial Palace, there\nlived a _samurai_ named Matsuo with his wife O Chiyo, and their little\nson Kotaro, eight years of age.\n\nWith Kotaro by her side, O Chiyo reverently on her knees pushed aside\nthe sliding screens of an inner room, and disclosed the Lady Sugawara\nseated on the mats, bending forward with her face buried in her hands,\nher whole attitude expressive of grief and despair.\n\nO Chiyo bowed low and said with a voice hushed in sympathy:\n\n\"It is terrible to me to think that such a great lady as you cannot\ngo even to the veranda in the daytime for fear of being seen by your\nenemies. You must, indeed, feel like a prisoner--and above all, the\nseparation from the Prime Minister, and your son and daughter. How\ndespondent you must feel! While you were hiding in the capital the\nsecret of your whereabouts leaked out, and you were in danger of being\ncaught--at that crisis my husband saved you and brought you here. You\nmust be sadly ill at ease confined in this poor house, and after what\nyou have been accustomed to the loneliness must be very depressing. But\ndo not despair! You may yet join your husband and son sooner than you\nthink. Till that time comes patiently endure all hardships, hoping for\nhappier days.\"\n\n\"Oh!\" answered the Lady Sugawara in melancholy tones, \"you are so\nsympathetic and good, I shall never forget your kindness, even after\ndeath. Through the malice of a bad man[2] my husband was banished to a\ndistant place, and my poor boy and myself are refugees. The thought of\nthem haunts me from morning till night. There is nothing but misery in\ndragging out my existence from day to day in this state--but I will, at\nleast, wait till I can see them again, if but for a moment, and then\ndie, especially as your little Kotaro reminds me vividly of my own son,\nto whom he bears a great resemblance. My longing to see him again grows\never more and more intense.\"\n\nWith these sad words the unfortunate lady burst into tears; O Chiyo,\ndeeply affected by her sorrowful plight, wept with her, and the silence\nof the room was only broken by the sobs of the two women.\n\nSuddenly, some one from outside announced in a loud voice that an\nemissary from an exalted personage had arrived.\n\nBoth women started to their feet. O Chiyo barely had time to conceal\nLady Sugawara in an inner room, when, preceded by several attendants\ncarrying lanterns, the emissary, Shundo Gemba, arrived in full state as\nbefitting the bearer of an important message--he pompously entered the\nroom and seated himself in the place of honour before the alcove.\n\nO Chiyo's husband, Matsuo, who had secluded himself and was resting\nin an inner room, overhearing the commotion, came out to welcome the\nvisitor.\n\n\"As I am suffering from illness I must beg you to overlook my lack of\nceremony in not receiving you in official dress,\" and he bowed to the\nground in a respectful manner.\n\nGemba replied haughtily:\n\n\"However ill you may be you must listen to the command of Lord Tokihira\n(the new Prime Minister who had supplanted Sugawara). Sugawara's son,\nwhose hiding-place was hitherto unknown, has at last been discovered\nby some one who has revealed the secret. The boy is now in the house\nof Takebe Genzo, by profession a teacher of Chinese writing, but in\nreality a secret and staunch supporter of Michizane. This man passes\nthe young lord off as his own son. There is no one on our side who\nknows Kanshusai except yourself, so you are commanded to identify the\nhead as soon as it is cut off, and to bring it as a trophy to Lord\nTokihira. By way of reward for this service sick leave will be granted\nyou, and on your recovery you will be created Lord of Harima. There is\nno time to be lost, so you must make preparations at once.\"\n\nO Chiyo, who was listening with a beating heart in the next room, felt\nkeenly apprehensive, for her husband had been extra moody and reticent\nof late, and she could neither fathom what was in his mind, nor what\nanswer he would make to the dreadful proposition of this man straight\nfrom the enemy's camp.\n\nTo her utter consternation Matsuo replied:\n\n\"What kindness on the part of our lord! No greater honour could be\nconferred upon our house. I will obey the command at once. But owing to\nmy illness matters cannot be arranged as speedily as I could wish. If\nthat man Genzo should happen to hear that I am going to attack him and\nwrest his prize from him, he may escape with the young Sugawara.\"\n\n\"Do not trouble yourself about that,\" returned Gemba, \"it is only a\n_ronin's_[3] hut, and need not even be surrounded.\"\n\n\"But Takebe, knowing that Lord Tokihira is instituting a search for the\nboy, still boldly harbours him--it is certain that the schoolmaster\ncan be no common man--we must be very cautious in dealing with him,\"\nobjected Matsuo.\n\n\"You are quite right,\" replied the envoy, \"if they should manage to\nescape both of us will be blamed.\"\n\n\"Yes, indeed,\" Matsuo agreed; and then as if suddenly struck by the\nthought, \"I am sorry to trouble you, but do not fail to let your men\nkeep a sharp watch on every exit of the village during the night.\"\n\n\"All right,\" responded the other, \"you need not trouble on that score,\nevery necessary precaution will be taken.\"\n\n\"Well, then at an early hour to-morrow I will accompany you to Takebe's\nhouse,\" said Matsuo.\n\n\"Thank you for your trouble,\" and the two men took leave of each other,\nGemba departing from the house in the same haughty style as he had\nentered it.\n\nMatsuo, with a troubled heart, watched until the emissary's procession\nhad disappeared in the distance. Before he could carry out his intended\nplan he must first sound his wife.\n\nDuring the interview O Chiyo had waited in the next room, a silent\nwitness of all that had taken place between her husband and Lord\nTokihira's messenger. As soon as Gemba's party had taken their\ndeparture she opened the sliding screens and with some trepidation\nconfronted her husband.\n\n\"It seems,\" said the wife, \"by what Gemba had to communicate, that\nthe hiding-place of our young lord is at last discovered. Before the\nassassin has had time to carry out his murderous work let us send for\nhim here, and try to rescue the poor child before he falls into the\nhands of the enemy. There is no time to lose.\"\n\nAs Matsuo made no response, O Chiyo pressed him again and again not to\ndelay.\n\nAt last he laughed cynically.\n\n\"You do not seem to have the slightest idea of what is in my mind! I\nbrought Lady Sugawara here from Kita's house so that I might deliver\nher up together with her son's head at the same time--that is why I\nhave hidden her here.\"\n\n\"What are you saying?\" gasped O Chiyo. \"Can it be your real intention\nto betray them to Tokihira?\"\n\n\"Yes,\" answered her husband, calmly looking her in the face, \"now is\nthe time to grasp my long-wished for ambition--my fortune has come at\nlast,\" and he smiled as if well pleased with himself.\n\nThis was the first time that Matsuo had given any hint of his sinister\nintention towards the innocent Lady Sugawara and her son, and O Chiyo\nwas so startled and horrified that for a few moments she was choked for\nutterance. She had hitherto felt convinced that he was devoted, heart,\nsoul, and body, to the cause of their beloved ex-Prime Minister. Bitter\ntears fell from her eyes, and she moved nearer to him on the mats; in\nthe earnestness of her appeal she stretched out a hand and laid it on\nhis arm, till she could find words to falter out:\n\n\"Oh, my husband, since when has this dreadful scheme taken possession\nof your heart? For the Sugawara family I have been quite resigned to\nyour being misunderstood and disinherited by your father's house,\nand the severance of all relationship with your brothers--indeed, so\nstaunch and whole-hearted has been your devotion to this cause that\nI always intended to apologize and explain matters to your family\nwhen the time came. Now suddenly, without the least warning, your\nlifelong fidelity has been perverted into treachery. However great\nyour ambition for promotion may be, to betray the wife and child of\nour Lord Sugawara into the hands of Tokihira is impossible. Are you a\ndevil or a dragon? The punishment for such baseness will fall not only\non yourself, but on your child. Oh! purify your heart from this evil\nintention, and conduct the Lady Sugawara and her son safely to the\nex-Prime Minister in Tsukushi,[4] I implore you!\" and the distraught\nwoman lifted her hands in an attitude of prayer to her husband, while\nthe tears coursed down her cheeks.\n\nBut, unmoved by her appeal, Matsuo still laughed contemptuously.\n\n\"What silly woman's talk! I have now no parents or brothers--they are\nstrangers to me! It would be foolish to forget our own child's welfare\nfor the sake of exiles banished by the State. You may say it is against\nreason and righteousness, but I do it for the sake of my boy--there is\nno treasure more precious than a son.\"\n\n\"Oh! oh!\" sobbed O Chiyo, \"how heartless you are! If you think so much\nof your own boy, Lady Sugawara's feelings must be the same for her son.\nTo attain your ambition at the expense of others, sorrow can bring you\nno good. Your life will end in sorrow and misery as the result of such\na deed.\"\n\nMatsuo became more incensed, and sternly bade his wife be silent.\n\n\"If the Lady Sugawara overhear you and escape, everything will be lost,\nyou foolish woman!\" and with these words Matsuo turned to leave the\nroom. His wife seized the edge of his robe and tried to hold him back.\n\n\"Do not hinder me, whatever you do!\" he said, angrily, and pushing her\naside, he disappeared in the direction of Lady Sugawara's room.\n\nO Chiyo fell as her husband tore himself from her detaining grasp, and\nlay prostrate on the mats, stunned with the horror of what he was about\nto do. After a few minutes she collected herself.\n\n\"Oh, oh! it seems like some dreadful dream,\" she murmured in acute\ndistress. \"I have lived happily with Matsuo for so many years, and\nsurely he cannot be such a bad man. For the sake of our boy he has\nlost his conscience. Poor lady! Poor lady! In total ignorance of his\nchange of heart she has trusted to him as her chief staff and pillar\nof support. How can I look her in the face after this? To prove to her\nthat I am not one with my husband it is better to kill myself and ask\nher pardon in another world.\"\n\nThe poor woman, in her grief and perplexity, wept and trembled by\nturns. After a few minutes she wiped away her tears and sat up with\ndetermination written on her face.\n\n\"It is now impossible to change my husband's cruel purpose,\" she said\nto herself aloud. \"My innocent little Kotaro will be taught wrong ways,\nhe will grow up a degraded man and come to a bad end. I foresee it all\nquite plainly. It is far better to kill him now and let his pure soul\naccompany me on my long journey to the next life. Besides, when Kotaro\nis no longer alive, Matsuo may return to his better nature and repent\nof his treacherous schemes, and the knowledge of it will reach me and I\nshall be glad, even after death.\"\n\nAt this moment her little son came gaily running to her. Knowing\nnothing of the tragic web of death, which Fate, like a grim spider, was\nweaving round him, he playfully caressed his mother, his bright eyes\nshining, his little face alight with smiles.\n\n\"Mother, Mother, the lady inside is calling you! Come, quick, quick!\"\n\nAs O Chiyo looked at the child's innocent face the tears rose to her\neyes.\n\n\"Oh! Kotaro, my little son, come here--here,\" she said with a sob, and\ndrew him close to her side. \"Oh! Kotaro, listen attentively to what I\nam going to say, like a good boy. The lady in the inner room is the\nwife of your father's and your mother's lord, and yours also, Kotaro.\nFor many years we have received nothing but favours and kindness\nfrom them, therefore we owe them both a debt of great gratitude.\nNow, Kotaro, your father tells me that he intends to kill that good\nunfortunate lady, our own lord's wife--therefore, I, your mother,\ncannot remain alive any longer--I have decided that my spirit shall\naccompany her as an attendant to the other world. But you, Kotaro, are\nthe favourite of your father--perhaps you would like to remain behind\nin this world with him?\"\n\n\"Oh, no, no,\" answered the child, \"I won't stay with such a cruel\nfather. If you die, I want to die with you!\"\n\n\"Oh, how sensible you are, Kotaro. Even if you had refused to die,\nI must have killed you for the sake of your father--you seem to\nunderstand that without being told. I have, therefore, the more pity\nfor you as you are so intelligent and your wish is to die with me. When\nyour father sees you lying dead, sorrow may make him repent of the evil\npath he has chosen. The other day I made a consecrated banner for the\ngrave of little Sakura Maru, your uncle. How little did I dream, while\nmaking it, that I should ever use it for my own son.\"\n\nWith these words she drew out a dagger which had been concealed in her\n_obi_,[5] unsheathed it, and with raised hand was about to stab the\nchild.\n\n\"Stay, stay, do not be too hasty!\" the voice of Matsuo rang out sharply\nin the silence, as he suddenly appeared in the open _shoji_[6] leading\nLady Sugawara by the hand. As they entered the room in front of the\nstartled O Chiyo, whose hand, poised to strike the fatal blow, fell to\nher side, Matsuo made a gesture to Lady Sugawara to take the place of\nhonour by the alcove.\n\nMatsuo then seated himself opposite Sugawara's unhappy wife in the\nlowly seat near the exit of the room, prostrating himself before her.\n\n\"It is quite natural that your ladyship and my wife do not know\nmy true heart: now let me speak the truth,\" he said, with quiet\nand impressive dignity. \"After the overthrow of your house and the\nbanishment of Lord Sugawara, when my brother became _ronin_ and\nquarrelled with me, I served Prince Tokihira for some time. I was soon\ndisgusted with his ways, and finding my situation untenable, asked for\nsick leave, with the purpose of finding your son so that I might do my\nbest to restore your house to its former position. I did everything in\nmy power to help you, but to my dismay nearly everyone was in league\nwith the enemy. It was part of my plan, you must know, to throw our\ncrafty enemy off the scent, and it was to this end that I entered his\nservice and pretended to be one of his party. I played my part so\nwell as to deceive my own father, who, despising me for a disloyal\nand faithless man, condemned my conduct and disinherited me, for he,\ntoo, was devoted to your cause. For this policy also I separated from\nmy brothers. In thus misleading the enemy I felt sure that I could be\nof some use in saving you and your son at a critical moment. It was\na drastic step to take, but Tokihira has been completely misled, and\nevents have turned out just as I expected. This night, as you must have\nheard, I received strict orders to act as identifier of your son's\nhead. As Takebe is a faithful man he will not kill our young lord, of\nthat rest assured. But alas! he is one, while the enemy are many. 'If\nanything should happen to our lord's son, it can never be undone,'\nthese were the thoughts that troubled me this evening when I overhead\nwhat your ladyship said, that Kotaro bore a strong resemblance to our\nyoung lord; and the idea flashed into my brain that our boy can be used\nas a substitute to save him. At the same time it occurred to me, that\nif my wife's love for Kotaro obstruct my plans I should be powerless,\nso to prove what was in her heart I said cruel things that I did not\nmean--that, for the sake of my boy, I would betray you and your son.