Maido, the lord daimyo, came strolling, late one May day, along a pebbled pathway in his castle grounds at Kanazawa, and while doing so he caught a last glimpse of the great red sun as it slowly sank toward the western horizon.

“What a glorious sunset!” said he to himself, as he halted and breathed deeply the sweetened air that floated by, lazily flagging the cherry and cypress trees standing here and there in the garden about him.

He paused only a moment, and then slowly approached the family mansion, where he cast his sandals upon the flagstone and bounded upon the polished veranda with a vigour that bespoke a well-preserved age at fifty or more. Once in the house he quietly proceeded to the great chamber and softly clapped his hands, whereupon a servant noiselessly approached, bowed low, and held for his convenience a silken kimono,[4] which he donned and folded in front. Having thus clad himself he turned his back upon Kimon (the Gate of Demons, or northwest comer of the room), crossed his toes under him, and squatted upon the soft, matted floor.

A second call brought another servant who placed on the floor in front of him a lacquered brazier filled with live coals, a tobacco tray with tobacco, and a little metal pipe with a long bamboo stem. Maido then sat there, quiet and alone, smoking and wondering, and looking out over the glistening waters at the beautiful sunset, until his eyes closed and his head nodded, and perchance he dreamed of the glories yet to befall the great and good house of Kanazawa.

Presently a sliding partition softly opened and there stole to his side a little butterfly whose fairy-like steps did not awaken him and whose presence was unheeded until she cautiously whispered:

“Heigh! my lord, my daimyo, am I welcome, that I come?”

“Heigh! my wife, my Kakezara, I trust it may not be other than welcome now that you have chanced to come without Maido’s permission.”

“Even so, my honourable master, I present you with a child, born erstwhile the seventh day.”

“Then have you no better words than these? You know well my wishes. Seven wives have I married and do now give shelter within this splendid castle. To you, the last, is well known my wish, my hope, my command. It is well that you bow low, for if the word be spoken falsely, and speak you shall, then will I unsheathe the sword of Amanosakohoko and bury the tempered steel deep in your heaving breast. No, I will not so degrade you, but will sentence you to harakiri[5]—a death and punishment more befitting your stupid self, for it is a great sin to disobey your lord and master. But speak the word, and truly, and I will raise up your blushing face and mete you the proudest and grandest within my gift. Speak as I command, Kakezara, and you shall be the choice of my heart, the queen of my household. All other wives shall be as servants and shall respond to your bidding. Of kimonos you shall have without number. Your chair shall be inlaid with mother-of-pearl and lacquered with pure gold from the mines of Sado. Sweets suited to your taste shall be made of the best and purest. Speak, O Kakezara, and you shall henceforth reign queen of Maido’s household.”

“My lord, my daimyo, then I would that it were not true, for I cannot undo that which is done even though I am to suffer the ills of an unhappy lot: position is a husband’s due, then a wife’s happiness. By the spirit of my ancestors and the grace of the gods your command has been obeyed—it is a son.”

“Ebisu! Ebisu! O Ebisu! god of good luck, how Maido is this day honoured and the gods pleased! for it is my command that he be named Shibusawa, and it is the will of Jimmu that he rise up to good and mighty deeds. Rise, Kakezara, my queen, and place the child in the arms of Okisan; and you, slave, take care that your charge receive due attention that he may grow up strong of body and mind, for so sure as he live he shall be tried by all the gods of hatred and woe. I charge you that no morsel be given him except by your hand, for should ill befall this my child then beware of the ancestral demons who dwell at the shrine of Jigoko.

“Kakezara, my lady, proceed to the inner chamber and there remain in strict seclusion until coolies have fetched water from the river Yamato in which to bathe; for as you live you have a secret, and until strengthened by the spiritual waters the temptation to divulge might overcome your desire to obey. I have imparted to you something of that which the gods have willed Shibusawa, that a mother’s love and solicitude may the better shield his tender years. Keep it sacred under pain of displeasing your husband and provoking the wrath of Oni, for as it has pleased me that you obeyed so let it please you to obey. Hence, my lady, my Kakezara.

“Yendo, ass that you are, pretending ancestral birth befitting to serve a lord daimyo so good and great as I, come hither and bow low before the father of Shibusawa. Go carry Maido’s command to the temple of Yeiheiji that seven times seven solemn strokes be sounded, calling upon the spirit of Amaterasu to awaken, that she may welcome the new born. Send swift running messengers to notify all the people that Maido, their lord and master, is the father of a son, christened Shibusawa, whom it has pleased the gods shall rule his ancestral heritage in obedience to the dictates of his own conscience and with honour to his majesty’s shogun. Cause to be hung above the entrance to every house red and yellow lanterns that all may take notice, for to those who remain ignorant shall appear spirits mounted upon dragons with eyes of fire and nostrils belching clouds of flame and smoke, as they charge down through the heavens toward Ema-O.

