A Japanese Sword [pp. 137-140]

A JAPANESE SW(ORD
BY KINNOSUKE
KOBE, JAPAN
WHILE the modern Kameoka was still
called Kameyama,Castle town, about
seventeen years before the revolution (" the
great earthquake" as we call it) of 1868,
-- a duel was fought to the east of the castle gate. The clan had two masters of the
sword, and it had always been a topic of
discussion among the samurais, as to which
of the two was the greater. The victor in
the duel, purely out of respect for the
memory of the one he had slain, and not at
all from shame or fear, left the clan. The
vanquished was brought home.
A young woman, delicate and of noble
birth, received her husband's remains
Some clanswomen saw her at the gate of
her now lonely home; and never could forget
the pale, beautiful girl-wife. Today if you
go among them, those women will tell you
all about it, as vividly as they have ever
done. And what is more, they will tell you
the same story over and over again. Don't
be afraid, - the tale, I assure you, will not
bore you.
The young wife was proud, they say, and
when she thanked the friends who brought
back her husband, (two years had scarcely
passed since they had been married, remember,) mangled, pallid, bloody, there was
no tremor in her voice, and her lips were
as firm as when she had pressed the bridal
cup of.s'ke. They know what it costs to shut
up all the anguish within a woman's heart
and put on a calm face that she may not
tear other hearts along with hers. They
are proud of this, their sister, and I promise
you that they would have done likewise under the same circumstances.
All this happened to Nobuwo's mother,
five months before he was born.
UJIGAtI. the guardian deity of Kameyama, had his shrine on a hillock cloaked
thick with oak, about two hours' walk from
the town. They were there, sitting on a
rock by a stone torii, one fine morning of
one of the last days of March - Nobuwo
137
and }.is mother. There she told him everything- his father's death and all. As she
watched him (and not the slightest expression of his emotion escaped her) there came
something like a smile on her lips, as if her
gratitude to the gods made her happy,
ah, she had an excellent reason to thank
the gods, -she spied the soul of the child
through his parted lips and starting eyes,
and saw that it was that of her husband.
She led him by the hand to the front of
the shrine. There was a large metal mirror behind the open work, sending back the
light which the sun gave to it. His mother
told him how the mirror reflected the naked
soul of every votary who prayed and swore
there.
The young Nobuwo swore after his
mother, falteringly; for he could scarcely
pronounce some of the big words used in
the oath. Ah, it was a touching sight, this
young soul calling upon the gods to witness as he swore that he would never allow
the same heaven cover himself and his
father's foe! His mother, by his side, was
in tears in spite of herself. But it is also
true that her beautiful face was full of
light. One could hardly find a prouder
woman than she.
AT HER death bed (when Nobuwo was
fourteen) she made him renew his oath.
"With reverence receive," she said, and
gave him a sword in a case of heavy silk.
The samurais call their swords their "souls."
The sword was her husband's soul. She
had never, awake or asleep, parted with it.
Young Nobuwo hugged it with frenzy,
speechless; but his tears slowly rolled from
his cheeks down to his mother's face. He
was bending over her. The light faded
slowly out of her eyes; but the smile around
her lips, was it not a reflection of the
torch lighting her soul into the unknown?
After all, after all, noble mother, death
dares not lay his brutal hands on you,- on
you his touch is not ugly. So the boy felt