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Title: Kibun Daizin - From Shark-Boy to Merchant Prince
Author: Murai, Gensai
Language: English
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KIBUN DAIZIN
------------------------------------------------------------------------
[Illustration:
“As the two boys were steadily gazing, up came the shark”
]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
KIBUN DAIZIN
_FROM SHARK-BOY TO
MERCHANT PRINCE_
BY
GENSAI MURAI
TRANSLATED BY MASAO YOSHIDA
WITH ILLUSTRATIONS
BY GEORGE VARIAN
[Illustration]
NEW YORK
The Century Co.
1904
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Copyright, 1904, by
THE CENTURY CO.
────
Published October, 1904.
THE DEVINNE PRESS.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
PUBLISHERS’ NOTE
THE CENTURY CO. counts itself fortunate in being able to present to
young readers an admirable story from the Japanese, written by one of
Japan’s most popular novelists and filled with the spirit of that great
Oriental nation. The author of this story, Gensai Murai, was once a
student of the Waseda School, founded by Count Okuma, leader of the
Progressive Party in Japan. There he studied English Literature as well
as Japanese, and after completing his course of study he was employed by
one of the well-known Tokio daily papers, called the “Hochi,” to write
stories for it. His writings soon arrested the attention of the reading
circles in Japan. Several of his novels went through as many as ten
editions within two years.
This story of Kibun Daizin is founded upon the life of Bunzayemon
Kinokuniya, a Japanese merchant of the eighteenth century, whose pluck,
wisdom, and enterprising spirit made him one of the most prosperous and
respected men of his time. He is much admired by his countrymen, and is
talked of familiarly, even to this day, by the Japanese, under the
nickname of “Kibun Daizin.” “Ki” and “Bun” stand for the initials of his
personal and family names, while “Daizin” means “the wealthiest man.”
The shrewdness and dauntless ambition of the young hero of this story
will commend him to the admiration of American boys, and in Kibun
Daizin, as here pictured, they will find a true representative of the
wonderful nation which, within thirty years, has entirely changed the
modes of life that it had followed for more than twenty centuries, and
has suddenly fallen into line with the most civilized countries of the
world.
The story was translated especially for ST. NICHOLAS, and many quaint
terms and expressions have been purposely retained, although the
pronunciation and meaning of the Japanese words are given wherever
necessary.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
CONTENTS
CHAPTER PAGE
I AN AMBITIOUS BOY 3
II BUNKICHI PLANS TO KILL THE SHARK 23
III A BOAT CAPSIZED—A HAIRBREADTH ESCAPE 37
IV THE TABLES TURNED 54
V THE BATTLE OF STONE MISSILES—THE MONKEYS’ 75
PANIC
VI THE GREAT HAZARD—A PERILOUS VOYAGE 91
VII THE SEA-GIANT APPEARS 103
VIII AN ECCENTRIC FELLOW 118
IX THE GREAT CONFLAGRATION—THE CHARITY “BENTO” 135
X AMBITION SATISFIED—THE MERCHANT PRINCE 151
------------------------------------------------------------------------
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
PAGE
As the two boys were steadily gazing, up came the Frontispiece
shark
“If you please, sir, are you the head of the 5
Daikokuya?”
“Why, it’s just like a real dragon-fly!” she 17
cried, with delight
The lad was in the air, suspended by the rope 49
Putting a rope round the body of the shark 57
As though they were stricken by thunder at the 69
boy’s words, down they tumbled on the ground
Giving him a helping hand, Bunkichi led the man 77
along to the next village
Hundreds of monkeys had drawn a circle around 83
three men, whom they were pelting with a shower
of stones
He drew his sword and ran toward the monster 111
Bunzayemon then put on a lordly air 129
Matahachi in the great fire at Yedo 143
“I have no words in which to express my thanks to 159
you”
------------------------------------------------------------------------
KIBUN DAIZIN
------------------------------------------------------------------------
KIBUN DAIZIN
OR
FROM SHARK-BOY TO MERCHANT PRINCE
CHAPTER I
AN AMBITIOUS BOY
“IF you please, sir,—”
And, attracted by a voice behind him, a well-dressed gentleman turned
round and saw a boy of about thirteen or fourteen hurrying toward
him,—“if you please, sir, are you the head of the Daikokuya[1]?”
Footnote 1:
Pronounced Dy-ko-koo’ya, meaning “dry-goods house.”
“Yes, I am,” answered the gentleman, eying the boy with surprise. “What
can I do for you?”
“I come from Kada-no-Ura,” said the boy, making a polite bow, “and I
wish to ask you a great favor. Will you please take me into your shop as
an apprentice?”
“Your request is rather a strange one,” said the gentleman, smiling.
“Pray tell me why it is that you wish to come to me.”
The boy raised his head. “Oh, sir, yours is the chief business house in
Kumano, and I would be so glad if I might learn under you.”
“You wish to become a business man, do you?” said the gentleman, with a
friendly nod; upon which the boy drew himself up and exclaimed, “Yes; I
mean, if I can, to become the leading merchant in Japan!”
[Illustration:
“‘If you please, sir, are you the head of the Daikokuya?’”
]
The master of the Daikokuya instinctively studied the boy’s face. There
was a certain nobleness and intelligence about it; he had well-cut
features, a firmness about the lips, and quick-glancing eyes, and,
although his clothing showed poverty, his bearing was quiet and his
speech refined. These things confirmed the gentleman in the opinion that
the boy was not the son of any common man; and having, as the employer
of many hands, a quick eye to read character, he said:
“Very good, my boy! So you mean to become the leading merchant in Japan?
A fine notion, to be sure. However, before I engage a boy, you know, I
must have somebody to recommend him, and he must give me references.
Have you any relatives in this place?”
“No, sir; I know no one,” answered the boy.
“Why, where have you been until now?”
“I have only just come from my country. The fact is, I heard your name,
sir, some time ago, and being very anxious to enter your service, I left
my country all by myself to come to Kumano. But I have not a single
acquaintance here, nor anybody to whom I can turn. My only object was to
come straight to you; and I was asking a man on the road if he could
direct me to your house, when the man pointed to you and said, ‘Why,
that gentleman just ahead of us is the master of the Daikokuya.’ And
that is how it comes that I ran up to you all of a sudden in this rude
way.”
There was a charm in the free utterance with which the boy told his
story, and, having listened to it, the gentleman said: “I understand. It
is all right. As you have no friends here, I will do without a
recommendation, and you shall come just as you are”; and, saying this,
he brought the lad back with him to his house.
The Daikokuya, you must know, was the chief clothing establishment, or
“dry-goods house,” in Kumano, and did a larger business than any other
in the town. On arriving there, the master took the boy with him into an
inner room, and, telling his wife what had taken place, called the boy
to his side. “Tell me, my boy, what is your name?”
“My name is Bunkichi.”[2]
Footnote 2:
Pronounced Boon-kee’chee.
“Are your parents living?”
At this question the boy hung his head sorrowfully. “I have neither
father nor mother,” he answered, with a choking voice and eyes filled
with tears.
Filled with pity, the others asked him how long he had been left alone
in the world.
“I lost my mother,” he said, “more than three years ago, and my father
only quite recently.”
“And what was your family? Were you farmers or tradesmen?”
“Neither one nor the other. My father formerly served under the Lord of
Wakayama, and received an allowance of eight hundred _koku_[3] of rice.
His name was Igarashi Bunzayemon;[4] but, losing his position, he came
to Kada-no-Ura, where we had to live in a very poor way. My father,
however, would never allow me to forget that the ancestor of our house
was Igarashi Kobunji,[5] who served in old days at Kamakura, and gained
a name for himself as a brave warrior. ‘And when you become a man,’ my
father used to say, ‘you must win your way to fame, and so uphold the
honor of the family; but, unlike the past, our lot to-day is cast in
peaceful times when there is little chance of winning distinction in
arms; but become, if you can, the leading merchant in Japan, and you
will bring honor to our house.’ Such was my father’s counsel to me, and
not long since he was taken with a severe illness and died. And now, if
you please, I wish to learn the ways of business, that I may become a
merchant, and I have journeyed to Kumano to throw myself on your
kindness.”
Footnote 3:
One _koku_ equals about five bushels.
Footnote 4:
Pronounced Ee-gar-ash’ee Boon-zy’e-mon.
Footnote 5:
Pronounced Ee-gar-ash’ee Ko-boon’jee.
The gentleman listened to the boy’s clear account of himself and
expressed his admiration. “Ah! I was right, I see, when I thought you
were not the son of an ordinary man. Your ambition to become the chief
merchant in Japan is a high one, certainly; but the proverb says, ‘Ants
aspire to the skies,’ and anything is possible to a man who puts his
whole heart into his work. You are still quite young, I should say,
though you have come all the way from Kada-no-Ura by yourself, and
though you talk of your affairs in a manner that would reflect credit on
a grown-up man. Come, tell me, how old are you?”
“I am fourteen,” he answered.
“What, not more than that?”
And the master’s wife, who was by his side, could not repress her
surprise, either.
At this point the _shoji_, or paper sliding doors, opened, and in ran a
pretty little girl of about eleven. Her hair was drawn up into a little
butterfly device on the top of her head, which shook to and fro as she
ran up to her mother. Stretching out a small maple-leaf hand, with a
winsome look, she said:
“Mother, please give me a cake.”
“Why, my dear, where are your manners? What will our young friend here
think of you?”
At this the child looked around, and, for the first time becoming aware
of the boy’s presence, turned shy and sat down. Looking gently in her
face, her mother then asked her what she had been doing. Afraid of the
stranger, she whispered in her mother’s ear: “I have been playing
_oni_[6] with Sadakichi in the garden. But I don’t like Sadakichi. When
he was the _oni_ he just caught me at once.”
Footnote 6:
A play similar to tag or prisoner’s base.
“But that often happens in playing _oni_,” said the mother, with a
smile.
“Yes, but he does it too much; he has no right to catch people in the
way he does, and I don’t wish to play with him any more.”
“Well, if that is so, how would you like to play with Bunkichi here
instead?”
Accepting it as one of the duties that might fall to him, to act as the
child’s companion and caretaker, Bunkichi, rather pleased than
otherwise, offered to go out and try to amuse her. The little girl
looked into her mother’s face, and then at Bunkichi. “Mama, how long has
he been here?” she asked in a low voice.
“He only came to-day, but he’s a fine boy, and I hope you’ll be a good
little girl and show him the garden.”
But the child’s thoughts seemed suddenly to take a new turn, and,
sidling up to her mother, she begged to be given a cake. The mother
opened the little drawer of the _hibachi_,[7] and, taking out two or
three sugar-plums, put them into her hand. The child then, with barely a
glance at Bunkichi, ran through the _shoji_ out of doors.
Footnote 7:
Pronounced he-bah’chee. A wooden fire-box where a charcoal fire is
kept for warming the hands.
“Take care and don’t stumble,” her mother called out. “Do you mind just
seeing after her?” she said to Bunkichi, who at once got up and went out
on the veranda.
No sooner was Chocho Wage,[8] or “Butterfly Curls” (so named from the
way in which her hair was dressed), outside in the garden than she began
quarreling with the boy from the shop. “No, Sadakichi; I’m not going to
play with you. Mama says that the other boy who has just come is a fine
boy, and I’m going to play with him.”
Footnote 8:
Pronounced Cho’cho Wah’gay.
“What! another boy has come, has he?”
“Yes; there he is. Go and fetch him.”
Sadakichi called to Bunkichi, “You will find some _geta_[9] there, if
you will come out.”
Footnote 9:
Pronounced gay’tah. Foot-wear or wooden clogs.
So Bunkichi came out to the garden.
It was not a very large one, but it was a pretty spot, for beyond it
sparkled the bay that lay at the back of Kumano. Bunkichi had soon
joined the two others, and Sadakichi, turning to the little child, said,
“Well, shall we three play at _oni_?”
“No,” she answered; “you are always catching me, and I don’t care to
play.”
“I won’t catch you, then, Chocho, if you don’t like it.”
“All the same, I’d rather not.”
A thought struck Bunkichi, and, addressing himself to the child, he
said: “Would you like me to make you something? I would if I only had a
knife and some bamboo.”
The child was at once interested, and told Sadakichi to go and get what
was wanted. So Sadakichi strolled off and brought a knife and some
bamboo chips. “Now, then, what are you going to make?” said he.
“A nice bamboo dragon-fly,” Bunkichi answered; and, taking the knife, he
split a bit of the bamboo, shaved it fine and smooth, and fixed a little
peg in the middle of it.
Sadakichi, quickly guessing what it was, said: “Ah, it’s a dragon-fly. I
know! I once went with the _banto_[10] to Kada-no-Ura, and every one
there was flying those dragon-flies, and, now I think of it, the boy who
was selling them looked just like you.”
Footnote 10:
Clerk.
Not a bit disconcerted, Bunkichi replied: “Yes, you are quite right. I
was the boy who made them and was selling them.”
“Bah! Mr. Dragon-fly-seller!” blustered out Sadakichi, with a face of
disgust.
“Don’t speak like that,” said the little girl, turning sharply upon him,
and then to Bunkichi: “What made you sell them?” she asked, speaking out
to him for the first time.
“My father was ill in bed,” he answered, continuing to scrape the
bamboo, “and, as our family was poor, I managed to buy him rice and
medicine by selling these dragon-flies.”
Child as she was, this touching story of filial piety made her respect
Bunkichi all the more.
“Oh, wasn’t that good of him!” she said, turning to Sadakichi. “Do you
think you could have done it?”
“I—yes; only there would have been no need for me to sell dragon-flies.
I should have sold the wearing-things in our shop,” he answered,
arrogantly.
[Illustration:
“‘Why, it’s just like a real dragon-fly!’ she cried, with delight”
]
Bunkichi had now finished making the dragon-fly, and, holding it between
his hands, he spun it round, and up it went into the air with a whirring
sound, and lighted on the ground again some five or six paces away.
“Why, it’s just like a real dragon-fly!” cried the child, with delight.
“Do let me have it!” And, taking it in her hands, she tried to set it
flying, but she could only make it go up a little way.