“Convey to the people my command that from the new to the old moon, following next, none shall eat more than half his allowance of rice or drink more than half his sake, bringing the remainder to their daimyo’s storehouse that a great feast may be indulged. They shall also bring of their silk one-half and of their potted flowers many, that Kakezara, the noble mother, may have kimonos without number and her gardens may be filled with beauty and fragrance. Those engaged in the making of sweets shall make such as will please her taste, and beware that none displease, for better that ten thousand times ten thousand slaves perish at their labour than Kakezara, queen of Maido’s household, be not served without the slightest displeasure. Let the most famed of workers in wood and lacquer be called together that they may counsel with one another about the making for Kakezara a chair; and, as I myself have taught them well in this art, let all beware that when the work is done there be none other so good; for I shall not be so base as to spare even one who shall in the least manner slight his labour or fail in his part.

“I command that the governor of each province select the fairest daughters from among his kinsmen, that there may assemble at the shibai (place of amusement), during the first moon of the iris and the lotus, not less than seven times seventy-seven virgins with rosy complexions and pleasing manners, for the goddess Benten has willed Maido the pleasures of at least three moons. Tell the household keeper to make ready chambers fronting on gardens filled with the perfume of flowers and the song of birds, and, when the hour has come, to assemble these fairies in the silken hall of love, that their lord daimyo, like Jimmu of old, may descend the fÊted stair into a world of beauty and pleasure.

“And when all else has been done you will instruct him that henceforth Kakezara shall occupy the choicest pillow at the head of Maido’s lawful wives, and that of them her voice shall be first in authority: that her rank at bath shall be next to Shibusawa’s and first among her sex.”

The news of Shibusawa’s birth and christening soon spread, and the excitement wore heavily from the meanest coolie to Maido himself, though probably none was more worried than Yukesan, the oldest and meanest servant in the household. This faithful old slave had climbed daily, for seven successive days before the christening, to the top of Onnasaka, and each time as often bumped her head upon the cold hard stone at the base of Kishemogin’s tomb, praying for the goddess mother of fiends to come and claim the new born. For seven months prior thereto even, she had importuned this fiendish goddess to render Maido’s lawful wives incapable of bearing a male child, hoping that her own fatherless imp, Okyo,—now seven years of age, with slight form and stooped shoulders, his eyes small and his head peaked, whose hair stood out like bristles on a porcupine, while his nose looked owlish and his ears as a squirrel’s,—might naturally be adopted and thus become the inheritor of his master’s rank and place.

The rest of the household busied themselves with the day’s rounds or discussing the probable change at the castle, for little were they interested in outside affairs. They were not concerned with the possible new daimyo’s bearing upon the welfare at large, for they were destitute of power to aid, hence without any inclination to heed; where the only hope in life was to do the bidding of a master. Each courted his own content and permitted others likewise to suffer or adapt their own circumstances. They were an independent lot, hence their abject dependence.

When, therefore, the hour for feasting had arrived, and each little tray, hustled in and set upon the floor in front of the person served, was seen to contain a small satsuma bowl, filled with a rare delicacy—consisting of real live worms (a kind of salt water shrimp), wriggling and crawling, and served only upon extraordinary occasions—everybody accounted his master a noble of the royal blood. Eating, smoking, and drinking were interspersed with a lagging conversation until the last was stretched at length upon the spotless matting, his only place of sleeping. Maido, too, had gone to sleep at an early hour, and when he awakened the next morning he felt refreshed, and was well pleased with a recollection of preceding events. Without rising, he reclined on his elbow and looked out at the landscape around, for early in the morning servants had noiselessly removed the outer partitions so that their master could lounge on the floor and enjoy the open air at his pleasure. This morning the sun’s rays seemed to give a little more warmth than usual, and as they fell amongst the green foliage the large drops of dew reflected sparkling gems that lolled on the hollow leaflets, or trickled down the long and bended blades of grass.

“What a glorious world, and how sweet to live in!” thought he, as he lay there revelling in the beauties of art and nature.

