The Lord of the Province of Etjigo was called Jibudayu Mashikura. One day his chief minister, Gyobu Tokuzawa, summoned his master's first page, Senpatji Akanashi, who was in the vestibule with the other pages, and whispered: "I have something to say to you, Akanashi. Come with me." And, leading him to a secret place behind the trees in the garden, he said to him: "My master has ordered me to choose someone very strong to kill his courtier Shingokei Daizaki, and I can think of no one better fitted than you for this mission. Go then to Shingokei's house and kill him. I am sure that my master has an excellent reason for having him destroyed."

Senpatji asked: "What is the offense which Shingokei must expiate?" But the minister himself did not know. Then Senpatji said to him, "I have confidence in your word, yet I should like to hear this order from my master's own lips." So the minister brought Senpatji before the Lord, who, as Senpatji knelt before him, said: "Senpatji, you must kill Shingokei, as my minister has told you."

Senpatji returned to his house very sad at having to kill Shingokei, who was one of his best friends. Nevertheless he went to that man's house, and after a short conversation, killed him, saying: "It is at the command of my master." Shingokei's slaves tried to seize the murderer, but Senpatji calmed them by saying, "I have acted on my master's order, and you must obey him."

The Lord confiscated all Shingokei's property and his wealth. His widow was inconsolable. She was the daughter of a retired samurai of the neighboring Province, and had married Shingokei the year before with customary rites, for Shingokei and her father were old friends. They loved each other tenderly, and her husband's death stunned her. She longed to die with him and follow him into the other world, but she was with child, and could not kill herself because of the child she carried in her womb. So she left the Province, bitterly bewailing her husband's and her own sad destiny. After a long solitary journey full of hardship, she came to another very remote Province in the mountains and decided to live there. Some time later, quite alone and without assistance, she gave birth to a son. She took infinite care of the child, working with her needle to gain a livelihood, for in all the village there was not a single other woman who could sew. The two lived thus together in poverty in that place.

Time passed, and the son reached his fourteenth year. His features and his manners were gentle and refined, and he recalled to his mother that cherished husband she had lost. She had kept a Corean harp and two swords fashioned by Kunimune, a celebrated ancient Japanese armorer, which her parents had given her when she left them to marry. When she felt sad she used to play on the harp to distract herself and her dear son. In this manner they lived in their secluded hut.

The destiny of man is surely inconstant and full of surprises. Senpatji Akanashi was banished for his master for some trifling offense, and, after traveling through several Provinces, he settled in a town near the hut in which the mother and son were living. They never met each other, and had no suspicion that they lived at such proximity.

But one day Senpatji was invited by his friend Kurobarji Toriyama to hunt birds. On their way back they chanced to pass the widow's cottage, and heard the sound of the Corean harp which the mother was playing. They were charmed by the music and stopped to listen. Slipping through a hole in the hedge, they even peeked through a crack in the bamboo wall. A very beautiful woman of about thirty-five was playing the harp. She seemed to belong to some famous family of the high nobility, and to have disguised herself to live in this wretched hovel. Sitting by her side was her son Shinosuke, studying the writing in a book which his mother had written herself. He was extremely handsome. The interested spectators were surprised to find such distinguished persons in this lonely village. They caused the door to be opened, and stood for some minutes at the entrance apologizing for their intrusion. After a short visit they went away.

Senpatji was struck by the beauty of the young boy; he returned to the hut and became the close friend of its inhabitants. Little by little Senpatji and Shinosuke conceived a deep love for each other, and Senpatji took both mother and son with him to his town and there maintained them. In this way a year went peacefully.

Then the mother noticed that Senpatji was very like the man who had killed her husband. One day she questioned him regarding his history and past life, then she became certain that he was the assassin of her husband, the father of her son. Next day she told the boy: "Senpatji killed your father before you were born. He was compelled to do so by the command of his master, who was also your father's master; but he is none the less your father's murderer. Kill him, and avenge your father. "

Her son was at first mute with astonishment. Then he reasoned with his mother: "Senpatji did not kill my father out of personal enmity. He bore my father no hatred. He could not act otherwise, since the Lord commanded it. He is not really my father's enemy. If you wish to avenge him, it is the Lord Jibudayu whom I ought to kill, not my friend Senpatji. We owe him so much gratitude for his kindness. Think, mother: I cannot kill him. We have no right to kill him."

But his mother was angry, and cried: "I know that you cannot kill him, you are too cowardly and soft. If I had known that he was my husband's murderer I never would have accepted his help. I would rather have starved to death than see you form a friendship with him. But I tell you that you are wrong to abandon your revenge for the sake of your love, and if you do so, you smirch the honor of a samurai. If you are such a coward I no longer know you. I will avenge him myself."

And, seizing her dagger, she rushed forth. But her son caught her by the sleeve and said: "If you are so firmly determined to avenge my father, There is nothing for me to do but obey you. I shall kill him with my own hands. I pray you not to do it yourself, mother, I beg you to be calm." And he made ready his vengeance.

His love with Senpatji had already lasted for more than two years, yet he was now compelled to destroy that man to whom he had vowed both affection and assistance forever. He could not, however, kill him without telling him his reason for doing so. So that evening he called Senpatji to his room, but he was pale and weighed down with sorrow. Senpatji at once perceived this, and said to him: "Dear Shinosuke, you seem very sad this evening. Are you in trouble? Tell it to me, that I may share it."

Shinosuke sighed, touched by these gentle words, and Senpatji again urged him to open his heart. Then Shinosuke confessed to him: "Oh, what a wretched business is this human life! I am the son of Shingokei Daizaki. You know yourself what you did to my father, while I was still in my mother's womb. I am aware that you could not do otherwise, and that you acted at your master's command. But as the son of a samurai I cannot overlook the matter. Truly I am sorry to kill you, for you have been good to my mother and myself. I am in great distress."

Senpatji sighed. "Alas, it is indeed a strange world! I never suspected that you were his son. Yes, I killed your father; but I am happy, o Shinosuke, to die at your hands. Come, kill me, and avenge your father." And he threw aside his swords and offered his neck to Shinosuke. But Shinosuke cried: "No, take your sword and fight with me. I cannot kill you in cold blood, you who have been so good to us."

His mother was watching this scene from the next room, and called her son to her, saying: "I admire both you and Senpatji. Each of you is a man of honor. Love each other again for this one night; I wish to grant you such an interval. Celebrate your separation, but tomorrow without fail, Shinosuke, avenge your father." Then Shinosuke brought dishes and cups of wine, and the two rejoiced. The mother slept in the next room, and Shinosuke and Senpatji lay down together.

When the woman woke in the morning, they were both silent, lying in the same bed. She called her son: "Rise up, lazy boy!" But there was no answer. She went into the room and turned back the blanket which covered them, and saw that Shinosuke had pierced Senpatji's heart with his sword passed through his own breast and out at his back.

His mother stood there for a long time overwhelmed at the sight of these two lovers' bodies, and then, in her sorrow and distress, killed herself in the same room.

Surely a sad and a tragic tale.

...go back to Stories from the Nanshoku Okagami 1: "All Comrade Lovers Die by Seppuku".
...go back to Episode Six.