The Curse of Koshiu: A Chronicle of Old Japan

by Lewis Wingfield

  CHAPTER X.

  FOREBODINGS.

  It was with feelings strangely mingled that the concourse prepared todepart. For their good, the farmer had suffered martyrdom; himself andhis family were swept like insects from the earth, but not from thegrateful memories of the people. No sooner was the inner drawbridgeraised behind the departing despot, than with one accord all meeklyknelt while the Abbess issued orders. Her brow was more sombre thanits wont, her jaw more firmly set, as the troubled elders related whathad happened. She had prayed for light, but Buddha had vouchsafed noanswer. What was this coil that was winding slowly but surely roundthe son of him who had been her husband? Ay, round her own son aswell, the noble Sampei. It was under misapprehension that Koshiu hadincluded him in his anathema, supposing him the seducer of his child;yet here was the child, clad now in the crape of a nun, as pure as shehad ever been. The farmer was in error, and surely idle curses recoilon those who launch them. Sampei, the brave and generous, was withoutreproach. Even sleepy Buddha must know that. Perchance he was at thismoment rating Koshiu, on the further bank of the mystic Sandzu, forhis precipitate injustice. Masago strove to persuade herself that itmust be so, whilst striving to console the terror-stricken Mine, andyet at the bottom of her heart there was apprehension, a dull weightof cold foreboding.

  The ways of Heaven are so strange, so unaccountable sometimes, and toour purblind vision so unjust, that the most robust of faith issometimes sorely shaken. Mine wrung her hands, refusing comfort. Aswith trembling fingers she untied the bonds which supported her deadfather, she prayed to him with cries and lamentations. It was throughher own wrongheaded madness that the mistake had occurred. Sure herparent knew it now. If the curse must fall on one of the two, let itbe on her, for she was in fault, not the glorious young General. Couldhe hear her now, her father? Oh, for some sign that he could hear andwould grant her humble petition! Wretched, wretched child! Herpunishment was already greater than she could bear, for was not shedoomed to drag on a sad existence, stripped of all her kin. Had shebut behaved as a dutiful daughter should, instead of grieving now,heart-broken, she would be standing on the further bank of the riverof death along with Gennosuke, and little Sohei, and sweet Kihachi.Alack! alack! While the bereaved daughter raved, distracted, theelders of Tsu and the outlying villages were taking counsel. A noticehad been handed to them, on the part of their lord, which ranthus:--"The property of the deceased, his rice fields and corn fields,and forest and mountain land, shall be sold without delay, and dividedinto two parts; one shall be paid over to the lord of the estate; theother, by his extreme condescension, shall be the portion of theculprit's daughter, who has been permitted to live. This is to showhow godlike and noble is your master; and it is hereby strictlyforbidden to make comments on the sentence, or find fault with thishis decision."

  One-half for Mine, who was in some sort an heiress, then. Poor heart!She little recked of her good fortune. The temple yonder would be thericher for her portion, for she was Buddha's servant now,--hishandmaid till her spirit was released. With regard to the dead, theelders consulted awhile, and then with calm decision Zembei, supportedby Rokubei, rose from his knees and spoke.

  "Dear friends," he said, "Koshiu, who suffered this day, bruised hisbones and crushed his soul for your sakes. In appealing direct to theMost Holy Mikado he sinned greatly, but 'twas from excess of zeal; andin being compelled to see those he loved massacred before his eyes,his punishment was in excess of his misdemeanour. We have decided thathonour shall be paid to him, for indeed before his death he was themouthpiece of the Eternal, who deigned to speak through his lips.It is meet therefore that we, his old friends, who loved him andhis as ourselves--though perhaps on one occasion we were undulyselfish--should undertake this matter. We will leave our homes andlands in possession of our heirs, and, shaving our heads, will retirefor a while to the top of the holy mountain; and after a period ofprobation, will descend from Mount Koya in Kishiu, and, becomingpriests, will wander from town to town, praying at every shrine forthe souls of the departed, collecting as we go from the charity of allgood people. And then, having collected enough, we will erect a templeover their bones, with six Buddhas in bronze to do them honour, andthere shall prayers be offered up for ever for them, and also for us."

  The people listened to the oration, and bowed their heads without aword, for the decision of the elders was good and natural. Alltherefore lighting paper lanterns, for it was dark now, turned tofollow across the outer moat, away along the straggling interminablestreet, the procession of the dead.

  Masago had accepted a temporary trust, and it was well. Within thedarkling groves of her sacred pines should the victims lie at peace,until such time as, by divine grace, the elders should return tofulfil their holy task; and it behoved those here assembled, who hadwitnessed the sacrifice, to offer a prayer together, and commenceamong themselves a collection for the building of a shrine.

  Solemn and slow, like an army of glow-worms, the procession wendedalong to the sad chant of nuns and bonzes; and, unknown to them, asthe simple people marched, there followed a fervent benison from thelips of one despairing. The dreary chatelaine was sitting at an uppercasement of the castle, wistfully gazing into the night.

