"This letter should be opened within the sleeve, so that others
may know nothing of it. Keep the secret in your own bosom.
"You must yield to me even as the rush bends to the wind. I am
earnest to serve you in all things.
"We shall surely be united at last, whatever chance may separate
us at the beginning. I wish for you even as the stag for its mate
in the autumn.
"Even though long kept apart we shall meet, as meet the waters of
a river divided in its upper course into two branches.
"Divine, I pray you, the meaning of this letter, and preserve it.
I hope for a fortunate answer. Thinking of Terute-Hime, I feel as
though I could fly."
And the Princess Terute found at the end of the letter the name
of him who wrote it,--Oguri-Hangwan Kane-uji himself,--together
with her own name, as being written to her.
Then she felt greatly troubled, because she had not at first
supposed that the letter was addressed to her, and had, without
thinking, read it aloud to the female attendants.
For she well knew that her father would quickly kill her in a
most cruel manner, should the iron-hearted Choja(1) come to know
the truth.
Wherefore, through fear of being mingled with the earth of the
moor Uwanogahara,--fitting place for a father in wrath to slay
his daughter,--she set the end of the letter between her teeth,
and rent it to pieces, and withdrew to the inner apartment.
(1) Choja is not a proper name: it signifies really a wealthy man
only, like the French terms "un richard," "un riche." But it is
used almost like a proper name in the country still; the richest
man in the place, usually a person of influence, being often
referred to as "the Choja."
But the merchant, knowing that he could not go back to Hitachi
without bearing some reply, resolved to obtain one by cunning.
Wherefore he hurried after the princess even into her innermost
apartment, without so much as waiting to remove his sandals, and
he cried out loudly:--"Oh, my princess! I have been taught that
written characters were invented in India by Monju Bosatsu, and
in Japan by Kobodaishi.
"And is it not like tearing the hands of Kobodaishi, thus to tear
a letter written with characters?
"Know you not that a woman is less pure than a man? Wherefore,
then, do you, born a woman, thus presume to tear a letter?
"Now, if you refuse to write a reply, I shall call upon all the
gods; I shall announce to them this unwomanly act, and I shall
invoke their malediction upon you!"
And with these words he took from the box which he always carried
with him a Buddhist rosary; and he began to twist it about with
an awful appearance of anger.
Then the Princess Terute, terrified and grieved, prayed him to
cease his invocations, and promised that she would write an
answer at once.
So her answer was quickly written, and given to the merchant, who
was overjoyed by his success, and speedily departed for Hitachi,
carrying his box upon his back.
IV. HOW KANE-UJI BECAME A BRIDEGROOM WITHOUT HIS FATHER-IN-LAW'S
CONSENT
Traveling with great speed, the nakodo quickly arrived at the
dwelling of the Hangwan, and gave the letter to the master, who
removed the cover with hands that trembled for joy.
Very, very short the answer was,--only these words: _Oki naka
bune_, "a boat floating in the offing."
But Kane-uji guessed the meaning to be: "As fortunes and
misfortunes are common to all, be not afraid, and try to come
unseen."
Therewith he summoned Ikenoshoji, and bade him make all needful
preparation for a rapid journey. Goto Sayemon consented to serve
as guide.
He accompanied them; and when they reached the district of Soba,
and were approaching the house of the princess, the guide said to
the prince:--
"That house before us, with the black gate, is the dwelling of
the far-famed Yokoyama Choja; and that other house, to the
northward of it, having a red gate, is the residence of the
flower-fair Terute.
"Be prudent in all things, and you will succeed." And with these
words, the guide disappeared.
Accompanied by his faithful retainer, the Hangwan approached the
red gate.
Both attempted to enter, when the gate-keeper sought to prevent
them; declaring they were much too bold to seek to enter the
dwelling of Terute-Hime, only daughter of the renowned Yokoyama
Choja,--the sacred child begotten through the favor of the deity
of the Sun.
"You do but right to speak thus," the retainer made reply. "But
you must learn that we are officers from the city in search of a
fugitive.
"And it is just because all males are prohibited from entering
this dwelling that a search therein must be made."
Then the guards, amazed, suffered them to pass, and saw the
supposed officers of justice enter the court, and many of the
ladies in waiting come forth to welcome them as guests.
And the Lady Terute, marvelously pleased by the coming of the
writer of that love-letter, appeared before her wooer, robed in
her robes of ceremony, with a veil about her shoulders.
Kane-uji was also much delighted at being thus welcomed by the
beautiful maiden. And the wedding ceremony was at once performed,
to the great joy of both, and was followed by a great wine feast.
So great was the mirth, and so joyful were all, that the
followers of the prince and the maids of the princess danced
together, and together made music.
And Oguri-Hangwan himself produced his flute, made of the root of
a bamboo, and began to play upon it sweetly.
Then the father of Terute, hearing all this joyous din in the
house of his daughter, wondered greatly what the cause might be.
But when he had been told how the Hangwan had become the
bridegroom of his daughter without his consent, the Choja grew
wondrous angry, and in secret devised a scheme of revenge.