Then Sadakichi, wishing to try his hand, pushed forward. “Let me have
it,” he said, “and I’ll show you how well I can do it”; and, seizing
hold of it, with the force of both hands he sent it flying high into the
air. “There, now—see how it goes!” and, while the little girl was
watching it with delight, the dragon-fly flew over the wall fence and
dropped into the water beyond.
The little child ran after it, followed by Sadakichi and Bunkichi. There
was a little gate in the garden, opening on a jetty. Through this they
passed and stood together on the plank, watching the dragon-fly tossing
about on the water.
“Oh, I wish we could get it,” said the little girl, looking at it
wistfully; “if it would only come just in front of us!”
“Take care,” said Sadakichi, holding her back, while the dragon-fly,
bobbing up and down among the ripples, gradually drifted farther off.
Now Bunkichi, seeing there was a small boat lying alongside the jetty,
had said to Sadakichi, “Let me row out and get it,” and was drawing the
boat toward him, when he was abruptly stopped by Sadakichi. “No, no; you
mustn’t think of putting out from the shore. If you do, you are certain
to be eaten up by the _wanizame_.”[11]
Footnote 11:
Pronounced wah-ne-zah’may, meaning a huge shark.
“Yes, it’s quite true,” chimed in the little girl. “There’s a horrid
_wanizame_ that prevents any one going on the sea. Only yesterday it
captured somebody.”
“Yes—a young man from the brewery,” said Sadakichi. “He had some barrels
in his boat, and he had gone only two or three hundred yards when the
shark came up and overturned his boat and seized him.”
“It doesn’t matter about the dragon-fly; I don’t want it; let us go back
to the house.” And the little child, frightened in good earnest, took
hold of Bunkichi’s arm.
It was the first time Bunkichi had heard about the _wanizame_. “Is it
really true, miss, that there is a _wanizame_ in the bay?” he asked.
“Yes; I can tell you it’s very serious. I don’t know how many people it
has eaten in the last month.”
“Really! But how big is it?”
“I don’t know what you would call big,” broke in Sadakichi. “But it’s
about as big as this house. If it sees a small boat, it overtakes it in
no time and topples it over, and if it is a big boat it gets in the way
and stops it so that it can’t move, and so the fishermen can’t go out,
and no cargo can come into the port. I suppose it must be want of food
that has brought it into this harbor; but, however that may be, it
thinks nothing of upsetting the small craft, so that for a month no one
has ventured out at all. Well, there was the brewer’s man. Yesterday he
thought it would be safe to go just a short distance, but he very soon
got swallowed up. And what is the consequence? Why, the fishing is
stopped, and there’s no trade, and the place is going to ruin. The
fishermen and hunters have tried over and over again to kill it with
spikes and guns and with all kinds of things. But what is the use? Their
weapons only snap in two or glance off its back, and they only get
killed themselves. So they have given up trying.”
Bunkichi listened to every word, and then suddenly went into the house
and stood before the master.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
CHAPTER II
BUNKICHI PLANS TO KILL THE SHARK
THE master and his wife were engaged in conversation, but on seeing
Bunkichi the merchant said, “Well, have you been to see the garden?”
“Thank you, I have enjoyed it very much,” answered Bunkichi, politely.
“Why, bless me, he has all the manners of a little _samurai_[12]!”
exclaimed the master to his wife. “There is no comparison between him
and the other boys. But dancing attendance on a little girl is not the
sort of employment for a lad who has the ambition to become the leading
merchant in Japan. No, no; he wants to get into the shop as soon as he
can and learn the ways of business—eh, my boy?”
Footnote 12:
Pronounced sahm’oo-rye. The _samurai_ were the military class of
Japan, corresponding to the knights of the middle ages in European
countries.
The master exactly interpreted Bunkichi’s wishes, and Bunkichi felt very
grateful to him, but he only answered: “I shall esteem it a great favor
to be allowed to serve you in any way. But, master, with your leave, I
would ask you: Is it true, as I hear, that there is a _wanizame_ lately
come into this bay, and that people are suffering a lot of harm from
it?”
“Ah, me! Yes, it’s a sore trouble, that _wanizame_; our fishermen are
doing nothing, our boat traffic is stopped, and if things go on in this
way the place will be ruined. All sorts of attempts have been made to
kill it, but, alas! all to no purpose.”
Then respectfully, in a kneeling posture, approaching nearer, Bunkichi
thus addressed his master: “Master, in the request I am now going to
make of you, I fear you will put me down as a child with a vain,
childish notion of doing great things; none the less, I am bold to ask
you, in all seriousness, will you give me leave to attempt the
destruction of this _wanizame_?”
The master exclaimed in astonishment: “What! You think that you are
going to kill the _wanizame_? It would be the greatest thing in the
world if you could, but already every means has been tried. Whaling-men
have tried to kill it with their harpoons, the hunters of wild game on
the mountains have tried to shoot it with their guns; but the _wanizame_
has defeated all their schemes, and, to say nothing of the money it has
cost, several men have lost their lives in their attempts to kill it,
and our citizens have given it up as hopeless. Son of a _samurai_ though
you may be, this is no task for a boy of thirteen or fourteen. No; you
may have seen in the seas around Kada-no-Ura sharks of four or five feet
in length, but just go out to the hill above the town and look over the
bay until you catch sight of our monster. The very sight of it is enough
to terrify most people.”
“You mistake me, master,” said Bunkichi, sitting up straight. “I have no
thought of trying my strength against the _wanizame_. But I have a trick
in my mind I should like to play, if you would allow me.”
“Oh, it’s a trick, is it? And what is the trick our crafty youngster is
going to propose for killing the _wanizame_, I should like to know?”
said the master, smiling.
“The plan I have is simply this: First, to make a straw figure and to
fill up the inside with poison. Then I shall dress it in a man’s clothes
and take it out into the bay, and, when we see the shark coming, throw
it out to him to eat. Sharks are senseless creatures and ready to eat
anything, so he is sure to swallow the straw man, and if he does the
poison will at once take effect and kill him. That’s my plan; what do
you think of it?”
“Yes; I think your plan of making a straw man is not at all a bad one,
and I have little doubt, as you say, that the shark would swallow it. In
that case it would certainly die and we should be free at last from our
great calamity. But wait a minute; I am afraid, when the doll is made,
there is nobody who will venture to take it out to the sea. People have
had so many bitter lessons from trying to kill this shark that, however
much money you offer, no one, I fear, will agree to take it out into the
bay.”
Bunkichi without any hesitation replied: “I will undertake the task of
taking the doll out for the shark to swallow. As I grew up by the
seaside at Kada-no-Ura, I can row a boat well and can swim better than
most people. I saw a boat just now fastened at the jetty in your garden.
Please lend it to me and I will go out alone upon the bay.”
Astonished by the audaciousness of the lad, the master said: “It is too
wild an idea, my boy. What if the shark upsets your boat? He will
swallow you up in an instant.”
“As to what you say about drowning, that doesn’t disturb me at all.
Suppose I have no luck and lose my life, there is nothing to be
regretted if by my death I succeed in removing the great calamity under
which many are now suffering. And, as I said before, it is my
determination to become the leading merchant of Japan; but if I am to
realize my ambition I must be prepared to run many risks. If fortune
favors me I shall come safe through them and attain my object; if,
however, this first venture goes against me, and I go out to sea and
fall a prey to the _wanizame_, it simply means that I must accept it as
the decree of fate, and, as far as my life is concerned, I am quite
ready to risk it.”
The master, who was much struck by his fearless determination, worthy of
the boy’s descent, said to him, “Indeed, your magnanimity is greater
than ours, but for that very reason we should be all the more sorry to
lose you.”
Saying this, he turned round to his wife, who whispered in his ear: “I
quite agree with you: if he be swallowed up by the shark, we couldn’t
possibly get another like him; send some other one instead!”
Just then in came the girl, attended by Sadakichi, who had long been
waiting for the boy, and said, “Bunkichi, please be quick and make me
another dragon-fly.”
Her mother, however, at once stopped the girl, saying: “Come, come;
Bunkichi has something else to think about besides dragon-flies: he’s
just saying that he wants to go out to sea and kill the _wanizame_.”
The girl was startled, for she was only a child. “Does he go alone?”
“Yes, that is what he says he will do.”
“Don’t, please, mother; I don’t like your sending him to sea.”
“Why, my child?”
“I want him to make me a bamboo dragon-fly.”
His curiosity aroused at hearing the little girl speak of the
dragon-fly, the father said, “What do you wish him to make for you?”
“Oh, father, it’s a bamboo dragon-fly—an amusing toy which flies up
high, whizzing,” was her confident answer.
“Ah, I see,” he remarked, as he understood the girl’s request; “that
flying bamboo thing I often see when I go out on the streets. The toy, I
remember, was first made by a boy of great filial virtue in a certain
country district, and even here they talk about him; it is clever of
you, Bunkichi, to have learned how to make them.”
Then Sadakichi interrupted, saying: “No wonder! Why, he was the hawker
of the toy; I know all about it, as I saw him selling it at
Kada-no-Ura.”
“Are you, then, the inventor of the toy?” asked the master, to whom the
boy at once replied in the affirmative. The master, who was more than
ever struck by the boy’s character, said, “Are you, then, the same boy
whom all the people talk about and praise for his devotion to his
parent?”
Then the girl, who remembered what had been told her a little while
before, said: “Father, his family was very poor, and, as his father was
laid up on his sick-bed, he sold those dragon-flies and bought medicine
or a little rice for the family. He told me so.”
As she was listening to this conversation, tears stood in the mother’s
eyes, and she said: “He is really a model boy, is he not? I can’t
possibly let him go to sea.”
The master, who was much of the same way of thinking as his wife,
answered, “Of course, I have been persuading him to give up his idea”;
and, turning to Bunkichi, said, “Yes, do give it up, my boy.”
And the girl, seemingly with the intention of inspiring the boy with
dread and deterring him from his purpose, remarked solemnly, “Oh, it is
dreadful to be swallowed by the shark on going to sea!”
Bunkichi, having once determined, was immovable. “Sir, trading to a
merchant is the same that fighting is to a knight. It has been ever
regarded honorable in a knight that he should hazard his life many a
time, even in his early youth. If fate be against him, he will be put to
death by his enemy. The knights of old faced the dangerous issues of
life or death as often as they went out to battle. As they attained to
renown by passing through these ordeals, so, too, must the merchant who
aspires after a leading position not shrink from braving many dangers in
his life. Sir, methinks the present is the opportunity given me to try
my hand; and if fate sides with me and I succeed in killing the
_wanizame_, in future I shall have courage to venture out on other great
undertakings. If one begins to be nervous at the outset, one will go on
being nervous forever; but there is no fear, I think, for a man who is
ready to sacrifice even his own life.”
The master, meeting with such unflinching determination, knew not how to
stop him, but said: “I must confess you have more in you than I thought.
I am ashamed of myself to be thus taught by you the secret of success in
trade when I should be in a position to teach you. Well said, my boy;
trading is to a business man what fighting is to a knight. If you begin
by being weak and timid, you will never be capable of bold enterprise.
If you have a mind to divine your future by embarking on this exploit,
go in for it with all your might. As to the preparations for making the
straw man, as far as buying the poison is concerned, I will do it all
for you. You had better go up to the mountain yonder, and ascertain the
place where the shark is generally to be seen coming up to the surface.
You, Sadakichi, had better take him up to the Sumiyoshi[13] bluff, and
point him out the monster if it should come up and show itself on the
surface of the water in the mouth of the harbor.”
Footnote 13:
Pronounced Soo-mee-yo’shee.
Bunkichi, who was much delighted at having gained his wish, said: “Then,
sir, please let an apothecary prepare a lot of drugs which are likely to
be the best poison for a _wanizame_, and I will go and have a lookout
for the appearance of the monster.”
As he was about to start, the girl asked him, in a little voice of
remonstrance, “But when will you make a dragon-fly for me, Bunkichi?”
“When I come back, miss,” was his reply.
“Come, come; he can’t be bothered about such a trifle now,” said her
mother.
Meanwhile the two lads, Bunkichi and Sadakichi, hand in hand, went up to
the Sumiyoshi bluff, which stood just outside the town on the eastern
side of Kumano Bay. The mountain rose precipitously from the sea, whose
fathomless water washed its southern base. A thick forest of pines
covered the mountain, and the vibrating of their needle foliage in the
breeze added a strange harp-like accompaniment to the perpetual roaring
of the waves below. On reaching the summit, Bunkichi threw himself down
on a knotty root of pine near the edge of a precipice and gazed out on
the broad expanse of Kumano Bay. As far as his view reached, no shore
could be descried; only the line where the dome of the azure sky circled
the deep blue of the ocean.
After sitting thus in silent contemplation for a few minutes, Bunkichi
suddenly turned round and said to Sadakichi: “Sea scenery is always fine
to look at, isn’t it? I am fond of this sort of rough sea. I should like
to have a swim in it.”
“Don’t talk such nonsense; you would no sooner get into it than you
would be swamped,” was the reply.
“That’s just what I like. I should dive deep down into the water and get
out of the whirlpool. And now, tell me where it is the _wanizame_
generally pops out its head.”
“It generally comes out just below this headland,” the other answered,
“at the mouth of the harbor.”
As the two boys were steadily gazing on the surface of the water, sure
enough, up came the shark, and startled Sadakichi by cleaving the water
with its back. Whether it was in frolic or in quest of prey, the monster
swam to and fro, now showing its head and now its tail. Its rock-like
back and its iron-like fins were horrible enough to inspire even men
with awe.
Sadakichi, feeling nervous at the sight, said to his companion,
“Bunkichi San, now you see the monster, you will be for giving up your
grand job, I fancy.”
“What! You don’t suppose I’m frightened, do you,” was his scornful
retort, “at the sight of such a little fish?”
“What do you say?” said the other.
“Well, if the chance came in my way, I might even kill a leviathan or a
crocodile!”
As these two were thus talking, a gust of wind from the high Nachi
Mountain swept down on the forest of Sumiyoshi and awakened the myriad
tiny harps of the pines, while the waves rolled one after another
against the rocks below. These sounds combined to drown the voices of
the lads, one of whom seemed to be persuading the other that it was time
to go back, while the other seemed to be insisting on staying a little
longer to enjoy the wild scenery and to think over the issues of his
scheme.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
CHAPTER III
A BOAT CAPSIZED—A HAIRBREADTH ESCAPE
THE master of the Daikokuya, who had been much struck by the wisdom and
courage of Bunkichi, lost no time in going to an apothecary to get
plenty of the poisonous stuff for the _wanizame_, while he ordered some
of his men to prepare the straw dummy.
