Nagato

“ He was alone, all his servants had abandoned him; but he saw a head rising from the valley. He recognized Nagato, who quickly climbed the stony elope and stood beside the King.
"Ah, my friend! my brother!" said Fide-Yori, who could not restrain his tears. "What have I ever done to inspire such hatred? Who is the unhappy man whom my life oppresses, and who would fain hurry me from the world?"
"Would you know that wretch?—would you learn the name of the guilty man?" said Nagato with a frown.
"Do you know him, friend? Tell me his name."
"Hieyas!" said Nagato. ”

“ Soon, like the point of a sword-blade upon the horizon, the planet shed a steel-like lustre. At once a trail alternately dark and light ran along the sea to the shore; bluish sparks crackled and glittered on the crest of the waves; then the moon appeared like the arch of a bridge, and at last rose wholly into sight, like a metal mirror.
They were now out of reach of the soldiers. Nata took the oars; Raiden rubbed Loo's temples with saki as he lay across the Prince's knees.
"At least he is not dead, poor child!" said Nagato, putting his hand on Loo's heart. ”

“ Nagato instinctively hid behind the door, and watched them. They were dressed like peasants; but the wind, which lifted their clothes in a lawless fashion, showed that they were armed with swords. They walked straight towards the huts. The Prince roused Raiden and Nata, and showed them these armed peasants, who still advanced, blinded by the rain.
"You see," said he, "in time of war, fishermen are not what they appear to be; neither are peasants."
"Those fellows have exchanged their spades for swords," said Raiden. "Where are they going? Are they friends or foes?" ”

“ They love, and they may not confess it. I am one obstacle the more between them. The Mikado might have died; then she could have married him."
"A Kisaki! marry a prince!" exclaimed Tika.
"You forget," said Fatkoura, "that Nagato's ancestor was next in rank to the Mikado. Iwakura's crest still proclaims the fact, for it consists of two Chinese characters, meaning: 'The highest rank.' In the days when I loved the Prince of Nagato, the Son of the Gods himself could not have driven him from my heart."
"You love him more than ever," murmured Tika. ”

“ I will send you back to the master of your choice," said Nagato. "You will set off alone, unaccompanied by page or squire; you will rejoin Hieyas, and say to him this: 'General Harounaga conquered us; but it was the Prince of Nagato who sank the junks which might have rescued us.'"
"Illustrious Daimio," said Sandai, without any sign of anger, "I am a general, and not a messenger. I may be guilty, but I am not a coward; I can endure merited insult without revolt, but I cannot survive it. Send some other messenger to Hieyas ”

“ Fide-Yori cried, suddenly. "Let us go to the outskirts of the throng and wait for that boat; when it makes for home, it must pass us."
"Which way shall we go?" said Nagato.
"Towards the upper town; there are no houses of nobles in the direction of the sea."
They waited in vain; the boat did not appear. It had gone down the river, and proceeded towards the suburbs. Fide-Yori went back to the palace discouraged. The Prince of Nagato tried to console him. ”

“ If both survive the attempt, they shall be ranked as reprobates.'"
"That is shameful," said Nagato; "hasn't one a right to escape by death from a grief too heavy to be endured?"
"There is a religion which says not," murmured Fide-Yori.
"That of the European bonzes! That whose doctrines public rumor says you have accepted," said Nagato, striving to read his friend's face.
"I have studied that creed, Iwakura," said the Shogun. "It is pure and impressive, and the priests who teach it seem full of abnegation. While our bonzes think of nothing but making money, they scorn wealth. ”

“ Before leaving the village, Nagato ordered Raiden to buy a quantity of carpenter's tools. Then they went back to the shore and re-embarked.
Towards evening the little fleet hove in sight of Soumiossi, and found shelter behind a promontory which completely hid it. The place was most beautiful; enormous trees, whose naked roots clung like the claws of some bird of prey to rocks and earth, overhung the sea; bushes and shrubs swung above them tufts of gorgeous bloom; the waves were strewn with fallen petals, which floated about, collected in small islets or long wreaths. ”

