He had walked for two days under the bright, scorching sun, but had been unable to find the man he was looking for. After eating a raw cucumber and drinking water from a well, he had felt a sharp pain in his gut. In the evening he had followed the bank of the Yahagi River until he found a boat. His stomach felt sore and rumbled. Perhaps because he had a slight fever, his mouth was dry and felt as though it was full of thorns. Even now, he thought of his mother, and she came to him in his dreams. Later he fell into a deeper sleep, and nothing—neither his mother nor the pain in his stomach nor heaven and earth—existed any longer. Until, that is, the soldier began rapping on his chest the spear.
Hiyoshi's waking shout was disproportionate to the size of his body. He instinctively grabbed hold of the spear. In those days the chest was believed to be the location of the soul, like a shrine within the body.
"Hey, runt, get up!"
The soldier tried to pull back his spear. Hiyoshi held on to it and sat up.
"Get up? I am up."
The man, feeling the strength of Hiyoshi's grip on the spear, scowled and said, “Get out of the boat!"
"Get out?"
"Yes, now! We need the boat, so clear out. Get lost!"
Hiyoshi angrily sat down again. "What if I don't want to?"
"What?"
"What if I don't want to?"
"What do you mean?"
"I don't want to get out of the boat."
"You little bastard!"
"Who's the bastard? Waking a man from a deep sleep by tapping him with a spear, then telling him to get out and get lost?"
"Shit! You'd better watch how you talk. Who do you think I am?"
"A man."
"That's obvious."
"You're the one who asked."
"Your mouth works pretty well, doesn't it, for a little runt? In a second it may wrinkle up and shrink. We are men of the Hachisuka clan. Our leader is Hachisuka Koroku. We got here in the middle of the night, and we need a boat to cross the river."
"You can see the boat but not the man. Anyway, I'm using it!"
"I saw you and woke you up. Now get out of there and get lost."
"Annoying, aren't you?"
"Say that again?"
"As many times as you like. I don't want to get out. I'm not giving up this boat."
The man yanked on the shaft of the spear in an effort to pull Hiyoshi onto the bank. Choosing his moment, Hiyoshi let go. The spear sheared through the leaves of the willows, and the soldier tumbled over backwards. Reversing the spear, he thrust it point-first at Hiyoshi. Rotting planks, a bilge bucket, and the reed mat came flying out of the boat.
"Fool!" Hiyoshi mocked.
Other soldiers came running up.
"Stop! What's going on here?" one said.
"Who's this?" asked another.
They crowded together, making a lot of noise, and before long Koroku and the rest of his men were there.
"Did you find a boat?" Koroku asked.
"There's a boat here, but—"
Koroku quietly came to the front of the group. Hiyoshi, thinking that this must be the leader, sat up a little straighter, and looked Koroku straight in the face. Koroku's eyes were riveted on Hiyoshi. Neither spoke. Koroku did not notice Hiyoshi's strange appearance. He was too surprised by the way Hiyoshi looked straight into his eyes. He's bolder than he looks, Koroku thought. The longer they stared at each other, the more Hiyoshi's eyes were like those of a nocturnal animal, shining out of the darkness. Finally, Koroku looked away.
"A child," he said calmly.
Hiyoshi did not respond. His eyes, like an archer's arrows, were still aimed straight at Koroku's face.
"He's a child," Koroku repeated.
"You talking about me?" Hiyoshi asked sullenly.
"Of course. Is there anyone else besides you down there?"
Hiyoshi squared his shoulders a little. "I'm not a child. I've had my coming-of-age ceremony."
"Is that so?" Koroku's shoulders shook with laughter. "If you're an adult, I'll treat you like one."
"Now that you've got me—one man—surrounded by a large group, what are you going to do with me? I suppose you're ronin"
"You're very funny."
"Not funny at all. I was soundly asleep. Besides, I've got a stomachache. Anyway, I don't care who you are. I don't want to move."
"Hm, your stomach hurts?"
"Yes."
"What's seems to be the matter?"
"Food poisoning, maybe, or heatstroke."
"Where are you from?"
"Nakamura in Owari."
"Nakamura? Well, well. What's your family name?"
"I won't tell you my family name, but my given name is Hiyoshi. But wait a minute, what is this, waking a person from his sleep and asking about his parentage? Where you from and what is your lineage?"
"Like you, I'm from Owari, the village of Hachisuka in Kaito district. My name Hachisuka Koroku. I didn't know there were people like you so close to our village. What sort of work do you do?"
Instead of answering, Hiyoshi said, "Ah, you're from Kaito district? That's not far from my village." He suddenly became more friendly. Here was his chance to ask for news about Nakamura. "Well, seeing we're from the same district, I'll change my mind,. You can have the boat."
He took the bundle of merchandise he'd been using as a pillow, slung it over his shoulder, and climbed up onto the bank. Koroku silently watched his every movement. He noticed first the air of a street vendor and the offhand retorts of an adolescent had traveled here and there all by himself. Hiyoshi resigned himself, sighed, and started to leave with a heavy heart.
"Wait, Hiyoshi. Where are you going from here?"
"My boat's been taken, so I have no place to sleep. If I sleep in the grass, I'll get damp from the dew, and my stomach will hurt more. There's nothing else I can do. I'll walk around until dawn."
"If you like, come with me."
"Where to?"
"Hachisuka. Stay at my place. We'll feed you and look after you until you're cured.”
"Thank you." Hiyoshi made a meek little bow. Looking at his own feet, he seemed to be thinking of what to do next. "Does that mean you'll let me live there and work for you?" he asked.
"I like your manner. You've got promise. If you want to serve me, I'll employ you.”
"I don't." He said this very clearly, his head held high. "Because my aim is to serve a samurai, I've gone around comparing the samurai and provincial lords of various provinces. I've decided that the most important thing in serving a samurai is choosing the right one. One does not choose one's master lightly."
"Ha, ha! This is getting more and more interesting. Am I, Koroku, not good enough to be your master?"
"I wouldn't know about that until you hired me, but the Hachisuka clan is not well spoken of in my village. And the master of the house I served in before was robbed man said to be a member of the Hachisuka clan. It would pain my mother if I worked for a thief, so I can't go to the house of such a person and serve him."
"Well, I guess you worked for the pottery merchant Sutejiro."
"How did you know?"
"Watanabe Tenzo was a member of the Hachisuka clan. But I myself have disowned the scoundrel. He escaped, but we have defeated his band and are now on our way back home. Has the name of the Hachisuka been slandered even as far as your ears?"
"Hm. You don't seem to be like him," Hiyoshi said this very frankly, looking right at Koroku. Then, as though he had suddenly remembered something, he said, "Well, sir, without any sort of obligation, will you take me as far as Hachisuka? I'd like to go to my relative's house in Futatsudera."