In course of time the two lads, Bunkichi and Sadakichi, came back from
Sumiyoshi bluff. The master welcomed them into his own room, and said:
“How now, Bunkichi? Did you see the shark?”
“Yes, sir, I saw it,” was the reply.
“And now that you have seen the monster are you less disposed to go out
to sea?”
“No; on the contrary,” replied the lad, “I am the more ready to go.”
“Isn’t that obstinacy on your part?”
“Not in the least, sir,” the lad said, as he drew himself up; “the
greater the opponent, the greater the interest and strength that are
called for; and I am about to do this at the risk of my life. I well
observed the spot where the shark comes up, and noticed a large
pine-tree which projects over the sea from the precipice. If some one
will let fall a stout rope from one of its branches, I will row over to
it, and there I shall entice the shark to swallow the straw dummy; then
if the shark, in plunging about, should upset my boat, I shall take hold
of the rope and climb or be hauled up the precipice.”
The master, who was once more struck by words which showed so much
sagacity as well as courage, said:
“That’s a very good idea of yours. Then this is what we shall decide to
do, is it? I shall send out some of my young men to the Sumiyoshi bluff
to fix a rope to the pine branch from the precipice, and you will tie
the rope to your waist before you go out on your venture. I and others
will stand upon the cliff and watch you, and should you be in danger of
being swallowed by the monster, we shall lose no time in hauling you up.
Is that to be our plan of action?”
“Yes, that’s the plan,” was the boy’s reply.
“Well, then, I have bought the poison, and can soon have ready as many
as three dummies. When do you think of setting out?”
“Now, at once,” answered Bunkichi.
“That is rushing it too quickly, my lad. Wouldn’t it be better for you
to wait till to-morrow?” remonstrated the master.
“Unless things of this kind are done quickly and made easy work of, some
obstacles may arise and frustrate our plans; so I will just do it with
as little concern as you snap your fingers,” said the lad.
“You can’t do things so lightly as you say,” was the master’s reply.
And his wife, who had been listening, and who regretted having given her
consent to the boy’s rash project, added: “Bunkichi, do stay at home
to-day and spend it in preparation and do the work to-morrow.”
And the little girl also said: “I don’t care for your going to sea.”
But Bunkichi, having once made up his mind in the matter, was not to be
moved by any one’s entreaties.
“Then, by your leave, sir,” he said, “I will take that little boat at
the jetty.” And without more delay he rose up to go.
His master knew not how to stop him, but said: “No, no; that small boat
is dangerous; and, if you must go, you had better go out in the
_temmabune_.”[14]
Footnote 14:
Pronounced Tem-mah-bonn’ay. A larger boat.
“No, sir,” said the lad; “the _temmabune_ is too big for me to row
alone, so I prefer the small one.”
“But I am in great concern about your personal safety if you go alone,”
said the master. “I will give ten _rio_ to any one who will go with
you.”
Though he quickly made known this offer to the members of his household
as well as among his neighbors, no one ventured to offer himself on
account of the people’s repeated and terrible experiences. Bunkichi
soothed his master, saying that he was much freer if left to act by
himself than he would be if there were others with him. Quickly putting
the three dummies into the small boat outside the garden gate, with
marvelous coolness, as if he were going out for pleasure, he said:
“Good-by, everybody; I will go now, and be back again soon.”
The master, who was first to stir, led out to the jetty some of his
young men as well as some strong coolies. Three or four big ropes having
been made ready, he said:
“Now, Bunkichi, tie one of these to your waist.”
“It’s no use, sir, till I get near the mountain,” replied the lad, but
the master said:
“But just think, if on your way out the shark should turn up! We shall
pull you along the coast while you will row as near as you can to the
land.”
Bunkichi, who couldn’t resist the master’s persuasion, let him tie the
rope round his waist, and the master himself took hold of the end of it
and together with others went along the shore toward Sumiyoshi bluff.
Bunkichi, having been brought up at the seaside, was an excellent rower,
but as they pulled along the rope he rowed but slightly. Suddenly he
took out a dagger which had been handed down from his ancestors and
unsheathed it, smiling as he noted the temper of the steel.
Who spread the news no one knew, yet the people in the town came out in
a crowd, and every one was surprised to see a boy, alone in a boat,
sallying forth to kill the monster.
“Isn’t he a wonderfully courageous boy!”
“He is no common boy. Perhaps he may yet be as famous as our great hero
Kato Kiyomasa.”[15]
Footnote 15:
The conqueror of Korea in 594 A.D.
“Isn’t he cool!”
“Hasn’t he wonderful presence of mind!”
Such expressions as these escaped from everybody’s lips. Thus praising
him as they went along, the crowd followed the master.
From among the crowd an old woman stepped out with a rosary in one hand
and said to the master:
“Sir, please let me hold the rope, _Namu-Ami-Dabutsu_.”[16]
Footnote 16:
An expression used in one of the Buddhistic prayers. Among a certain
class of Japanese it was believed that by repeating this phrase
frequently their chances of going to heaven were increased.
The young men turned to her and said:
“Ill omen! Don’t say such a thing as _Namu-Ami-Dabutsu_. This is not the
rope for you to pull.”
In spite of the taunt she still muttered the sacred charm of the Buddha
sect, saying:
“But do let me hold it. I am the leader in pulling timbers for the
repairing of the Hongwanzi[17] temple. Yet I must have my share, because
I am sure that the lad is a hero sent by Buddha himself to save us from
our troubles. _Namu-Ami-Dabutsu_,” repeated the woman.
Footnote 17:
The headquarters of the Buddhist religion in Kioto.
Just then a maid-servant carrying a little girl on her back came along
the shore after the woman. The latter turned to the little girl and
said:
“Ah, you are the daughter of the Daikokuya. Do you want to pull this
rope, too? _Namu-Ami-Da—_”
The girl wouldn’t listen to her words, but, looking intently at the boat
in the distance, called out aloud, “Bunkichi!”
The other bystanders, who heard the name for the first time, said: “Ah,
his name is Bunkichi, is it?” and at once shouted, “Bunkichi Daimiozin,”
which is a title they give to the gods.
The lad, taking little notice of the stir on the shore, soon came to the
foot of the bluff. The master and others went up the hillside along the
edge of the precipice, while the lad began to prepare for his task.
The long summer day was already declining and a cool breeze from the far
ocean blew about his broad sleeves, and the voice of the crowd grew
fainter and fainter as, hidden by the pine-trees, they wound their way
up to the top of the hill. Yet now and then Bunkichi heard his master’s
voice faintly calling to him, to which he made reply to assure him of
his safety. Looking out toward the ocean there was no sail or boat to be
seen, probably owing to the people’s fear of meeting the shark. A
checkered bank of white and dark clouds was massed on the sky above the
horizon, while the waves chased one another below.
Any ordinary man would have quailed at such a scene as this; but
Bunkichi, with no sign of nervousness, put the straw figures in the bow
of the boat and proceeded toward the place where the shark usually made
its appearance. He could now see the master and others above the
precipice as they began attaching the rope to a strong limb of the
sturdy pine which projected seaward. Thus all the preparations were made
for hauling him up at the given signal, while the lad was also preparing
himself for the encounter and reconnoitering the scene from his boat.
At last the iron-like fin of the monster was seen to cleave the water.
Apparently rejoiced at the sight of a man, as Bunkichi’s figure must
have been now and then reflected on the water, the shark in quest of
prey raised its head above the water and made for the boat.
“Come on, you villain,” muttered the lad, who stood up in the bow with
the dummy in his hand.
The terror-stricken young men at the top of the precipice no sooner saw
the monster than they were on the point of pulling up the rope; but the
master stayed them, saying: “Steady, men, steady! Wait till he gives us
a signal.”
The master anxiously watched the lad’s action, while the crowd hardly
breathed as they stood still with hands clenched.
With a splash, Bunkichi threw the figure in the way of the _wanizame_;
the shark turned over, the white portion of its body gleamed, and it
snapped the stuffed figure, drawing it under the water. Up it came
again, and the lad threw out the second dummy; but the monster did not
take any notice of it, but made straight for the lad. Above, on the top
of the precipice, the master awaited Bunkichi’s signal with breathless
interest, but no signal was given yet. With his dagger drawn in one hand
and raising the third straw figure in the other, Bunkichi threw it at
the enemy’s head. Whether it was that the poison was already taking
effect or that the charm of the noted sword frightened the monster, it
turned back on a sudden and retreated a few yards. Before the anxious
crowd could divine the next movements of the shark, it began to plunge
about in and out of the water on the farther side of the boat. Then,
seemingly in agony, it swam about with almost lightning speed, now
toward the shore and now toward the ocean, and the sea became like a
boiling whirlpool in which the little boat seemed every moment in danger
of being overwhelmed.
Bunkichi, who saw his plan had succeeded, at once began to row back. At
this juncture, as fate would have it, the monster made a sudden dash at
the boat, which was at once overturned. The signal had hardly been given
when, after a moment of awful anxiety, the lad was in the air, suspended
by the rope. The monster again made a mad rush, only to bruise its head
against a rock, and with weakened strength returned toward the deep,
riding on the retreating tide.
[Illustration:
“The lad was in the air, suspended by the rope”
]
As for Bunkichi, the rope was drawn up steadily and with care, and he
soon found himself safely perched on the stout branch of the pine.
The master of the Daikokuya, when he saw Bunkichi once again on solid
ground, never uttered a word, but took his hand and put it on his
forehead in token of his unutterable gratitude, while tears of joy
flowed from his eyes. The others knew not how to do otherwise on the
sudden alternation from dread to joy.
After a while Bunkichi left the crowd and went to the most commanding
position on the precipice and gazed down upon the sea, and saw the shark
on its back floating to and fro, the sport of the waves. His joy knew no
bounds, and he said:
“I thank you all; I have been saved by your help. The shark now seems to
be dead.”
These words he uttered with his customary coolness, showing that he had
not been at all frightened by the terrible experience he had passed
through, while the others could hardly yet shake off the dread they had
felt.
Addressed thus by the lad, the master now recovered his speech, and
said:
“No; it isn’t _you_ who have been saved by _us_, but _we_ who have all
been saved by _you_. The shark dies and the people live, or the shark
lives and the people must die. I have no words to express my gratitude
to you. And now we must get back as soon as possible and let the people
know the joyous news.”
While the master thus hurried the others to go back, Bunkichi stopped
him and said: “Sir, if we leave the shark as it is, it may revive. It is
a pity to leave it, now that it is as good as killed. Let us haul it up
by the aid of the rope. It seems that the boat, which was upset, has
drifted to the base of the bluff. Let some of us get down and bail the
water out of it, and I will, with the help of you all, try to secure the
shark.”
The master agreed to the proposal and called for volunteers, but in
vain. Some young fellows pretended to be ill, and others suspected the
shark might yet be alive and swallow them if they went near it.
At last, however, the master prevailed on a few of them to go down with
the lad to help him.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
CHAPTER IV
THE TABLES TURNED
BUNKICHI, with the help of a few others, set the boat up, and, bailing
the water out, got in and went out again to sea. Putting a rope round
the body of the shark, which was being tossed about by the waves, they
drew it close to the foot of the bluff. While Bunkichi by himself rowed
back home, the young men dragged the dead monster along the coast toward
the Daikokuya. The crowd on the bank applied themselves as one man to
the task, and got hold of the rope, and the shark was finally landed.
Amusing it was to see that old woman pull hard along with the rest.
After this heroic deed the reputation of Bunkichi spread through the
length and breadth of Kumano town, and he was nicknamed as the
_Wanizame-Kozo_, or Shark-Boy; but who started the name no one can tell.
His exploit, however, was soon carried to the ear of _Odaikan_,[18] and
this great person himself came down to the shore and made a thorough
inspection of the monster. Ten pieces of silver were awarded by the lord
of the province to Bunkichi in recognition of his noble services in
putting a stop to the scourge of the town. The master was proud of
Bunkichi, and the town people rejoiced at his good fortune.
Footnote 18:
The name given to the local magistrate in olden days.
The size of the shark which the lad killed was more than three _ken_, or
some eighteen feet in length, and its skin was so hard that the sharpest
sword could not pierce it. The dealers in swords vied with one another
in the offers they made the master for the skin, for they knew it would
make an excellent binding for sword-hilts. Bunkichi asked his master to
sell it, and the transaction was soon made, and the master handed over
the whole of the price to Bunkichi as the fruit of his brave deed. The
lad would not even touch it. He had heard, he said, that the fishermen
in the neighborhood, from not being able to go out as hitherto on
account of the shark, were in great straits even for their daily food,
and therefore he wished to distribute the money among them. The proposal
was at once accepted, and the money was divided either among the people
who had suffered on account of the shark, or among the bereaved families
whose members had fallen victims to its voracity.
That Bunkichi was possessed of courage, his actions had abundantly
proved; the people were now profoundly struck by his moral virtue since
they had received his alms. The name of _Wanizame-Kozo_ soon got its
suffix _Sama_, or its equivalent in English of “Mr.,” and whenever he
appeared in the streets everybody, whether personally known to him or
not, seemed to thank him by making him the most courteous obeisances.
[Illustration:
“Putting a rope round the body of the shark”
]
In course of time, as the people in remote country places came to hear
of Bunkichi’s exploit, they pressed in large numbers to the shop of the
Daikokuya, not so much to buy clothing as for the purpose of seeing the
little hero’s face. From that day the master doubled the amount of his
daily receipts, as his trade prospered. Because of the prosperity
brought to the house by the lad, the household of the Daikokuya accorded
him special treatment, quite different from that given the other boys in
the shop; in fact, he was treated as if he were the son of the family.
But Bunkichi, on his part, served his master better than the other boys
were able or willing to. In spite of his master’s forbidding him, he was
first on the scene in the morning to sweep the street in front of the
shop and to put the shop in order and to sell goods to customers however
early they might come. Then, having carefully settled accounts at the
close of the day, he would devote his evenings to the mastery of the
abacus and to writing Chinese characters. His praiseworthy behavior
impressed everybody who saw or heard him.
