Futa-fūfu
Sorōté iwō,
Ujigami no
Matsuri mo kyō wa
Nigiwai ni kéri.
--_By Namiki (the husband)_.
_Two wedded couples having gone together to worship at the temple, the
parish-festival to-day has been merrier than ever before._
Ujigami no
Matsuri médétashi
Futa-fūfu.--_Also by the husband_.
_Fortunate indeed for two married couples has been the parish-temple
festival!_
Ikutosé mo
Nigiyaka narishi,
Ujigami no,
Matsuri ni sorō,
Kyō no uréshisa.--_By the wife._
_Though for ever so many years it has always been a joyous occasion,
the festival of our parish-temple to-day is more pleasant than ever
before, because of our being thus happily assembled together._
Matsuri toté,
Ikka atsumaru,
Tanoshimi wa!
Géni Ujigami no
Mégumi narikéri.
--_By the wife._
_To-day being a day of festival, and all of us meeting together,--what
a delight! Surely by the favour of the tutelar God [Ujigami] this has
come to pass._
Futa-fūfu
Sorōté kyō no
Shitashimi mo,
Kami no mégumi zo
Médéta kari-kéri.--By the wife.
Two wedded pairs being to-day united in such friendship as
this,--certainly it has happened only through the favour of the Gods!
Ujigami no
Mégumi mo fukaki
Fūfu-zuré.--_By the wife._
_Deep indeed is the favour of the tutelar God to the two married
couples._
Matsuri toté,
Tsui ni shitatéshi
Iyō-gasuri,
Kyō tanoshimi ni
Kiru to omoëba.
--_By the wife._
_This day being a day of festival, we decided to put on, for the joyful
meeting, the robes of Iyogasuri,[22] that had been made alike._
Omoïkya!
Hakarazu sōro
Futa-fūfu;
Nani ni tatōën
Kyō no kichi-jitsu.
--_By Goto (the brother-in-law)._
_How could we have thought it! Here unexpectedly the two married
couples meet together. What can compare with the good fortune of this
day?_
Matsuri toté
Hajimété sorō
Futa-fūfu,
Nochi no kaëri zo
Ima wa kanashiki.
--_By O-Kō, the married sister._
_This day being a day of festival, here for the first time two wedded
pairs have met. Already I find myself sorrowing at the thought that we
must separate again._
Furu-sato no
Matsuri ni sorō
Futa-fūfu:
Katarō ma saë
Natsu mo mijika yo!
--_By O-Kō._
_At the old parental home, two married couples have met together in
holiday celebration. Alas! that the time of our happy converse should
be only one short summer night!_
On the fifth day of the seventh month, went to the Kanazawa-tei,[23]
where Harimadayū was then reciting; and we heard him recite the jōruri
called Sanjūsangendō.
On the first day of the eighth month we went to the [Buddhist] temple
of Asakusa [Kwannon] to pray,--that day being the first anniversary
[_isshūki_] of the death of my husband's former wife. Afterward we
went to an eel-house, near the Azuma bridge, for dinner; and while we
were there--just about the hour of noon--an earthquake took place.
Being close to the river, the house rocked very much; and I was greatly
frightened.
--Remembering that when we went to Asakusa before, in the time of
cherry blossoms, we had seen a big fire, this earthquake made me feel
anxious;--I wondered whether lightning would come next.[24]
About two o'clock we left the eating-house, and went to the Asakusa
park. From there we went by street-car to Kanda; and we stopped awhile
at a cool place in Kanda, to rest ourselves. On our way home we called
at father's, and it was after nine o'clock when we got back.
*
The fifteenth day of the same month was the festival of the
Hachiman-jinja[25]; and Goto, my sister, and the younger sister of
Goto came to the house. I had hoped that we could all go to the temple
together; but that morning my husband had taken a little too much
wine,--so we had to go without him. After worshipping at the temple, we
went to Goto's house; and I stopped there awhile before returning home.
*
In the ninth month, on the occasion of the Higan[26] festival, I went
alone to the [Buddhist] temple to pray.
On the twenty-first day of the tenth month, O-Taka-San [_probably a
relative_] came from Shidzuoka. I wanted to take her to the theatre
the next day; but she was obliged to leave Tōkyō early in the morning.
However, my husband and I went to the Ryūsei theatre on the following
evening; and we saw the play called _Matsumaë Bidan Teichū-Kagami._[27]
***
On the twenty-second day of the sixth month I began to sew a kimono
which father had asked me to make for him; but I felt ill, and could
not do much. However, I was able to finish the work on the first day of
the new year [1897].
... Now we were very happy because of the child that was to be born.
And I thought how proud and glad my parents would be at having a
grandchild for the first time.
***
On the tenth day of the fifth month I went out with mother to worship
Shiogama-Sama,[28] and also to visit Sengakuji. There we saw the tombs
of the Shijin-shichi Shi [Forty-seven Rōnin], and many relics of their
history. We returned by railroad, taking the train from Shinagawa to
Shinjiku. At Shiochō-Sanchōmé I parted from mother, and I got home by
six o'clock.
***
On the eighth day of the sixth month, at four o'clock in the afternoon,
a boy was born. Both mother and child appeared to be as well as could
be wished; and the child much resembled my husband; and its eyes were
large and black.... But I must say that it was a very small child;
for, though it ought to have been born in the eighth month, it was born
indeed in the sixth.... At seven o'clock in the evening of the same
day, when the time came to give the child some medicine, we saw, by the
light of the lamp, that he was looking all about, with his big eyes
wide open. During that night the child slept in my mother's bosom. As
we had been told that he must be kept very warm, because he was only a
seven-months' child, it was decided that he should be kept in the bosom
by day as well as by night.
Next day--the ninth day of the sixth month--at half-past six o'clock in
the afternoon, he suddenly died....
*
--"_Brief is the time of pleasure, and quickly turns to pain; and
whatsoever is born must necessarily die_"[29];--that, indeed, is a true
saying about this world.
*
Only for one day to be called a mother!--to have a child born only to
see it die!... Surely, I thought, if a child must die within two days
after birth, it were better that it should never be born.
From the twelfth to the sixth month I had been so ill!--then at
last I had obtained some ease, and joy at the birth of a son; and I
had received so many congratulations about my good fortune;--and,
nevertheless, he was dead! ... Indeed, I suffered great grief.
On the tenth day of the sixth month the funeral took place, at the
temple called Senpukuji, in Ōkubo, and a small tomb was erected.