\nShe did not understand me, and then and there decided to kill herself\nand Kotaro, and by thus removing the cause of my supposed temptation to\ninduce my repentance. What a noble wife!\"\n\nO Chiyo, as she listened to this long explanation from her beloved\nhusband, wept for joy, and Lady Sugawara was overcome with emotion\nat the surpassing loyalty of her retainers; they seemed to her to be\nexalted above ordinary human beings--and were as Gods in the pure\nsphere of a selfless world.\n\n\"For sake of loyalty you have become an outcast to your father's house,\nand now you would kill your son, your only son, for us--it distresses\nme too much--it is overwhelming. I cannot accept such a sacrifice! The\npunishment of Heaven may be visited upon me. No, no, no--you must not\nslay your little Kotaro even for your lord's sake. If everything should\nfail us, you must try to save both, my son and Kotaro,\" implored the\nhopeless wife of the exiled minister.\n\nMatsuo, whose mind never wavered, prostrated himself before her.\n\n\"How grateful I am to you for your considerate thought for us, but\nas every exit in the village is carefully watched, there is no way of\nescape.\"\n\nThen he turned to his wife.\n\n\"After your decision of an hour ago, I do not think you will now\nhesitate to sacrifice our boy.\"\n\nHe then leaned forward and looked at his son with a smile.\n\n\"Kotaro, you are too young to understand these things, but for the sake\nof your young lord and your parents, die without regret!\"\n\nAs Matsuo spoke those tragic words, fixing his eyes upon the upturned\nface of his boy, whose bright eyes looked back at him trustingly and\nfearlessly, a shudder involuntarily passed through his frame in spite\nof the iron restraint he put upon himself. But loyalty demanded the\nsacrifice, and at all costs the house of Sugawara must be saved. To\ncontrol himself he closed his eyes, to shut out the vision of his boy's\nsmile. The moment of weakness passed, and Matsuo once more sat erect,\ngazing at his son with an unmoved face, white and set as a mask.\n\nLady Sugawara and O Chiyo dared not look at him. Both began to sob,\ncovering their faces with their sleeves.\n\n\"Do not give way to weakness,\" at last Matsuo forced himself to say,\nsternly. \"If we spend our time thus, everything will be lost. Look, the\ndawn is beginning to break. Get ready to take Kotaro to Takebe's house\nimmediately. Quick, quick!\"\n\n\"Yes, yes,\" assented the mother, with a sinking heart, and she slowly\nrose to her feet, taking Kotaro by the hand. She knew that this was the\nend. Her boy's doom was at hand and his hours were numbered.\n\n\"Have I to go now?\" said Kotaro, bravely. \"Father, will you not say\nfarewell and call me your good boy for the last time?\"\n\nThus the mother and her son set out for the sacrifice.\n\n\n\n\nPART II\n\n\nSCENE: A village school kept by Takebe Genzo and his wife Tonami, both\ndevoted vassals of the exiled Prime Minister, Michizane Sugawara. Among\nTakebe's pupils is the young Sugawara. This boy they disguise and pass\noff as their own child. The little lord, though only eight years of\nage, excels in everything among the pupils and, inheriting the ability\nfrom his father, writes Chinese hieroglyphics with great skill. The\nsenior pupil is a lazy, stupid, and incorrigibly mischievous fellow,\nfifteen years of age, who will not study at all.\n\n\n\n\"While our teacher is out it is a great waste of time to practise\nwriting. Look! I have done all my writing on my head.\" and the lazy boy\ncame forward and showed his school-fellows a shaved pate all blackened\nwith Indian ink.\n\nThe little Sugawara looked at him and said:\n\n\"If you learn one new character every day you will acquire three\nhundred and sixty-five characters in a year. Instead of wasting your\ntime playing like that, you must study.\"\n\nBut the older boy only laughed at him, and left his desk to prance\nabout the room.\n\nThe other boys took the part of little Sugawara and, growing disgusted\nwith the idle boy, wanted to punish him. There arose a great clamour\nin the school-room, all the boys shouting together and leaving their\nplaces to attack him.\n\nDisturbed by the noise, the schoolmaster's wife came out from the inner\nroom.\n\n\"What is the matter? Are you quarrelling again? To-day the master is\naway. He has been invited by a friend, and I do not know when he will\ncome back. As we are expecting a new pupil to-day I am anxious for his\nreturn. Now, if you are good boys and will work hard this morning, I\nwill give all of you a half-holiday this afternoon.\"\n\nThe boys were delighted with this promise. All promptly returned to\ntheir seats, and opening their books and their inkstands, became\ndiligently absorbed in their tasks of reading and writing.\n\nJust then a sound at the porch made Tonami draw aside the screens. A\ngentle and aristocratic-looking woman was standing there with a pretty\nboy of about eight years of age by her side. A manservant, carrying a\ndesk, was in attendance.\n\nAfter an exchange of civilities, the visitor explained:\n\n\"Our home is at the other end of the village. The reason for my visit\nis to ask you to take this naughty boy into your care, as arranged the\nother day. I am told that you have a child of your own about his age. I\nshould like to see him!\"\n\nTonami beckoned to the little Sugawara.\n\n\"Why, certainly; this is our son and heir!\"\n\n\"Oh, what a nice little fellow! And how clever he looks!\" Then looking\nround the school-room, she added:\n\n\"How busy you must be with such a number of scholars in your care.\nThey must be a great trouble and responsibility.\"\n\n\"Yes, you may imagine it is no easy work to look after them all. Is\nthis the boy you wish us to take charge of? What is his name?\"\n\n\"His name is Kotaro!\" answered the mother.\n\n\"What an intelligent-looking child!\" exclaimed Tonami.\n\n\"Unfortunately my husband has been obliged to keep an appointment with\nsome friends. But if you are in a hurry and cannot wait, I will go and\nfetch him.\"\n\n\"No, no,\" protested Matsuo's wife, \"as I have an errand elsewhere I\nwill call in on my way back. He may have returned by then.\"\n\nThen calling her servant, she ordered him to bring in the presents\nshe had brought, one for the master, and some cakes to distribute\namongst the schoolboys. In a few graceful words the gratified hostess\nacknowledged her visitor's kind thought.\n\n\"Oh, it is nothing--only a little token of thanks from my heart for all\nthe trouble my boy is going to give you.\" Then turning to Kotaro, she\nadded:\n\n\"I am going to the next village, so you must wait for me here like a\ngood child--don't forget all I have told you!\"\n\n\"Oh, mother, I want to come with you!\" Kotaro suddenly cried, catching\nher by the sleeve as she was stepping into the porch.\n\n\"Now, do not be naughty!\" remonstrated his mother, \"a big boy like you\nought not to run after your mother. Look, Tonami San, what a baby he is\nstill!\"\n\n\"Oh, it is quite natural, poor little fellow. Look here, Kotaro! Come\nwith me and I will give you something nice.\" Then, turning to O Chiyo,\nshe added \"Try to come back as soon as possible.\"\n\n\"Yes, yes, I will come back at once, if you are a good boy, Kotaro.\"\n\nSeizing the opportunity she slipped out through the porch gate,\nfollowed by her servant, who closed it after her, and the two briskly\nclattered away on their clogs. The poor mother yearned to turn back\nonce more, for she knew that she would never see her little son again\nin this world; but she kept bravely on her way.\n\nWhile Tonami was trying to console Kotaro, and to distract his\nattention by introducing him to the little Sugawara, her husband\nreturned. His face was pale, and he was evidently profoundly agitated.\nAs he entered the school-room he sharply scrutinized each of the boys\nin turn. His wife saw at a glance that something unusual must have\noccurred.\n\n\"Oh, what common fellows they are!\" he muttered, crossly. \"Such\ncountry-bred louts can never serve my purpose, however great the\ntrouble I take with their education,\" and he gloomily regarded them\nwith knitted brows, as though something was weighing heavily on his\nmind.\n\nHis wife approached him and anxiously inquired: \"What is the matter?\nYou seem unusually worried to-day. You knew from the first that those\nvillage lads can never become intellectual. People will not think well\nof you, if you speak against your own scholars in this way. Besides, we\nhave another pupil to-day. Please try to recover your good temper and\nlook at the new boy.\" With these words she brought forward Kotaro, but\nTakebe had become absorbed in his own preoccupation, and took no notice\nof the child.\n\nKotaro came forward, bowed respectfully, and said: \"Please, sir, I look\nto you to teach me from now.\"\n\nAt these words, spoken in a clear, sweet treble, Takebe started from\nhis reverie and fixed his eyes upon the new-comer; by degrees his face\ngradually brightened as though struck by a new train of thought.\n\n\"What a handsome and dignified boy. You might easily pass for the son\nof a nobleman or any other exalted personage. Well, you are a fine\nfellow!\"\n\n\"He is, indeed,\" responded Tonami, with a smile. \"I thought you would\nbe glad to see such a promising pupil.\"\n\n\"Yes, yes,\" assented the master--\"nothing could be better,\" he\nmuttered, in an undertone, as if speaking to himself; and then aloud,\n\"where is the mother who brought him here?\"\n\n\"As you were not at home, she went to the next village on an errand,\"\nreplied his wife.\n\n\"That is capital!\" said Takebe, growing more and more pleased. \"Send\nthis child with our boy to an inner room, and let them play together.\"\n\n\"Now,\" said Tonami, turning to the class of schoolboys, who had been\nmore assiduous than ever since their master's return, \"all of you may\nhave a holiday. Run away and play in the garden!\"\n\nAfter sending her two special charges into the next room, and looking\naround with suspicious eyes that no eavesdropper was lingering behind,\nshe lowered her voice and half-whispered to her husband:\n\n\"When you came in you looked so harassed and troubled, but since you\nhave seen that boy, your demeanour has suddenly undergone a complete\nchange. What can be the reason for this? Something unexpected must have\nhappened! Won't you let me share the secret?\"\n\n\"It is quite natural that I should have been so perplexed and\ndumbfounded,\" answered Takebe. \"To deceive me they pretended to be\ngiving a feast, and invited me to the residence of the village mayor,\nbut when I arrived I soon found the feast was all a myth, and the house\nwas in the occupation of Shundo Gemba, vassal of Tokihira, and another\nman, Matsuo by name, who is under great obligations of gratitude to\nthe ex-Prime Minister, but who has deserted the house of Sugawara, and\nnow shamefully serves the enemy, Tokihira. It seems as though he must\nhave been appointed to examine the head of our young lord, for it has\nleaked out that he is here under our guardianship, and Tokihira has\nordered him to be beheaded. These two men, with some hundred followers,\nsurrounded me in a hostile manner, with this threat:\n\n\"We have received information that you are secreting the only son of\nthe ex-Prime Minister in your house, disguised as your own child.\nUnless you kill him at once and bring his head to us, we will attack\nyou and slay him ourselves.\n\n\"As no alternative was left me, I was compelled to pretend to assent to\ntheir proposal. I thought that amongst our pupils surely there would be\none sufficiently like to be sacrificed in his stead, but when I came\nhome and was confronted by all that row of plebian faces, it was an\nobvious fact that not a single one would answer the purpose. All those\nyoung boors are of a common and vulgar type, and as unlike as possible\nto the aristocratic face and noble bearing of our palace-reared boy.\nDespair seized me, but--when I saw the new pupil--it seemed as if he\nhad been specially sent by Providence as a substitute. The difference\nbetween them is not so great as that between a crow and a white heron.\nIf I can deceive them but for a short time with that boy's head, I\nintend to escape to Kawachi with the young prince.\"\n\nHis wife broke in:\n\n\"But that man, Matsuo, has known Kanshusai intimately since he was\nthree years old. How could he be deceived?\"\n\n\"There lies the difficulty,\" said Genzo, \"but after death faces\nalways change to some extent, and as Kotaro unmistakably bears some\nresemblance to our young master, even Matsuo may be deceived. At any\nrate we will risk it. In the event that the ruse is discovered, I am\ndetermined to kill Matsuo at once, and try to cut my way through the\nguards as best I can, but if they are too strong for me, I will die\nwith the young prince. Such is my decision, but the chief anxiety at\npresent is concerning the mother of that boy. If she should come back\nbefore this can be achieved, what course of action can we decide on?\"\n\n\"Leave her to me! I will try to throw dust in her eyes!\" suggested\nTonami.\n\n\"No, no, that won't do--a great plan often fails through some small\nmistake.\" Then, after a moment's reflection, he added, \"Oh, well--I\nsuppose she must die, too!\"\n\n\"What!\" cried his wife, in alarm.\n\n\"Be quiet,\" admonished her husband. \"For the young lord's sake we must\nstop at nothing. It is for our master's sake, remember that!\"\n\n\"Yes, yes, if we are weak we shall fail in our great scheme. Let us\nbecome devils. There is not much difference between pupils and one's\nown children. That boy became our pupil at this critical moment--heaven\nmust have delivered him into our hands as the result of his mother's\nsin in a former existence. Oh, well! the same fate may overtake us\nbefore long--\" At this point their pent-up feelings gave way, and both\nof them shed tears.\n\nShortly afterwards Gemba and Matsuo arrived at the gate. They were\nclosely followed by a number of villagers, the parents of the common\npupils in the school. In great excitement, one and all were loudly\nclamouring for the safety of their own children.\n\nMatsuo almost laughed. The situation was one of such grim comedy. Each\npeasant evidently thought his own son might easily pass for the young\naristocrat!\n\n\"Oh, mine is a beautiful boy,\" shouted one man. \"You mustn't make any\nmistake between my son and the real victim. Give me my boy--\" he turned\nfiercely to Gemba.\n\n\"You need have no apprehension whatever regarding your children,\" said\nGemba, calmly addressing the alarmed parents, who now squatted on the\nground with their heads bowed in the dust, \"if you want them, you are\nat liberty to take them away at once!\"\n\nMatsuo, who was in a _kago_,[7] here stepped out, using his long sword\nas a stick to lean upon. Both he and Gemba sat on stools, which their\nattendants placed ready.\n\n\"Just wait a little,\" said he--\"we cannot be too careful even with\nthese villagers. The reason why I accepted the office of examiner\nis because there is no one else who knows the young prince's head\nas well as I do. These people allowed the young Sugawara to live in\nthis village, so very likely they may have sympathy with the ex-Prime\nMinister and may claim his son now, pretending that he is one of their\nown family, and so aid him to escape! Who knows?\"\n\nThen, turning to the agitated peasants, he said to them, \"Now, my men,\nyou may call out your children's names one by one. I will examine each\nface carefully. Your own boys shall be safely restored to you, rest\nassured of that!\"\n\nThe schoolmaster and his wife, from the house, overheard all that was\ngoing on, and Matsuo's determined and arrogant demeanour only served to\nintensify their fears. It was going to be even more difficult than they\nhad apprehended.