Two or three months passed in this way, and the lad’s fame became ever
greater, and further prosperity was brought to the house. Then the
master took counsel of his wife:
“As we haven’t any boys, Chocho being the only child we have, sooner or
later we shall have to adopt a son. I don’t care to have any one of
whose intentions and character I know nothing. Rather it would please me
to have Bunkichi as our foster-son. What do you think about this?”
His wife said gladly:
“I agree with you, my husband; he would be just the one to whom to leave
the conduct of the business, and if we could make him our adopted son,
what a pleasure it would be! You had better do it quickly.”
The master pondered awhile and then said:
“But, you see, he hopes to become the leading merchant in Japan, and
thereby to raise the name of his ancestors; therefore he would not like
to be adopted into another family. This would be the first hitch in the
arrangement, I fancy.”
“No, my dear; our intention, of course, is to give him the whole of this
our property—and that certainly should be sufficient inducement to any
one.”
“No, I think not,” said the other, as he put his head on one side in
contemplation; “he is not the boy who will prize such a small property
as ours. I don’t care to run the risk of humbling myself by speaking to
him rashly. What I want is to ascertain his intention at some opportune
moment.”
Sadakichi, who had been playing in company with the little girl on the
veranda outside the _shoji_, first heard this conversation, and one day
told Bunkichi about it. The latter said to himself:
“My intention has been to win fame and thereby to raise our ancestors’
name, so it would never do for me to be adopted into another family.
Trouble will come if I stay here any longer, and I shall be put in such
a strait that I shall feel obliged to fall in with this proposal.” So he
thought he would do best to leave the house quickly and try his hand
independently at some trade.
One evening he sought his master and said:
“Sir, it is rather an abrupt request to make of you, but I have
conceived a plan by which I can earn money; so please let me trade by
myself. As capital to start with, it will be sufficient for me to employ
those silver coins which I received for reward and which you have kept
for me.”
The master, without knowing the lad’s secret intention, said: “If you
wish to trade on your own account, I will lend you capital or give you
any help you want; but what is the plan you have in mind?”
“It’s simply this, sir. Since the disappearance of the _wanizame_ the
people nowadays get an abundant catch of fish, and in consequence I hear
there is a scarcity of fishing-tackle, nets, and their belongings. So I
wish to go up to Osaka and get a supply.”
The master made one clap with his hands in token of his approval, and
said:
“Well thought of, my lad! If you get a supply from Osaka now, you are
sure to reap a good profit. Besides, all the fishermen round about here
received your alms and regard you as one of the gods. If they hear of
your selling fishing-tackle, they will gladly come to purchase of you.
But you cannot transact the business by yourself alone, so I will send
some one to assist you, and also I will lend you as much capital as you
wish. Therefore, go and make whatever investment you think necessary.”
Bunkichi did not wish to receive this favor, as he intended trading
without the help of any one.
“Sir, let me trade with my own capital alone without any other help in
this instance,” he replied. “Only, when the cargo comes, will you please
give it storeroom for me?”
As the master knew Bunkichi would not be induced to accept others’
advice when he had definitely made up his mind, he said:
“Very well, then; you may try to manage for yourself. No other boy of
your age could transact the business, but probably you may succeed.”
Thus saying, he went himself and brought a packet of money.
“This is the money I have been keeping for you.” And then he produced
another packet which contained fifty pieces of silver, saying:
“This is only a trifling recognition of your services in the shop, by
which we have enjoyed much prosperity; I hope you will accept it.”
Bunkichi again and again refused to accept this additional gift, but in
vain, for the master almost forced him to receive it, and said:
“When you come back from Osaka, you will stay again with us, won’t you?”
Bunkichi hesitated and stammered out: “Yes, sir; I might trouble you
again, though I intend to continue in some trade of my own.”
“Of course you may go in for whatever trade you like, and if you can
conveniently carry on your trade while you stay at my house, please make
yourself at home in it, and do not think that you need help in my shop
on that account.”
As Bunkichi had no other home, he accepted this kind offer for his
future protection after his return, and the next day, when he had
prepared himself for the journey, he left the Daikokuya for Osaka.
Though he was a boy in appearance, his mind was equal to that of a
full-grown man. At the time of his leave-taking, the master was
insisting on getting him a through _kago_, or Japanese palanquin, to
Osaka, which he had refused as unnecessary. In his courageous onward
march he came to a lonely part of the road; he was, however, well used
to traveling, owing to those early days of wandering when he sold the
dragon-flies for the support of his family, and by the experience of his
lonely journey to Kumano. But in this present journey, as he carried
with him a great sum of money in his pocket, he felt somewhat encumbered
and could not walk as lightly as he wished.
On the afternoon of the day when he came to the mountainous region he
was well-nigh tired out, and he hired a _kago_ to carry him. The coolies
no sooner put him into the palanquin than they started off at almost a
running pace, and after a short time they turned off from the highway
into a bypath. The lad called out, in suspicion:
“Aren’t you taking a rather strange road?”
Both coolies answered in one voice:
“This is a short cut, lad.”
As they went on they got more and more into the wilds of the mountains,
and Bunkichi thought to himself that they might belong to that class of
rascals who prey on the traveler’s pockets. Nevertheless it was too late
to do anything against them, so he kept himself in perfect peace by
determining not to show that he suspected them.
When the coolies were come to a trackless thicket, they put the _kago_
down, and, thinking to pull out the boy, looked in and found him fast
asleep.
They stared at one another in astonishment and said: “Why, he is
sleeping! The fellow takes life easy, eh? Come, my boy, get up! get up!”
and one of them poked him on the shoulder, and the other, taking hold of
his foot, pulled him out.
Bunkichi rubbed his eyes and yawned twice or thrice.
“Well, Mr. Coolie,—I mean you two,—what’s the matter?”
The coolies said somewhat fiercely: “Look here; you’ve got some money
with you, haven’t you?”
He answered in perfect coolness, as if nothing had happened, “Yes, I
have.”
They thought more and more the lad was a pretty easy simpleton to deal
with, and said: “We knew you had some fifty or sixty _rio_, and that is
why we brought you here. Come, now, hand out all you’ve got, for if you
refuse you’ll suffer for it.”
The lad burst out into laughter, saying: “If you want the money you
shall have it”; and he took out the wrapped package of money and threw
it down in front of them.
The coolies, seeing the perfect composure of the lad, wondered who this
boy could be, and they began to grow nervous, and one of them said in a
whisper to the other: “May he not be a fox?”
“We don’t know but what this money may turn into tree-leaves,” was the
answer, and both looked into the boy’s face.
The boy said, as he smiled: “You cowardly thieves, are you afraid?”
He stepped out a pace before them, while they stepped back a little and
said, “We are not afraid,” visibly suppressing their fear.
The lad peered into their faces. “If you aren’t afraid, why do you
tremble so?”
“We’re cold; that is why.”
[Illustration:
“As though they were stricken by thunder at the boy’s words, down they
tumbled on the ground”
]
“You cowards! Take the money and be gone!”
The coolies looked at each other, and wouldn’t take the money up into
their hands, while the lad stood firmly grasping the hilt of the dagger
of Kiku-ichi-monji within his pocket, ready to fight it out in case they
might treat him roughly.
They were thoroughly outwitted by the audacity of the lad, and said:
“Where have you come from?”
“Kumano is my home.”
One of them turned pale. “Why, maybe he is the Shark-Boy!”
“Yes, I am that very boy,” retorted the lad.
No sooner did the coolies hear this than they cried with one voice: “Let
us up and be gone!” As they were about to turn on their heels, Bunkichi
said, as he drew his dagger:
“If you run off I will cut you in two.”
As though they were stricken by thunder at the boy’s words, down they
tumbled on the ground, and could not rise in spite of themselves. “Only
spare our lives, if you please!”
As they begged for mercy, the lad coldly smiled, saying: “What is it you
fear?”
“Please spare us! We cannot bear the thought that you will finish us off
as you did the _wanizame_,” they gasped in a trembling voice. These
coolies had heard of his brave deed in killing the shark, and they
thought that he had killed it by a feat of swordsmanship, and that he
was a warrior general like him of Ushiwaka-maru[19] of old. He at once
perceived what was the cause of their fear, and said:
Footnote 19:
A boy hero who learned fencing from a mountain elf in the wilderness
of Atago.
“Are you weaker than the _wani_?”
“No, sir; we sha’n’t be beaten by the _wani_,”—though they still
trembled.
Bunkichi resheathed his short sword as he said: “Then take me to where
we agreed.”
With a prompt “Yes, sir,” they rose up, while the lad got into the
palanquin. They took up the money and nervously brought it to the lad,
who said as he glanced at it:
“Put it on the top of the _kago_.”
“We’re afraid it may drop down unnoticed,” was their answer.
“It’s too heavy for me to carry; tie it somewhere where it will be
safe.”
Then the coolies tightly tied the package to the pole by which the
_kago_ was carried. He did not take the money with him again, for fear
that they might harm him in case their avaricious temper got the upper
hand and they should make off with it.
The coolies, however, had no courage left to renew their attempt; but
they went on most solemnly and steadily, as though they were carrying
the _tengu_.[20] Bunkichi, finding the situation rather too quiet and
tame, addressed them: “Do you often play the part of villains?”
Footnote 20:
A mountain elf.
“No, sir. It was the first time, sir. We were tempted to the wickedness
when we saw you were carrying a lot of money; we knew it by your manner
of walking.”
“I don’t believe you. I suspect you have committed villainous acts a
good many times, but henceforth there must be an end of them.”
“Yes, sir; we have had a lesson and sha’n’t try that game again!”
The lad laughed and said: “That is interesting!” This was a peculiar
exclamation he used often to make.
Meanwhile Bunkichi came to a certain station where he got out of the
_kago_. He gave the coolies something extra to their fare, while warning
them against the continuance of their evil practices.
No sooner had they got their money than they slunk away as quickly as
they could.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
CHAPTER V
THE BATTLE OF STONE MISSILES—THE MONKEYS’ PANIC
HAVING stayed that night at an inn, Bunkichi hastened on his way along
the Hama-Kaido, or the “shore road.” When he came to a lonely spot in
the road, he saw a man in the distance, scantily clad, apparently making
preparations for hanging himself. On ran Bunkichi and caught hold of the
man, asking him at the same time why he had come to such a pass as to
attempt suicide.
“I am a certain Kichidayu, a native of Sakai in Izumi Province, and a
sailor,” answered the man, while tears stood in his eyes as he spoke. “I
was in charge of a ship of one thousand _koku_,[21] and on my voyage to
Yedo with a cargo of _sake_[22] my boat was wrecked off this coast and
the crew of eighteen, all told, as well as the whole of the cargo, were
lost. Fortunately I was washed up on the coast while I was holding fast
to a piece of board, but having been terribly knocked about, I can
hardly drag myself along. Besides, the loss of the ship, the cargo as
well as the crew, overpowers me with such a sense of disgrace and
wretchedness that I thought I would rather die than go back to my native
town.”
Footnote 21:
Forty thousand gallons.
Footnote 22:
A kind of Japanese liquor.
Bunkichi, while he was listening to the sad account of the wreck,
surveyed the man from head to foot, and perceived many severe bruises,
which—with his honest manner of speaking—seemed to prove the truth of
his words.
[Illustration:
“Giving him a helping hand, Bunkichi led the man along to the next
village”
]
“I quite sympathize with you in your misfortune,” said he, “but, my man,
your dying will not bring back the ship which was wrecked nor the men
who were lost; so I think it would be better for you to keep yourself
alive and atone for your loss by succeeding with your next venture. But
without money you can’t even go to a doctor. So allow me—”
Taking out five pieces of silver and putting them in the hand of the
sailor, he continued, kindly and soothingly, “With these get a doctor at
once, my man.”
The captain, as he looked into Bunkichi’s face with an expression almost
of worship, said: “You are the kindest man I ever came across, in spite
of your apparent youthfulness. As long as I live I shall not forget you,
and some day, perhaps, I may have an opportunity to repay you for your
goodness to me.”
While he said this, tears rushed from his eyes—for he was overcome by a
sense of gratitude and joy.
Bunkichi, having taken off his _haori_,[23] said to the man: “Put this
on, though it is not sufficient to protect you, and come on with me to
my next stopping-place.” Though the seaman was reluctant to accept so
generous an offer, Bunkichi urged him, and, giving him a helping hand,
led the man along to the next village, where they found an inn, into
which they went. There a suit of clothes was purchased for the sailor,
and the lad recounted the story of the wreck to the old woman, the
keeper of the inn, and asked her to send for a doctor, who on arrival
did whatever he could for the poor man.
Footnote 23:
A Japanese upper garment.
Bunkichi, who thought it likely he might be of more service to the
sailor, said, in answer to his question: “I have no house of my own, but
you will find me if you ask for one Bunkichi at the Daikokuya, a cloth
establishment at Kumano. You, being a sailor, are sure to find any
amount of work if you go there; so please look me up. I am in a hurry; I
cannot stop here longer. On my way back from Osaka I shall call upon
you. If you are well before then, you had better go to Kumano and wait
for me there.”
Thus kindly holding out hopes of helping him in the future, he gave the
old woman a sum of money for the nursing of the sailor, and hurried on
his way.
Going on from one hotel to another, and resolving to lose no time,
Bunkichi at last arrived in the city of Osaka. As he had received a
letter of introduction from his master to a certain wholesale merchant
of the city, with whom the Daikokuya had dealings, he went to this
merchant and asked for the articles he had been commissioned to buy. The
head of the house, acquainted with the _wanizame_ affair by the letter,
did everything in his power to assist Bunkichi, and the transaction went
off smoothly and quickly. After he had sent off the fishing-tackle to
Kumano on board a ship, he spent a few days in sight-seeing as well as
in observing the ways in which big merchants carried on their trade.
Having thus spent four or five days here, Bunkichi once more took the
same road home, and on the way inquired at the inn after the captain
whom he had left there. To his great joy, the sailor was well on the way
to recovery; so he gave the man some more money for his further needs,
and hastened on to Kumano-Ura, having promised to meet him again there.
