Tales of Old Japan - Maybe You Like It

Kami. All his retainers were quietly dispersed; and his empty castle was
ordered to be thrown open, and given in charge to Midzuno Iki no Kami.
At last Kôtsuké no Suké began to feel that the death of his wife and his
own present misfortunes were a just retribution for the death of Sôgorô
and his wife and children, and he was as one awakened from a dream.
Then night and morning, in his repentance, he offered up prayers to the
sainted spirit of the dead farmer, and acknowledged and bewailed his
crime, vowing that, if his family were spared from ruin and re-established,
intercession should be made at the court of the Mikado, 82 at
Kiyôto, on behalf of the spirit of Sôgorô, so that, being worshipped with
even greater honours than before, his name should be handed down to
all generations.
In consequence of this it happened that the spirit of Sôgorô having relaxed
in its vindictiveness, and having ceased to persecute the house of
Hotta, in the 1st month of the 4th year of Keian, Kôtsuké no Suké received
a summons from the Shogun, and, having been forgiven, was
made lord of the castle of Matsuyama, in the province of Déwa, with a
revenue of twenty thousand kokus. In the same year, on the 20th day of
the 4th month, the Shogun, Prince Iyémitsu, was pleased to depart this
life, at the age of forty-eight; and whether by the forgiving spirit of the
prince, or by the divine interposition of the sainted Sôgorô, Kôtsuké no
Suké was promoted to the castle of Utsu no Miya, in the province of
Shimotsuké, with a revenue of eighty thousand kokus; and his name was
changed to Hotta Hida no Kami. He also received again his original
castle of Sakura, with a revenue of twenty thousand kokus: so that there
can be no doubt that the saint was befriending him. In return for these
favours, the shrine of Sôgorô was made as beautiful as a gem. It is needless
to say how many of the peasants of the estate flocked to the shrine:
any good luck that might befall the people was ascribed to it, and night
and day the devout worshipped at it.
Here follows a copy of the petition which Sôgorô presented to the
Shogun—
"We, the elders of the hundred and thirty-six villages of the district of
Chiba, in the province of Shimôsa, and of the district of Buji, in the
province of Kadzusa, most reverently offer up this our humble petition.
"When our former lord, Doi Shosho, was transferred to another castle,
in the 9th year of the period Kanyé, Hotta Kaga no Kami became lord of
82.In the days of Shogun's power, the Mikado remained the Fountain of Honour,
and, as chief of the national religion and the direct descendant of the gods, dispensed
divine honours.
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