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lull the suspicions <strong>of</strong> that fellow Chokichi, and let you know my idea by<br />
letter. Meanwhile O Koyo had better come home with me to-night: although<br />
she is so terribly out <strong>of</strong> spirits now, she shall meet Genzaburô the<br />
day after to-morrow."<br />
Kihachi reported this to O Koyo; and as her pining for Genzaburô was<br />
the only cause <strong>of</strong> her sickness, she recovered her spirits at once, and, saying<br />
that she would go with Sazen immediately, joyfully made her preparations.<br />
Then Sazen, having once more warned Kihachi to keep the<br />
matter secret from Chokichi, and to act upon the letter which he should<br />
send him, returned home, taking with him O Koyo; and after O Koyo<br />
had bathed and dressed her hair, and painted herself and put on beautiful<br />
clothes, she came out looking so lovely that no princess in the land<br />
could vie with her; and Sazen, when he saw her, said to himself that it<br />
was no wonder that Genzaburô had fallen in love with her; then, as it<br />
was getting late, he advised her to go to rest, and, after showing her to<br />
her apartments, went to his own room and wrote his letter to Kihachi,<br />
containing the scheme which he had devised. When Kihachi received his<br />
instructions, he was filled with admiration at Sazen's ingenuity, and,<br />
putting on an appearance <strong>of</strong> great alarm and agitation, went <strong>of</strong>f immediately<br />
to call on Chokichi, and said to him—<br />
"Oh, Master Chokichi, such a terrible thing has happened! Pray, let me<br />
tell you all about it."<br />
"Indeed! what can it be?"<br />
"Oh! sir," answered Kihachi, pretending to wipe away his tears, "my<br />
daughter O Koyo, mourning over her separation from my lord Genzaburô,<br />
at first refused all sustenance, and remained nursing her sorrows<br />
until, last night, her woman's heart failing to bear up against her great<br />
grief, she drowned herself in the river, leaving behind her a paper on<br />
which she had written her intention."<br />
When Chokichi heard this, he was thunderstruck, and exclaimed, "Can<br />
this really be true! And when I think that it was I who first introduced<br />
her to my lord, I am ashamed to look you in the face."<br />
"Oh, say not so: misfortunes are the punishment due for our misdeeds<br />
in a former state <strong>of</strong> existence. I bear you no ill-will. This money which I<br />
hold in my hand was my daughter's; and in her last instructions she<br />
wrote to beg that it might be given, after her death, to you, through<br />
whose intervention she became allied with a nobleman: so please accept<br />
it as my daughter's legacy to you;" and as he spoke, he <strong>of</strong>fered him three<br />
riyos.<br />
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