On the day following that on which he had taken leave of the sailor, he
came to the hilly roads near Kumano. This part of the country was noted
then, as it is to-day, for the production of oranges. All over the hills
he saw orange-trees in abundance, and there, strange enough, he heard a
great noise of screaming and chattering. He hastened his steps in the
direction of the noise. Lo, and behold! Hundreds of monkeys,
uncountable, had drawn a circle around three men, whom they were pelting
with a shower of stones. These wretched men, as they were apparently
unable to withstand the stone missiles of the monkeys, had pulled their
over-coats, or _haori_, over their heads and were crouching under an
orange-bush, apparently in despair, for they were doing nothing but
crying for help.
[Illustration:
“Hundreds of monkeys had drawn a circle around three men whom they
were pelting with a shower of stones”
]
As the animals apparently thought it great fun, they kept on showering
stones as quickly as they could pick them up, and it seemed probable
that the three men would have fallen victims to the monkeys but for
Bunkichi. When he saw how things were going, quick as thought he picked
up a lot of pebbles from the wayside and filled both his spacious
sleeves and his front pocket as well. Thus well armed, on he rushed to
the monkey army and pulled out of his pocket the pebbles, one after
another, throwing them at the frisky creatures. The monkeys, as they
screamed and chattered, at once confronted the lad, and, perceiving him
pull out stones from his breast, they tried to do the same. But of
course they had no pockets with stones in them, while Bunkichi threw his
missiles thick and fast. The beasts in their rage began to pull off the
hair from their breasts and throw it from them, while their
monkey-chatter grew louder and louder as their pain increased.
Bunkichi, who could not suppress his laughter, contrived, as it were, to
discharge the missiles from his breast while actually bringing out the
stones from his sleeves. As the monkeys drew closer to him, still
pulling off their hair, the three men were now given time to breathe.
They at once came out from their hiding-place, and, scolding the
monkeys, began to pick up stones to help in their turn their deliverer
in his stand against them.
The youth cried out, as he quickly perceived their action: “No! No!
Don’t _pick up_ stones! If any of you have the instruments for striking
fire, set fire as quickly as you can to the dry grass.” The men did as
they were told, and as the wind fanned the fire the smoke and flames
soon spread over the ground. The army of monkeys, thinking the day was
lost, set up a great chatter and, jumping from tree to tree,
disappeared.
The men now recovered from their fright, and, having put out the fire,
thanked Bunkichi and said: “We are most grateful to you, sir. If you had
not come we should almost to a certainty have been stoned to death by
the monkeys.”
“It was a narrow escape, wasn’t it?” remarked Bunkichi, “but I am
curious to know—did you not throw stones at them first?”
“Yes,” replied the men, with animated expression.
Bunkichi could not help smiling as he thought of how they had acted, and
said: “You know monkeys are foolish animals and try to imitate whatever
others do.”
“You seem to know everything,” said the men, who were much struck by his
wisdom. “But where have you come from?”
“I live at Kumano,” was the reply, “but was brought up at Kada-no-Ura;
so I know about monkeys, as we have plenty of them there.”
Then the leading one of the three, making a polite bow, urged Bunkichi,
saying: “I am the owner of this orange farm, and my home is not far from
here. Please come to my house.”
On the way thither he asked the boy his name and where his home was.
“I am one Bunkichi in the establishment called the Daikokuya, at
Kumano,” was his frank answer.
The host, having well observed the lad’s face, said: “Ah, that’s why I
thought I had seen you somewhere. Then you are that widely famed Mr.
Wanizame-Kozo, the Shark-Boy! The people in this neighborhood owe you a
great debt of gratitude, because all the fruits produced here in this
part, oranges among other things, when they are sent either to Tokio or
to Osaka, must first be sent to Kumano-Ura to be shipped to those
cities. But ever since the appearance of that monster in the harbor, all
the shipping trade had come entirely to a standstill, and we had to send
our fruits to other ports by a roundabout way, which was a great
nuisance to us; whereas, owing to your wisdom and courage, we can now
send our cargo to Kumano as we did before.”
After a pleasant visit of an hour or two, Bunkichi was about to start.
The host stopped him for a minute and brought out a little packet of
money, and, placing it before him, said: “This trifle is only a token of
my gratitude to you. Please take it.” Looking at it from the outside, it
certainly seemed no trifle; but the lad firmly but politely declined to
accept it, saying: “You have no need to thank me.” And he would not take
it, in spite of the host’s earnest entreaty. At last he said: “I don’t
wish to receive any recompense from you; however, I have one favor to
ask if you will grant it me. I am thinking of trading on my own account
before long in various articles, and if I come here some day to buy
oranges, will you deal with me?”
“You make a very modest request,” answered the host with ready assent.
“I will supply you with a cargo as cheaply as possible at any moment you
send me the order, and as to the payment, I shall be in no hurry for it;
you may pay me whenever you like. I can supply you with thirty thousand
boxes of oranges from my own farm; and there are many more farmers in
the neighborhood who will be glad to supply you if I let them know that
you are the Wanizame-Kozo. At least I can assure you I will fill your
order, however large it may be.”
With many thanks, Bunkichi took his leave and was back in the Daikokuya
that evening.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
CHAPTER VI
THE GREAT HAZARD—A PERILOUS VOYAGE
THE cargo of fishing-tackle which had been sent from Osaka had already
arrived at Kumano and was awaiting his return, so Bunkichi took his
goods to the fishing villages round about Kumano for sale. The people
vied with one another in buying them, on account of their being sold by
Mr. Shark-Boy. Owing to the price of tackle being then much higher than
at other times, as a result of the scarcity of the supply, he made such
a good sale that the profit doubled the cost of his outlay.
Taking care not to waste the money thus obtained, he next opened a trade
in oranges, buying them at a cheap rate from the owner of the orange
farm and retailing them at Kumano when the market value was high. By
this means he made another good profit; still he stayed on in the
Daikokuya as his temporary home, and applied himself to business. Thus
by the end of the next year he had saved several times the amount of his
original capital.
Meanwhile Kichidayu, the sailor to whom he had given kind help, came to
him after he had completely recovered. Bunkichi asked the master of the
Daikokuya to employ him. He consented, and committed to him, in the
capacity of captain, the management of a big ship.
Now Kichidayu’s devotion to Bunkichi was so great that he was ready to
sacrifice his own life for his sake if occasion should arise. “I admire
your determination immensely, and as I owe my life to you, you may count
on me for any assistance in my power,” said the sailor to the boy one
day.
Bunkichi rejoiced on hearing this and said, laughingly: “When the time
comes in which I shall make my fortune, such property as the Daikokuya
possesses I will create in ten days.”
* * * * *
Four years had passed, during which time Bunkichi had done well in his
business, trading in various articles, and a portion of his profit he
now and then distributed among the poor people in the district. He was
now eighteen years of age. It was the autumn of the year, and from the
beginning of the month of October a westerly wind had been blowing many
days. As a consequence, the shipping trade at Kumano-Ura was entirely
stopped. Yet a cargo of oranges bound from Kii Province for Yedo[24] was
accumulating at Kumano-Ura and beginning to rot away on account of the
warm climate of the province. From Yedo had been received vain messages,
by the _hikiaku_, or running postmen, urging them to send up the
oranges, the necessary fruit for the _Fuigo Matsuri_, or bellows
festival, which was then at hand. Yet the sea became rougher every day
as the wind grew stronger, while the frowning autumn sky hung overhead.
The people could not possibly put out any ship nor do anything but stare
and grumble at the rough sea and the lowering clouds.
Footnote 24:
The old name of the great Japanese city now called Tokio.
Every day Bunkichi went down to the seashore also, and looked at the
dark sky as every one else did, yet he alone had a certain expression of
suppressed joy in his face. The others said, “We hope this stormy
weather will come to an end soon,” while he answered, “I hope it will do
nothing of the kind.”
They were surprised at this and said, “Why, what’s the matter with you?”
“Who can tell?” he answered, laughing. While he was thus engaged in
casual talk, Kichidayu, the sailor, came to look at the condition of the
sea. On seeing him the lad beckoned him aside by a tree and said:
“Kichidayu San, when do you suppose this wind will cease?”
“I wish it would stop soon,” he answered, “but it doesn’t look like it,
I fear.”
“No, I shall be greatly disappointed if it stops within two or three
days.”
“Well, there’s not much chance of its doing so,” was the sailor’s
answer.
“That’s good,” the boy replied. “Before it stops what do you say to
having a sail in a boat from here to Yedo? It would be fine, wouldn’t
it?”
Kichidayu stared at Bunkichi in astonishment and said: “Don’t joke,
please. If we were to put out a boat in this rough sea, it would capsize
in no time.”
“That’s just where the interest lies. Wouldn’t Kichidayu San like to try
it for once?” said the lad, while the other replied, laughing, “Don’t
carry your joking too far!”
Bunkichi became serious. “Kichidayu San, I’m not joking. If it was an
east or a north wind it would be difficult, of course, but being a west
wind, it’s a fair wind toward Yedo, however strong it may be, and so
there is no reason why we should not be able to get to Yedo.”
Kichidayu, who thought that Bunkichi was saying rather a strange thing,
answered: “If we should have good luck, I don’t say that it’s
impossible; however, I do say it could only be a question of good luck.”
“That’s just where the interest lies,” said the lad again. “One can do
anything that others can do. But it’s a fine thing for a man to go to a
place when others can’t go. Kichidayu San, the time has now come to make
that fortune of money of which I told you once, because in Yedo the
price of oranges, which are one of the necessaries of the bellows
festival, has gone up ten times higher than at other times, on account
of the scarcity of the fruit. Here, in this port, where the oranges have
accumulated because they can find no customers, the price has gone down
ten times lower than the rate at which they usually sell. So, if we can
buy at a price ten times lower than the usual rate, and sell at a price
ten times higher than the usual rate, naturally a hundred _rio_ will
make ten thousand _rio_. There isn’t likely to come such a good chance
twice in a lifetime. As to the ship, I will ask the master of the
Daikokuya to let me have a big one, and if he does, will you captain it
for me? I intend to take out in it a large cargo of oranges to Yedo
while this bad weather prevails.” The lad thus for the first time
revealed his ambitious scheme.
Kichidayu folded both his arms on his breast in contemplation. Then, as
he lifted his head, he said: “I will make the attempt—yes, even to Yedo,
for your sake; I don’t grudge even my life. What if my ship gets
wrecked? I don’t care. But are you thinking of coming on board?”
“Of course; if I don’t go, the business can’t be effected,” said
Bunkichi. “Trading is the same as a battle. In one of the battles of old
the warrior Yoshisune set us an example by attacking the army of the Hei
clan in the province of Shikoku by sending out the war vessels from
Daimotsuga-Ura on a stormy night. If we lose courage in such weather as
this, we cannot possibly accomplish any great scheme. We shall enter
upon it resolutely. Should we die, let us die together. If I gain my
object, I will handsomely reward you.
“We shall have to offer sailors ten times their usual pay,” continued
Bunkichi; “you may then, perhaps, find fellows who will be willing to
come. Will you be responsible for finding them?” So saying, he gave the
captain money for the purpose, and, having intrusted the matter to him,
at once went home to the Daikokuya and saw the master.
“Danna,” said he, “among your ships the oldest is that _Tenjin-maru_[25]
of one thousand _koku_ burthen, is it not?”
Footnote 25:
A Japanese junk.
The master, who was somewhat startled by the abruptness of the question,
said: “Yes, she is getting to be an old vessel now, and I am thinking of
breaking her up.”
“Will you sell her to me?”
To which the master answered: “If you want her, I don’t mind making you
a present of her; but what use will you put her to?”
“I’m thinking of taking a cargo of oranges to Yedo,” was the lad’s
reply.
“When the bad weather is over, I suppose?” said the master.
“No; while this stormy weather is prevailing,” was the reply.
The master was startled, but gazing on the boy for a moment, merely
remarked: “What an extraordinary idea!”
After a little hesitation, Bunkichi drew nearer to the master. “Pray,
master, sell her to me,” said he; “I am again going out on a trading
battle.”
Then the master understood his real intention and said: “Well, if you
are so minded, you may not be afraid of this storm; but the
_Tenjin-maru_ is in any case a dangerous ship for this weather; so I
will lend you one which is more seaworthy.”
“No, thank you, sir; I have no wish to borrow,” replied the lad. “This
undertaking is a matter of fate. If I am wrecked on the way out I cannot
give you your ship back again; so I shall not borrow things of others,
for I wish to do everything on my own capital.”
The master knew the boy’s nature and made no further objection, but
said: “Very well, I will sell her to you. You will surely succeed. Come
back again laden with treasure!”
Chocho, the master’s daughter, who was now sixteen years of age,
overheard the conversation between the two and was much surprised, and
expressed her anxiety as well as her sorrow in her face, and said: “Does
Bunkichi go to Yedo in this storm?” The mother, too, longed to stop him,
but could not well interfere, because her husband had already yielded
his sanction to the boy’s scheme. She only said, loud enough to be heard
by both, as she answered her daughter: “Yes, Cho, it is most dangerous
to go out to sea in this great wind and storm!” To which the girl
responded: “Yes, mother!”
Bunkichi, having paid the price of the _Tenjin-maru_ to his master, went
to the wholesale stores which were best known to him and bought up their
oranges. The merchants, as they were sore oppressed by the rotting of
the fruit, were in the state of “panting blue breath,” as they say.
Bunkichi, in a somewhat off-hand manner, said to one of them: “Do the
oranges rot every day?”
“Yes, every day we are much troubled about it; they rot away
continually. Already half of the stock we have is spoiled; if it goes on
at this rate, within another ten days our whole stock will be lost.”
Whereupon the lad said: “Are you really prepared to sell them at
whatever price you can get for them?”
“Oh, yes, gladly; for how much better would it be to sell even at a loss
than to pay for throwing the rotten stuff away!”
To which Bunkichi answered: “If that is the case, I will buy from you at
sixteen _mon_ per box as much stock as you have.”
The merchant was taken aback at the reply, and said: “Isn’t that _too_
cheap?”
“But if they rot away, you will get nothing. I am not over-keen to buy,”
said the lad, coldly; “so if you don’t wish to sell, we need not have
any further talk.”
