Tales of Old Japan - Maybe You Like It

whole household was thrown into confusion, and day after day mystic
rites and incantations were performed by the priests over braziers of
charcoal, while prayers were recited without ceasing; but the visions
only became more frequent, and there was no sign of their ceasing. After
the 5th year of Shôhô, the style of the years was changed to Keian; and
during the 1st year of Keian the spirits continued to haunt the palace;
and now they appeared in the chamber of Kôtsuké no Suké's eldest son,
surrounding themselves with even more terrors than before; and when
Kôtsuké no Suké was about to go to the Shogun's castle, they were seen
howling out their cries of vengeance in the porch of the house. At last the
relations of the family and the members of the household took counsel
together, and told Kôtsuké no Suké that without doubt no ordinary
means would suffice to lay the ghosts; a shrine must be erected to
Sôgorô, and divine honours paid to him, after which the apparitions
would assuredly cease. Kôtsuké no Suké having carefully considered the
matter and given his consent, Sôgorô was canonized under the name of
Sôgo Daimiyô, and a shrine was erected in his honour. After divine honours
had been paid to him, the awful visions were no more seen, and the
ghost of Sôgorô was laid for ever.
In the 2d year of the period Keian, on the 11th day of the 10th month,
on the occasion of the festival of first lighting the fire on the hearth, the
various Daimios and Hatamotos of distinction went to the castle of the
Shogun, at Yedo, to offer their congratulations on this occasion. During
the ceremonies, my lord Hotta Kôtsuké no Suké and Sakai Iwami no
Kami, lord of the castle of Matsumoto, in the province of Shinshiu, had a
quarrel, the origin of which was not made public; and Sakai Iwami no
Kami, although he came of a brave and noble family, received so severe
a wound that he died on the following day, at the age of forty-three; and
in consequence of this, his family was ruined and disgraced. 80 My lord
Kôtsuké no Suké, by great good fortune, contrived to escape from the
castle, and took refuge in his own house, whence, mounting a famous
horse called Hira-Abumi, 81 he fled to his castle of Sakura, in Shimôsa, accomplishing
the distance, which is about sixty miles, in six hours. When
he arrived in front of the castle, he called out in a loud voice to the guard
80.In the old days, if a noble was murdered, and died outside his own house, he was
disgraced, and his estates were forfeited. When the Regent of the Shogun was
murdered, some years since, outside the castle of Yedo, by a legal fiction it was given
out that he had died in his own palace, in order that his son might succeed to his
estates.
81.Level stirrups.
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