Louis Wertheimber

“ Sennoske, although he was young and inexperienced in the passions which stir the heart and guide the actions of men, was yet a keen observer, and he could now easily fathom the depths of the sword-smith’s strange nature. He saw that the man’s ruling passion was ambition,—ambition so inordinate that it could never be satisfied, and which, burning so fiercely without hope of realization, had retired into itself and assumed the semblance of a morose and misanthropic disposition. ”

“ With conscious pride he felt that his body, trained to every athletic exercise, his sinews of steel and muscles of iron, his quick eye and swift foot, gave him a better right than any other youth of his age to hope to carry out the dream of every young samurai,—to see himself grasping his blood-stained sword and covered with mortal wounds, his foot upon the body of his prostrate and dying foe. ”

“ Half-dead with terror, they remembered being led, or rather carried, by the smith close to the fiery heat, and they had a dim recollection of being told by him how a human being could be burned to cinders here in a few moments, and how those cinders could be put to use again in forging a sword. An idle vagrant unwilling to work, or a good-for-nothing, peeping, spying chatterbox, who neglected her home but minded everybody’s business, could hardly be put to any better use than this. ”

“ The Hōjō chief, the only one of the party who was entirely free from the influence of the superstitious spell which worked upon the others, leaped forward with a yell of rage as he saw his two companions fall. As he did so, he stumbled against the platter containing Yamagawa’s head, and in falling, the point of his sword pierced his knee through and through, inflicting an extremely painful wound, and bringing him to the ground with a wail of anguish while the cry of his onslaught was yet ringing through the room. He lay there helpless, his fall utterly demoralizing the surviving men-at-arms. ”

“ At last a voice which he did not recognize spoke out: “We will excuse you because you insist on being excused; but tell us first what it is that you require, and what brings you hither.”
Yamagawa looked up, and the sight that presented itself, unexpected as it was, partly sobered him. There were six or seven samurai, all unknown to him, seated on the mats; and the foremost among them, who also was the last speaker, had taken up the sword pushed towards him, and, regarding it with the eye of a connoisseur, was evidently surprised at the rich ornamentation and workmanship. ”

“ Perhaps I have become too feeble in mind as well as in body fully to realize the duties of a samurai, for I would fain save my young master from facing one who has been the curse of his house, instead of doing my utmost to bring about a meeting, so that he could either kill you or fall as a samurai should. As for me, I know I shall not long be able to endure the thought of having met you and not only failed myself to take vengeance, but even shielded you against punishment by those whose right and duty it is to inflict it. ”

“ Taking his sword, of matchless workmanship and ornamentation, glittering in the sunlight which reflected itself in the burnished gold, Nitta cast it out into the waters as far as a warrior’s arm could throw it, asking the gods to accept it as a peace-offering, and calling upon them to give their divine aid to the army which now marched to uphold the vested and inherited rights of their descendants, the Emperors of the country. ”

“ In one of these engagements, Nitta, who always fought in the van of his troops, noticed near him a knight whose alertness and elasticity of movement, in spite of his complete coat of mail, could belong only to a young man, while the blows which he dealt were such as few even among veterans could give,—his sword at every stroke cleaving a Hōjō armor and going deep into the body beneath it. It was no other than Sennoske, whom, immediately after the fray and on the field of battle, Nitta made one of his aids. ”

“ Ono ga Sawa, with whom he had always been a favorite, after addressing him in his usual kindly way, at once fixed his attention upon the sword, which in truth looked sufficiently conspicuous.
“What, Sennoske,” he exclaimed, “you, who are such a sober, steady youth, nevertheless indulge in this finery, and begin to be a dandy now, when rough life in field and camp is about to open for you! It must have cost all your pocket-money to have this tinsel put on your sword. In my time we took pride only in the blade itself, and carried it in unvarnished plain wooden scabbards. ”

“ Mutto’s athletic but slight and supple figure was cast in quite a different mould from the smith’s heavy, awkward-looking frame; and in so far as other than physical attributes [41] could be discerned, the difference became even more marked. The look of gloom on the face of the former seemed like a dark veil, obscuring its naturally pleasant and cheerful expression. The regular features could never have settled into such clearly-cut, bold, determined lines if their possessor had always been given to inactive brooding and sorrowing. ”

“ This man, who during his life had been bound by no knightly law, who while in the fulness of health had remained untouched alike by feelings of veneration for what others held sacred, and by feelings of dread for what others feared, now, with death before him, clung desperately to the thought of dying like a samurai. He had known scores of men in the flower of their years die in such a way serene and contented, and probably the thought of this prompted his demand. ”