  Recovering consciousness, the Lady O'Tei found herself in her bower,surrounded by grieving maidens, and was relieved, glancing fearfullyaround, to miss the figure of my lord. She was spared his hatefulpresence. For that small mercy, thanks. For, still and self-possessedas she had appeared during the ordeal, thereby winning the admirationof Sampei, and, even for a time, the grudging approval of No-Kami, thechatelaine had suffered so intensely as to produce a crisis in hernature.

  During the short while that the scene lasted, years seemed to havepassed over her head. Hitherto she had been weary and empty andunhappy--deeply miserable, but yet with a germ of hope half stifled.That germ was quite dead now, shrivelled and black. She was beset withan intense craving for rest and sleep,--for the fragrant perfume ofthe earth. Although the execrated name of Hojo was hers, the scathingcurse on all who bore the name passed harmless over her. Herconscience was clear. She had done all that within her lay to save thevictims, and, calm and still in outward aspect, had suffered far morethan they. A threat of proximate death?--release! The world, whosebeauty she had so intensely enjoyed ages ago at Nara, was repellentnow,--a hideous mockery,--a skull crowned with flowers. For how falsewas its song of sweetness, since such wickedness and injusticeflourished in its midst. A world of disease and pain and sorrow. Inthis life are not many punished for their virtues, as a set-off to themanner in which others are rewarded for their vices? What wonder ifpeople fall under burthens too heavy for their backs?

  Koshiu and his had already entered on a new and smiling existence; ifhis dying words might be believed, had started under sunny auspices onthe next round of life. And at the same time he had prophesied that noHojo henceforth might ever win peace. They were doomed to wander fromone globe to another, gaining no step, rising no higher on the earth,for all eternity! How horrible! So dread a bolt overshot its mark; forsure the universe must be ruled by fiends if those whose crime is tobear an execrated name are for that to be undone for ever. To die, andtry again, and yet again, in vain--a weary prospect. The sooner thebetter, after all, for no future phase could be less tolerable to theLady O'Tei than the present one. She was condemned, as it seemed,never to attain aught that she desired; never to have a prayeranswered, or a wish gratified. And all that she now longed for wasrepose. Ah, how vain that wish! For never may we enjoy perfect restsave in far-off Nirvana--away in the incalculable and limitlessNirvana! where, when time is dead for us, refined and freed from thelast speck of dross, we are to achieve the reward of nonexistence.

  O'Tei had learned to despise her husband more and more, but nowshe had a new and positive feeling for him--active and sore andgnawing--one of _intensest hatred_. And she was his--bound to obey hiswhim. How long? For his part, he took li
ttle trouble to conceal thathe hated her, and would be glad to be rid of an encumbrance. Shouldshe fling herself at his feet, and, baring her white bosom, implorethe mercy of his dirk? No. She shuddered as she thought that he wouldlaugh--that fierce and ugly laugh of his that made her blood runcold--would spurn and revile, hissing forth _recreant_, but yet wouldforbear to strike her. There was nothing for it but ploddingpatience,--a stringing of the nerves to endurance--slow, continuous,monotonous--the hardest of all tasks to an overwrought and nervouswoman.

  Meanwhile Masago, moving like a tall still ghost at the head of theprocession, was disturbed and exercised in mind. How strangely thingswere going. If she might only be allowed to see. What thunderousclouds were gathering? Was the appalling prophecy to be accomplishedto the letter? Like the chatelaine, her being rose in protest. Was herown brave boy, innocent of all wrong, to be involved with the rest,simply because his name was Hojo--the guiltless suffering for theguilty? Why, so was hers. Though but a second wife or concubine, shewas mother of a Hojo--proud to call herself Hojo--jealous of thefamily honour, although of plebeian birth. She could quite understandthe feelings of the rough warriors towards a chatelaine who was tothem a riddle; but she, discerning, renowned for subtle acumen, couldsee under the rind what a fragrant nature was O'Tei's, if it had notbeen nipped half-blown. She sighed heavily as she walked, and ponderedof O'Tei. What of this new element introduced into the castle--ofdiscord surely? Not of necessity so. Should No-Kami elect to take thenew-comer to himself, as folk already whispered, what of it? Had nothis father done the same? And she, Masago (concubine), and thebellicose Tomoye (wife) had never quarrelled.

  But then O'Tei was so different from her predecessor. She was so oddand sensitive and self-contained, given to contemplative fancies whichserved no good purpose. Masago, the sage, was quite angry sometimeswhen she considered the education of O'Tei. She, an abbess, shouldknow something of such matters, and there was no doubt about it thatthe bonzes and priestesses of Nara had blundered. The heiress of Narawas destined by her birth to a grand alliance, to reign in a world ofstrife, and they should have combated, while the nature of their pupilwas yet malleable, such tendencies as might be likely to interferewith the young lady's future happiness. Dancing the kagura in a woodwas all very well for priestesses, but in a fierce age, when everyman's hand is at his fellow's throat, the female head of a warlikehousehold should be taught to hold her own. Poor O'Tei had never beenproperly prepared, and was in truth no more fit to cope with thedifficulties of her high position than would be the merest coolie'sdaughter.