“ Loo stood beside him.
"Oh, my brother!" cried the Shogun, rushing towards him, "I did not hope to see you again."
"I knew that victory was impossible," said Nagato, "and I was busy preparing means for your escape when your final effort should fail. You are the sole offshoot of your race; you are vanquished now; but later your dynasty may flourish."
"Is it really in your power to save us?" said the Shogun.
"Yes, master," said Iwakura. "A boat awaits you on the shores of the Yedogawa; it is manned by Raiden, a brave sailor, whose loyalty I know. He will take you out to sea. ”

“ The arms of Nagato consisted of a black bolt surmounting three balls in the form of a pyramid.
The young man, usually so careful of his dress, paid no attention to the work of his servants; he did not even glance at the mirror so well polished by Loo, when the high pointed cap, tied by golden ribbons, was placed on his head. ”

“ Men danced and sang; they thought themselves dead, and were alive. There was good cause for rejoicing; shouts went up from every street and square; they spread from mouth to mouth, and soon the whole city repeated: "Glory to the Mikado!" "Death to Hieyas!" "Curses on his race!" "Blessings on General Yama-Kava!" "Praises to the Knights of Heaven!"
"And glory to the Prince of Nagato, to whom we owe the victory!" cried one fellow.
"And who restores our divine Kisaki to us," said another. ”

“ Nagato rode up to the Queen.
"These events will delay your marriage, Iwakura!" said she, with a strange feeling of delight.
"Yes, Queen," said the Prince; "and the chances of war are many: perhaps it may never take place. However, as Fatkoura is publicly known as my betrothed, I wish her to go, until the wedding, to my castle of Hagui, where she will live with my father. If I die, she will bear my name, and be ruler over the province of Nagato."
"You are right," said the Kisaki; "but death will spare you. ”

“ He found firm footing, and pushed the boat at the stem with all his might. Nata jumped overboard too, and pulled at the chain. Soon the keel was buried deep in the sand, and the crew landed hastily.
"How terrible the sea is!" said the Prince of Nagato, when he was safe on shore. "How it howls, how it roars! What despair, what frenzy urges it on! Does it not seem to fly the pursuit of some powerful enemy? It is indeed a miracle that we have escaped."
"People don't always escape, unfortunately," said Raiden; "it devours many a poor sailor. How many of my comrades lie beneath its waves! ”

“ Nagato is the most bitter enemy of our great Hieyas; so that it is a great glory for me to have delivered him from this detested foe. Nagato will be executed to-morrow, at noon, in the precincts of the fortress; and I shall send his head to Hieyas."
Fatkoura had strength not to cry out. She went back to Tika. She had learned enough. Her pallor was alarming, but she was calm. She pressed the sword against her flesh. It hurt her, but it calmed her.
"Return, I entreat you, mistress," said Tika. "If we should be discovered, our purpose would be suspected, and we should be thrown into prison." ”

“ Iwakura, with irresistible force, drove him back to the other side of the room, and brought him to a stand against the wall. Tosa, with bloodshot eyes, glared wildly at his foe; he could but ill defend himself. Nagato dashed the sword from his hand.
"Now you shall die!" he cried; "I will kill you,—not as a man frees himself of a loyal enemy, but as he would crush a scorpion." And with one fearful blow, he nailed him to the wall by the throat.
Fatkoura had not fallen. ”

“ Why, after opening heaven to my gaze for a brief instant, do you hurl me suddenly down to the torments of hell? To be deprived of your presence will as surely kill me as to be deprived of light and air."
Nagato covered his face, to hide the tears which he could not restrain. But the Queen gently drew his hands aside, saying: "Do not weep. What is life? A trifle by the side of eternity. We shall meet again, I am very sure."
"But if death deceive us," said the Prince; "if life ends in annihilation; if all is over with the last sigh?" ”

“ As soon as the movement of the troops was apparent, the boats advanced to the shore. The Prince of Nagato was first to land. The Prince recognized the General.
"Ah! it's that stupid Harounaga," he muttered.
Loo leaped ashore. He wore a superb sword at his waist.
"Twenty men to a boat," he shouted. "There are forty of them, which will make eight hundred men to each voyage."
The General came forward.
"What! Prince Nagato!" he exclaimed.
"I am Naiboum," [1] said the Prince; "all the glory of the affair shall fall to you."
"A sovereign expose himself thus to the risk of battle!" ”

