"Huh? The master? Well, I suppose he's heard about what happened today."
"The disrespectful things you said were bound to reach his ears. And Master Hitta came to see him a little while ago, so he must have. He may carry out the execution himself."
"Do you think so?"
"It's an iron rule of the Matsushita clan that servants should not be slack in their practice of the martial arts, day or night. When the master has to make a special effort to uphold the dignity of the household regulations, you should consider your head already lost."
"Well, then, I'll run away from here. I don't want to die over something like this."
"You're talking nonsense!" He grabbed Hiyoshi's wrists. "If you ran away, I'd have to commit seppuku. I've been ordered to bring you along."
"I can't even run away?" Hiyoshi asked artlessly.
"Your mouth is really too much. Think a little bit before you open it. Hearing what you said today, even I thought you nothing but a boastful monkey."
Nohachiro made Hiyoshi walk ahead of him, and he kept a firm grip on the hilt of the sword. White gnats swarmed in the gathering darkness. The light from lamps inside spilled out onto the veranda of the library, which had just been sprinkled with water.
"I've brought Monkey." Nohachiro knelt as he spoke.
Kahei appeared on the veranda. "He's here, is he?"
Hearing the voice above his head, Hiyoshi bowed so low that his forehead touched the garden moss.
"Monkey."
"Yes, my lord."
"It seems that a new type of armor is being made in Owari. It's called domaru. Go buy a set. It's your home province, so I presume you'll have no trouble moving around freely."
"My lord?"
"Leave tonight."
"Where to?"
"To where you can buy domaru armor." Kahei took some money from a box, wrapped it, and tossed it in front of Hiyoshi. Hiyoshi looked back and forth between Kahei and the money. His eyes filled with tears that rolled off his cheeks and onto the backs of his hands.
"It would be best if you left without delay, but you don't have to be in a hurry to bring back the armor. Even if it takes several years, find me the best possible set." Then he iaid to Nohachiro, "Let him out by the rear gate quietly, and before the night is over."
What an abrupt turnabout! Hiyoshi felt a chill creep over him. Here he had expected to be killed for running afoul of the household regulations, and now…the chill came from his reaction to Kahei's sympathy—his sense of gratitude—and it penetrated to the very marrow of his bones.
"Thank you very much." While Kahei had not spelled out what he had in mind Hiyoshi already understood.
His quickness bewilders the people around him, Kahei thought. It's only natural that this breeds resentment and jealousy. He smiled bitterly and asked aloud, "Why are you thanking me?"
"For letting me go."
"That's right. But, Monkey…"
"Yes, my lord?"
"If you don't hide that intelligence of yours, you'll never succeed."
"I know."
"If you knew, why did you speak abusively like today, making everybody angry?"
"I'm inexperienced…I hit my head with my own fist after I said it."
"I'm not going to say any more. Because your intelligence is valuable, I'm going to help you. I can tell you now that those who resented you and were jealous of you accused you of theft on the slightest pretext. If a pin was lost, or a dirk or a pillbox was misplaced they'd point their fingers at you and say, 'It was Monkey.' There was no end to their spiteful talk. You easily provoke the resentment of others. You should understand that abou yourself."
"Yes, my lord."
"There was no reason for me to help you today. My retainers' point was well taken. As I was informed about this matter in private by Master Shohaku, it's as if I hadn't heard about it yet and were sending you off on a mission. Do you understand?"
"I understand very well. I have engraved it on my heart."
Hiyoshi's nose was stopped up. He bowed to Kahei again and again.
That night he left the Matsushita house.
Turning to look back, he vowed, I won't forget. I won't forget.
Wrapped up in this man's great kindness, Hiyoshi wondered how he could best repay him. Only one who was always surrounded by brutality and ridicule could feel another’s sympathy so intensely.
Someday… someday. Whenever impressed by something or overwhelmed by event he repeated this word like a pilgrim's prayer.
Once again he was wandering like a homeless dog, without aim and without work. The Tenryu was in flood, and when he was far away from human habitation, he felt like crying out at his loneliness, at the unknown fate that awaited him. Neither the universe nor the stars nor the waters could give him any kind of sign.
The Idiot Lord
"Excuse me!" A voice called a second time.
Otowaka, off duty that day, was in his regiment's dormitory, taking a nap. He woke up, raised his head, and looked around.
"Who is it?"
"It's me," a voice said from beyond the hedge, where the tendrils of bindweed entwined themselves around the leaves and thorns of Chinese orange. From the balcony, Otowaka could see someone on the other side of the dust-covered hedge. He went out on the veranda.
"Who is it? If you have some business, come in by the front gate."
"It's locked."
Otowaka stretched to get a good look and exclaimed, "Why, it's Yaemon's son Monkey, isn't it?"
"Yes."
"Why didn't you say who you were, instead of groaning out there like a ghost?"
"Well, the front gate wasn't open, and when I peeped through the back, you were asleep," he said deferentially. "Then you got a little restless, and I thought I'd try calling you again."
"You needn't be so reserved. I guess my wife locked the gate when she went out shopping. I'll open it for you."
After Hiyoshi had washed his feet and come into the house, Otowaka stared at him for a long time before saying, "What have you been up to? It's been two years since we met on the road. There's been no news of whether you were alive or dead, and your mother's been terribly worried. Did you let her know you were all right?"
"Not yet."
"Aren't you going home?"
"I went home just for a bit before coming here."
"And you still didn't show your face to your mother?"
"Actually, I went secretly to the house last night, but after one look at my mother and sister, I turned around and came here."
"You're a strange one. It's the house where you were born, isn't it? Why didn't you let them know you were safe, and put them at ease?"
"Well, I wanted to see them very much, but when I left home, I swore I wouldn’t return until I'd made something of myself. The way I am now, I couldn't face stepfather."
Otowaka took a second look at him. Hiyoshi's white cotton smock had been turned gray by dust, rain, and dew. His greasy hair and his thin, sunburned cheeks somehow completed the picture of exhaustion. He was the image of a man who had failed to reach his goal.
"What do you do to eat?"
"I sell needles."
"You're not working for anyone?"
"I worked at two or three places, not very high-class samurai households, but—"
"As usual, you soon got tired of them, I suppose. How old are you now?"
"Seventeen."
"There's nothing a man can do if he's born stupid, but don't overdo it in acting the simpleton. There's a limit. Fools have the patience to be treated like fools, but that doesn’t hold for you and your mistakes. Look, it's natural that your mother is grieving and your stepfather's embarrassed. Monkey! What in the world are you going to do now?"