Now there was a man called Tomozō, who lived in a small cottage
adjoining Shinzaburō’s residence, Tomozō and his wife O-Miné were both
employed by Shinzaburō as servants. Both seemed to be devoted to their
young master; and by his help they were able to live in comparative
comfort.
One night, at a very late hour, Tomozō heard the voice of a woman in
his master’s apartment; and this made him uneasy. He feared that
Shinzaburō, being very gentle and affectionate, might be made the dupe
of some cunning wanton,—in which event the domestics would be the first
to suffer. He therefore resolved to watch; and on the following night
he stole on tiptoe to Shinzaburō’s dwelling, and looked through a chink
in one of the sliding shutters. By the glow of a night-lantern within
the sleeping-room, he was able to perceive that his master and a
strange woman were talking together under the mosquito-net. At first he
could not see the woman distinctly. Her back was turned to him;—he only
observed that she was very slim, and that she appeared to be very
young,—judging from the fashion of her dress and hair.[8] Putting his
ear to the chink, he could hear the conversation plainly. The woman
said:—
“And if I should be disowned by my father, would you then let me come
and live with you?”
[8] The color and form of the dress, and the style of wearing the
hair, are by Japanese custom regulated according to the age of the
woman.