The Curse of Koshiu: A Chronicle of Old Japan

by Lewis Wingfield

  CHAPTER XV.

  WILL BUDDHA SPEAK?

  Meanwhile affairs at Tsu were not prospering. Sampei, tossed like ashuttlecock, formed, as usual, a dozen resolutions daily, and brokethem all. At one moment he was for the flight of O'Tei from the doomedcastle--become now a hell of untramelled debauchery--and herinstallation with his mother at the temple. There she would be insanctuary, whence even her husband durst not wrest her. But then whata triumph for O'Kiku! He felt that O'Tei would never consent to a stepwhich would be a tacit admission of defeat, for she was a Nara of pureblood, with all the pride of her race. No. She must stop where shewas, and await the unrolling of events; and yet what a life was hers,compelled to remain much in her bower, lest she should be insulted byO'Kiku or the braves. As Nara hoped, the evil germ was workinginwardly. A regret rose within the mind of Sampei which scorched andblackened it. Is a faithful clansman and an honest man ever justifiedin turning on his chief? Before there was no question of it: now hewas in more than doubt. May a brother ever be pardoned for taking hisbrother's life? Cases of fratricide were common enough, as Nara hadhinted--there were precedents galore--but then the ruling feature ofSampei's character had always been loyal honesty. The gods in theirwisdom had set over him certain superiors. What would be said to himwhen the end came, and accounts were totted up upon the abacus, if hehad rebelled? Buddha, frowning, would demand to know how he dared moveout of his place, arrogantly assuming to be the wiser.

  His first duty was to the head of his house: surely there should be nodoubt whatever about that. But what if another urgent duty had beenimposed by his heart--an imperative duty, clashing with the first?There lay the rub, a problem beyond the solving of the simple General.And since the shocking suggestion had been spread by the wily geishathat there were unholy bonds 'twixt him and her whom it was only tooplain he loved, the situation had become so strained as to fill himwith foreboding and dismay. To save her fair fame ought he indeed togo? To leave her a helpless waif on this whirlpool of black wickednesswas out of the question. And yet how was she benefited by his staying,since he dared not approach without compromising her? So miserable didthe poor man feel, racked and torn by a difficulty with which he wasincapable of coping, that the light was dark to him, his heart stonecold. He knew himself as weak as she, a ball at the foot of Fate; andso he wandered aimless and disconsolate, hearing and seeing nothing,caring not what befell, waiting--as the rudderless do--to see whatwould happen next.

  Oh, heart of man, centre of suffering! When one is said to beheartless, 'tis looked upon as a reproach, instead of a matter forgratulation! The heart of man! 'Tis barely enough for a kite's dinner,yet the whole world is not sufficiently large to satisfy its lust, itsgreed, its ambition--and how it suffers!

  When he sailed so blythely for Corea with his enthusiastic army, howhalcyon was the world to Sampei; what wonders he was going to perform;what a career of ambition was before him. And now, ambition was dead.Life had become Endurance. His candid spirit was warped by suspicion.He, once so open and trustful, saw in everything a hidden meaning; inevery event an occult snare.

  In due course the betto brought him the letter of his chief, and hesmiled with pitying derision. Was he to be taken in so easily? Had henot seen the betto ride off with the missive of O'Kiku? Had he notheard the woman herself urging the servant to speed? A puerile trick.The letter had counselled the infatuated Daimio to remove his brotherfrom her path, that O'Tei, left unprotected and alone, might lie ather mercy. What other reason could there be for so sudden a summons toKi[^y]oto? With disdain he tore the letter up, resolved more firmlythan ever to stick to his post, to carry out his mission to the end.When my lord should return, there would be time enough forexplanations. They were burning to be rid of O'Tei--the guilty couple.From this crowning sin, at least, Sampei would save his brother.