\n\nAn elderly man came forward, and in a loud voice, called out:\n\n\"Chomatsu, Chomatsu!\"\n\nIn answer, an ill-favoured, pock-marked boy ran out, his face covered\nwith smudges of Indian ink.\n\nMatsuo glanced at him.\n\n\"The difference is as great as between snow and charcoal. He may go!\"\nIn turn, all the rest of the pupils were searchingly inspected, but not\none bore the slightest resemblance to the ill-fated Kanshusai. When the\npacified villagers had carried away all their offspring in triumph,\nGemba and Matsuo entered the schoolmaster's house.\n\n\"Genzo!\" began Gemba, in tones of authority, \"you promised to behead\nthe young Sugawara--I will receive that head now!\"\n\nWithout betraying the least sign of feeling, Genzo replied:\n\n\"Yes, but he is the son of the ex-Prime Minister. We cannot slaughter\nhim like a common boy. Please wait for a short time!\"\n\n\"Oh, you cannot deceive us,\" said Matsuo, quickly. \"Dallying in this\nway is merely pretext for gaining time. But it is useless for you to\nattempt to disappear now, the rear of the house is guarded by some\nhundred men, and there is no room even for an ant to escape. You may\nproduce a substitute head, with the explanation that a dead and a\nliving face have a different appearance. I shall not be taken in by a\nsubterfuge. Such tricks on your part will only lead to repentance!\"\n\nThis last thrust hit Genzo hard, but he did not lose his\nself-possession and answered Matsuo quietly,\n\n\"What a far-fetched idea! Your eyes, after your long illness, may not\nbe able to see things clearly, but I will surely give you the head of\nthe young lord you demand.\"\n\n\"Before your tongue is dry,\" exclaimed Gemba, impatiently, \"behead him\nat once!\"\n\n\"It shall be done!\" replied Takebe, and went into an inner room. His\nwife, who had listened to all that transpired, was in an agony of\nanxiety, pale and trembling. Matsuo, with sharp eyes, was looking round\nthe room.\n\n\"It is rather mysterious,\" he said, suddenly, \"eight pupils have gone\nhome, and yet, there are nine desks. What has become of the owner of\nthat extra desk?\"\n\nTonami started. She began to explain that there was a new pupil. Matsuo\nsaw her vacillation. In an undertone, he said: \"What a fool you are!\nKeep quiet!\" Then, realizing how fatal such a mistake would be--Tonami\ncollected herself and managed to stammer out. \"That is the young\nSugawara's desk!\"\n\nBut her confusion had been noticed by the enemy. Gemba started to his\nfeet and shouted in furious tones,\n\n\"This trifling will cause the frustration of our plans!\"\n\nAt that moment the sound of a sword broke the silence as it fell\nswishing through the air, the screens of the room shook, and before\nMatsuo and Gemba could reach the partition which separated the inner\nfrom the outer room, Takebe appeared, carrying a white wooden tray.\nA cover hid what was beneath, but a thin trail of crimson blood was\nominously oozing from the edge. Kneeling on the mats before the two\nmen, he placed his ghastly burden before them.\n\n\"There was no alternative, so I was forced to behead the young lord.\nMay Heaven forgive me! As it is a matter of such importance that there\nshould be no mistake--please examine it carefully.\"\n\nWith these words, Takebe's hand stealthily fell upon his sword-hilt.\nEvery fibre was on the alert to cut down Matsuo the moment he realized\nthe deception that had been practised on him.\n\n\"I will certainly do so,\" replied Matsuo, nonchalantly, then,\naddressing some of the soldiers who had followed him into the room, he\nperemptorily gave them the command:\n\n\"Now surround the Takebe couple!\"\n\nFrom the rear of the house several guards entered and took up their\nposts at the porch, and just behind Genzo and his wife.\n\nThe strain was almost too great for the poor woman, and she was\nwell-nigh fainting with the sickening uncertainty of what might be the\nlast act of that dreadful drama. Gemba, looking on, took note keenly of\nthe proceedings.\n\nEverything hung on Matsuo's decision. The suspense of the moment was\nagonizing in its intensity.\n\nHe slowly lifted the blood-rimmed cover from the wooden tray. A boy's\ndecapitated head was exposed to view. It was the head of little Kotaro.\n\nTakebe's eyes were riveted on Matsuo. Defiantly he swore that Matsuo\nshould draw his last breath the moment he declared the head to be a\nsubterfuge. As a tiger ready to spring on its prey, the desperate man\nwatched the judge on whose next word hung all their lives.\n\nTonami was praying to the Gods in silent fervour that the truth might\nnot be discovered, tremblingly she clutched a short sword hidden\nbeneath her robe, which her husband had surreptitiously handed her, in\npreparation for the worst.\n\nMatsuo deliberately examined the head of his own son--carefully and\nsearchingly from every side he scrutinized the little face, now so\nstill and pallid, sometimes his eyes blinked to hide the gathering\ntears, and once his face contracted with pain, but at last he loudly\npronounced the momentous verdict:\n\n\"Oh, there can be no doubt that this is the head of Kanshusai, the\nson of the Lord Sugawara.\" Triumph, at the success of his loyal plot,\nconquered every other feeling and he slammed the lid back into place.\n\nGemba, delighted that there had been no mistake, and that the gruesome\ncommission had been successfully carried out, accorded words of praise\nto Takebe for beheading the boy.\n\n\"As a reward for this deed, you will be pardoned for harbouring him\nso long! Let us hasten to take the head to Lord Tokihira,\" he said,\nturning to Matsuo.\n\n\"Yes, it is better that no time should be lost,\" responded the latter,\n\"but as my duty is now finished, may I request to be discharged on sick\nleave?\"\n\n\"Certainly,\" Gemba replied, \"as your mission is satisfactorily\nconcluded, you may go.\"\n\nHe then took up the tray with the bleeding head, strode to the door,\nand calling his attendants, pompously set out at once for Tokihira's\npalace. Outside the gate he stopped and mockingly addressed Takebe:\n\"Ha, ha, ha!\" he laughed, \"though you take great care of the boy\nusually, when your own life is in danger you do not fail to cut off his\nhead! ha, ha, ha!\" and the cruel man, with this parting sneer, went on\nhis ruthless way. Matsuo silently followed him out of the house and got\ninto his _kago_.\n\nThe husband and wife, now that they were left alone, were quite\nexhausted from the emotion and stress of the past hour. They went out\nand closed the gates. Both were speechless with joy for some minutes.\nThe master, sighing with relief, bowed his head and turned to the four\npoints of the compass, silently returning thanks to the deities whose\nhelp he had invoked.\n\n[Illustration: This is the head of Kanshusai, the son of the Lord\nSugawara.]\n\n\"Oh, Heaven be praised!\" he exclaimed at last. \"The Gods have accorded\ntheir mighty aid to our cause and mercifully caused Matsuo's eyes to be\ndimmed, so that he mistook the other boy's head for that of our young\nprince. Heaven has clearly interposed to help our lord. Let us rejoice,\nmy wife!\"\n\n\"Yes, yes,\" she answered, \"what a terrible strain it has been! In some\nunfathomable way the spirit of our lord must have cast a veil over\nMatsuo's eyes, or that head may have become a golden Buddha to help our\ncause. Though there was a slight resemblance between the two boys, yet\nthey differ in reality as much as brick from gold. I was so transported\nat the success of our plan, that I almost wept aloud with the poignancy\nof joy when I saw that Matsuo was deceived.\"\n\nWhen the loyal couple had given vent to their feelings, simultaneously\nthey rushed to the side-room, where they had concealed their precious\ncharge. The one from the side and the other from the front pushed aside\nthe screens. Genzo then raised one of the _tatami_ (a padded mat three\nfeet by six feet), disclosing a cavity in the floor, out of which\nrose up the aristocratic form of Kanshusai, safe and untouched by his\nenemies. They gazed at him in silence--overwhelmed.\n\nSuddenly, a knocking at the gate and the voice of Kotaro's mother\ndisturbed them.\n\n\"I am the mother of the new pupil. Let me in!\"\n\nStartled, they hastily closed the screens. At this turn of events\nTonami was at her wits' end, and knew not what to do for the best. She\nran to and fro across the room like one demented.\n\nSeeing that Tonami was losing her self-control and was about to\nburst out into excited speech, her husband enveloped his hand in the\nsleeve of his robe and covered her mouth. He held her still with grim\ndetermination.\n\n\"Remember what I said a short time ago. It means simply this--nothing\nis so precious as our young lord. You weak creature!\" he added, with\ndisdain, as he saw his wife's trepidation. Then he turned and went to\nthe entrance.\n\n\"I fear my naughty boy must be giving you a great deal of trouble,\"\nsaid the new-comer, as Takebe let her in, \"but what has become of him\nnow?\"\n\nTo gain time, Takebe replied, little knowing that he was confronted by\na soul as strong in loyalty to the Sugawara as his own:\n\n\"He is in the house playing with the other children--school is over for\nto-day, so you must take him back with you.\"\n\n\"Very well,\" she assented, and started towards the house.\n\nDirectly her back was turned, Takebe drew his sword and tried to cut\nher down from behind. O Chiyo, a _samurai_ woman, was a trained fencer.\nShe swiftly comprehended the meaning of Takebe's movement, even before\nhe drew his sword, the sound, as it left its sheath, confirming what\nher alert senses divined. Quick as lightning she darted aside, barely\nescaping the deadly weapon as it tried to compass her destruction.\nAgain and again the desperate man thrust at her. All would be lost even\nnow, if this woman discovered that her boy had been slain to save their\nlord's son. With a box which she carried in her hand, O Chiyo skilfully\nparried the blows.\n\n\"Wait, wait! What is the matter?\" she gasped out. But her frenzied\nantagonist was far too excited to listen, and he struck out with such\ngood-will that the box, which served her as a shield, was speedily cut\nin two, and there appeared, unfolding and fluttering in the breeze as\nthey fell, a little winding sheet, and a sacred banner used for the\ndead, bearing in black hieroglyphics, the inscription, \"_Namu Amida\nButsu_!\" (All hail, Great Buddha!)\n\nTakebe's hand was paralyzed by this unexpected apparition. Bewildered\nas to what this could mean, he glanced inquiringly at O Chiyo.\n\n\"Was my boy considered worthy to take the place of our young lord or\nnot?\" she asked, meeting his gaze steadily with her clear eyes. \"Tell\nme the truth!\"\n\nAt such totally unlooked-for words, Takebe was confounded more than\never. Was it possible that the enemy he was seeking to destroy had\nunexpectedly become a friend?\n\n\"Oh, oh!\" he stammered, \"Did you understand and anticipate all this?\"\n\n\"Yes, of course,\" answered the brave mother. \"As I anticipated\neverything, I prepared and brought these things in Kotaro's box.\"\n\n\"Whose wife are you?\" cried the astonished man, as he sheathed his\nsword.\n\nBefore she could answer a voice from outside the gate chanted a poem:\n\n      _Ume[8] wa tobi_\n    _Sakura_[8] _wa karuru_\n      _Yono naka ni_\n    _Nani tote Matsu_[8] _wa_\n      _Tsure na kakuran_.\n\n      In my service\n    Plum blossom has fled\n      The Cherry has withered\n    How then can the Pine be\n      Heartless to me?\n\n\"Rejoice, my wife! Our boy has done his duty!\" When these brief words\nconveyed to the heroic woman that the sacrifice had been consummated in\nthe tragic fate of her cherished son, her brave spirit failed her, and\nshe fell unconscious to the ground.\n\n\"What a poor creature you are!\" exclaimed her husband, as he entered\nthe room.\n\nAt the unexpected arrival of Matsuo, the schoolmaster and his wife\nwere more confused than ever, but with an effort Takebe attempted to\nregain his self-possession.\n\n[Illustration: The box, which served her as a shield, was speedily cut\nin two, and there appeared, unfolding and fluttering in the breeze, a\nlittle winding-sheet and a sacred banner for the dead]\n\n\"I will use more ceremonious speech afterwards. You Matsuo, whom we all\nbelieved a traitor to behave like this! What is the meaning of it all?\"\n\n\"It is quite natural that you cannot understand. We were three\nbrothers. All were faithful vassals of Michizane, the Minister of the\nRight, to whom my family was deeply indebted. I, Matsuo, latterly\nentered the service of Tokihira, and on this account I was disowned\nby my father. I dissimulated thus, the better to serve Lord Sugawara.\nHowever, the position proved intolerable, and to get my dismissal\nI feigned illness. It was at this juncture that the news of where\nKanshusai was concealed reached the ears of Tokihira. A messenger\ninformed me that I would be released from office if I would undertake\nthe mission of securing the head of our young lord. I felt sure that\nyou would never commit such a crime, but if no substitute could be\nprocured I knew that you would be desperate. Thinking that the time\nhad come to repay the debt of gratitude to our generous benefactor, I\nconsulted with my wife, and we sent our own boy to take the place of\nhis son. That is why I counted the number of desks, to see if he were\nalready here or not. Lord Sugawara composed the poem I quoted just\nnow, showing his discernment of my character. In that poem he asks,\n'How can the pine be heartless towards me?' But the world, in general,\ninterpreted those lines in a contrary sense, and everyone denounced me\nas a cowardly deserter. You may imagine, Genzo, how I resented this. If\nI had had no son, I must have passed as a traitor all my life. There is\nno possession so precious as a son.\"\n\nO Chiyo, who had meanwhile recovered from her faint, was intently\nlistening to her husband's explanations with a composed demeanour. But\nat these words she could restrain her emotion no longer, and sobbed\naloud.\n\n\"Oh, how our Kotaro must rejoice although in another world, to hear\nsuch sentiments from his father. Those words are his best requiem. When\nI left him a short time ago, he looked unusually sad--for his childish\nmind understood that he was about to die. I intended to go home and\ndeceive him, saying that I was going to the next village and would\nreturn soon. But I could not go home. Oh! the yearning to see even his\ndead face once more was so great that I came back. You may scoff at my\nweakness, but my sorrow is well-nigh unendurable. Had our Kotaro been\nborn ugly, and brought up as a common child, he might not have suffered\nsuch a death. But as he was beautiful, obedient, and good, he was\nchosen for the sacrifice. Could I have known his untimely fate I would\nnever have found fault with him. Oh, my son, my little, little son!\"\n\nAnd the poor woman, overcome with the poignancy of her grief and the\nbitterness of her renunciation, fell with her face to the mats, trying\nto suppress the rending sobs which seemed to tear her breast asunder.\n\nHere Tonami came close to the sorrowing mother and murmured in tones of\nsympathy:\n\n\"Only a short hour ago, when my husband had decided that he should be\nthe substitute for the young prince, Kotaro came up to him and said,\ninnocently, 'Master, please take care of me!' When I think of this,\nthough I am but a stranger, I feel as if my heart would break. I can\nimagine how desolate his true mother must be to lose such a sweet\nchild,\" and the tears fell from her eyes.