Tales of Old Japan - Maybe You Like It

"Dear me, Miss O Koyo, his lordship has been all impatience waiting
for you: pray make haste and come in."
But, in spite of what he said, O Koyo, on account of her virgin modesty,
would not go in. O Kuma, however, who was not quite so particular,
cried out—
"Why, what is the meaning of this? As you've come here, O Koyo, it's a
little late for you to be making a fuss about being shy. Don't be a little
fool, but come in with me at once." And with these words she caught fast
hold of O Koyo's hand, and, pulling her by force into the room, made her
sit down by Genzaburô.
When Genzaburô saw how modest she was, he reassured her,
saying—
"Come, what is there to be so shy about? Come a little nearer to me,
pray."
"Thank you, sir. How could I, who am such a vile thing, pollute your
nobility by sitting by your side?" And, as she spoke, the blushes mantled
over her face; and the more Genzaburô looked at her, the more beautiful
she appeared in his eyes, and the more deeply he became enamoured of
her charms. In the meanwhile he called for wine and fish, and all four together
made a feast of it. When Chokichi and O Kuma saw how the land
lay, they retired discreetly into another chamber, and Genzaburô and O
Koyo were left alone together, looking at one another.
"Come," said Genzaburô, smiling, "hadn't you better sit a little closer to
me?"
"Thank you, sir; really I'm afraid."
But Genzaburô, laughing at her for her idle fears, said—
"Don't behave as if you hated me."
"Oh, dear! I'm sure I don't hate you, sir. That would be very rude; and,
indeed, it's not the case. I loved you when I first saw you at the Adzuma
Bridge, and longed for you with all my heart; but I knew what a despised
race I belonged to, and that I was no fitting match for you, and so I
tried to be resigned. But I am very young and inexperienced, and so I
could not help thinking of you, and you alone; and then Chokichi came,
and when I heard what you had said about me, I thought, in the joy of
my heart, that it must be a dream of happiness."
And as she spoke these words, blushing timidly, Genzaburô was
dazzled with her beauty, and said—-
"Well, you're a clever child. I'm sure, now, you must have some handsome
young lover of your own, and that is why you don't care to come
and drink wine and sit by me. Am I not right, eh?"
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