“Just wait a minute,” and the merchant stayed the lad as he was about to
leave. “I will sell at sixteen _mon_ a box if you will buy up my whole
stock.”
“Yes, the whole lot,” said Bunkichi. “I will buy as many thousand boxes
as I can put into a large ship.” Thus he bought up the whole stock of
that store and then went on to another, buying up the whole stock of
each at a very low price. Then he sent a man to the orange farm and
collected some more. Having procured a large stock, he put it all on
board the _Tenjin-maru_ so that, albeit the ship was one of a thousand
_koku_ burthen, its keel sank deep into the water.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
CHAPTER VII
THE SEA-GIANT APPEARS
AS Captain Kichidayu sought for sailors by holding out to them promise
of wages ten times more than they could get at other times, he soon
picked up six sturdy fellows who did not set much value on their lives.
Thereupon he reported his success to Bunkichi, who was rejoiced over it,
and said: “Then all things are ready now; we shall settle to start in
the morning, and I will send to the ship ten pieces of long square
timbers. You will place them crosswise on the ship and attach to their
ends heavy stones so that she will not upset easily,” he continued, with
his usual audacity and resourcefulness. “For I have heard that ships
which sail about those far-off islands, Hachijo and Oshima, and the
like, are fitted out in this way and sail in safety even in heavy
storms. That is why in Yedo they call those island-ships ‘sea-sparrows’:
the weight being on both sides of the ship, they never upset.”
Kichidayu was much struck by his keen observation, and said: “Truly, it
didn’t occur to my mind that those ships are fitted out as you say, but
now I recollect having seen them off the coast of Izu Province. As they
are thus constructed they never capsize, however much they are washed
over by waves.”
“Now, Kichidayu San,” Bunkichi said, “this ship is called the
_Tenjin-maru_, but our going out to sea this time may mean going to her
destruction, so let us change her name into _Iurei-maru_, or ghost-ship,
and let us imagine ourselves to be dead men by putting on white clothes.
Thus nothing that may occur can scare the crew; for, being ‘dead’ men,
they can have no fear of death.”
The captain agreed with him, saying: “That’s a splendid idea.”
The captain returned to his abode in high spirits and told to the six
seamen what the lad had said, and they all readily agreed to the plan,
and were so stirred by the lad’s courage that they were ready to face
any dangers or fears that might come to them.
Bunkichi at once ordered a man to paint on the sail of the ship:
“_Iurei-maru_” in large Chinese characters, and at the cloth
establishment of the Daikokuya, he ordered eight suits of white clothes.
“Bunkichi,” inquired the astonished master, “what is the use of those
eight suits of white?”
Bunkichi laughed as he answered: “We may all be dead men before long, if
we go out to sea in this storm. The chances of surviving are few, so we
are already dead in heart. I have named my ship _Iurei-maru_. We are
going to dress in white with the _zudabukuro_[26] and we shall stick
triangular-shaped papers on our foreheads, as they do for the dead.”
Footnote 26:
The purse tied round the neck of the dead at a burial service in
Japan.
“What horrible things you do!” exclaimed the wife, while the daughter,
Chocho, with sudden inspiration, said: “I will sew your white suit for
you.”
“I am most grateful,” replied the lad, “but I have already ordered
others to do it for me.”
“Please let me do it,” said the girl. “It may be the last—” and at this
Bunkichi consented with thanks.
The master, who seemed to have prepared beforehand, ordered _sake_ and a
set of little dishes of eatables to be brought forth, and then remarked:
“As you have settled to start to-morrow I intend to offer you a
congratulatory feast in advance, hoping that you may arrive at Yedo and
have good luck and make a great profit.”
At last the morrow came, and early in the morning Bunkichi bade farewell
to the men of the Daikokuya and put on his white suit, which was made by
the daughter of the house, and went out to the seashore. The master, as
well as his wife, with their daughter, Chocho, and all the employees in
the shop, followed him in order to see him off. Having heard of his
departure, some of the townspeople with whom he was acquainted, and
those poor people who had received his alms, flocked together from the
four corners of the town to bid him good-by.
Having bade farewell to the people, Bunkichi entered a small boat and
soon got on board of the _Iurei-maru_. Those who came to see him off, as
they stood around the shore, raised their voices, calling out for
Bunkichi, lamenting his departure. Bunkichi gave a signal for the anchor
to be weighed and the sail to be hoisted; then the ship soon stood out
to sea. Both the men on the shore and those on board the ship waved
their hands till their forms had become indiscernible, while the ship,
driven by the strong west wind, soon became lost to sight among the big
waves.
Though the _Iurei-maru_ had her sail up only seven tenths of its whole
length, she sailed on eastward with the speed of an arrow, owing to the
strong wind. In a very short time she passed the Sea of Kumano, and then
soon was in the Sea of Isè. As she came to the noted Yenshiu-nada on the
evening of that day, the wind grew stronger and the rain came down in
torrents. As the huge waves, mountain-high, came rushing from the far
ocean and the ship was tossed like a tree-leaf, the crew felt as if they
were flung down into the abyss of darkness when she got into the trough
of the waves. Those six robust men, who had hitherto worked with steady
and fearless courage, suddenly gave in before this state of the sea and
lost all heart for labor. Nevertheless Captain Kichidayu, as steady as
ever, ran about here and there, stirring the crew up to their work.
Among the eight men all told, the one most unaffected by the dreadful
state of the sea was Bunkichi, the _Wanizame-Kozo_, and he, with the
captain, lent a helping hand to the tired crew, calling out
occasionally: “Hurrah! This is fine! We shall get to Yedo within the
next day. Work hard, all of you, and you sha’n’t want for pay!” And then
he doled out money to the crew, who were encouraged by this and braced
themselves up and labored their best.
Meanwhile night fell and the storm continued. Though nothing was visible
to the eyes, the awful sound of the waves, and the wind, which shook
masts and rigging, deafened the ears; and the heaven and the earth
seemed to be swallowed up by the waters.
By degrees the crew’s courage began again to fail and one of them
muttered: “This is just the sort of night for some big monster like a
_wanizame_ to appear!” To which another said: “Yes; I feel a bit
nervous, too.”
“Come, men; a little more perseverance!” shouted out Bunkichi. So
saying, he again gave them an extra wage and continued: “You fear the
_wanizame_, do you? I rather think the _wanizame_ will be afraid of me
because I’m the _Wanizame-Kozo_. Take heart, all of you! Don’t be
afraid!”
The men were cheered up and said: “Truly enough, you once killed the
_wanizame_. We needn’t be afraid! Now, all right, sir; we’re rid of our
fears!”
However, their courage was of but short duration; when they gazed at the
dark, angry sea they again lost heart, saying: “But, sir, what shall we
do if the _umi-bozu_[27] comes up—if it is true, as the people say, the
monster lives in this ocean?”
Footnote 27:
An imaginary giant of the sea.
Bunkichi, as he gave them a scornful smile, stood up with his dagger in
his hand and said: “I’ll sweep him down with this sword if any such
creature makes his appearance.”
[Illustration:
“He drew his sword and ran toward the monster”
]
Just then the man on watch suddenly shrieked: “Ah! the sea-giant has
come!” And he ran back toward the stern while the others were frightened
out of their wits and ran down into the cabin where they drew their
heads back between their shoulders and held their breath in fear.
Bunkichi looked toward the bow. Sure enough, a big undefined dark form
rose at the front of the ship, about ten feet in height. He drew his
sword and ran toward the monster. As he swept the giant down with his
sharp weapon, he laughingly returned toward Kichidayu, who stood by the
mast.
“What was that?” Kichidayu asked Bunkichi, who answered, still smiling:
“It _did_ look like a round-headed giant, but really it was only a
column of mist which came floating in our way. That’s what they call the
‘sea-giant,’ I suppose, and in their fright they fancied it was coming
on board to seize them.”
Kichidayu, who was much surprised at Bunkichi’s courage, said: “Indeed!
I understand now how you could kill the _wanizame_, by the courage you
have just shown, and which I cannot but admire. To speak the truth, I
didn’t feel very bold myself when I saw that big dark form, but I
screwed my courage up so as not to be laughed at by you.”
As the crew had not yet come out of their cabin, Kichidayu called out:
“Now, men, come up; your master has killed the giant. Come quick,
quick!”
The crew trooped out at this, and said: “Truly we heard a shriek a
little while ago!” At which Kichidayu muttered, “Fools!”
During the night, however, they got over the Sea of Yenshiu in this
manner, and in the very early morning of the third day they were
entering the Bay of Yedo. Gradually the sea was becoming much smoother.
“We are safe, master. We can, too, be quite at ease in our hearts!” said
one of the men. “Ah! I see the headland of Haneda there. Beyond that
there’s the Bay of Shinagawa. If we go forward at this rate we shall be
at Yedo by dawn: I feel safe now. But I felt that I would be eaten alive
when I saw the _umi-bozu_ at the Yenshiu-nada Sea.”
Then Bunkichi said, as he laughed: “You don’t know what you are saying.
We have been all along dead men in white suits, and for dead men to have
been alive is an absurdity!” Then all, for the first time, burst out
into merry, hearty laughter.
Captain Kichidayu turned to Bunkichi, saying: “Master, what a voyage! In
a couple of days and nights we sailed the distance which takes about ten
days at other times. That we have come here safely through this storm is
due to your contrivance of laying the timbers crosswise on the boat; but
for that we should certainly have capsized.” Then he turned to the
sailors and added: “What say you, my men? Is there any one who could
beat him in wit or in courage?”
“No, there’s not another like him,” all replied in one voice. “He killed
the _wanizame_ as well as the _umi-bozu_, and so long as we are with him
there is nothing on earth to be dreaded. Please, sir, employ us under
you for years to come. We shall never again play cowards as we did,
sir!”
Bunkichi replied: “I fear you would never face the _umi-bozu_.” To which
they could say nothing, but scratched their heads in silence.
Though the wind was still high, after the storm through which they had
fought their way out, the inland seas seemed to them “as smooth as
matting,” as the saying is, and soon after dawn all hands on board the
_Iurei-maru_ arrived safely at Yedo.
At that time in Yedo the orange merchants, in spite of the stress of
weather, had been eagerly awaiting orange-ships from Kishu Province
every day, on account of the nearness of the bellows festival. And this
was the only ship that did not disappoint their expectations. When the
ship’s arrival was known, the joy of the merchants was beyond
description, and soon this popular song immortalized the happy welcome
of the orange-ship:
On the dark sea beholden
A sail, a white sail!
Whence does it hail?
From Kishu’s far shore
It brings precious store
Of oranges golden.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
CHAPTER VIII
AN ECCENTRIC FELLOW
WHEN all the wholesale dealers in oranges in the vast city of Yedo heard
that an orange-ship had at last arrived from Kishu, they vied with one
another in coming to Bunkichi’s ship and buying up his oranges. The
inevitable result of the rise in the price of oranges was to make him a
gainer of more than fifty thousand _rio_.
Bunkichi, after this, carefully reasoned out that on account of the
recent continuance of the west wind no ship could possibly have sailed
from Yedo to Osaka, so that there must be a scarcity of salted salmon in
that city, while there was now an abundant and specially cheap supply of
them in Yedo. So he thought he would take a supply over to Osaka and
make another great profit.
When he spoke of this plan to his men they were ready to go, for his
sake. Thereupon Bunkichi bought up a cargo of salted salmon, and,
putting it on board, waited for the return of better weather. Nor had he
long to wait. As a reaction, as it were, to the stormy westerly wind, in
a few days an east wind began to blow, and, availing himself of the
first opportunity, he hoisted sail. He soon entered the harbor of Osaka,
and there he again made a profit of tens of thousands of _rio_.
Every speculation he had planned was crowned with success, and in little
more than a month he had amassed the enormous sum of near upon a hundred
thousand _rio_. He was aided in this success largely by the exertions of
Kichidayu, and gave him one thousand _rio_ out of the profit, while he
handsomely rewarded every one of the crew, who were all greatly
delighted at their good fortune.
Captain Kichidayu, taking his money with him as a present to his family,
returned to Sakai, his native town, where he met again his dear wife and
children after his long absence, and then went back to Osaka. Thence he
accompanied Bunkichi to Kumano-Ura.
At Kumano the news of his safe arrival at Yedo had been received at the
Daikokuya and by the townspeople with the liveliest satisfaction. They
had been waiting eagerly for his return. Sure enough, Bunkichi had come
back on board that very _Iurei-maru_, and the people, whether they were
personally known to him or not, flocked round him with their
congratulations.
From that day the master of the Daikokuya treated him as his guest,
while the people of the town respected him as a gentleman, and no one
called him the Wanizame-Kozo any more.
On his arrival home Bunkichi recounted all his transactions to the
master of the Daikokuya, and then went at once to the merchants from
whom he had bought the fruit that he sold in Yedo. “I thank you for the
cargo of oranges you sold me some time ago at such a cheap price,” said
he. “I made a great profit by that cargo, but I don’t like to be only a
gainer myself while you all are losing your money, so I’ll give you
double what I then paid you for the oranges.”
On account of this unexpected liberality they were very grateful to him,
and his fame went abroad all over the province of Kii, and everybody
began to know him, and whenever he wanted to invest in any goods, he had
no difficulty in getting all he wished.
The day came at last when Bunkichi determined to go up to the great city
of Yedo to make his name famous in the whole of Japan by trading on a
large scale. With this resolve, he negotiated with some of the big
merchants of Kumano as to whether they would make a contract with him to
send up all their oranges and timber to his shop as their only agency in
Yedo. As they were already under a debt of obligation to him, every one
of them agreed to do his best to keep Bunkichi’s store in Yedo well
supplied. Bunkichi was greatly rejoiced, and, on this occasion traveling
overland, he arrived at Yedo in due time and established himself in the
Hatcho-bori district, under the name of Kinokuniya.[28] This happened in
the second year of the Sho-o era (1653 A.D.), when he was nineteen years
of age. Then he changed his name Bunkichi into Bunzayemon (his father’s
name), and began to trade on a large scale in timber and oranges from
Kishu, selling them to the whole city of Yedo. Thus his prosperity
increased.
Footnote 28:
House of the Kino Kuni (country of Kii).