“ Lay hands on the divine person of the Son of the Gods! Nagato could not credit such sacrilege. Moreover, the idea that the Kisaki was in danger overwhelmed him. She, insulted in her sovereign power by one of her subjects, alarmed by battle-cries, by the sound of war, perhaps constrained to fly! The thought put him into a frantic rage. He was surprised that he had not sprung at Hieyas' throat, to strangle him with his own hands when he spoke of Kioto.
"I pitied and respected his age," thought he; "does such a man merit pity?" ”

“ The soldiers who brought Prince Nagato were encamped in the avenues of the park. The greater number slept, lying flat on their stomachs, with their heads on their arms; others, crouching round a dying fire, ate rice from large straw-covered bowls.
"Tika," said Fatkoura, looking at these men and the weapons which gleamed beside them, "a sword is a faithful comrade, that opens the door to the other life, and allows one to escape dishonor. The conqueror robbed me of my dagger. Try to steal the sword of one of those soldiers." ”

“ The Prince of Nagato, with frowning brow, devoured the scene spread out at his feet. He bit his lips till they bled; full of wrath, he preserved his clearness of judgment, and coolly examined the situation.
When a conflict occurs in a city, the combatants are perforce scattered. The plan of the streets, their lack of breadth, necessitates a division of numbers. The battle is parcelled out; there is no unity of movement; each street and square has its individual contest, ignoring the phases of those close by. ”

“ The two Japanese returned on Sunday to the island, saying as they left, that the Prince of Nagato would probably open the Straits in a little time. The people with whom intercourse was had are said to have been unusually uncivil; saying that they wished our ships would go away; they did not want us at all.
“They report that Nagato has some sixteen
—Begin page no. 57—
thousand Rōnin in his employ, independent of his regular army of 26,000 men.” ”

“ In his right hand he grasped a bloody sword, which dripped upon the floor. He quietly returned it to his belt.
"The battle is lost," he said, with a scowl; "I am conquered."
"The man whom you thought to dishonor is at your gates, and comes to chastise your crimes," said Fatkoura.
"Ah! You know that Nagato is not dead," cried the Prince. "But what does it matter? He is there, it is true; he comes to deliver you: but before he takes you back," he added, in tones of thunder, "before he crosses the crumbling walls of my castle,—mark me well!—you shall be mine." ”

“ Raiden opened his eyes wide.
"Where will you get so much money?"
"You have no idea of the wealth of princes," said Nagato, astonished at this strange discussion. "I shall scarcely notice the outlay; so have no scruples."
"Good! good! If that is so, we accept," exclaimed the sailors.
"For that price you can have us cut into fifty pieces," said Raiden, who had not yet recovered from his surprise.
"You will run great dangers," said the Prince; "you must be bold and loyal."
"He who fights the sea has no fear of men," said a sailor; "we are accustomed to danger." ”

“ The crimes which you plot have clouded your intellect; you have no soul or honor left; you dare to stand erect before your master,—before him whom you strove to kill!"
"He not only tried to take my life," said Fide-Yori; "that man, more savage than the tiger, has this night caused the murder of my most faithful servant, my dearest friend, the Prince of Nagato!"
A shudder of horror passed over the assembly, while a flash of joy illumined the eyes of Hieyas. ”

“ When he left his pavilion at last, the guests were already assembled before the Kisaki's palace. His arrival caused a sensation. The men went into raptures over his toilette; the women dared not speak. But their silence was most flattering; it might be translated thus: He is worthy to be loved, even by a queen; for that perfectly beautiful body is the temple of the most refined spirit and the noblest heart in the kingdom.
The Princess Iza-Farou-No-Kami approached Nagato. "You have not asked me for news of Fatkoura, Prince," said she. ”

“ The nobles and warriors were speedily assembled in the most spacious hall in the fortress. The Mikado sat cross-legged upon a dais surrounded by a low balustrade; the folds of his robes were arranged about him. Then the lords took their seats on the floor, each holding a long, narrow screen before his face, to oppose some obstacle between his gaze and his sovereign's face.
The Prince of Nagato, with Farou-So-Chan, leader of the Knights of Heaven, Simabara, General Yama-Kava, all the ministers, and all the nobles, were present. ”