  In the candour of self-communing Masago admitted this much to herself,making apologies the while for the shortcomings of her favourite, andlaying the blame upon the priesthood.

  And again the question would assert itself--Was the new element forharmony or discord? If she could only know, and help to keep mattersstraight. If O'Tei were sensible, she would accept the second wifewith gratitude, for she would be relieved of the society of one whomshe abhorred. But then O'Tei was so peculiar. And so much depended onthe attitude assumed by the second wife, if second wife she were tobe. She, Masago, and Tomoye had got on so splendidly that, as shethought of the past, a faint blush of self-complacency tinged theAbbess's ascetic cheek. No doubt about it. She, Masago, had displayed,as she usually did, consummate tact. In fact, in their instance, thetwo wives completed each other. Each had the talent which was deniedto her companion, for Tomoye often declared that though her muscle wasa marvel her brain was wanting, while Masago was the best of advisers,although no warrior. Hence, whilst both adoring their lord from theirown point of view, they could perfectly trust each other withoutjealousy, and play into one another's hands--a fact which was clearlyproven when the regnant Hojo wearied of his concubine. Tomoye did herbest to retain the second wife (not knowing what the next fancy of herlord might be), and constantly sought counsel from Masago after herassumption of the crape.

  Masago therefore, as she walked, summoned to her side thedevoted elders who were so soon to embrace the priesthood, andcross-questioned them narrowly. They had observed, had they, in mylord's visage, how desperately he had become enamoured? They werecertain that his sudden passion would insist on being gratified? Butwhat if the travelling geisha were a light-o'-love to be picked up tooeasily to-day and cast forth to-morrow? Rokubei shook his head. Theastute Masago--all-wise counsellor--would never venture so futile asuggestion had she once scanned the lady with her searching scrutiny.Oh, a cunning and fascinating lady! A petulant and wilful lady, and anobstinate! Ay, and a circumspect. What object could she have had ininsisting on the bodies being given up, except to ingratiate herselfwith the lower lieges? What cared she, a stranger from afar, for afarmer of Tsu or his family? And then, that way she had of sendinggleams out of her dark velvet eyes from under the deep fringes. Evenhe, Rokubei, who spoke, and who shortly on the holy hill was to havehis pate shaven, was fain to admit, under the seal of secrecy, thathis own, for the future ascetic, bosom had been pervaded byinconvenient warmth under the glamour of those lightning shafts, andall the while he knew that they were intended for another. And mylord, so inflammable, so given to indulgence, who knew so little ofthe curb! Masago might believe, or not, the speaker, but it was clearto him that in a few days--nay, hours--the too fascinating geishaO'Kiku would rule the Daimio and his vassals, whether for good or evilwas as yet in the womb of time.

  Masago listened, and became more and more uneasy. Could it be possiblethat she, who had that day only appeared upon the scene, was thechosen instrument--selected beforehand and arrived exactly intime--for the fulfilment of the prophecy? Was she to undermine withher pink little fingers the great dynasty of Hojo? and, if so, how?For the advantage of the dynasty she, the discarded second wife, wouldgladly sacrifice herself and wear her fingers to the bone; would evensurrender the life of her dearly-beloved son Sampei for its advantage.Fool! unreasoning woman, and incorrigible fool! Who was she to presumeto combat Destiny?--to raise her weak hand in feeble protest againstthe finger of Buddha, the all-seeing? Although the blasphemoussuggestion had unbidden entered her brain, vigils and much prayingwould be needed to atone for its presence. She would kneel onthe stones throughout the ensuing darkness, praying for pardonand for light. How may we, however watchful, guard againstpresumption--against pitting our puny sagacity against the Infinite?

  And though she fulfilled her self-imposed penance, remaining untildawn, despite years and infirmities, with forehead resting on thestones, maternity struggled with asceticism. Her bowels yearned overSampei--the pride, the flower of Japan--and she prayed as only amother can pray that her boy might escape the curse. How willingly,she pleaded, would she herself submit for his dear sake to recommencethe ladder from the bottom. She knew not, of course, how high she hadattained by long and painful climbing, but from her presentconsideration and eminence she must be considerably advanced on herpilgrimage. She would sacrifice all--all--with what ecstatic joy--forhis sake. And as she lay convulsed in the dark, with the drops of amother's travail coursing down her wrinkled brow, she never dreamedthat in the pure intensity of undimmed devotion she might be in theact of rising yet another step. In the morning, feeble and exhausted,she turned her to the newborn orb as he showed above the glorious sea,and, vaguely relieved, sat basking in his beams. Then struggling upshe groped to her cell with lagging feet, and sank into a stupor offatigue.