One day a master carpenter, who had the entrée to the house, came to see
Bunzayemon, saying: “I have come to consult with you on a rather strange
matter. How would you like to engage a man for your business?”
“Well, it all depends on what kind of a man he is,” was the reply.
“He is rather an eccentric sort of fellow. If I tell you plainly about
him there will be little chance of your employing him; but the strange
thing is that he wishes me to do so. ‘If Bunzayemon will employ me,
good; if he will not employ me, he is a fool, and I don’t want to be
employed.’ Those were the very words he said to me, and added, to my
surprise: ‘As for you, if he hasn’t the sense to engage me, you needn’t
regret losing such a customer as he is.’”
“I don’t wonder you were surprised,” replied Bunzayemon; “but what has
he been hitherto?”
To this question the carpenter replied: “He is the second son in a
warrior family; but as far as I can see he is an idle, lazy man. There
are many of his kind in the world, as you know; but he is rather an
extreme type of the class. He doesn’t like to get up early nor to move
about at any time. In spite of his being dependent on me for his
support, he doesn’t hesitate to demand to live in luxury. And then he
has the impudence to request me to recommend him to you.”
Bunzayemon meditated awhile and then said: “It’s rather interesting,
what you tell me. At all events, bring him here.”
“Do you really mean to engage him? You had better give him up.”
To which the merchant replied: “When I see him I shall decide whether I
shall engage him or not. Bring him here first!”
Then Seihachi, the carpenter, went home, fearing inwardly lest he should
lose his customer by bringing this man to Bunzayemon’s notice, though he
could not help acceding to the man’s request.
After a time Bunzayemon heard high words in the front of the shop. One
of the voices he recognized as that of Seihachi, who was exclaiming:
“Chobei San, you ought not to go in by the front door; manners should
compel you to go to the back door. And don’t give yourself airs here; if
you do I shall be disgraced.”
To this the other replied: “What are you talking about? We are not dogs;
why should we go round to the kitchen?” And so saying, the young man
stalked up to the shop called Kinokuniya, in spite of Seihachi’s
remonstrance, and asked somewhat loudly: “Is the master at home?”
Hearing him, Bunzayemon entered the shop from the inner room.
No sooner did Seihachi see him than he began to apologize: “Master, I am
more sorry than I can tell you, and I beg your pardon for this fellow’s
rudeness.” As he spoke he was holding Chobei by the sleeve.
Bunzayemon, without heeding the apology, civilly welcomed the strange
guest, saying: “Come in, sir.”
The young man stalked into the inner room, while Seihachi, feeling like
a fish out of water, followed him. Bunzayemon ushered the guests into
one of the finest rooms in his house. Seihachi was troubled at heart,
for the man’s clothes were muddy, and said: “Sir, I fear we shall soil
your floor.”
Without even listening to Seihachi’s words, or showing that he had heard
them, the host courteously said: “I am Bunzayemon of the Kinokuniya; and
what is your name?”
“My name is Chobei,” answered the youth somewhat haughtily.
“I’m glad to make your acquaintance.”
Seihachi kept making signs to Chobei as to his behavior, but the latter
did not take the least notice.
Seihachi in his distress said to Bunzayemon: “Please, sir, I beg your
pardon for his unmannerly behavior. I think he must be a little out of
his mind. I’m sorry to have brought such a fellow.”
Meanwhile Bunzayemon and Chobei sat with the _tabakobon_[29] between
them and looked into each other’s face. For a while neither of them
spoke, while Seihachi, whose trouble of mind was increased by this state
of affairs, tried to extricate himself from this uncomfortable position
and said:
Footnote 29:
A tobacco-tray.
“Chobei San, we had better take our leave now.” Then, turning to the
host, “Sir, you won’t engage him after all, will you, sir?”
At this Bunzayemon, speaking somewhat loudly, said: “Oh, yes, I’ll
engage you, Chobei San, and take you on as one of my men, if that is
your wish.”
“Then do you really engage me?” And as he spoke Chobei quickly moved
backward a little and bowed to the floor, in the act of showing respect
and thanks to his superior.
Bunzayemon then put on a lordly air and asked him: “Chobei, are you
skilled in working the abacus?”[30]
Footnote 30:
The Chinese reckoning-board, consisting of beads or balls strung on
wires or rods set in a frame.
“I don’t know much about it,” he replied, as he placed both his hands on
the matting in the attitude of respect, “because I was bred in a warrior
family.”
“If that is so you’ll be of no use in the shop,” said the master,
scornfully. “What can you do, then?”
To which Chobei answered, “I know how to turn a lot of money, sir.”
“That’s interesting!” replied the master.
The carpenter, stricken dumb with astonishment while the negotiation was
going on, said at last, when Chobei had gone, “Sir, have you really
engaged him? I can’t tell you how relieved I am. I’ve been greatly
troubled by the thought that I should be disgraced on account of him.
Please tell me why were you so civil to him at first?”
“You don’t understand, I see,” said Bunzayemon, laughing. “Before I
engaged him he was my guest, and as he belongs to the warrior class, his
social rank is entitled to consideration. But when I have once engaged
him, then I am his master, and he is my servant, and I must treat him
accordingly.”
“I see, I see,” said the carpenter. “That is a fine way of looking at
it. Well, then, suppose I go to another man’s house, I may act in a like
haughty manner myself before I get engaged!”
[Illustration:
“Bunzayemon then put on a lordly air”
]
“Certainly; but if you do, you may get disliked instead of engaged”; at
which reply the carpenter was profoundly puzzled.
Early the next day the new employee begged his master to advance him
some pocket money, which was promptly given him; and having got it, off
he went, no one knew whither, and did not return even for the midday
meal.
Then the other employees warned their master, saying: “Sir, what is the
use of that sort of man? We don’t know where he has come from. It’s
really unsafe to have that sort of fellow about the house, sir.”
But the master paid no heed to their warnings. “Not a bit of it! No
matter where his birthplace is, so long as the man is worth having, my
purpose is served. I can see he has plenty of common sense, and I’ll
warrant he’ll be of good service some day. Whenever you plan on a large
scale you must have good assistants: there were four kindly men under
Yoshisune, the great general, and twenty-eight generals under Shingen,
the great lord of the middle ages. Such men we look to for our examples.
Since the days of old every distinguished man has attached to himself
able supporters. Merchants should do the same, and, as certain as the
day dawns, success will come to the business man who employs many good
hands under him. Wait and see. Chobei will do some noteworthy things!”
Thus he instructed his servants in his principles.
Toward the evening of that day Chobei came back, but with a downcast
countenance. Bunzayemon did not ask where he had been, nor did Chobei
volunteer any information. The next day again, and the next, he asked
for more money, and went out early in the morning, coming back late at
night. He continued in this way for about half a month. The others once
more warned their master, but he still refused to listen to them.
One day Chobei came to his master and said: “Sir, you import a lot of
timber from Kii Province and try to sell it at once among the people of
this city. But Yedo is a place where fires are so frequent that, if you
buy up a lot of timber at a time when the price is low and keep it, it’s
certain you will make a great profit when some big fire occurs. But to
find a good place for keeping timber,” he went on, “is one of the chief
difficulties, because, as you are well aware, if you keep it near at
hand, in the heart of the city, there’s danger of its being destroyed by
fire, and if you keep it in a river or the sea, either it rots or is
eaten by worms. Now, every day I have been going about looking for a
good place to keep it, and at last I have found one at Kiba in Fukagawa.
Keep timber in the water of that place, and, on account of the quality
of the water, worms will not eat it, but the wood will become shiny and
improve by keeping. Besides, no danger will come to it from fire.” And
he concluded his far-sighted plan with, “For these reasons, I hope you
will soon construct a reservoir for timber in that place.”
The master clapped his hands in admiration and joy, saying: “Upon my
word, that’s a capital idea! I thought you must have been planning
something, but I never thought you were looking out for a place to keep
timber. I myself had turned the matter over in my mind some time ago,
but on account of my many other duties I hadn’t the time to see to it
myself, and I thank you for undertaking it for me.” And then and there
he intrusted the building of the timber reservoir to Chobei.
Chobei lost no time in going to Fukagawa and buying ten thousand
_tsubo_, or about forty thousand square yards, of ground near the temple
of Susaki. He built a large reservoir there and removed to it all the
timber imported by his master from Kii Province. Besides, Chobei got his
master’s permission to send out men to the neighboring mountains to buy
up timber where it could be got cheap, and having deposited it all at
Fukagawa, waited contentedly for the time to sell.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
CHAPTER IX
THE GREAT CONFLAGRATION—THE CHARITY “BENTO”
IT was on the 18th of January in the third year of the Meireki era (1657
A.D.) that a bitterly cold north wind, much colder than usual, was
blowing hard. As the wind increased in strength, the foot-passengers,
even in the busy streets, became fewer. From the hour of _ne_, or the
snake, which is the same as ten o’clock A.M. in our modern reckoning, it
had become a regular hurricane, raising clouds of dust and even whirling
pebbles into the air. It seemed as if the heavens and the earth were
creaking and shaking under the rage of it. At this juncture the people
of the city were alarmed by the repeated hasty ringing of several
fire-bells in the direction of the Hongo district, the northern part of
the city. Everybody went up to his fire-lookout and saw the ominous
black smoke rising in the shape of a vast eddying cloud over the part of
the city called Maruyama in Hongo.[31]
Footnote 31:
Hongo precinct of the Maruyama Mountain.
It happened that, a few days before, Bunzayemon, with five or six young
men and a plentiful supply of money, had gone into the mountains of the
neighboring country to buy lumber, leaving the management of his
affairs, in his absence, entirely to Chobei San.
So when Chobei hurried up to the lookout to ascertain where it was that
the fire had broken out, he glanced up to the heavens and said to
himself: “From the appearance of the sky this wind will not fall for
some time, and in all probability the whole city will be burned down,
because the houses are quite dried up by the continued fine weather we
have been having lately. This is the time to save many people, and it is
also a very good time to make a great deal of profit!”
Saying this, Chobei made for the shop and issued orders in excited haste
to the men. “Now, you men must form yourselves into two bands: one to go
straight to Fukagawa and get a huge iron pot and a quantity of rice to
be boiled, and make preparations for a charity lunch for the poor; the
other to stay here and put together all the goods in the shop that we
may transfer them without loss of time to Fukagawa.” Though the men
complained against his hasty decision to retreat before the distant
fire, they could not resist the order of the chief man in the shop, so
they reluctantly began to pack up the goods in preparation for
departure, though they thought it would only prove necessary in the end
to brush the dust and soot from off them. Seeing how they were employed,
the neighbors, too, jeered at the hurry they were in; but consternation
soon spread even among these neighbors when the sparks, carried and
fanned by the wind, had started fresh fires—one at Kanda[32] and another
at Nihonbashi, the business part of the city.
Footnote 32:
A precinct of Yedo.
By this time Chobei had already closed the shop and sent off some
valuables and some furniture on carts to Fukagawa, escorted by the men
of the shop, while he had all the timber floated down the river to the
same place, to be put with the other timber which had already been
stored there. Chobei was much delighted to find that all the
preparations for the charity luncheon for the destitute had been carried
out by those who had gone before them. “For our first work is the saving
of the people,” he exclaimed.
So saying, he engaged a few coolies to assist the men in boiling the
rice and so forth. Having wrapped the boiled rice in broad bamboo
leaves, together with pickled _daikon_,[33] he contrived a luncheon for
many thousands of the poor in no time.
Footnote 33:
Large white radishes.
The stronger the wind grew the farther the fire spread: it devastated
the city with such rapidity that noontide of that day saw even the
districts of Hachobori and Shiba reduced to heaps of smoldering ashes.
Those who were burned out had not had time to put away their furniture,
but only escaped with their lives, and were seeking in vain to find
shelter in the houses of their relatives, who had suffered a like fate
with them and could not assist them. Not knowing where to turn, they
wandered about in terror the whole day, and their misery was such that
they could not even get themselves food.
While this was the state of things, a band of coolies came among them
with a rectangular bamboo basket with _bento_[34] in it, and one of them
held aloft a paper flag with huge characters on it, which read as
follows: “Kinokuniya Bunzayemon’s Charity Luncheon!”
Footnote 34:
Luncheon.
The coolies distributed this _bento_ among the men and women who were in
distress. Every man and woman, therefore, whether young or old, who was
sore oppressed by hunger, was glad to get hold of this food and was
relieved by it, though it was only for a time. With admirable sagacity
Chobei quickly hired many more coolies and prepared more luncheons,
sending them to every quarter of the city; and so wherever men went they
saw the selfsame flag flying for charity, and the whole city was
surprised, and praised the generosity of this Kinokuniya Bunzayemon.
In this great fire even those large palaces of the _daimios_,[35] which
stood in the line of the fire and which could in ordinary days call up
many hands to keep the fire off, were not able to escape from the
disaster. Even the nobles of high rank and their retainers knew not
where to find shelter, but stood bewildered in the corners of their big
gardens and waited for help, but in vain. For such personages Chobei
ordered men to prepare _bento_ in nice packages of _sasaori_[36] and to
present it to those nobles and their households in the name of
Kinokuniya Bunzayemon. In consequence, even the servants of these nobles
were grateful to the coolies, and received the presents on behalf of
their masters.
Footnote 35:
Feudal lords, or the nobility of Japan.
Footnote 36:
Boxes made with bamboo leaves.
Then, too, Chobei ordered the men of Kinokuniya to put up wooden
inclosures round about the grounds of those nobles to protect them from
robbery or trespass.
The fire raged through the whole night of the 18th and through the whole
of the next day, so Chobei engaged yet more coolies, and ordered them to
make more charity _bento_ for the relief of the poor.
There was a certain man named Kamada Matahachi, who was well known for
his physical strength. He had always kept a large portable closet, about
six feet by three, and five feet seven inches in height, in which to
carry his furniture in case of fire. When he thought his house was in
danger, he put all his belongings into this box, placed a sheet of
matting on the top, and carried all these on his back by the means of a
rope specially prepared for the purpose. Carrying a long, heavy stick in
his hand, he walked unconcernedly and steadily among the crowd like an
elephant among dogs. Every one marveled at his size and strength, and
was forced to make room for him to go by. When he came to Fukagawa to
escape from the fire, he saw there a large sign which read:
Day laborers are wanted for carrying the charity _bento_. Let
all who wish to be engaged call at the timber reservoir of
Kinokuniya Bunzayemon at Fukagawa. Three meals will be given,
and one _kwan mon_[37] will be paid daily for wages.