\n\n\"No, no, Tonami! No, no, my wife! You must not weep. It was our own\ndecision to let him die in the place of our young lord. You, O Chiyo,\nought to be ashamed to give way like this before strangers. But,\" and\nMatsuo turned anxiously to Takebe, \"although I carefully explained to\nmy boy the reason for his fate, and how he should die with dignity,\ntell me, did he meet death in a miserable way, or did he die like a\n_samurai_?\"\n\n\"Yes, oh, yes!\" Takebe quickly replied. \"When I told the brave boy\nthat his head must be cut off to save our young lord, the child of his\nbenefactor, he calmly and courageously, without a word, placed his neck\nin readiness for the sword--he did not attempt either to hide or to\nescape from his impending doom. You must have taught him well--he even\nsmiled at the last--rest assured of that!\"\n\nThe schoolmaster could say no more, with strong restraint he tried to\nhide his feelings and pretended to laugh, but the forced mirth ended\nwith a choking sound in his throat.\n\nAt this point the stoic father broke down and wept, and as he wiped\naway the slow tears, he said, in a low voice: \"He was both good and\nclever, was our little Kotaro. Even at the age of nine he takes the\nplace of his parents to prove our gratitude to our lord. He is a filial\nchild--a fortunate child to be able to do that I The more I think of it\nthe more it recalls my brother, Sakura Maru. He died without being able\nto make any return for the obligation he was under to his lord. How he\nmust envy our boy!\"\n\n\"Oh, Kotaro soon followed him to another world!\" wailed O Chiyo, and\nwith these words she burst into another paroxysm of grief.\n\nThe young Sugawara, the innocent cause of this tragedy, overhearing the\npoor mother's heart-rending sobs, came out from an inner room, pale and\nawe-stricken:\n\n\"If I had only known that he was going to die for me, I would not have\nallowed it--oh--how sad! how sad!\" he exclaimed, and with his long\nsleeve, he wiped away the tears from his eyes.\n\nMatsuo and his wife turned and bowed to the little fellow while he\nspoke. For this boy's sake their family must sink into oblivion and\nnothingness, and be no longer remembered among the living; for his sake\nthere would be no one to keep up the rites of the dead before their\nancestors' tombs or their own, when they should be no more. On this\naltar of loyalty to his father's house they had offered all that this\nworld held for them of joy, hope, and ambition. On this altar they had\nlaid up for themselves a cheerless, desolate, childless old age. To\nthis sublime ideal of duty, unhesitatingly, unflinchingly, regardless\nof themselves and the acuteness of their sufferings, these simple\nmartyr-souls had made this great renunciation. That the young lord\nshould realize this sacrifice they had not in the least expected. His\nwords surprised them. It was balm to their stricken hearts, that even\nin some small measure he could appreciate what they had done for him.\n\nThen Matsuo rose and went to the porch.\n\n\"I have brought a present for our young master,\" and with a whistle, he\nsummoned a _kago_ that had been waiting in the garden. As soon as the\nbearers set it down out stepped the Lady Sugawara.\n\n\"Oh, my mother! My mother!\" almost shouted the boy, as she quickly\nentered the house, her long mantle of gold brocade and crimson linings\nflashing colour as she moved.\n\n\"Oh, my son, my beloved son!\" cried the overjoyed mother, folding the\nchild to her heart.\n\nThe schoolmaster and his wife exclaimed with joy when they realized the\nidentity of the new-comer After their respectful greetings, Takebe said:\n\n\"I have been long striving to discover your hiding place. Where can\nyour ladyship have taken refuge all this time?\"\n\nMatsuo answered for her:\n\n\"When her ladyship was hiding in the suburbs, Tokihira's retainers\ngot scent of her retreat and nearly succeeded in taking her prisoner.\nKnowing her danger I disguised myself as a _yamabushi_[9] and managed\nto rescue her just in time, so she has been concealed in my house\never since. Without delay you must now escort her and Kanshusai to\nKawachi,[10]--so that they may once more be a united family, safe from\nthe pursuit of their enemies.\"\n\nThen, turning to his wife, he added, \"Now let us carry home the body of\nKotaro and begin the preparations for his funeral rites.\"\n\nBut before O Chiyo could answer, Tonami reverently carried the headless\nbody of the slain child to the _kago_. O Chiyo followed, and kneeling,\nplaced over Kotaro the white shroud and the sacred banner.\n\nMatsuo and his wife then took off their outer robes, revealing the\nwhite garments of ceremonial mourning in readiness for the obsequies.\nTakebe and his wife made a gesture of surprise and deprecation.\n\n\"It is against custom that parents should attend the funeral of their\nown son. Let us spare you this trial--we will do everything in your\nplace!\" they cried.\n\n\"No, no,\" said Matsuo, loyal unto death, even the death of his only son\nfor the sake of his lord, \"this is not the body of my boy. We are going\nto bury our young lord!\"\n\n[Illustration: \"No, no,\" said Matsuo ... \"this is not the body of my\nboy.... We are going to bury our young lord!\"]\n\nWith these words, Matsuo and his wife took their farewells. Then,\nturning in silence, they followed the impromptu bier which bore all\nthat was left to them of their well-beloved child, and with bowed heads\nreverently wended their way towards their now desolate and empty home.\nLady Sugawara, her son, Genzo and Tonami, with tears falling from their\neyes, watched the little procession slowly disappear down the road into\nthe deepening shadows of the night.\n\nNote.--\"The memory of the unfortunate statesman, Sugawara-no-Michizane,\nis surrounded by a halo of romance which affords an insight into\nJapanese character. He belonged to an ancient family of professional\nlitterateurs, and had none of the titles which in that age were\ncommonly considered essential to official preferment. By extraordinary\nscholarship, singular sweetness of disposition, and unswerving fidelity\nto justice and truth he won a high reputation, and had he been content\nwith the fame his writings brought him, and with promoting the cause\nof scholarship, through the medium of a school which he endowed, he\nmight have ended his days in peace. But, in an evil hour, he accepted\noffice, and thus found himself required to discharge the duties of\nstatesmanship at a time of extreme difficulty, when an immense interval\nseparated the rich and the poor, when the arbitrariness and extortions\nof the local governors had become a burning question, when the nobles\nand the princes were crushing the people with merciless taxes, and when\nthe finances of the Court were in extreme disorder. Michizane, a gentle\nconservative, was not fitted to cope with these difficulties, and his\nsituation at Court was complicated by the favour of an ex-Emperor (Uda)\nwho had abdicated but still sought to take part in the administration,\nand by the jealousy of the Fujiwara representative, Tokihira, a\nyoung, impetuous, arrogant, but highly gifted nobleman. These two men,\nMichizane and Tokihira, became the central figures in a very unequal\nstruggle, the forces on the one side being the whole Fujiwara clan,\nheaded by the unscrupulously daring and ambitious Tokihira; those on\nthe other, a few scholars, the love and respect of the lower orders,\nand the benevolent tolerance of the self-effacing Michizane. The end\nwas inevitable. Michizane, falsely accused of conspiring to obtain\nthe throne for his grandson--an Imperial prince had married his\ndaughter--was banished to Dazaifu, and his family and friends were\neither killed or reduced to serfdom. The story is not remarkable. It\ncontains no great crises or dazzling incidents. Yet if Michizane had\nbeen the most brilliant statesman and the most successful general\never possessed by Japan, his name could not have been handed down\nthrough all generations of his countrymen with greater veneration and\naffection.\"--BRINKLEY, \"Japan: Its History Arts and Literature,\" p. 256.\n\n\n[Footnote 1: In the ancient Imperial Court there were two supreme\nMinisters in the Council of State; first the Minister of the Left\n(_Sadaijin_--next in rank to the Prime Minister), and second, the\nMinister of the Right (_Udaijin_).]\n\n[Footnote 2: The Fujiwara Minister.]\n\n[Footnote 3: _Ronin_, a _samurai_ who has severed relations with his\nlord for the sake, generally, of carrying out some plan which would\nentail disgrace if unsuccessful.]\n\n[Footnote 4: Where Sugawara was exiled.]\n\n[Footnote 5: _Obi_, the sash or girdle.]\n\n[Footnote 6: _Shoji_, sliding paper door.]\n\n[Footnote 7: _Kago_, a palanquin.]\n\n[Footnote 8: _Matsu_, the first hieroglyphic of Matsuo's name. _Ume_\n(plum blossom), and _Sakura_ (cherry), were the names of Matsuo's\nbrothers.]\n\n[Footnote 9: _Yamabushi_, a wandering priest.]\n\n[Footnote 10: Kawachi: where the friends of Sugawara were the\nstrongest.]\n\n\n\n\nHOW KINU RETURNED FROM THE GRAVE\n\n\nIn the good old days of long, long, ago, there lived in the city of\nOsaka a rich merchant. Fortune had smiled upon his enterprises, and his\nbusiness prospered tenfold, until he possessed in abundance all that\nthis world had to bestow: moreover, he was proud in the possession of a\nlittle daughter, named Kinu, beautiful as a _ten-no-tsukai_, one of the\nangels of the Buddhist heaven; her fame spread far and wide, and all\nwho saw her marvelled at her exceeding loveliness.\n\nIn contrast to the opulence and grandeur of this wealthy man, next\ndoor, in a poor and mean house, there dwelt a humble vendor of tobacco,\nwho was also blessed with an unusually handsome child, a boy named\nKunizo, and who chanced to be of the same age as his little neighbour.\n\nFrom earliest times Kinu and Kunizo were accustomed to play together\nalmost daily, and shared all their childish joys and sorrows, so that\ngradually a deep and enduring affection sprang up between the two. All\nwho saw them took great delight in watching the grace and beauty of the\ntwo children, who seemed so well suited to each other, and who made a\nperfect picture when seen together.\n\nAs, however, the little playfellows grew older, from motives of\nprudence, the rich merchant and his wife sought to discourage their\nintimacy, and their daughter was gradually removed as much as possible\nfrom the companionship of the lowly neighbour's son.\n\nBut although Kinu and Kunizo could no longer enter into each other's\ndaily life and play as formerly, yet the strong bond of sympathy and\naffection that linked them together never grew less, and silently\nwithin their hearts they cherished the remembrance of all the happy\ndays they had spent in each other's company.\n\nAt last, when Kinu reached the age of seventeen, her beauty and charm\nhad become so celebrated, and the merchant's wealth and position so\nwell established in the city, that she was sought in marriage by the\nson of a great nobleman. The parents, highly elated at the distinction\nof such a lofty alliance for their lovely daughter, immediately gave\ntheir consent, and all preliminaries were speedily arranged for the\nnuptials to take place at an early date.\n\nJust at that time, Kinu, with some of her girl friends, and under the\nescort of her old nurse, paid a visit to the theatre. Her mother,\nexpecting her to be the cynosure of all eyes as the bride-elect of the\nheir of a well-known noble family, attired her daughter in the most\nexquisite robes that could possibly be procured. The fashions of that\nperiod were brilliant in hue, and especially suited to Kinu's luxuriant\nbeauty, so that when she appeared all eyes gazed with admiration and\nenvy at the radiant vision; indeed, the audience gazed more at her\nthan at the play.\n\n[Illustration: From earliest times Kinu and Kunizo were accustomed to\nplay together]\n\nHow inexorable are the decrees of Destiny! That day it happened that\nKunizo also visited the same theatre.\n\nFrom his humble seat in the pit, his eyes followed the direction where\neveryone else was turning, and he soon descried his former friend and\nplayfellow, seated in a prominent place and surrounded by friends and\nattendants as befitting her approaching exalted position.\n\nKunizo felt a great impulse to go and speak to her, but dared not. His\nonly solace was to gaze with ardent longing at the lovely apparition,\nthat now seemed as far removed from him as the moth from the star.\n\nMeanwhile, it was not long before Kinu singled out, from amongst the\nsea of faces, the familiar features of her dear comrade of earlier\ndays, and their glances were soon exchanging reciprocally tender\nmessages across the intervening space.\n\nMemories of their childhood's friendship had long been secretly\nsmouldering in their hearts, and opportunity alone was needed to fan\nthe flame into unquenchable passion.\n\nAs the lovers gazed at each other in that crowded place, both\ntheir young hearts were carried away beyond the bounds of time and\ncircumstances, and they realized, with an overwhelming conviction, how\nstrong were the golden fetters of love that riveted their souls to each\nother for all eternity.\n\nThat night Kunizo returned to his humble home in a very sad and\ndowncast frame of mind. His thoughts were busily contrasting the happy\ntimes of those bygone days, when he could frequently enjoy the society\nof his beloved Kinu, with now, when, as he bitterly reflected, a gulf\nyawned between them, as impassable as that which separates Heaven from\nHell!\n\nAnd, brooding over the miseries of an unjust world, poor Kunizo fell\nsick, and was confined for days to his room.\n\nMeanwhile, the beautiful bride-elect returned to her father's mansion\nwith her heart strangely agitated. The sight of his handsome face, so\nfull of hopeless longing, when his eyes sought her in the theatre, had\ndeeply affected her, and she could not forget him. At last she also\nfell ill, and after a time became too weak to leave her bed.\n\nShe felt like a poor insect caught in the entangling meshes of a cruel\nFate. The mere thought of the brilliant marriage that had been arranged\nby her parents became detestable to her, and tossing on her fevered\npillow, long and earnest were her daily supplications to the powers\nabove to find her some means of escape.\n\nTo the faithful old nurse alone did Kinu dare to confide her tormenting\ntroubles, and the old woman, sorely distressed at the constant fits of\nweeping and increasing melancholy of her stricken foster-child, at last\npromised to be the bearer of a message to Kunizo.\n\nThen Kinu embodied her woes in a little poem to which she composed\nan accompaniment on the _koto_, and she found much solace singing it\nrepeatedly to herself in the solitude of her chamber.\n\nThe nurse's sympathies being with the hapless pair, she soon found an\nopportunity to inform Kunizo of the love-poem that Kinu had dedicated\nto him, and the knowledge that his affection was requited brought such\njoy to his sad heart that all traces of sickness left him, and he was\nable to resume his usual mode of life.\n\nBut not so with Kinu. Day and night the image of Kunizo alone filled\nher thoughts, and the more fervently she longed to see him the more her\nmalady increased.\n\nThe merchant and his wife were plunged into deep distress and anxiety\nconcerning the mysterious ailment that had so suddenly attacked their\nbeloved daughter: the most skilful doctors were hastily summoned to\nher bedside, but all their ministrations proved of no avail, and the\nlove-smitten patient, like a wilted flower, continued to fade and droop.