“ This poor head now troubled Taka Suke more than its possessor had ever done in life; being a man who had seldom been thwarted, he would have given much to draw the sword and cut the now inoffensive cause of his disappointment in pieces. Sennoske, who was watching him narrowly, partly divined what was passing through his mind, and regained his self-possession more fully as the other showed outward signs of anger and mortification. ”

“ Outwardly calm and composed, although this speech did not fail to stir him to the deepest anger and indignation, Mutto replied: ‘Whatever you may do, the truth will sooner or later be certain to prevail. Knowing that it is impossible to appease [146] the manes of my murdered lord with your blood, I can only show my devotion by committing seppuku, which I will not now defer any longer. No honest man’s finger shall point at me in scorn, no disloyal samurai shall cite me and claim me as a living companion in shame. ”

“ Although he bequeathed his power and the prestige of his name to his descendants, thus securing for the latter the possession of the Shôgunate, the office became a purely nominal affair. Like the illustrious dead Yoritomo, who had wrested all real authority from the imperial throne, leaving it only the bare show and pomp of power, so now the Hōjō stepped in, and in their hands the Minamoto Shôguns were but puppets moving at the will of their so-called guardians. ”

“ If any man there had misgivings, it would have been dangerous for him to express them; and when next morning the waters had subsided, leaving the road free and open, all lingering doubts as well as the hopes of the Hōjō sympathizers vanished as the dew of the night that disappeared in the morning sun.
As they approached Kamakura, they found a large portion of the enemy’s army posted before the walls; so fierce, however, was the onslaught of Nitta’s troops that the ranks of the besieged were at once broken, and they fled for protection into the city. ”

“ So to-day he lives, a connecting link between old and new Japan, between [188] the feudalism of the past and the encroachments of the foreign civilization of the present,—a monument to the ruin of chivalry, knightly pursuits, and glorious deeds of arms; a poor, ragged, despised jinrikisha man, but with a glorious heritage in the superb Muramasa blade which hangs on the walls of his hut. ”

“ A FUNERAL.
[165]
“Your appeal is in vain,” said Sennoske, not altogether unmoved at the sight. “Seppuku was designed as a knightly punishment for samurai whose errors are errors of judgment, but whose deeds are the deeds of samurai. This does not apply to you, who have ever had recourse to intrigue, to circumvention and low cunning, rather than to arbitration by the sword. Men who were opposed to you you have stabbed in the dark, giving them no opportunity to defend or to justify themselves; you have even, as in the case of my father, prevented them from finding relief in an honorable death. ”

“ No new-born passion could wholly supersede the result of traditional and inherited tendencies, and of an education which had caused the tenets of a soldier’s creed to be instilled with the first glimmer of consciousness. Sennoske was still as ready as ever to dare anything and sacrifice everything in the cause of his father’s vendetta. ”

“ Under such surroundings grew up the fairest maiden to be found in the province of Kuwana. All who had seen her were unanimous in according this tribute to O Tetsu. The people often wondered how such a beautiful, lovely being could spring from such a coarse, knotted stock, even when her mother’s fair, delicate nature was grafted upon it. There are many points of beauty for which the daughters of Japan have always been favored beyond those of most other nations. ”

“ As he spoke, he compressed tightly with both hands the gaping wound from which his blood and life were slowly oozing out. “The great enemy of your house, who has been the cause of all the misfortunes which have befallen it, is now the possessor of your sword. You know him by reputation. It is the notorious Taka Suke, in comparison with whose shameless, brazen-faced effrontery all other acts of Hōjō arrogance might well be characterized as humility itself. ”

“ Threats or coercion would have been worse than useless with a man whom the Shôgun himself would only too gladly have welcomed to his capital (Kamakura) , and would have honored there as highly as the Duke did in his province. Any wilful injury done him would have been resented as a national loss by every samurai in the country; so Ono ga Sawa had fain to be satisfied with the sword-smith’s independent way of living, taking care, however, to use every opportunity to prove to him, by valuable gifts and otherwise, the honor and esteem in which he was held. ”

“ Here the great Yoritomo had in his youth found an asylum from his Taira foes. It required coolness and courage, a steady eye and a firm foot to track foes into these Idzu fastnesses, over these rugged, pathless mountains, where Nature alone offered almost insurmountable obstacles. ”

“ I have heard of you, Sennoske, and of the renown which you have gained on the field of battle; but it seems to me that, in spite of this, you are greatly deficient in the duties and obligations of a samurai. Courage and bravery and prowess in battle are common enough in our country; but a sword like this of yours is rarely found, and its possession probably more than any quality of your own has helped you to achieve success and renown. ”

“ Perhaps I am selfish enough not to wish to stand disgraced before one in the service of whose family I have become old and gray, whose welfare has occupied every thought of my mind, to whom every fibre of my body is devoted, and for whose sake I would willingly shed my blood drop by drop. ”