Strong and vigorous of body, mind, and heart, as only those are who are at peace with the world, he arose and briskly crossed the room to the inner veranda. Then, casting off his night kimono, he lightly tripped down upon a marble slab, and running along the smooth footpath to an arbour, overhung with vine and flower, plunged into the bracing waters already prepared for his coming. After the bath, massage, and shave, attended by waiting servants, he donned walking apparel and sprang down along the winding walk among dwarfed trees, under artificial cliffs, and around miniature mountains; here he crossed a red-lacquered bridge and there passed a gorge or waterfall; coming, presently, to a crystal lake, he made an unsuccessful throw or two, then cast his rod aside and continued his tramp in the open or through the brush and bamboo to a distant corner of the garden. Here he slackened his gait and with reverence approached the solemn shrine wherein stood the tomb of Hajama, the illustrious founder of his august family; and there, in the quiet, and alone, at the base of this strangely carved monument, he knelt and clapped his hands and reverently bowed to the spirit of his immortal ancestor.

When his morning prayer was finished Maido quietly left the misty place and walked out again into the freshness of life and past the playground where groups of children romped on the green or chattered with childish glee. As he passed them by he paused only to look at them for a moment and then walked on toward the great gate in front. Now and then he stooped to pluck a leaflet, or stood listening to the tuneful zephyrs as they played among the branches; sometimes he stopped to watch the light and shadows chase each other across the grassy sward, or started at the sonorous, “Haugh! Haugh! Haugh!” wafted from high overhead.

“Truly he is the master bird,” sighed he, as he watched the black thing perching upon a lofty branch or soaring above, issuing his harrowing notes and stirring the nerves of superstitious Japan.

Presently, as usual upon such occasions, Okyo emerged from a cluster of bushes and came bowing and bumping and crawling—half confident, half fearful—after his master; who now stood admiring the huge wisteria which overhung the black-lacquered gate and bronze trimmings. Observing the boy’s presence, Maido said, kindly, and without turning around:

“Heigh! is that you, Okyo, my funny little slave? Pray tell me what brings you here so early in the day?”

“Heigh! I thought you might be lonely and I’d come and drive away the fox.”

“But, my lad, what have you been doing that your kimono is wet and covered with mud?”

“I’ve been down at the beach fishing for crabs. I wonder why Kami doesn’t make crabs grow on land?”

“My child, he has placed them in the waters of the deep sea so that none but the industrious and the brave may enjoy so choice a food.”

“Are daimyos industrious and brave?”

Maido made no answer to the boy’s inquiry but turned toward the fragrant vine, and stood admiring the bright foliage, possibly dreaming of the future of his son and heir, until Okyo once more began chattering.

“Heigh! great master, please why is the vine so large and beautiful?”

“Heigh! Okyo, it is because our ancestral gods have so created it.”

“But why do not the gods create vines so large and so beautiful for all men?”

“Because, my child, all men are not given to such beauty.”

“Are all daimyos inclined toward only that which is beautiful?”

“Yes. They are descended from the gods of goodness and love, and as the spirits of these gods dwell in the realms of heavenly beauty so do the minds of daimyos dwell upon things of earthly beauty.”

“If daimyos think and do only things which are beautiful, why do they cut men’s heads off?”

“That is done in obedience to the commands of our superiors; and, I assure you, there is nothing more beautiful than an act of obedience to our masters.”

“Will Shibusawa be a daimyo when he grows up?”

“Yes; if his head be spared so long and his father’s not.”

“Will I, too, be a daimyo when I am a man?”

“No, child. How came you to think of such a thing?”

“Because mother says I look like Shibusawa, and I don’t see why I shouldn’t be just like him.”

“You shall be Shibusawa’s friend and confidant.”

“Why shall I be his friend and confidant?”

“Because you will comfort and console him during moments of contemplation and despair, just as you have myself since you were first able to tread about my gardens on wooden stilts.”

“Why will I comfort and console him?”

“Because you are the son of—only a mother, who is of Kishemogin and possessed of less wit and more cunning than a fox. Now then, hie you away to your mother’s mat and feast well upon rice and fish so that you may grow strong in endurance, for you shall have many and severe trials in following this youth ere he has much passed your age.”

“Oh,” said Maido, to himself, “see him run away in obedience to my command! There is not yet a twig so crooked or a thing so small but it can be made of use. As the mould is shaped so will be the cast. He is of the right material. I shall see that he grows up after my liking, bend him to the task properly, and thus provide the instrument through which Shibusawa may acquit himself of the thankless duties imposed by Bishamon, god of provocation.”