\n\nNow, although Kunizo had grown up amidst poor and obscure surroundings,\nyet he had received a good education, and had always cherished a great\ndevotion to literature, and especially poetry, for the composition of\nwhich he had a natural gift. So when the news reached him that his\nlady-love was lying on a bed of sickness, he composed a little poem for\nher, revealing the state of his mind, and entrusted it to the care of\nthe faithful nurse:\n\n\n\n\n                                To O KINU SAMA\n    _So near Belov\u00e8d, yet long leagues apart_,\n    _The ladder to thy Heaven so far and dim_,\n       _Its steps I dare not scale_!\n    _One night my soul a butterfly became_:\n       _Straight to its goal thy presence sweet_,\n    _It fluttered softly through the starlit dusk_\n       _Behind thy purple tasselled sudare[1]_.\n         _What ecstasy was mine_!\n                                 From KUNIZO\n\nThis message brought great comfort to Kinu's heart, for until then she\nhad merely guessed Kunizo's affection for her, and had no certain proof\nof it. Joyfully she wrote a little stanza in response:\n\n\n\n                                 To KUNIZO SAMA\n    _What matter that our weary feet_\n      _Tread thorny paths and wastes forlorn_\n    _If only we together climb_?\n      _What matter that a hermit's hut_\n    _Is all our shelter from the blast_?\n      _Beyond the mists one shining star_,\n    _Our heart's true guide bright beckons us!_\n      _Earth's dust shake off, and hand in hand_\n    _Set out in faith to Love's lone peak!_\n                                  From KINU\n\nFrom that time, day by day, the enamoured pair existed on the exchange\nof their love-tokens, while the happiness of being in such constant\nand intimate intercourse with her old friend led to Kinu's sudden and\ncomplete recovery.\n\nIn the meantime her parents, overjoyed at their daughter's restoration\nto health, and in total ignorance of all that was taking place,\nhastened to select an auspicious day for the marriage, and began with\nenthusiasm the elaborate preparations for the important event.\n\nWhen the hapless Kinu realized that her destiny was irrevocably sealed,\nand that she was condemned to become the wife of another man, she\nbecame almost frantic.\n\nDisobedience and defiance of her parent's wishes being out of the\nquestion, she pondered morning, noon, and night over the dreadful\nsituation: but it seemed that nothing short of a miracle could prevent\nor even delay the marriage ceremony with the hated bridegroom.\n\nAfter long days and nights of futile scheming, it seemed to her\ndistraught brain that the only line of action left to her was this:\nonce arrived at the nobleman's house she determined, on pretence of\nillness, to ask permission to isolate herself in her own apartments;\nbut should he insist on her presence, there would be but one course\nleft to her to follow, and since it was doomed that she should not be\nthe Bride of Love, she would become the Bride of Death.\n\nThis desperate decision she communicated in her last farewell to the\ndistracted Kunizo, and as a pledge of finality and her unshakeable\nresolve, she wrote the letter in blood, drawn from a self-inflicted\nwound on one of her fingers, and tied this ominous missive with a long\ntress of her silken, ebony hair.\n\nThe fateful day arrived. Passively the unwilling, shrinking bride\nsubmitted to the obsequious attendants, who robed her slender form\nin the gorgeous wedding-garments and applied the adornments of art\nto enhance her pale beauty, so that when she appeared before them,\nthe relatives and friends, who had assembled for the occasion, were\nenchanted, and all were loud in praise of her surpassing loveliness.\n\nAt last the evening came and the hour of departure was at hand. Kinu\ntook formal leave of her parents, and then, steeling her heart with\nthe firm resolution to escape from the hateful bondage of this forced\nmarriage, entered her _kago_, and was slowly borne to the house of the\nbridegroom, closely followed by a long procession of her parents, the\ngo-between, and attendants.\n\nNow, it happened that some years before the young nobleman had formed\na liaison with a woman, a famous _danseuse_ and singer, to whom he\nhad been deeply attached. According to the custom of those times he\nhad installed her in his house, and being of an ambitious nature, from\nthe first she had cherished the hope that in time her devotion would\nbe rewarded by becoming his legal wife, and the mistress of that noble\nhouse. When, therefore, she learnt of the death-blow to her aspirations\nin her lover's approaching marriage to a young bride of peerless\nbeauty, the shock was so great as to unhinge her reason.\n\nSecretly she nursed her bitter feelings: vainly she hoped that her\nagonized prayers to the Gods might be heard, and that the dreaded\nmarriage might yet be cancelled.\n\nBut when the evening of the wedding-day arrived, and the lights of the\nbridal procession had already come into view along the road, and were\nslowly nearing the house, her fury could no longer be restrained. Mad\nwith jealousy and disappointment she rushed into the garden, stabbed\nherself through the breast, and in a last convulsive frenzy, cast her\nbleeding body down the well.\n\nAt that moment the massive gates were thrown open, and the bride's\nsumptuously lacquered _kago_ appeared, surrounded by a numerous\nretinue, carrying lanterns and torches.\n\nSuddenly, an unearthly gust of cold wind arose whirling wildly round\nthe mansion, and all the lights were extinguished. In the dense gloom\nof that moonless night, what was the terror of everyone to behold in\nfront of them, barring the way before the passage of the bride, the\nspectre of the deserted mistress! Shrouded in a cloud of pale-bluish\nmist, her ghastly face and blood-stained garments struck terror to the\nsouls of the petrified spectators--her long dishevelled hair streamed\nbehind her in the breeze, which was not of this world, and her hands\nwere uplifted in menace towards the bride, from whose _kago_ a wild and\nheartpiercing shriek was heard.\n\nThe bridegroom, who with a group of retainers had been impatiently\nawaiting the advent of Kinu at the entrance to the house, was a\nhorrified spectator of the fearful scene. His wrath was uncontrollable.\nWith drawn sword he rushed to the gate and made a wild attempt to cut\ndown the wraith of his jealous paramour--but as his sword fell, in a\nflash the whole apparition vanished.\n\nGreat was the commotion that followed, but by degrees the alarmed\nservants and bearers recovered from their fright, the torches and\nlanterns were relighted, and the door of the palanquin was opened.\n\nAlas! to all appearances the beautiful bride was dead. Like a white\nlily she lay back on her cushions, pale and still.\n\nPhysicians were summoned in all haste, but they declared that remedies\nwere of no avail--life was extinct.\n\nThe hapless Kinu had perished. Coming as a climax to the mental anguish\nshe had suffered, the horror of the ghastly welcome that had greeted\nher, was beyond the endurance of her frail spirit, and on the\nthreshold of her new and dreaded home, it had taken wing.\n\n[Illustration: Her ghastly face and blood-stained garments struck\nterror to the souls of the petrified spectators]\n\nThe woe of that night was unutterable.\n\nAmidst the general lamentations, Kinu's afflicted parents returned\nto their home, bearing with them the lifeless body of their beloved\ndaughter: all their pride obliterated and their hopes in her brightly\nopening future swept away for ever by the tragedy of that fearful night.\n\nTwo days later, with poignant grief, the stricken couple laid in the\ntomb all that was left of their cherished child, so irrevocably and\ncruelly torn from them by a sudden unexpected doom, and they resolved\nto dedicate the remnant of their days to her memory.\n\nKunizo was the first to hear the dire news. With a breaking heart he\nhad watched his love depart on her ill-starred journey, and, numbed\nwith despair, from the same spot he witnessed the mournful return of\nthe procession.\n\nStupefied at the turn events had taken, he at once determined that her\nspirit should not go forth on its way alone into the darkness of the\nLand of Shadows, and since their paths had been so ruthlessly parted\nin life, compassionate Death should unite them for many lives to come.\nHowever, before he made his final exit from this world of pain, he\nwould at least gaze once again upon the beautiful face of his beloved\nKinu.\n\nWith this resolve, on the night of her interment he found his way to\nthe cemetery; the coffin was easily disinterred, and with the tools\nbrought for that purpose, he soon succeeded in wrenching off the lid.\nNo sooner had this been done than a miracle was wrought. Instead of\nlying there a pallid wraith of her former self, as Kunizo so fully\nexpected to find the corpse of his lost love, with a faint sigh she\nraised herself in the narrow coffin, and turned her bewildered gaze\nupon her astounded deliverer.\n\nIt was indeed true, the sudden rush of cold air had brought back the\nwandering spirit of poor Kinu. The hideous events of her wedding night\nhad completely suspended her animation, and she had fallen into a deep\ntrance, which had deceived everyone by its faithful semblance of Death.\n\nWho can depict the joy and transports of the young lovers, who after\nenduring such torments and vicissitudes, were thus miraculously\nrestored to each other! Kunizo, almost beside himself with happiness,\ndid his utmost to minister to his beloved lady, and when she had\nsufficiently recovered, he tenderly wrapped her in his outer garment\nand carried her in all haste to the house of an aunt, who lived at some\ndistance, where she could be safely concealed.\n\nThis relative was considerably surprised at such a visitation in the\ndead of night, and still more so at the almost incredible narrative of\nthe fugitive couple. However, clearly discerning the will of Heaven in\nall that had passed, she willingly afforded them a shelter, and did all\nin her power to aid them escape from that part of the country.\n\nUnder cover of the darkness they fled, and crossing the sea,\narrived safely in the island of Shikoku. There, in a place called\nMarugame, they found another member of Kunizo's family, to whom they\nhad been directed, who was the prosperous master of a _yadoya_, or inn,\nin the vicinity of the famous temple of Kompira,[2] for which that\nregion had become famous.\n\n[Illustration: Kunizo, almost beside himself with happiness, did his\nutmost to minister to his beloved lady.]\n\n\nThe fugitives received a kindly welcome, and then after all their\ntrials and sorrows, they made their home in that flourishing country\ntown, annually visited by thousands of pilgrims, Kinu's beauty and\naccomplishments winning all hearts and proving of great assistance to\ntheir benefactor. In this way, far from their native place, the united\nlovers spent happy years in the joy of each other's company, secure in\ntheir deep affection, which, like the flower of the enchanted bowers\nof Horai, the Elysian Isle, fades not, but blooms on fragrant for all\neternity.\n\nHaunted by the fear that they might again be pitilessly separated from\neach other, and Kinu forced to fulfil her engagement to the luckless\nnobleman, who had been defrauded of his happiness in such a gruesome\nand unforeseen manner, they lived in the strictest retirement and never\ndared to disclose to their respective sorrowing families the wonders\nthat had been worked in their behalf.\n\nHowever, some years later, Kinu's parents, who had all this time been\nmourning and inconsolable for their daughter's tragic end, undertook\nan extensive pilgrimage age to certain celebrated temples for requiem\nservices and prayers for the repose and well-being of the soul of their\nlost child.\n\nIn the course of their journeying they arrived at Marugame, for\nthe temple of Kompira was included in their tour, and by a strange\ncoincidence they came to stay at the very inn presided over by Kunizo's\nuncle.\n\nWhen they were shown into the room allotted them, the first object to\nmeet their astonished gaze was a handsome screen on which was written\na poem in skilled calligraphy. The characteristic handwriting was\nthe facsimile of Kinu's, and the poem constantly and fondly read at\nhome--they knew it by heart, for it was one of the treasured relics\nleft to them by their beloved daughter.\n\nTheir imaginations were deeply stirred, and in a state of great emotion\nat this strange occurrence, they hastily summoned their host. In a long\ninterview the astounding story of Kinu's resurrection from the tomb and\nthe escape of the lovers was revealed to them.\n\nDeep and boundless was their joy and gratitude to Providence at thus\nrestoring to them, in such an amazing manner, their lost one, whom they\nnever expected to meet again this side of the _Meido_[3] and at that\nhappy reunion all shed tears of joy, and also of sorrow, in recalling\nthe past.\n\nFurther separation being out of the question, the old couple insisted\non carrying back with them to Osaka their newly restored son and\ndaughter, and there they all lived together long and happily: the whole\nneighbourhood never ceasing to marvel at the wonderful history of \"how\nKinu returned from the grave.\"\n\n\n[Footnote 1: _Sud\u00e1r\u00e9_, a curtain of finely slatted bamboo pulled up and\ndown by silken cords and tassels.]\n\n[Footnote 2: _Kompira_, a deity claimed by both Shintoists and\nBuddhists: very popular with travellers and seamen.]\n\n[Footnote 3: _Meido_, Hades.]\n\n\n\n\nA CHERRY-FLOWER IDYLL\n\n\nAbout one hundred years ago, in the old capital of Kyoto, there lived a\nyoung man named Taira Shunko. At the time this story opens he was about\ntwenty years of age, of pre-possessing appearance, amiable disposition,\nand refined tastes, his favourite pastime being the composition of\npoetry. His father decided that Shunko should finish his education in\nYedo, the Eastern capital, where he was accordingly sent. He proved\nhimself an apt scholar, more clever than his comrade-students, which\nwon him the favour of the tutor in whose charge he had been placed.\n\nSome months after his arrival in Yedo, he went to stay at his uncle's\nhouse during convalescence from a slight illness. By the time he was\nwell again the spring had come, and the call of the cherry-flower\nseason found a ready response in Shunko's heart, so he determined to\nvisit Koganei, a place famous for its cherry trees.\n\nOne fine morning he arose at dawn, and, equipped with a small luncheon\nbox and a gourd filled with sake, set out on his way.\n\nIn the good old days, as now, Koganei was celebrated for the beauty of\nits scenery in the springtime. Thousands of spreading trees formed a\nglorious avenue on either side the blue waters of the River Tama, and\nwhen these burst into clouds of diaphanous bloom, visitors from far\nand near came in crowds to join in the revel of the Queen of Flowers.\nBeneath the shade of the over-arching trees, tea-houses were dotted\nalong the banks of the stream. Here, with the _shoji_[1] hospitably\nopen on all sides, tempting meals of river-trout, bamboo shoots,\nand fern-curls, and sundry and manifold dainties were served to the\npleasure-seeking traveller.\n\nShunko rested at one of these river-side hostelries, refreshing\nhimself with generous draughts from his gourd, and then opened his\ntiny luncheon box, the contents of which he supplemented with the\ndelicate river-trout, fresh from the pellucid waters of the stream and\nartistically prepared by the tea-house cuisine.\n\nUnder the influence of wine, the homesickness which had been oppressing\nhis soul gradually took wings; he became merry, and felt as if he\nwere at home in his own beautiful city of Kyoto. He sauntered along\nunder the trees, singing snatches of songs in praise of this favourite\nflower. On every side the whole world was framed in softest clouds of\nethereal bloom, which seemed to waft him along between earth and heaven.