  It required no little resolution unblenchingly to follow the straightbut rugged path. O'Kiku smarted more than ever under his cold andimplacable disdain. All her arts were useless. Maddened, she strove topique him by excesses of abandonment under his very nose, and wasconvulsed by fits of corroding acrimony to discover how futile wereher efforts. Against all her attacks he was armed _cap-a-pie_. If mylord would but return, that she might wreak envenomed spite upon thesetwo, whom now with her whole soul she hated! Meanwhile the only resultproduced by her reckless behaviour was that the samurai, for the mostpart, disapproved of her more and more; while Sampei, to shun thesight of one so odious, devoted himself to excursions and the chase.

  Away upon the hill, with its temple and solemn arcades of greenery, asin the hum of the houses below, the cloud of anxiety was thickening.

  The still dim shrine no longer lulled to devout prayer the soul ofMasago. In the midst of supplication her mind turned worldwards. Sheyearned over her son and the tottering family. She grieved so forO'Tei, when the chatelaine arrived for prayers, that her hard facegrew wondrous soft, and she marvelled at the stoniness of destiny.Seeing now with clearer ken than in the past, when she had admired thewarlike Tomoye, adored her rude lord, had almost persuaded herself tobelieve that all that he did was good, she began to have a dennedperception of his crimes, mingled with a startled regret. He had beenguilty of much that was deplorable. No-Kami had been brought up in hisfather's school, had from the first gone lengths that were much moreregrettable, to end in deeds which she preferred not to contemplate.He deserved to be accursed, and was accursed. Our sins, like sableravens, return to roost. Ever since the culminating crime, events hadmoved so directly towards a visible goal that the finger of fate wasplain. But why Sampei? Why the fair and good O'Tei, a symbol of allthat was pure? These questions, so bewildering, would risepersistently to the surface. Why should these two, mixed up in thishorror, without overt act of theirs, be marched as victims to thesacrifice?

  She had heard from Sampei that my lord had rallied suddenly before hewent to Ki[^y]oto, and this started a fresh train of thought.O'Kiku, the baleful geisha, was at the bottom of all the trouble. Shehad suddenly appeared, emissary of devils, on the fatal day, andever since had been a scourge. Thanks to an inspiration from above,the Abbess had been the means of separating my lord from hisconcubine. Oh, what if, Heaven relenting, the separation might becomefinal--No-Kami himself reformed? The soul of Masago gave a great leap.Yes, she saw light at last--the light for which she had besought sofervently. _She_ was to be the humble means of unravelling the tangle,of saving the family honour.

  But how was this to be accomplished? With trepidation she rememberedthat she was in her sixty-first year, which, as all the world knows,is the last of the yaku doshi, or evil years, after which a woman maybe at peace. During her thirty-third and forty-second (the otheryaku-doshi--happily passed) she had been very careful lest, temptedby Ratatzu, she should be capable of something dreadful, that wouldruin her and hers. And now it was terrible to think that in this lastyear of ordeal--the one of a long life which was most beset withbrambles--she was called upon to act with decision, to stand forth forthe succour of the innocent, for the shriving and salvation of theguilty. This state of things would call for much vigil, much puttingoff of earth-trammels, and adoration of the sun-god at his rising,that her old eyes might clearly see.

  The more she pondered--a slow, tall figure pacing among the moss-growntombs, under the stately criptomerias--the more plain her duty seemed.Thanks to the benign deities, her prayers for light were answered, andshe saw. It was by Heaven's decree that the geisha had travelledhitherward, an agent for the fulfilling of a purpose pre-ordained.Buddha, with omniscient vision, had caused her to come to Tsu for theaccomplishment of the curse of the martyr. But now, through theprayers and entreaties of his humble handmaid, he had relented,--beenturned from his intent. What a scaffold was the Abbess raising. WhenNo-Kami should come back, his evil genius would be gone. This favourgranted, Buddha would vouchsafe another. By force of supplicationMasago would obtain that the temper of the Hojo might be changed. Hewould repen
t him of his evil ways, and atone in the future for thepast. Then it should be her proud privilege to bring together againthe husband and the wife. O'Tei must be taught to forgive, to breakdown the barrier of ice behind which her better nature had beenshrouded. Warming in the radiance of a new happiness her frozen petalswould unfold, give forth their sweetness, and No-Kami would come toknow the treasure that he had ignorantly tossed aside. The wan cheekof the old Abbess was flushed, her dimmed eyes sparkled, as sherevolved these things, devoutly giving thanks to Heaven. Is it not thegreatest joy that may be tasted by mortals--the permission tointervene in the house of discord, and bring to it peace andhappiness? The end was plain to the prophetic vision of Masago, butthe way to it was long. The gentle O'Tei would be brought with littletrouble to play her part.

