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196 HONDA THE SAMUEAI.
mean defeat, he climbed the cliff and, invoking the
sea-god Kompira, flung his sword into the sea. The
next morning the tide receded and left a dry space
on the sands, and Nitta and his army marched forward,
and after prodigies of valor captured the city
and burned it. The most splendid architecture and
treasures of art disappeared in smoke and ashes
and the glory of the Hojo was a dream of the past.
Rice-fields now cover what were once wide streets
thickly built up and the village is only a shadowy
fragment of former glory. The great bronze image of
Buddha fifty feet high, unmoved by fire, lightning,
typhoon, or tidal wave or war, still rises serenely
over the landscape. Where spear and arrow makers
lived, and sword-forgers and armorers dwelt by hundreds,
are. now only peaceable farmers. The hawk
and crow flew over the ruins of gateways whence
had issued lords and ladies, the processional splendors
of feudalism, the smart hawking parties with
relays of falcons, or the great train of hunters which
Yoritomo led to the side of Mount Fuji to afford
to his warriors in peace the discipline and excitement
of war.
The two travelers on the way to Kamakura had
also spent some hours at the lovely island of Enoshima,
entering the cavern of Benten, feeing the
fisher-boys who dived for coins and haliotis shells,
and enjoying the superb scenery. At the inn of
Kamakura, Ban read from a book which he found in
the house a book, by the way, which had on it
the stamp in red ink of the famous old library which
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