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94 HONDA THE SAMURAL
upon tens, they cried out one to another, ' It is
Hachiman-taro ! and retreated.
'
" His favorite tactics were called the
'
long-snake
order,' because he massed his troops in easily handled
lines, like the folds of a snake.
" Yoshi-iy^ was always ready to learn, and though
always victorious was never proud of his military
skill. On one occasion, while visiting the palace of
a nobleman in Kyoto, he gave an account of his
battles in the north. There was a professor of military
science in another room, who, listening through
the paper partition, said to a friend of Yoshi-iye" :
" '
Your master is a fine fellow, but he does n't
'
understand military tactics. What a pity
!
" This friend went and told Yoshi-iye", thinking he
would be very angry. But Yoshi-iy6 quickly said,
'Perhaps it is so.' As the professor was coming
out of the house, Yoshi-iyd went up and thanked
him for what he had said. He then asked permission
to become his pupil. The professor agreed, and
Yoshi-iy6 went to study with him. Thus the wise
and brave soldier, not ashamed to be learning even
after many brilliant victories, became a student once
more. Instead of lazily carousing in the capital, he
was diligent with books and pen, as with arrows in
the battle or mantlets in the siege.
" In the year A.D. 1087 a rebellion broke out, and
Yoshi-iy6 headed several tens of thousands of horsemen
and marched once more to the land of the bear
and the wolf the wild north country of DeVa.
Two mighty rebel chiefs had united their forces and