  The difficulty lay with the geisha. The Abbess, mindful of yaku doshi,resolved to be prudent and cautious--not precipitate; and yet,whatever had to be done must be done before the return of No-Kami tothe castle. There was not time then for protracted cogitation. Shewould appeal in person to the siren,--speak words inspired from onhigh which should touch her flinty heart. Seizing her staff, the gauntfigure in its flowing draperies of crape descended the long flight ofstairs, passed under the torii at the bottom, and strode, buoyed bycelestial fervour, along the winding street which led to the castlegate. O'Kiku was in a boat upon the river---O'Tei's own favouriteshallop, which she had robbed her of, as of other things--andmarvelled greatly to behold the Abbess of the temple beckoning to herfrom the shore.

  Approaching, she reclined idly at the bottom of the boat, toying withsome winter blossoms she had plucked; dipping, in saucy contempt ofcold, the fingers of the other hand into the running water. She wasmuffled in a robe of furs, her head swathed in a kerchief of thicksilk; and Masago remarked that she looked worn,--had lost thatfreshness which had been her most piquant charm. Earnestly the Abbessspoke; pleaded for the family honour on the verge of wreck; discoursedwith proud eloquence of the illustrious house of which she was a lowlymember; reminded her hearer that she, O'Kiku, also now was one of thehouse, in precisely the same position as she, the speaker, had been.There were two ways open to her. Lest she should bring upon herselfthe reproach of having brought a great family to ruin, she must turnover a new leaf, and eschew in future the vices for which she wasnotorious; or, if waywardness was in her blood, she must depart, andby self-sacrifice atone for the past, and save the family. Amused withthe thought that the Abbess must be mad, the geisha lay listening, asly smile playing about her lips, until the unlucky pleader began totalk about her son. Then starting, as if bitten by an adder, uprosethe concubine, and, taking up the pole, leisurely pushed off from thebank.

  "Sampei, forsooth! A ridiculous old lunatic!" she scoffed, with asuperb head-toss. "You must be very insane. What! You'd have me gohence and prison myself for the behoof of the pale idiot yonder? Evenif I were myself mad enough to consent, my lord would never love her.The contemptible creature is barren; whereas I, the second wife--" andwith a trail of mocking merriment, and an attempt to raise a blush,she smiled at the astounded Abbess, and propelled her bark into thestream.

  Masago remained standing, her tall figure mirrored in the water, hershrunken hands crossed upon her breast, amazed and troubled. What wasthis new factor in the embroglio? She was with child--the interloper.There would soon be a new bond, a fresh silver link to unite moreclosely the pair whom she was bound to separate. The woman's influenceover my lord would be greater than ever; and, all for evil as of yore.The breach between No-Kami and O'Tei would grow wider. As in adream--with slow gait and corrugated brow--the Abbess passed backtowards the grove, heedless of the salutations of the peasants,--ofthe brown urchins that plucked at her skirts. A child--a son,perhaps--that woman's son! Swiftly there passed through her brain asense of the results that would accrue. The wife, ambitious andunscrupulous, who was a mother, would become all-powerful. Freshinsults would day by day be heaped on the one who was not thus blessedamong women. In her mind's eye Masago beheld a long train of disastersand calamities, O'Kiku the active agent. Crouched down before thealtar, her chin supported by her palms, she gazed at the bronze symbolthat sat so calm and still and upright, with mouth shut and eyelidsclosed.

