It was a fine afternoon in autumn; in the gardens of the castle of
Iwakura, the glowing maple leaves and vari-coloured chrysanthemums were
in the height of their beauty.
To-day being the anniversary of the death of Nobuyuki’s father, all
the inmates of the castle had been busy since the early morning with
religious services, and a visit to the deceased’s grave; to-night a
banquet was to be given to all the samurai.
It was now about four o’clock, and several maids-of-honour who had
retired to a private chamber to enjoy an interval of rest were talking
volubly.
“What chatterboxes you are, maids! You prattle like sparrows.” This
from O-Tora who entering at this moment made the sneering remark
that effectually put a stop to the gay talk. As she seated herself,
one of the girls, a saucy young thing, ventured to say with a demure
smile. “But, Madame, women are chatterboxes by nature, aren’t they?
‘Nightingales visit plum-blossoms’ and ‘Sparrows and tigers visit
bamboo groves’; so we chattered like sparrows hoping Madame Tora
(tiger) might be induced to come to us.”
At this repartee the rest of the maids burst into peals of laughter
and even the cross-grained duenna could not refrain from a sour smile.
“Your mention of sparrows reminds me of Takané (the name of a
white-eye)” said she. “It seems the bird has not uttered a note all
day. Has it been fed?”
The girls started guiltily, for so busy had they been all day they
had quite forgotten to attend to the bird, a great pet with their lord
who had received it, together with other gifts, from the Shogun in
recognition of his military services. Nobuyuki dearly loved the
bird for the sake of its song, in addition to which he prized it on
account of its donor.
O-Tora, observing the consternation of the maids, revenged herself on
them by saying spitefully:—
“You had better have kept your idle chattering till you had fulfilled
all your duties, you good-for-nothing girls.”
“It is a shame to have forgotten all about the poor little bird!” said
Katsuno, who was with her companions.
“Poor thing, how hungry it must be! I will go at once and give it some
food.”
Stepping down into the garden, she went to an old plum-tree, and
stretching up her arms took the beautifully ornamented cage of the bird
off the branch on which it hung. As she did so the hook came off and
the cage fell to the ground, with the result that the door came open
and the little prisoner with a glad twitter escaped. With a cry of
dismay the girl ran after it, but too late; the bird had already made
its way through the trees and was now flying far away across the blue
sky rejoicing in its freedom.
“What have you done, Katsuno?” cried O-Tora, from the verandah.
Inwardly glad of this golden opportunity to carry out her dark
scheme of getting Katsuno into disfavour, she yet cunningly concealed
her delight under cover of fear and consternation. “Alas! You have let
Takané fly away. Dear, dear, what carelessness! How could you do it!”
Katsuno, gazing up at the fast disappearing bird, seemed half
stupefied. At O-Tora’s words she came to herself, and then overwhelmed
with thought of the consequences staggered a little and fell wailing
to the ground. Her young companions standing on the verandah uttered
exclamations of amazement, but none of them came to her aid, or
attempted to console her. “What will you do, Katsuno?” continued the
old vixen, who had by this time come down to where the unhappy girl
lay, and seized her by the neck of her garment. “You know Takané is not
a common bird, but a treasured present from His Highness the Shogun.
Do you realize what you have done in letting it escape? Can you atone
for your fault simply by a few tears? What can you do to repair the
injury you have done to me, for it is I who shall be blamed,—I shall be
considered responsible for this misfortune! Come, get up, girl, what
have you to say?”
“Katsuno, prepare for death!” A loud and angry voice caused them
all to start. Informed of what had occurred the hot-tempered Nobuyuki
had rushed to the scene, and now with a drawn sword stood over the
prostrate girl in a passion of ungovernable rage.
At this critical moment another voice was heard.
“My lord, my lord, wait!” It was the new Prime Councillor, Tsuda
Hachiya, who thus ventured to interpose. “Calm yourself, my lord, I
beg you. Do you forget the day? Is it not the holy anniversary of the
demise of your revered father? Can you sully this solemn occasion with
a bloody deed committed in the heat of anger? Restrain yourself and
leave this matter to my discretion.”
Nobuyuki’s rage subsided as quickly as it had risen, and his better
reason prevailed. At the remonstrance of his favourite he sheathed his
sword and retired to the verandah.
By this time most of the retainers had arrived at the castle for the
evening’s banquet, and hearing of the incident hastened to the scene.
Shichiroyemon was among them and under cover of the confusion whispered
something to his accomplice,—then coming forward “How about Katsuno’s
chastisement, my lord?” he said. “You act wisely in not inflicting
death with your own honourable hands, but as an apology to His
Highness the Shogun, and as an example to the clan it is necessary—it
is imperative that she should receive condign punishment.”
“W-e-l-l—” Nobuyuki hesitated; then turning to Hachiya, “What is your
opinion, Hachiya? Shall I do as Shichiroyemon says?”
“No, my lord. History tells that long, long ago, in the reign of the
Emperor Takakura, one cold frosty morning, some thoughtless gardeners
cut off a few branches of a beautiful maple-tree of which the young
Emperor was very fond, and burned them to warm their _saké_. Fujiwara
Nobunari, an official in charge of the tree, greatly shocked at this,
bound the offenders hand and foot and reported the matter to the
Emperor. The benevolent monarch, however, was not enraged at all, but
said calmly, “A Chinese poet sings:—
‘In woods we gathered maple-leaves[2]
‘And burned them to warm _saké._’
I wonder how these humble gardeners have learned to have such a refined
taste? What a poetic idea!” Thus the Emperor acquitted the careless
gardeners. This is one reason why the Emperor Takakura is revered
as a great sovereign even now after the lapse of so many centuries. So
I hope and pray that my lord who is as large-hearted as the Emperor,
will be lenient with a young girl who through no fault of her own has
been so unfortunate as to cause this accident.”
“Enough, Mr. Tsuda!” broke in Shichiroyemon. “You are doubtless a great
scholar, and eloquent, but the slack measure you suggest would be a
bad precedent. You are always tender and sympathetic with women, but
in dealing with a matter such as this we must make no distinction of
sex. As well might you pardon the offender who sets fire to the castle
and reduces it to ashes, just because she is a woman and it was ‘by
mistake’! Is that justice?”
“Your argument is absurd,” replied the younger man contemptuously.
“You speak as if severity were a good principle in government. If so,
why did Kings Chow and Chieh of ancient China, and the Tairas and
the Ashikagas in our own country come to such speedy ruin? Recollect
that to-day is the sacred anniversary of the demise of the father of
our lord, and therefore it might well have been our lord’s purpose to
have set the white-eye free, himself, for the peace of the revered
spirit.[3] The fault unintentionally committed by Katsuno has thus led
to the humane act of setting a poor caged bird at liberty. I have
somewhere read these lines:—
‘Though one loves the sweet songs of a caged bird,
‘Who knows the sadness of its inner heart?’
In my opinion Katsuno has committed no fault in the true sense of the
word, but on the contrary, done a good action.”
With the exception of Shichiroyemon and O-Tora, all present listened
with admiration to the eloquent pleading of Hachiya on behalf of
Katsuno. The black-hearted pair persisted in urging the girl’s
expulsion from the castle, but Nobuyuki turned a deaf ear to their
arguments, and decided to let the matter rest. Katsuno, all this time
on her knees in the garden, now almost worshipped her deliverer in the
depth of her gratitude.