Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1895-12-28


manner had completely changed and moth
ing could exceed his courtesy. You have
come early to court this morning, my Lord
kamei,' said he. Il cannot sufficiently ad-
mire your zeal. 1 shall have the honor to
call your attention to several points of eti-
quette today. l must beg your lordship to
excuse my previous conduct, which must
have seemed very rude; but am naturally
of ere grained disposition, SO l pray
you to forgive me- And as he kept on
humbling himself and making fair speeches,
the heart of Kamei Sama was gradually
softened, and he renowned his intention of
killing him. Thus. by the cleverness of his
councillor. was Kamei Sauna, with all his
house, saved from ruin.
Shortly after this. Takurni no Kami. who
mad sent no present, arrived at the castle,
and kotsuke no Suke turned him into ridi-
cule even more than before. provoking him
with sneers and covert insults; but Takumi
no kami affected to ignore all this, and
submitted himself patiently to Kotsuke no
Suke'S orders
This conduct, so far from producing
good effect only made kotsuke no Suke
haughtily: Here, my Lord of Takumi, the
ribbon of my sock has come united; be so
good as to tie it up for me-"
Takumi no kami, although burning with
rage at the affront, still thought that as
he was on duty he was bound to obey, and
tied up the ribbon of the sock. Then Kot-
suke no Suke turning from MIN, petulant-
ly exclaimed: why. how clumsy you are!
o. sock properly! Any one can see that
You are boor from the country, and
KNOW nothing of the manners of Yedo."
And with a scornful laugh he moved to-
ward an inner room.
But the patience Of Takumi no Kami
was exhausted: this last insult was more
than he could bear.
Stop moment my lord" cried he.
WELL what Is it?" replied the other.
Ard as he turned round Takumi no Kami
drew his dirk, and aimed a blow at his
head; but Kotsuke no Suke. being protect
ed by the court cap which he wore, the
wound was but a scratch. so he ran away;
and Takumi no kami, pursuing him, tried
second time to cut him down. but MISS
ing his aim, struck his dirk into a pillar.
At this moment an officer named Kajikawa
Yosobei seeing the ARRAY. rushed up and
holding back the Infatuated noble, gave
kotsuke no Suke time to make good his
escape.
Then there arose a great uproar and con-
fusion. and Takum no Kami was arrest
ed and disarmed, and confined in one of
the apartments of the palace under the
care of the censors A council was held,
and the prisoner was given over to the
safeguard of a daimio, called Tamura
Ukiyo no Daibu. who kept him in close
custody in his own house, to the great
grief of his wife and of his retainers; and
when the deliberations of the council We're
completed it was decided that. as he had
committed an outrage and attacked another
man within the precincts of the palace, he
perform nara klrl-lndt is, commit
suicide by disemboweling; his goods must
be confiscated. and his family ruined. Such
was the law. So Takumi no Kami perform
ed hara kiri, his castle of Ako was con-
hscated, and his retainers having become
Ronins, some of them took service with
other daimios, and others became mer-
chants
Now amongst these retainers was his
principal councillor, a man called Oishi
Kuranosuke, who, with forty-six other
faithful dependents, formed a league to
avenge their masters death by killing Kot-
suke no Suke. This Oishi Kuranosuke was
absent at the castle of Ako at the time of
the ARRAY, which, had he been with his
prince, would never have occurred; for, be-
ing wise man, he would not have failed
to propitiate kotsuke no Suke by sending
him suitable presents; while the councillor
who was in attendance on the prince at
Yedo was dullard. who neglected this
precaution, and so caused the death of his
master and the ruin of his house.
So Oishi Kuranosuke and his forty-six
companions began to lay their plans Of
vengeance against kotsuke no Suke; but
the latter was so we'll guarded by a body
of men lent to him by daimio called
Uyesugi Sama, whose daughter he had
married, that they saw that the only way
of attaining their end would be to throw
their enemy off his guard With this OBJ
ject they separated and disguised Them
selves, some carpenters or craftsmen,
others as merchants; and their chief, Ku-
ranosuke. went to kiotO, and built house
in the quarter called Yamashina, where he
took to frequenting houses of the worst
repute, and gave himself up to drunken
ness and debauchery, as if nothing were
further from his mind than revenge. lIo-
tsuke no Suke, in the meanwhile suspectin.s
that Takumi no kami's former retainers
would be scheming against his life, secretly
sent spies to kioto, and caused faithful
account to be kept of all that KuranoSuke
did. The latter, however, determined thor
oughly to delude the enemy into a false
security, went on leading a absolute life
with harlots and winebibbers. One day,
as he was returning home drunk from
some low haunt, he fell down in the street
and went to sleep, and all the passers-by
laughed him to scorn. 1t happened that a
Satsuma man saw this. and said: 'Is not
this Oishi Kuranosuke, who was a coun-
cillor of Asa no Takumi no Kami and who,
not having the heart to avenge his lord,
gives himself up to women and wine? See
how he lies drunk in the public street.
Faithless beast Fool and craven! Tn
worthy the name of a SamuraiI'
And he trod on Kuranosuke's face as he
slept, and spat upon him; but when Ko-
tsuke 10 Suke's spies reported all this at
Yedo. he was greatly relieved at the news.
and felt secure from danger.
One day Kuranosuke's wife, who was
bitterly grieved to see her husband lead
this abandoned life, went to him and said:
MY lord, you told me at first that your
debauchery was but a trick to make your
enemy relax in watchfulness. But indeed,
indeed this has gone too far. 1 pray and
beseech you to put some restraint upon
yourself"
Trouble me not" replied Kuranosuke,
for 1 will not listen to your whining.
Since my way of life is displeasing TO you,
will divorce you, and you may go about
your business: and 1 will buy some pretty
young girl from one of the public houses,
and marry her for my pleasure L am sick
of the sight of old woman like you
about the house, so get you gone-the
sooner the BETTER
So saying, he flew into violent rage,
and his wife, terror stricken, pleaded pite-
ously for mercy.
'Oh, my lord, unsay those terrible words.
I have been your faithful wife for twenty
years, and have borne you three children;
in sickness and in sorrow / have been with
you; you cannot be so cruel as to turn me
out of doors now. Have pity! have PITY"
Cease this useless wailing. My mind IS
made up, and you must go; and as the
children are in my way also you are well
come to take them with you"
When she heard her husband speak thus,
in her grief she sought her eldest son,
Oishi Chikara, and begged him to plead for
her and pray that she might be pardoned.
But nothing would turn Kuranosuke from
his purpose, so his wife was sent away,
with the two younger children, and went
back to her native place. But Oishi Chi