  "Oh, if you would vouchsafe to speak," she murmured imploringly, "onelittle word of guidance. One other ray of light; one little, littleray! During years of unflinching devotion has my life been given toyour service. I know that I have earned nothing save, perhaps, onetouch of pity!"

  With sore and heavy heart the Abbess sighed, for the bronzed lipsremained tight shut, the eyelids closed. He was asleep and deaf. Therewas no sound of comfort or of counsel.

  Presently she distinguished the patter of clogs upon the outer stairs,and, after a while a man, pushing aside the curtain, stood framed inthe doorway.

  "Sampei!" Her boy! Was this the reply of Buddha? Ashy pale, tremblinglike a leaf, the old woman bent to the stones with moving lips; whilethe General, reverently doffing his geta, and beating his handstogether, approached and knelt. She took his warm broad hand betweenher cold ones, and earnestly scrutinised his face. Her thoughts werein such a turmoil that, though she heard his words, they seemed toreach her ears from a distance, through a tunnel. Riding listlessly,as was his wont, with no settled purpose, he had been astonished tosee the geisha in conference with his mother. What could those twohave had to say to each other? Greatly marvelling, he had watched, andthen turned his horse towards the temple. What ailed his mother, thather features were grey-green? Was she ill? She looked so scared andstrange and terrified. Was it some ghost she saw that caused that lookof awe?

  Without taking her eyes from her son's, the Abbess rose, and like onein a trance led him behind the altar, down the open corridor, into herown quiet chamber. Nothing could be more simple than its furnishing.The woodwork was unadorned, but scrupulously clean, so were the matsand screens. A plain fire-box of iron stood in the centre. Above thelow dais in the tokonoma, or place of honour, there hung a single andvery ancient kakemono, representing Kwannon, the thousand-handed; andunder it, upon the dais, stood in a lacquered sword-rack, a dirk inits silken case.

  Floating before Sampei she lifted the weapon, pressed it to her bosom,then slowly unfastening the case, drew forth the dirk, which, with acry, he recognised. It was a precious blade, forged by Miochinhimself, adorned with a hilt minutely worked with gold--a dirk whichin childhood he had been wont to play with.

  "My father's!" he murmured, and pressed it to his lips and forehead.

  "Your father's!" echoed the Abbess, in a whisper, drawing herself tothe full height of her commanding stature, and placing on the benthead of her son a trembling hand. "Your father, and _his_, wore yonderblade in many a fray, and it was never sullied with dishonour. To you,my dear son, do I surrender it. The gods have spoken. She must die!"

  As pale as his mother, who looked on him now with a rapt and solemnsmile, Sampei heaved a sigh of relief. _She_. His nerves tingled tohis finger ends, for he had thought that the deed must be done whichhad so often crossed his mind, and which he had always put away fromhim with dread. It was not his brother--thanks to the gods forthat--but the wicked concubine, whose blood was required in atonement.

  Then the two sat down, and the inspired priestess spoke.

  "The honour of the family was to be saved by him--Sampei. Buddhahimself had deigned to settle it. He must bide his time, and wait andwatch, and when occasion offered he must, with his father's dirk, slaythe baleful sorceress. With his own hand must the deed be done--not betrusted to a hireling, even to a samurai. It might be some time beforethe fitting opportunity presented itself, for the braves, whom shestill debauched, would defend her doubtless with their lives. Theremust not be too long delay, lest my lord No-Kami should come home. Theavenging hand must be sure and steady; the result not a mere wound,but--death."

  Nodding, Sampei placed the weapon in his obi, and, embracing hismother, departed with proud step. It was to be his privilege--byBuddha's own decree--t
o save the honour of the house,--to rescue hisinfatuated brother,--to bestow upon the dear O'Tei a measure of futurehappiness.

  Masago, calm now, returned to the temple, and spent the night invigil. Blessed be Buddha; for his mercy thrice-blessed! He had spokenthrough the silent lips. The course and conscience of his handmaidwere clear as crystal now.