Tales of Old Japan - Maybe You Like It

Having drawn up this memorial, the hundred and thirty-six elders,
with Zembei at their head, proceeded to the Court-house to present the
petition, and found the various officers seated in solemn conclave. Then
the clerk took the petition, and, having opened it, read it aloud; and the
councillor, Ikéura Kazuyé, said—
"The petition which you have addressed to us is worthy of all praise.
But you must know that this is a matter which is no longer within our
control. The affair has been reported to the Government; and although
the priests of my lord's ancestral temple have interceded for Sôgorô, my
lord is so angry that he will not listen even to them, saying that, had he
not been one of the Gorôjiu, he would have been in danger of being
ruined by this man: his high station alone saved him. My lord spoke so
severely that the priests themselves dare not recur to the subject. You
see, therefore, that it will be no use your attempting to take any steps in
the matter, for most certainly your petition will not be received. You had
better, then, think no more about it." And with these words he gave back
the memorial.
Zembei and the elders, seeing, to their infinite sorrow, that their mission
was fruitless, left the Court-house, and most sorrowfully took counsel
together, grinding their teeth in their disappointment when they
thought over what the councillor had said as to the futility of their attempt.
Out of grief for this, Zembei, with Hanzayémon and Heijiurô, on
the 11th day of the 2d month (the day on which Sôgorô and his wife and
children suffered), left Ewaradai, the place of execution, and went to the
temple Zenkôji, in the province of Shinshiu, and from thence they ascended
Mount Kôya in Kishiu, and, on the 1st day of the 8th month, shaved
their heads and became priests; Zembei changed his name to Kakushin,
and Hanzayémon changed his to Zenshô: as for Heijiurô, he fell sick at
the end of the 7th month, and on the 11th day of the 8th month died,
being forty-seven years old that year. These three men, who had loved
Sôgorô as the fishes love water, were true to him to the last. Heijiurô was
buried on Mount Kôya. Kakushin wandered through the country as a
priest, praying for the entry of Sôgorô and his children into the perfection
of paradise; and, after visiting all the shrines and temples, came
back at last to his own province of Shimôsa, and took up his abode at the
temple Riukakuji, in the village of Kano, and in the district of Imban,
praying and making offerings on behalf of the souls of Sôgorô, his wife
and children. Hanzayémon, now known as the priest Zenshô, remained
at Shinagawa, a suburb of Yedo, and, by the charity of good people, collected
enough money to erect six bronze Buddhas, which remain
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