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CHAPTER X.
FUN, FACT, AND FANCY ABOUT YOSHITSUNE.
WINTER had now fully set in, and all the
mountains in view were coated with snow.
Hakusan, or White Mountain, which glistened in
the north, was like a dazzling mass of undyed silk.
The wild fowl "from Yezo, in their annual southern
flight to warmer valleys, had settled in flocks in the
stubble-fields. On the abundant vegetation, and on
the many dropped grains of rice, which had escaped
reaper and gleaner, they feasted and fattened. At
first, after their long flight, the wild geese, living
incarnations of grace of motion, sailed restlessly in
the sunny air or careered in swift flight
across the
moon's disk, until their plumage flashed gold or
silver, according to the light that ruled the heavens.
After a few weeks in the rich fields they were as fat
as the tame denizens of the barnyard in western
lands. Then their motions were noticeably less
swift and graceful, and in going over the highlands
their flight was much closer to the ground.
Taking advantage of this fact, the young gentlemen
of the city, paying to the local government a
small tax for occupying chosen sites on the hills,
went out to ensnare the birds. Going out before sunrise,
arrayed in waterproof grass-cloaks called " rain-
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