Evening star., 1928-04-21
WORLD FAMOUS STORIES
THE FORTY.SEVEN RONINS
(ANoNYMous.l

outlaws, but only the old retainers oi
Kami, who had come 10 ayenge then
! masters death. If they were not mo-
! lested, Olsai said that none of the
neighSorc would be harmed and their
1 property would suffer no damage. So
| the neighborS did not interfere with
| the activities of the ronins,
/ There was a grand battle inside the
I house, as any one might imagine. The
men of OiShi having definite and
| wrathful purpose in which they weTt
/ ready to sacrifice their lives, fought
| firiouSly and were surely conQuerinS
/ the guards Of Suke. Suke had hidden
! himself away in an inner room. and
! the tiocr was guarded by three Of his
StouteSt warriors.
! Soon the reading fighters on OiShi S
1 side were ready to engage these last
/ thre of Suke's guard in mortal COM
/ bat. They drew of these three guards
and at last overpowered them. They
/ entered the room, but no Suke could
/ be found. They searched everywhere
and were almost in despair and ready
to commit hara-kiri all together, but
they decideded to make one more at
tempt to find the man for whose death
they had risked all.
At last thy looked behind a great
picture on the wall and secret pas
Sagewsy was revealed. Following this
they came TO an outhouse in the court
yard. and here at last they found Suke,
cowar6ly cringing out of sight. fearing
for his life.
Suke was dragged out into the light,
a whistle was blown to signify that the
enemy was captured, and Oishi ad-
dressed him thus:
My lord" he said. for Oishi was very
respectful toward the high officials
standing. we arc the retainerS OF Kami.
Last year your lordShip and our master
quarreled in the palace, and our master
was sentenced 10 hara-kiri. His family
was ruined. We have come tonight to
avenge him. as is the duty of faithful
and loyal men. I pray your lordship
10 acknowledge the justice of our pur-
poSe. And now. my lord. We beSeech
you TO perform hara-kiri. /, myself.
shall have the honor of acting as your
second. and when. with all humility,
/ shall have received your lordShip's
head. it is my intention to lay 1t as an
offering upon the grave Of Kami.'
Thus. in consideration of the high
rank Of Suke. the ronins treated him
with the greatest courtesy. Over and
over again they entreated him to per-
form hara-kiri But he crouched speech
less and trembling. AT last. Oishi. See
ing that il was vain TO urge him TO
die the death Of a nobleman. forced
him down and cut of his head viii.
the same dirk with which Kami ha6
killed himself
Then the Al comrades. elated at hav-
ing accomplished their purpose, placed
the head in a bucket and set out for
the grave OF Kami. some leagues dis
tant On the way. people who had
heard Of their deed paid tribute to
them as loyal men. Lords everywhere
applsuded them as examples Of how
faithful lords retainerS should be.
Having finally placed the head Of
Suke at the grave of Kami. the Al To-
nins gave themselves UP to the author
itics, as they had agreed in advance
among themselves. Judgment was pro-
nounced on them. and they were or
dered, all of them, to perform hara-
kiri.
Thus ends the tale of the ~ retainers.
who became ronins. or outlaws TO
ayenge the death of their master. They
all performed hara-kiri with the great
est elaboration, and were buried near
the grave of the master for whom they
finally gave up their lives. Wreaths CT
honor were placed on their graves by
those who admired their great courage
and devotion to their master.