\n\nLost in admiration at the fairy like beauty of the scene, he wandered\non and on, oblivious of time, till he suddenly realized that daylight\nwas on the wane. A zephyr sprang up, scattering the petals of the\nblossoms like a fall of scented snow, and as Shunko gazed around, he\nbecame aware that the last visitors had gone, and that he was left\nalone with only the birds twittering on their way to their nests to\nremind him that he, too, like the rest of belated humanity, ought to be\nwending his way home.\n\nHowever, sinking down upon a mossy bank beneath a cherry-tree, he\nbecame lost in meditation. With the aid of a portable ink-box and brush\nhe composed some stanzas, a rhapsody on the transcendent loveliness of\nthe cherry flowers.\n\n    SONG TO THE SPIRIT OF THE CHERRY-BLOSSOM[2]\n\n    _Throughout the land the Spring doth hold high Court,_\n    _Obedient to the call from far I come_\n    _To lay my tribute at thy matchless shrine,_\n    _To vow allegiance to the Queen of Flowers._\n\n    _How can I praise aright thy perfume sweet,_\n    _The heavenly pureness of thy blossom's snow:_\n    _Spellbound I linger in thy Kingdom fair_\n    _That rivets me, love's prisoner!_\n\n    _Take this poor bud of poesy to thy fragrant breast,_\n    _There let it hang, symbol of homage true:_\n    _Ne'er can perfection be acclaimed right,_\n    _Much less thy beauties, which are infinite!\n    Thy by fragile petals fluttering on my robes_\n    _Pluck at my heart, and bind me to thy realm_.\n    _With fairy fetters--ne'er can I leave thy bowers_\n    _But worship thee for evermore, my peerless Queen of_\n        _Flowers_!\n\n\nHaving tied the slip of paper to a branch of the tree in whose shade\nhe had been reclining, he turned to retrace his steps, but realized,\nwith a start, that the twilight had merged into darkness, and the pale\ngleams of the crescent moon were already beginning to illumine the deep\nblue vault above him. During his abstraction he had wandered off the\nbeaten-track, and was following a totally unknown path which grew more\nand more intricate among the hills. It had been a long day, and he was\ngrowing faint with hunger and weary from fatigue when, just as he was\nbeginning to despair of ever finding an escape from such a labyrinth,\nsuddenly a young girl appeared from the gloom as if by magic! By the\nfitful light of the lantern she was carrying, Shunko saw that she was\nvery fair and dainty, and concluded that she was in the service of some\nhousehold of rank. To his surprise she took his presence as a matter of\ncourse, and politely addressed him, with many bows:\n\n\"My mistress is awaiting you. Please come and I will show you the way.\"\n\nShunko was still more astonished at these words. He had never been in\nthis wild and unknown place before, and could not imagine what human\nsoul could know and summon him thus, at this late hour.\n\n[Illustration: Suddenly a young girl appeared from the gloom as if by\nmagic!]\n\nAfter a few moment's silence he inquired of the little messenger, \"Who\nis your mistress?\"\n\n\"You will understand when you see her,\" she replied. \"My lady told\nme that as you had lost your way, I was to come and guide you to her\nhouse, so kindly follow me without delay.\"\n\nShunko's perplexity was only increased by these words, but after\nreflection, he told himself that probably one of his friends must be\nliving in Koganei without his knowledge, and he decided to follow the\nfair messenger without further questioning.\n\nSetting out at a swift pace, she guided him into a small valley,\nthrough which a mountain stream was murmuring in its rocky bed. It was\na remote and sheltered spot. Presently a turn in the path led them to a\ntiny dwelling, completely surrounded and over-shadowed by a cluster of\ncherry-trees in full bloom. The girl stopped before the little bamboo\ngate. Shunko hesitated, but she turned to him with a smile.\n\n\"This is the house where my mistress dwells. Be so good as to enter!\"\n\nShunko obeyed, and passed up a miniature garden to the entrance.\nAnother little maiden appeared with a lighted candle, and ushered\nShunko through several anterooms leading to a large guest-chamber,\nwhich seemed to be overhanging the crystal waters of a lake, in whose\ndepth, like golden flowers, he could see the reflection of myriad\nstars. He noticed that the appointments were all of a most sumptuous\ndescription. Cherry-blossoms formed the keynote of the decorations; the\nscreens were all planted with the flowering branches, clusters of them\nadorned the _tokonoma_; while the high-standing candlesticks were of\nmassive silver, as were also the charcoal braziers, the glow of which\ndrove out the chill of the spring evening. Beautiful _cr\u00eape_ cushions\nwere placed beside the braziers, as if in expectation of a welcome\nguest; while the perfume of rare incense, mingling with the delicious\nfragrance of cherry-blossom, floated through the room.\n\nShunko was too bewildered and too exhausted by his long wanderings to\nindulge in reflections. With the unreal sensations of an errant hero of\na fairy tale, he sank upon the mats and waited, wondering what would\nhappen next.\n\nSuddenly, the rustle of silken garments arrested his attention;\nnoiselessly the screens of the room slid back, and the apparition of a\nbeautiful maiden appeared, exquisitely graceful in her trailing robes.\n\nShe was in the prime of youth, and could not have been more than\nseventeen years of age. Her dress, in which the skies of spring seemed\nto be reflected, was the hue of a rich azure blue, and the _cr\u00eape_\nfabric was half concealed beneath sprays of cherry-bloom so deftly\nworked, and with such a moonlit sheen upon them, that Shunko thought\nthat they must have been woven from the moonbeams of the serene far-off\nmoon for the Goddess of Spring. Her face was so perfect that the\nwondering guest was speechless at the loveliness of the vision before\nhim. Never had he dreamed of such beauty, although he came from Kyoto,\nthe city of beautiful women.\n\nThe fair hostess, noting his embarrassment, laughed softly, as she took\nher seat beside one of the silver braziers, and with a gentle gesture\nof the hand assigned him the companion place opposite her.\n\nBowing to the ground, she said:\n\n\"Ever have I lived alone in this place with only the river and\nthe hills for my friends. So that your coming is a great joy and\nconsolation to me. It is my wish to prepare a feast of welcome for you,\nbut alas! in the depths of the woods, there is nothing meet for an\nhonoured guest, but, poor as our entertainment is, I beg you, not to\ndespise it.\"\n\nA servant then appeared bearing trays of delicious dishes, with a\ngolden wine flagon and a crystal cup.\n\nAt the sound of her voice, enchantment seemed to weave a subtle net\naround the bewildered Shunko; a languorous feeling of delight stole\nover his senses, and he yielded himself to the mysterious charm of the\nhour.\n\nHis lovely hostess proffered to her guest the crystal winecup, and\nfilled it to the brim with amber wine from the golden flask.\n\nAs Shunko quaffed it, he thought never had such delicious nectar\nbeen tasted by mortal man. He could not resist cup after cup, till\ngradually all apprehension of the unknown surroundings passed away,\nand a strange gladness filled his heart as he succumbed to the charm\nof the hour, while servants silently went to and fro bearing fresh and\ntempting dainties to lay before him.\n\nWhile they were conversing happily together the lady left his side, and\nseating herself beside the _koto_, began to sing a wild and beautiful\nair. Strange and wonderful to relate, the song was none other than\nthe self-same poem which Shunko had composed that very evening, and\nhad left fluttering from the branch of the cherry-tree beneath whose\ncanopy of bloom he had rested. Falling completely under the bewitchment\nof his surroundings, Shunko felt that he wished to stay there for\nevermore, and a pang smote his breast at the thought that he soon must\nseparate, if only for a few hours, from his mystic lady of the vale of\ncherry-blossoms.\n\nAs the last plaintive chord throbbed into silence, a chime in the next\nroom struck two in the morning.\n\nLaying the instrument aside, she said:\n\n\"At this late hour it is impossible for you to return home to-night.\nEverything is prepared in the next room. Honourably deign to rest.\nForgive me that I cannot entertain you in a more befitting manner, in\nthis, our poor home.\"\n\nAttendants then entering, the screens were drawn aside for their guest,\nand he passed into the adjoining chamber, which had been prepared as\na sleeping apartment. Sinking to rest among the silken coverlets and\nluxurious quilts, he was soon lost in heavy slumber.\n\n[Illustration: His beautiful hostess, seating herself beside the _koto_\nbegan to sing a wild and beautiful air.]\n\nSuddenly, in the morning, he was awakened by a cold wind blowing across\nhis face. Day had broken, and the rosy dawn was flushing the horizon\nin the east. Slowly returning to his senses, he found himself lying\non the ground beneath the very cherry-tree that had inspired his poem\nof the day before; but his wonderful adventure, his charming hostess,\nand her waiting maidens were no more! Shunko, lost in wonder, recalled\nover and over again the glowing memories of the preceding evening,\nbut the vision had been so vivid that he felt assured it must have\nbeen something more than the mere phantoms of a dream. An overpowering\nconviction crept over him that the lovely maiden had her living\ncounterpart in this world of realities.\n\nFrom his earliest childhood he had always offered a special devotion to\nthe cherry-flowers. Year after year, in the springtime, he had taken\nspecial joy in visiting some place noted for their blossoms. Could it\nbe that the spirit of the cherry-tree, to whose beauty he had dedicated\nhis poem, had appeared to him in human form to reward him for his\nlife-long fidelity?\n\nAt last he rose and stretched his cramped limbs, and musing only on the\nvanished wonders of the night, wandered aimlessly along. At length he\nregained the main road and slowly turned his errant footsteps towards\nhome.\n\nAlthough he took up his usual life again, he could not forget his\nexperiences in the cherry-blossom valley, they haunted him not only\nin the silent watches of the night, but in the bright noontide of\nday. Three days later he returned to Koganei, with the fond hope of\nevoking once again the longed-for vision of the lovely girl who had so\nbewitched him with her beauty and her charm.\n\nBut, alas for human hopes! In those short days all had changed. What\nso ephemeral as the reign of the cherry-flower in the spring! Grey\nwere the skies that had been so blue and fair; bleak and deserted was\nthe scene that had been so gay and full of life; bare of blossom,\nand stripped of their fairy beauty were the trees, whose petals of\nblushing-snow the relentless wind had scattered far and wide.\n\nAs before, he rested at the same little tea-house by the river and\nwaited for the shades of evening to fall. Roaming about in the\ndeepening twilight, he anxiously sought some sign or token, but vain\nwere all his efforts to find the valley of dream again. Vanished was\nthe little dwelling in the shadow of the cherry groves. Nowhere by\nunfamiliar paths could he find the fair messenger who had guided him to\nthe bamboo gate. All had faded and suffered change.\n\nYear after year, in the springtime, did Shunko make a pilgrimage of\nloving memory to the same spot, but though his faithfulness was never\nrewarded by a sight of her, who had so completely taken possession of\nhis heart and soul, yet the flower of hope never faded, and firm was\nhis resolution, that none other than the maiden of Koganei should ever\nbe his wife.\n\nAbout five years passed. Then a sudden summons from his home arrived,\nbearing the sorrowful tidings that his father had been stricken with\nsevere illness, and begging him to return without delay.\n\nThat very day he made all arrangements, and disposed of his few\nstudent's belongings in readiness to set out at daybreak.\n\nIt happened to be the season of autumn when, in the Orient, the deer\ncries for its mate in the flaming maple glades of the forest, and a\nyoung man's heart[3] is filled with what the Japanese call _mono no\naware wo shiru_ (\"the Ah-ness of things\").\n\nShunko was sad. He yearned for the lovely girl who had so bewitched\nhim, and in addition to this sorrow his heart was heavy at the thought\nof his father's illness.\n\nAs Shunko proceeded on his journey his depression increased, and sadly\nhe repeated aloud the following lines:\n\n\n    _Cold as the wind of early spring_\n    _Chilling the buds that still lie sheathed_\n    _In their brown armour with its sting,_\n    _And the bare branches withering--_\n    _So seems the human heart to me!_\n    _Cold as the March wind's bitterness;_\n    _I am alone, none comes to see_\n    _Or cheer me in these days of stress._\n\nNow it chanced that an old man heard this mournful recital, and took\npity on Shunko.\n\n\"Pray pardon a stranger intruding upon your privacy,\" said the old man,\n\"but we sometimes take a gloomy view of life for want of good cheer.\nIt may be that you have travelled far and are footsore and weary. If\nthat is so, be honourably pleased to accept rest and refreshment in my\nhumble house in yonder valley.\"\n\nShunko was pleased with the old man's kindly manner, and warmly\naccepted his hospitality.\n\nAfter a hearty meal and a long chat with the old man, Shunko retired to\nbed.\n\nThe youth had no sooner closed his eyes than he found himself dreaming\nof Koganei and of the beautiful woman he had met there. A gentle breeze\nwas full of the scent of flowers. He noticed a cloud of cherry-blossom\nfalling like a little company of white butterflies to the ground. While\nwatching so pleasing a scene he observed a strip of paper hanging to\none of the lower branches. He advanced close to the tree to discover\nthat some one had written a poem on the wind-blown paper.\n\nA thrill passed through him as he read the words:\n\n\n    _Lingers still the past within thy memory_,\n    _East of the Temple let thy footsteps stray_\n    _And there await thy destiny!_\n\nEarnestly he repeated the lines over and over again, and awoke to find\nhimself still reciting the little verse that seemed so full of meaning.\nDeeply he pondered over his dream. How could he solve the enigmatic\nmessage it surely bore for him? What did it portend?\n\nThe next day he set out on his journey to the west. His father was in\nthe last stages of his malady, and the doctors had given up all hope\nof his recovery. In a few weeks the old man died, and Shunko succeeded\nto the estate. It was a sad winter, and the young man with his widowed\nmother, were secluded in the house for some months, observing the\nstrictest retirement during the period of mourning.\n\nBut youth soon recovers from its griefs, and by the time that April\nhad come with the dear beguilement of her blue skies and flowering\nlandscapes, Shunko, in company with an old friend, set out to assuage\nhis sorrows in the viewing of his favourite cherry-trees, and to find\nbalm for his soul in the golden sunshine of spring. His father's death,\nand the business of attending to the affairs of succession, had left\nhim but little leisure for vain regrets, and the family upheaval he had\nexperienced the last few months had somewhat dimmed the memory of the\nmysterious dream, which had come to him the night before his return\nhome.