Once upon a time, a certain ronin, Tajima Shume by name, an able and well-
read man, being on his travels to see the world, went up to Kiyoto by the
Tokaido. [The road of the Eastern Sea, the famous highroad leading from Kiyoto
to Yedo. The name is also used to indicate the provinces through which it runs.]
One day, in the neighbourhood of Nagoya, in the province of Owari, he fell in with
a wandering priest, with whom he entered into conversation. Finding that they
were bound for the same place, they agreed to travel together, beguiling their
weary way by pleasant talk on divers matters; and so by degrees, as they
became more intimate, they began to speak without restraint about their private
affairs; and the priest, trusting thoroughly in the honour of his companion, told
him the object of his journey.
"For some time past," said he, "I have nourished a wish that has engrossed all
my thoughts; for I am bent on setting up a molten image in honour of Buddha;
with this object I have wandered through various provinces collecting alms, and
(who knows by what weary toil?) we have succeeded in amassing two hundred
ounces of silver--enough, I trust, to erect a handsome bronze figure."
What says the proverb? "He who bears a jewel in his bosom bears poison."
Hardly had the ronin heard these words of the priest than an evil heart arose
within him, and he thought to himself, "Man's life, from the womb to the grave, is
made up of good and of ill luck. Here am I, nearly forty years old, a wanderer,
without a calling, or even a hope of advancement in the world. To be sure, it
seems a shame; yet if I could steal the money this priest is boasting about, I
could live at ease for the rest of my days;" and so he began casting about how
best he might compass his purpose. But the priest, far from guessing the drift of
his comrade's thoughts, journeyed cheerfully on till they reached the town of
Kuana. Here there is an arm of the sea, which is crossed in ferry-boats, that start
as soon as some twenty or thirty passengers are gathered together; and in one
of these boats the two travellers embarked. About half-way across, the priest was
taken with a sudden necessity to go to the side of the boat; and the ronin,
following him, tripped him up while no one was looking, and flung him into the
sea. When the boatmen and passengers heard the splash, and saw the priest
struggling in the water, they were afraid, and made every effort to save him; but
the wind was fair, and the boat running swiftly under the bellying sails; so they
were soon a few hundred yards off from the drowning man, who sank before the
boat could be turned to rescue him.
When he saw this, the ronin feigned the utmost grief and dismay, and said to his
fellow-passengers, "This priest, whom we have just lost, was my cousin; he was
going to Kiyoto, to visit the shrine of his patron; and as I happened to have