\n\nBut now, with a strange and eerie sensation, he realized that,\nunwittingly, Fate had guided their footsteps to the Eastern Mountain,\nand that the way they had chosen was _East of the Temple_ Chionin. The\nmessage on the scroll flashed into his mind as he sauntered along:\n\n\n    _Lingers still the past within thy memory?_\n    _East of the Temple let thy footsteps stray,_\n    _And there await thy destiny!_\n\nBy this time they had reached the famous avenue of cherry-trees,\nand the pearly mist of bloom, that seemed to envelope them like a\nfragrant cloud, at once recalled to Shunko's mind how striking was the\nresemblance this fairy-like spot bore to Koganei.\n\nJust at that moment he espied a small glittering object lying on the\nground at the root of one of the cherry-trees. It proved to be a golden\nring, and engraven on it was the hieroglyphic \"Hana,\" which may be\ninterpreted as meaning either \"Flower\" or \"Cherry-Blossom.\"\n\nAs the afternoon began to wane they came to a tea-house, which seemed\nto look especially inviting, and here they rested and refreshed their\nweariness as the shadows gradually lengthened into the twilight.\n\nIn the next room were two or three girls' voices talking gaily\ntogether, and their laughter sounded soft and musical as it floated out\ninto the balmy air of that soft evening of spring.\n\nBy degrees Shunko found himself overhearing snatches of their\nconversation, and at length he distinctly caught the words:\n\n\"The day has been a perfect one except for one little cloud. O Hana\nSan's ring....\"\n\nThen a silvery voice made answer: \"The mere loss of the ring is\nnothing, but as it bears my name, it grieves me that it should fall\ninto the hands of a stranger.\"\n\nAt these words Shunko impetuously rose and entered the adjoining\nchamber.\n\n\"Pardon me,\" he cried, \"but can this be the lost ring?\" and he held\nout to the little group the trinket which he had found beneath the\ncherry-tree that afternoon.\n\nThe youngest of the trio, a graceful girl of about seventeen or\neighteen summers, bowed to the ground, murmuring her thanks, while an\nelderly woman, who was evidently her foster-nurse, came forward to\nreceive the missing treasure.\n\nAs the young girl raised her head, Shunko felt a thrilling shock of\nrecognition quiver through his frame. At last the gods had granted his\nfervent prayers. Before him, as a living and breathing reality, he\nbeheld the long sought maiden of the vision at Koganei. The room, its\noccupants, and all around him faded away, and his soul was wafted back\nthrough the vista of years to the lonely valley of dreams, so far away.\n\nThis, then, was the significance of the mystic writing in the deserted\nhouse, that now he had served his term of probation and was at last\ndeemed worthy of the beloved one for whom he had waited and longed for\nso many years.\n\nThe elderly nurse was aware of his embarrassment, and tactfully\nattempted to come to his aid. She proffered wine and refreshments, and\nmade several inquiries as to where he had found the ring and where he\nlived.\n\nAfter replying to these queries, Shunko, who was in no mood for\ntalking, withdrew with deep obeisances, and slowly wended his way\nhomewards, lost in abstraction.\n\nOh, the delight of it! To be alone with his reverie and thoughts of\nher, whom he had scarcely hoped to see again, the lady of his dreams!\nBoth head and heart were in a whirl. And the wonder of his adventure\nkept him awake through the midnight darkness. Only at the break of dawn\ndid he fall into a troubled sleep.\n\nTowards noon his belated slumbers were disturbed by a servant, who came\nto announce the advent of a visitor, who urgently desired an interview.\nHe arose in haste, and there awaiting him in the guest-room was the\nfoster-nurse of the day before. Rich gifts of silk lay on the mats, and\nwith the explanation that she had been sent by the parents of her young\ncharge, she came to express their thanks for the incident of the day\nbefore.\n\nWhen the formalities of greeting were exchanged, Shunko could no longer\nkeep silence regarding the subject nearest his heart, and begged the\nnurse to tell him, in confidence, all she could concerning O Hana San.\n\n\"My young mistress belongs to a knightly family. There are three\nchildren in all, but she is the only girl, and the youngest child.\nShe is just seventeen years of age, and is quite renowned for her\nbeauty, which, as you have seen her, you may perhaps understand. Many\nhave ardently desired her hand in marriage, but hitherto all have been\ndeclined. She cares nothing for worldly things and devotes herself to\nstudy.\"\n\n\"Why does she refuse to marry?\" asked the young man, with a beating\nheart.\n\n\"Ah! there is a strange reason for that!\" replied the nurse, and her\nvoice dropped to a whisper. \"Several years ago, when she was not much\nmore than a child, her mother and I took her to visit the beautiful\nKiyomidzu Temple in the springtime to see the cherry-flowers. As you\nknow, Kwannon, the Goddess of Mercy of that temple, takes under her\nprotection all lovers who pray to her for a happy union, and the\nrailings round her shrine are white with the tying of paper-prayer\nlove-knots innumerable. O Hana's mother told me afterwards that when we\npassed before Kwannon's altar, she had offered up a special prayer for\nher daughter's future happiness in marriage.\n\n\"While we were walking in the vicinity of the waterfall below the\ntemple, we suddenly lost sight of Hana for a few minutes. It seems\nthat, wrapt in wonder at the beauty of the blossoming trees, she had\nstrayed away, and was listening to the foaming water as it dashed over\nthe boulders of rock. Suddenly, a gust of wind blew over us. It was icy\ncold! We looked round for O Hana San, and you can imagine the fear\nthat seized our hearts when we found that she had disappeared. In a\nfrenzy of anxiety I ran hither and thither, and at last caught sight of\nher prostrate on the ground at some distance away. She had fallen into\na deep faint near the cascade, and was lying there pale and senseless,\nand drenched with spray. We carried her to the nearest tea-house, and\ntried every means in our power to restore her to consciousness, but\nshe remained sunk in a deep swoon all through that long, long day. Her\nmother wept, fearing that she was dead. When the sun set and no change\ntook place, we were lost in the anguish of despair. All of a sudden an\nold priest appeared before us. Staff in hand, and clad in ancient and\ndilapidated garments, he seemed an apparition from some past and bygone\nage. He gazed long at the senseless girl, lying white and cold in the\nsemblance of death, and then sank on his knees by her side, absorbed in\nsilent prayer, now and again gently stroking her inanimate body with\nhis rosary.\n\n\"All through the night we watched thus by O Hana San, and never\ndid hours seem so interminable or so black. At last, towards the\ndawn, success crowned the old man's efforts; the spell that had so\nmysteriously changed her youth and bloom into a pallid mask, was\ngradually exorcised, her spirit returned, and with a gentle sigh, O\nHana San was restored to life.\n\n\"Her mother was transported with joy. When she was able to speak, she\nmurmured, 'Praise be to the mercy of the holy Kwannon of Kiyomidzu!'\nand again and again she expressed her fervent gratitude to the queer\npriest.\n\n[Illustration: An old priest suddenly appeared ... staff in hand and\nclad in ancient and dilapidated garments.]\n\n\"In answer he took from the folds of his robe a poem-card, which he\nhanded to my mistress.\n\n\"'This,' said he, 'was written by your daughter's future bridegroom. In\na few years he will come to claim her, therefore keep this poem as the\ntoken.'\n\n\"With these words he disappeared as unexpectedly and mysteriously as\nhe had come. Great was our desire to know more of the meaning of those\nfateful words, but though we made inquiries of everyone in the temple\ngrounds, not a soul had seen a trace of the ancient priest. O Hana\nSan seemed none the worse for her long swoon, and we returned home,\nmarvelling greatly at the extraordinary events that had happened to us\nthat day and night in the temple of Kiyomidzu.\n\n\"From that time onwards I noticed a great change in O Hana San. She was\nno longer a child. Though only thirteen years of age, she grew serious\nand thoughtful, and studied her books with great diligence. In music\nshe especially excelled, and all were astonished at her great talent.\nAs she grew in years, her amiability and charm became quite noted in\nthe neighbourhood: her mother realizes that she is at the zenith of her\nyouth and beauty, and, many a time, has tried to find the author of the\npoem, but hitherto her efforts have been of no avail.\n\n\"Yesterday we had the good fortune to meet you, and if you will forgive\nmy boldness, it seemed to me as though Fate had especially directed\nyou to my foster-child. On our return home, we related all that had\nbefallen us to my mistress. She listened to our recital with deep\nagitation, and then exclaimed, with joy: 'Thanks be to Heaven I At last\nthe long-sought for one has come!'\"\n\nShunko felt as if in a trance. Full well he knew that the Gods had\nguided his footsteps to their yearned-for goal, and the maiden to whom\nhe had restored the little golden circlet, was none other than the one\nfor whom his heart had hungered for many years.\n\nIt was, indeed, a supreme Fate that had linked their lives in one.\n\nIn taking farewell of the old nurse, Shunko entrusted to her his\nmessage to his bride-elect--the mysterious token of affinity composed\nbeneath the cherry-tree five years ago.\n\nThere was no longer any doubt but that O Hana's destiny was indeed\nfulfilled. The bridegroom, foretold by the age-old priest, had come\nat last. Her mother's prayer offered up at the temple of the Kwannon\nof Kiyomidzu had been heard. Both parents rejoiced at the happy fate\nthat the Powers above had vouchsafed to their beloved child, an eminent\nsooth-sayer was consulted, and a specially auspicious day was chosen\nfor the wedding.\n\nWhen the excitement of the bridal feast was over and Shunko was left\nalone with his lovely bride, he noticed that her wedding-robe of\nturquoise blue, scattered over with embroideries of her name-flower,\nwas the self-same one that had been worn by his visionary hostess;\nand, moreover, comparisons proved that the date of her long trance at\nKiyomidzu was identical with that of his prophetic vision at Koganei.\n\nA great gladness filled the bridegroom's heart, for he felt that in\nsome mystical way his bride and dream-love were one and the same\nincarnate. The spirit of the cherry-tree had surely entered into\nHana when she had lost consciousness at the Kiyomidzu temple, and\nEn-musubi no Kami, the God of Marriage, had assumed the disguise of\nthe old priest, and with the magnetic threads of love, had woven their\ndestinies together.\n\nAnd Shunko tenderly caressed his bride, saying:\n\n\"I have known and loved and waited for you ever since your spirit came\nto me from the Kiyomidzu temple.\"\n\nAnd he told her all that had befallen him at Koganei.\n\nThe young lovers thereupon pledged their love to each other for many\nlives to come, and lived blissfully to the end of their days.\n\n\n[Footnote 1: _Shoji_, the sliding screens which take the place of doors\nin a Japanese house.]\n\n[Footnote 2: Rendered into English verse by my friend, Countess\nIso-ko-Mutsu.]\n\n[Footnote 3: At this point there is a break in Madame Ozaki's MS., and\nthe gap has been filled up by another hand. Madame Ozaki resumes her\nstory with \"A thrill passed through him....\" on p. 252.]\n\n\n\n\nTHE BADGER-HAUNTED TEMPLE[1]\n\n\nOnce long ago, in southern Japan, in the town of Kumamoto, there lived\na young _samurai_, who had a great devotion to the sport of fishing.\nArmed with his large basket and tackle, he would often start out in\nthe early morning and pass the whole day at his favourite pastime,\nreturning home only at nightfall.\n\nOne fine day he had more than usual luck. In the late afternoon,\nwhen he examined his basket, he found it full to overflowing. Highly\ndelighted at his success, he wended his way homewards with a light\nheart, singing snatches of merry songs as he went along.\n\nIt was already dusk when he happened to pass a deserted Buddhist\ntemple. He noticed that the gate stood half open, and hung loosely on\nits rusty hinges, and the whole place had a dilapidated and tumbledown\nappearance.\n\nWhat was the young man's astonishment to see, in striking contrast to\nsuch a forlorn environment, a pretty young girl standing just within\nthe gate.\n\nAs he approached she came forward, and looking at him with a meaning\nglance, smiled, as if inviting him to enter into conversation. The\n_samurai_ thought her manner somewhat strange, and at first was on his\nguard. Some mysterious influence, however, compelled him to stop, and\nhe stood irresolutely admiring the fair young face, blooming like a\nflower in its sombre setting.\n\nWhen she noticed his hesitation she made a sign to him to approach. Her\ncharm was so great and the smile with which she accompanied the gesture\nso irresistible, that half-unconsciously, he went up the stone steps,\npassed through the semi-open portal, and entered the courtyard where\nshe stood awaiting him.\n\nThe maiden bowed courteously, then turned and led the way up the\nstone-flagged pathway to the temple. The whole place was in the most\nwoeful condition, and looked as if it had been abandoned for many years.\n\nWhen they reached what had once been the priest's house, the _samurai_\nsaw that the interior of the building was in a better state of\npreservation than the outside led one to suppose. Passing along the\nveranda into the front room, he noticed that the _tatami_ were still\npresentable, and that a sixfold screen adorned the chamber.\n\nThe girl gracefully motioned her guest to sit down in the place of\nhonour near the alcove.\n\n\"Does the priest of the temple live here?\" asked the young man, seating\nhimself.\n\n\"No,\" answered the girl, \"there is no priest here now. My mother and\nI only came here yesterday. She has gone to the next village to buy\nsome things and may not be able to come back to-night. But honourably\nrest awhile, and let me give you some refreshment.\"\n\n[Illustration: What was the young man's astonishment to see a pretty\nyoung girl standing just within the gate]\n\nThe girl then went into the kitchen apparently to make the tea, but\nthough the guest waited a long time, she never returned.\n\nBy this time the moon had risen, and shone so brightly into the room,\nthat it was as light as day. The _samurai_ began to wonder at the\nstrange behaviour of the damsel, who had inveigled him into such a\nplace only to disappear and leave him in solitude.\n\nSuddenly he was startled by some one sneezing loudly behind the screen.\nHe turned his head in the direction from whence the sound came. To his\nutter amazement, not the pretty girl whom he had expected, but a huge,\nred-faced, bald-headed priest stalked out. He must have been about\nseven feet in height, for his head towered nearly to the ceiling, and\nhe carried an iron wand, which he raised in a threatening manner.\n\n\"How dare you enter my house without my permission?\" shouted the\nfierce-looking giant. \"Unless you go away at once I will beat you into\ndust.\"\n\nFrightened out of his wits, the young man took to his heels, and rushed\nwith all speed out of the temple.\n\nAs he fled across the courtyard he heard peals of loud laughter behind\nhim. Once outside the gate he stopped to listen, and still the strident\nlaugh continued. Suddenly it occurred to him, that in the alarm of his\nhasty exit, he had forgotten his basket of fish. It was left behind\nin the temple. Great was his chagrin, for never before had he caught\nso much fish in a single day; but lacking the courage to go back and\ndemand it, there was no alternative but to return home empty-handed,\nbefore had he caught so much fish in a single day; but lacking the\ncourage to go back and demand it, there was no alternative but to\nreturn home empty-handed.\n\nThe following day he related his strange experience to several of his\nfriends. They were all highly amused at such an adventure, and some of\nthem plainly intimated that the seductive maiden and the aggressive\ngiant were merely hallucinations that owed their origin to the sake\nflask.\n\nAt last one man, who was a good fencer, said:\n\n\"Oh, you must have been deluded by a badger who coveted your fish.\nNo one lives in that temple. It has been deserted ever since I can\nremember. I will go there this evening and put an end to his mischief.\"\n\nHe then went to a fishmonger, purchased a large basket of fish, and\nborrowed an angling rod. Thus equipped, he waited impatiently for the\nsun to set. When the dusk began to fall he buckled on his sword and set\nout for the temple, carefully shouldering his bait that was to lead\nto the undoing of the badger. He laughed confidently to himself as he\nsaid: \"I will teach the old fellow a lesson!\"\n\nAs he approached the ruin what was his surprise to see, not one, but\nthree girls standing there.\n\n\"O, ho! that is the way the wind lies, is it, but the crafty old sinner\nwon't find it such an easy matter to make a fool of me.\"\n\nNo sooner was he observed by the pretty trio than by gestures they\ninvited him to enter. Without any hesitation, he followed them into\nthe building, and boldly seated himself upon the mats. They placed the\ncustomary tea and cakes before him, and then brought in a flagon of\nwine and an extraordinarily large cup.\n\nThe swordsman partook neither of the tea nor the sake, and shrewdly\nwatched the demeanour of the three maidens.\n\nNoticing his avoidance of the proffered refreshment, the prettiest of\nthem artlessly inquired:\n\n\"Why don't you take some sake?\"\n\n\"I dislike both tea and sake,\" replied the valiant guest, \"but if you\nhave some accomplishment to entertain me with, if you can dance or\nsing, I shall be delighted to see you perform.\"\n\n\"Oh, what an old-fashioned man of propriety you are! If you don't\ndrink, you surely know nothing of love either. What a dull existence\nyours must be! But we can dance a little, so if you will condescend\nto look, we shall be very pleased to try to amuse you with our\nperformance, poor as it is.\"\n\nThe maidens then opened their fans and began to posture and dance. They\nexhibited so much skill and grace, however, that the swordsman was\nastonished, for it was unusual that country girls should be so deft and\nwell-trained. As he watched them he became more and more fascinated,\nand gradually lost sight of the object of his mission.\n\nLost in admiration, he followed their every step, their every movement,\nand as the Japanese storyteller says, he forgot himself entirely,\nentranced at the beauty of their dancing.\n\nSuddenly he saw that the three performers had become _headless!_\nUtterly bewildered, he gazed at them intently to make sure that he\nwas not dreaming. Lo! and behold! each was holding her own head in\nher hands. They then threw them up and caught them as they fell. Like\nchildren playing a game of ball, they tossed their heads from one to\nthe other. At last the boldest of the three threw her head at the young\nfencer. It fell on his knees, looked up in his face, and laughed at\nhim. Angered at the girl's impertinence, he cast the head back at her\nin disgust, and drawing his sword, made several attempts to cut down\nthe goblin dancer as she glided to and fro playfully tossing up her\nhead and catching it.\n\nBut she was too quick for him, and like lightning darted out of the\nreach of his sword.\n\n\"Why don't you catch me?\" she jeered mockingly. Mortified at his\nfailure, he made another desperate attempt, but once more she adroitly\neluded him, and sprang up to the top of the screen.\n\n\"I am here! Can you not reach me this time?\" and she laughed at him in\nderision.\n\nAgain he made a thrust at her, but she proved far too nimble for him,\nand again, for the third time, he was foiled.\n\nThen the three girls tossed their heads on their respective necks,\nshook them at him, and with shouts of weird laughter they vanished from\nsight.\n\nAs the young man came to his senses he vaguely gazed around. Bright\nmoonlight illumined the whole place, and the stillness of the midnight\nwas unbroken save for the thin tinkling chirping of the insects.\nHe shivered as he realized the lateness of the hour and the wild\nloneliness of that uncanny spot. His basket of fish was nowhere to be\nseen. He understood, that he, too, had come under the spell of the\nwizard-badger, and like his friend, at whom he had laughed so heartily\nthe day before, he had been bewitched by the wily creature.\n\nBut, although deeply chagrined at having fallen such an easy dupe, he\nwas powerless to take any sort of revenge. The best he could do was to\naccept his defeat and return home.\n\nAmong his friends there was a doctor, who was not only a brave man, but\none full of resource. On hearing of the way the mortified swordsman had\nbeen bamboozled, he said:\n\n\"Now leave this to me. Within three days I will catch that old badger\nand punish him well for all his diabolical tricks.\"\n\nThe doctor went home and prepared a savoury dish cooked with meat. Into\nthis he mixed some deadly poison. He then cooked a second portion for\nhimself. Taking these separate dishes and a bottle of sake with him,\ntowards evening he set out for the ruined temple.\n\nWhen he reached the mossy courtyard of the old building he found\nit solitary and deserted. Following the example of his friends, he\nmade his way into the priest's room, intensely curious to see what\nmight befall him, but, contrary to his expectation, all was empty and\nstill. He knew that goblin-badgers were such crafty animals that it\nwas almost impossible for anyone, however cautious, to be able to cope\nsuccessfully with their snares and _Fata Morganas_. But he determined\nto be particularly wide awake and on his guard, so as not to fall a\nprey to any hallucination that the badger might raise.\n\nThe night was beautiful, and calm as the mouldering tombs in the temple\ngraveyard. The full moon shone brightly over the great black sloping\nroofs, and cast a flood of light into the room where the doctor was\npatiently awaiting the mysterious foe. The minutes went slowly by,\nan hour elapsed, and still no ghostly visitant appeared. At last the\nbaffled intruder placed his flask of wine before him and began to make\npreparations for his evening meal, thinking that possibly the badger\nmight be unable to resist the tempting savour of the food.\n\n\"There is nothing like solitude,\" he mused aloud. \"What a perfect night\nit is! How lucky I am to have found this deserted temple from which to\nview the silvery glory of the autumn moon.\"\n\nFor some time he continued to eat and drink, smacking his lips like\na country gourmet in enjoyment of the meal. He began to think that\nthe badger, knowing that he had found his match at last, Intended\nto leave him alone. Then to his delight, he heard the sound of\nfootsteps. He watched the entrance to the room, expecting the old\nwizard to assume his favourite disguise, and that some pretty maiden\nwould come to cast a spell upon him with her fascinations.\n\n[Illustration: Suddenly he saw that the three performers had become\n_headless_!... Like children playing a game of ball, they tossed their\nheads from one to the other]\n\nBut, to his surprise, who should come into sight but an old priest,\nwho dragged himself into the room with faltering steps and sank down\nupon the mats with a deep long-drawn sigh of weariness. Apparently\nbetween seventy and eighty years of age, his clothes were old and\ntravel-stained, and in his withered hands he carried a rosary. The\neffort of ascending the steps had evidently been a great trial to him,\nhe breathed heavily and seemed in a state of great exhaustion. His\nwhole appearance was one to arouse pity in the heart of the beholder.\n\n\"May I inquire who are you?\" asked the doctor.\n\nThe old man replied, in a quavering voice, \"I am the priest who used to\nlive here many years ago when the temple was in a prosperous condition.\nAs a youth I received my training here under the abbot then in charge,\nhaving been dedicated from childhood to the service of the most holy\nBuddha by my parents. At the time of the great Saigo's rebellion I was\nsent to another parish. When the castle of Kumamoto was besieged, alas!\nmy own temple was burned to the ground. For years I wandered from place\nto place and fell on very hard times. In my old age and misfortunes my\nheart at last yearned to come back to this temple, where I spent so\nmany happy years as an acolyte. It is my hope to spend my last days\nhere. You can imagine my grief when I found it utterly abandoned, sunk\nin decay, with no priest in charge to offer up the daily prayers to\nthe Lord Buddha, or to keep up the rites for the dead buried here. It\nis now my sole desire to collect money and to restore the temple. But\nalas! age and illness and want of food have robbed me of my strength,\nand I fear that I shall never be able to achieve what I have planned,\"\nand here the old man broke down and shed tears--a pitiful sight.\n\nWhen wiping his eyes with the sleeve of his threadbare robe, he looked\nhungrily at the food and wine on which the doctor was regaling himself,\nand added, wistfully:\n\n\"Ah, I see you have a delicious meal there and wine withal, which you\nare enjoying while gazing at the moonlit scenery. I pray you spare me\na little, for it is many days since I have had a good meal and I am\nhalf-famished.\"\n\nAt first the doctor was persuaded that the story was true, so plausible\ndid it sound, and his heart was filled with compassion for the old\nbonze. He listened carefully till the melancholy recital was finished.\n\nThen something in the accent of speech struck his ear as being\ndifferent to that of a human being, and he reflected.\n\n\"This may be the badger! I must not allow myself to be deceived! The\ncrafty cunning animal is planning to palm off his customary tricks on\nme, but he shall see that I am as clever as he is.\"\n\nThe doctor pretended to believe in the old man's story, and answered:\n\n\"Indeed, I deeply sympathize with your misfortunes. You are quite\nwelcome to share my meal--nay, I will give you with pleasure all that\nis left, and, moreover, I promise to bring you some more to-morrow. I\nwill also inform my friends and acquaintances of your pious plan to\nrestore the temple, and will give all the assistance in my power in\nyour work of collecting subscriptions.\" He then pushed forward the\nuntouched plate of food which contained poison, rose from the mats, and\ntook his leave, promising to return the next evening.\n\nAll the friends of the doctor who had heard him boast that he would\noutwit the badger, arrived early next morning, curious to know what had\nbefallen him. Many of them were very sceptical regarding the tale of\nthe badger trickster, and ascribed the illusions of their friends to\nthe sake bottle.\n\nThe doctor would give no answer to their many inquiries, but merely\ninvited them to accompany him.\n\n\"Come and see for yourselves,\" he said, and guided them to the old\ntemple, the scene of so many uncanny experiences.\n\nFirst of all they searched the room where he had sat the evening\nbefore, but nothing was to be found except the empty basket in which he\nhad carried the food for himself and the badger. They investigated the\nwhole place thoroughly, and at last, in one of the dark corners of the\ntemple-chamber, they came upon the dead body of an old, old badger. It\nwas the size of a large dog, and its hair was grey with age. Everyone\nwas convinced that it must be at least several hundred years old.\n\nThe doctor carried it home in triumph. For several days the people\nin the neighbourhood came in large numbers to gloat over the hoary\ncarcase, and to listen in awe and wonder to the marvellous stories of\nthe numbers of people that had been duped and befooled by the magic\npowers of the old goblin-badger.\n\nThe writer adds that he was told another badger story concerning\nthe same temple. Many of the old people in the parish remember the\nincident, and one of them related the following story.\n\nYears before, when the sacred building was still in a prosperous state,\nthe priest in charge celebrated a great Buddhist festival, which lasted\nsome days. Amongst the numerous devotees who attended the services he\nnoticed a very handsome youth, who listened with profound reverence,\nunusual in one so young, to the sermons and litanies. When the festival\nwas over and the other worshippers had gone, he lingered around the\ntemple as though loth to leave the sacred spot. The head-priest,\nwho had conceived a liking for the lad, judged from his refined and\ndignified appearance that he must be the son of a high-class _samurai_\nfamily, probably desirous of entering the priesthood.\n\nGratified by the youth's apparent religious fervour, the holy\nman invited him to come to his study, and thereupon gave him some\ninstruction in the Buddhist doctrines. He listened with the utmost\nattention for the whole afternoon to the bonze's learned discourse, and\nthanked him repeatedly for the condescension and trouble he had taken\nin instructing one so unworthy as himself.\n\n[Illustration: In one of the dark comers of the temple-chamber, they\ncame upon the dead body of an old, old badger]\n\nThe afternoon waned and the hour for the evening meal came round. The\npriest ordered a bowl of macaroni to be brought for the visitor, who\nproved to be the owner of a phenomenal appetite, and consumed three\ntimes as much as a full-grown man.\n\nHe then bowed most courteously and asked permission to return home. In\nbidding him good-bye, the priest, who felt a curious fascination for\nthe youth, presented him with a gold-lacquered medicine-box (_inro_) as\na parting souvenir.\n\nThe lad prostrated himself in gratitude, and then took his departure.\n\nThe next day the temple servant, sweeping the graveyard, came across a\nbadger. He was quite dead, and was dressed in a straw-covering put on\nin such a way as to resemble the clothes of a human being. To his side\nwas tied a gold-lacquered _inro_, and his paunch was much distended\nand as round as a large bowl. It was evident that the creature's\ngluttony had been the cause of his death, and the priest, on seeing the\nanimal, identified the _inro_ as the one which he had bestowed upon the\ngood-looking lad the day before, and knew that he had been the victim\nof a badger's deceiving wiles.\n\nIt was thus certain that the temple had been haunted by a pair\nof goblin-badgers, and that when this one had died, its mate had\ncontinued to inhabit the same temple even after it had been abandoned.\nThe creature had evidently taken a fantastic delight in bewitching\nwayfarers and travellers, or anyone who carried delectable food with\nthem, and while mystifying them with his tricks and illusions, had\ndeftly abstracted their baskets and bundles, and had lived comfortably\nupon his stolen booty.\n\n\n[Footnote 1: The badger and the fox as tricksters figure largely in\nJapanese superstition and folk-lore.]","title":"Romances of Old Japan: Rendered into English from Japanese Sources","tradition":"myth-cosmogony","translated_text":null,"word_count":62402}