Footnote 37:
A sum about equal to one dollar.
As he had nowhere to go at the time, he was glad to find some work. He
went to the timber reservoir of Bunzayemon, where he found a bustle and
hurry of men and women, hundreds in number, for the preparation of
luncheon. Some were preparing a quantity of rice in large iron pots,
others were cutting up some pickles, while a third set of men were
wrapping these up in bamboo leaves.
[Illustration:
Matahachi in the great fire at Yedo
]
Many bands of coolies with their paper flags were carrying out the
luncheons in the baskets, while others were coming back with empty ones.
Matahachi, with that big closet on his back, drew near to the place and
thundered out: “Is this the place where hands are wanted?” The people
turned, and without giving any answer simply looked at one another in
astonishment at his curious appearance.
Once more he called out: “I’m one Kamada Matahachi; I come to assist
your charity work for the rescue of the people.”
The voice apparently penetrated even to the inner room, for Chobei came
out and was also surprised by the man’s appearance, but said: “Nothing
can be more fortunate for us than to have the assistance of Mr.
Matahachi, who is noted in the whole of Yedo for his physical strength.
Please help us in our work by distributing the _bento_ in this big,
light-wood chest.”
With ready acquiescence Matahachi laid aside the heavy baggage on his
back. “This is my furniture,” he said; “please keep it for me.” The
rattling sound of iron and china in the chest made those near by wonder
at the forethought with which he had made provision against the
contingency of a fire, and by which he had been enabled to move away at
once with all his household goods.
Having safely stowed away his possessions, Matahachi lifted the big
wooden chest, now packed with _bento_, and by means of a rope put it on
his back, and, holding the big pole of hard oak-wood in his right hand
and the paper flag in his left, started forth to the scene of ruin, with
one coolie to assist him.
As he called out in a loud, deep tone of voice to announce the charity,
the people turned to him in astonishment and soon came flocking around
him. The attendant coolie, standing behind, distributed the _bento_ from
the chest on Matahachi’s back with no inconvenience. So these two
finished their task in less time than it would have taken five or six
men to do it with ordinary methods. On their way back to Kinokuniya,
when they came to a crowded place Matahachi put forth his staff, and by
pushing the crowd to one side made his way through without any
hindrance.
In one of those crowded places he heard the shrieking cry of a girl.
Forcing his way to the spot, he found a girl of twelve or thirteen years
of age who could not get up on account of being trodden down by the
crowd. Being naturally of a chivalrous character, he soon helped the
girl up and asked whether she had not her parents with her.
She sobbed, and said: “We all ran away when the fire broke out, and I
became separated from my parents!”
As he could not leave her there, he said: “That cannot be helped. If you
wander about here you may be trampled to death. I will take you to a
better place if you will get into my empty chest.” So the coolie helped
her in, and they hastened on to Fukagawa.
At another time he saw an old woman of about threescore years, half
dead, lying by the wayside with her dress partly burned. He felt he
could not leave her behind in such a state, so she, too, was put into
the bamboo basket by the side of the girl.
Having got back to Fukagawa, he said to Chobei: “I rescued these two on
the way home. Give them the treatment which is suited to their need.” He
handed them over to the acting master, who thanked Matahachi, and thus
addressed the other bands of coolies: “To give away the _bento_ alone
does not cover the whole work of charity; whenever any of you are coming
back with empty chests, you, too, had better bring people home, if such
help is needed as these two received.” And a cordial reception was given
to the old woman as well as to the young girl.
During such a fire there were naturally many lost children and aged
persons who might have been trodden down under foot. Having understood
Chobei’s instructions, the other bands from that time were sure to bring
back two or three who needed help. To any who were thus brought in
Chobei gave proper treatment, and as he gave the coolies prizes they
worked with great zeal and diligence. Kamada Matahachi went in and out
of the fire ruins many times a day and repeated the same charitable
work. The five or six hundred coolies did their best, also, and, in
consequence, at the reservoir there was a continuous trooping out with
the _bento_ and trooping in of the people; and by the night of the 19th
there were 2800 rescued persons, old and young, all told, who had been
brought to this temporary shelter.
Even on the night of the 19th there was no sign of the abating of the
fire. The strong northwest wind was still raging, and within two days,
the Hongo, Kanda, Nihonbashi, Kyobashi, and Shiba districts were all
swept by the fire. And now the fire was burning down Takanawa with such
terrific force that the very sea-line seemed to recede before it. But
that night the wind suddenly changed to the south-east, and the fire
turned backward and licked up all the houses on both sides of the great
river Sumida and those that had survived at first in Asakusa and round
about Yushima. Then at last it was got under control near to Senju about
noonday on the 20th. And since the morning of the 18th, within three
days and two nights, the whole city of Yedo had been reduced to ashes
and as many as 108,000 people were lost. It was one of the most terrible
of fires.
Indeed, such a disastrous fire had never before and has never since
occurred in Yedo, and even now it is sadly referred to by the people as
the “Furisode-Kwaji”—the long-sleeved fire—quite as often as it is
called the great fire of Hongo-Maruyama.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
CHAPTER X
AMBITION SATISFIED—THE MERCHANT PRINCE
KINOKUNIYA BUNZAYEMON, who unknowingly had left such a big fire behind
him and sought the mountainous districts of the neighboring provinces as
his field of action, went over to Sagami Province the same day, and
negotiated with the chief owners of forests there and made a contract
with them, paying them guaranty money in advance. The next day he
crossed over to Awa Province and visited in turn the owners of mountain
forests in Kazusa, Shimo-osa, and Musashi, and struck bargains with them
to buy all their salable timber. Four or five days only were occupied in
these rapid negotiations, at the end of which time, as the rumor of the
big fire of Yedo had got abroad to these neighboring provinces, Kibun
hastened on his way back to Yedo. As he was passing amidst the
smoldering ruins on the way to his depot at Fukagawa, he continually
heard the people talking of himself. Every time he stopped and listened.
“Well, Genbei San, Kinokuniva Bunzayemon is a fine fellow, isn’t he? One
would think he had foreseen the fire and prepared that enormous amount
of _bento_ beforehand; otherwise he could not possibly have given it out
to the people so readily. I and others had nowhere to find food, so we
supported ourselves for three days on that _bento_.”
“Is that so, Hachibei San? I also received it every day. For three days,
wherever one went among the ruins one was met with his charity. It’s
said that within three days no less than two thousand _koku_[38] of rice
were given away. Had it not been for that charity nearly the whole
population of the city would have famished. Moreover, Genbei San, the
charity was extended even to the mansions of many _daimios_, and the
nobles and their families ate of his _bento_.”
Footnote 38:
Ten thousand bushels.
“To be sure. Even the nobles with their heaps of gold and all their
power couldn’t buy a single grain in the general consternation! Really
that Kibun, whoever he may be, is a sagacious fellow!” Thus the men
talked who had received his alms.
While Bunzayemon, who listened to this current talk, was inwardly
rejoicing that Chobei had managed his affairs so admirably, he passed
two women who were talking.
“Oh, Haru San, when I lost sight of my child in the crowd,” one of them
was saying, “I became almost mad in my search for her; but as I could
not find her in the hurry and bustle, I gave her up for being trodden to
death or else for being suffocated in the heat. In my grief I lost all
care for my own life. But then I heard the people say that some
thousands of strayed children had been taken to Kibun’s country place at
Fukagawa. I ran there at once, and lo! I found my little girl there
among the children. My joy, of course, knew no bounds. Let people say
what they wish, Kibun must be a merciful man; in such a fire as this
naturally there are a lot of strayed children, and therefore he sent out
his men to every quarter of the city, ordering them to bring such to his
house. In three days a thousand or more people were rescued, they say.
Henceforth I will always have a niche for Kibun Sama in my heart.”
“I will, too. Your case was not so bad as mine. For my part, when I lost
sight of my mother, no words could express my anxiety. If she had been
in sound health, I would have felt a little easier, but she has been
laid up since last winter on account of her great age. At first we
thought we were safe from the conflagration, as the fire had passed by
us toward Takanawa; but then by the change of wind the sparks started
the fire afresh at the very next door to our own. The men belonging to
the house had gone to Takanawa to help a relative of ours there, and I
thought it would be a shame to me if by my indecision the fire should
cause the death of my mother; so, holding mother’s hand, I dragged her
from the house.
“After two or three _chos’_[39] run, mother was out of breath and
consequently couldn’t walk a step farther. I put her on my back and ran
on, but we were both soon suffocated by the smoke, and then I tumbled
down. I couldn’t get up for some time because other people who were
running to escape from the flames trod on me.
Footnote 39:
One _cho_ equals about one hundred and twenty yards.
“In another minute the sparks set fire to my dress and my whole body was
nearly burned. However, I braced myself up and got on my feet, being
very anxious about my mother. I looked round, and she was not there. I
knew she couldn’t possibly have run away, owing to her helplessness; so
I looked around me, being sure she must be either in a ditch or
stupefied by the smoke. The fire, however, was too quick for me. I
couldn’t stay to make further search, so I ran away. I have been weeping
since at the thought of mother’s death, when yesterday I heard a report
that mother was safe at Fukagawa. I flew to the place and met her. When
I asked how she had got there she told me that she had been rescued by
the coolies of a certain Kibun, and after being brought there had
received the most kind treatment. Henceforth I’ll not sleep with my feet
toward Fukagawa.”
Hearing this, Bunzayemon was further struck by the excellent management
of Chobei. On his way home through the desolation and ruin he also
passed by many of the _daimios’_ palace-grounds, when he saw his own
trade-mark on all the boardings put up as temporary inclosures.
As he was wondering at this new proof of Chobei’s energy and wisdom, two
_samurai_, or retainers, came by talking.
“Look, my friend! The inclosure of this mansion, too, seems to have been
put up by Kibun’s people. The man is wonderfully ready for everything!
And no doubt the fact that he has put up the temporary inclosure means
that the rebuilding will be put into his hands, and no better man could
probably be found.”
“You are right. If we employ him he’s certain to lose no time about it.”
Bunzayemon, who overheard this conversation, clapped his hands in
admiration, and, turning to his attendants, said: “How now, my fellows!
You didn’t think much of Chobei at first, did you? Well, what do you
think of him now?”
The attendants looked at one another and said: “Really, he is very
clever—even more clever than you, sir! Yes, unless a man employs some
men cleverer than himself he can never become great!”
With unbounded joy Bunzayemon soon arrived at his depot at Fukagawa. No
sooner did he catch sight of Chobei than he held out his hand to him,
saying: “Ah! I have no words in which to express my thanks to you. I
have been hearing from the chance talk of the people on my way home of
all you have been doing in my absence, and have been much struck by your
sagacity. Indeed, I have never felt so much joy as I experience to-day!”
Bunzayemon, who was not accustomed to show joy or sorrow in his face,
could not suppress his emotion on that day.
Almost all the houses in the city of Yedo were destroyed by the fire.
Warriors and merchants had to build their abodes afresh, and because all
the timber in the city was reduced to ashes, the price at once went up
tenfold. Now Kibun alone, at this juncture, had already a great stock of
timber on hand at his depot at Fukagawa, and he had fresh supplies
constantly being sent in from the mountains in the near-by country,
being the timber he had lately bought. The profit which he gained by
selling all this material was something enormous.
[Illustration:
“‘I have no words in which to express my thanks to you’”
]
Moreover, on account of his alms and the inclosures he had put up for
various great feudal lords, they too became his customers and asked him
to rebuild their mansions. By these orders he again made a great profit.
He ascribed this good fortune entirely to Chobei, to whom he gave a
great sum of money as a token of appreciation of his services. Besides,
he handsomely rewarded the other men and boys in his employ.
He also sent for that chief carpenter, Seihachi.
“Well, Seihachi, this is the prize which I give you.”
Thus saying, he put a box which contained one thousand _rio_ in front of
him.
The other was frightened out of his wits.
“Oh! do you say there’s a gift of a thousand _rio_ for me in this
packet? Isn’t it empty?”
“No, it’s not empty. Lift it and see.”
Whereupon Seihachi tried to lift it and said: “Truly, it’s too heavy; I
can’t lift it! Isn’t this a dream?” said he, as he pinched his knee.
Bunzayemon laughed. “It is not a dream. It’s a reward to you, sure and
certain, and you had better take it home with you.”
“Really, I thank you, sir. In the time of the fire I carried charity
_bento_ only three times, for I was working at other things; therefore
I’m not worthy of so great a reward!”
“It isn’t a reward for that.”
“Then for the inclosure which I did for Sendai Sama, the _daimio_; for
that work my assistants came late, so I couldn’t finish it till late in
the evening. The work ought to have been finished much earlier.”
“It isn’t for that.”
“Not for that, either? For what is it, then, sir?”
Bunzayemon pointed to Chobei, who was then in the shop, and said: “You
brought me that excellent article, there. It’s for that.”
The carpenter misunderstood him and said: “Is that so? I see, for that
article. That’s an article rarely found, and I thought it would be a
great loss if it was burnt, so before other things I sent it down on a
raft from Hachobori to Fukagawa. Then on the way it collided with a ship
and the raft was nearly broken to pieces.”
“What are you talking about?”
“You mean that hinoki plank, do you not, of eight inches both in breadth
and thickness?”
“No; you don’t understand me, yet. It is your prize for bringing Chobei
to me.”
“You mean Chobei San. Ah, I see, I see! I did not understand you. I
wondered why you gave me such a handsome reward. But Chobei San has
certainly proved to be an excellent man. I thought he was a hopeless
fellow. Shall I bring you another Chobei San? I have a lot more.”
“What sort of Chobei is he?”
“The next idlest fellow who depends on me for support.”
Bunzayemon laughed, saying, “No, thank you; I don’t want another Chobei
of that kind.”
In this wise, Bunzayemon, by the help of Chobei, undertook various
important schemes and accumulated great wealth. Thus in time his fame
had sounded through the whole of Japan and he had built a big
establishment at Honhachobori,—a street in Tokio, near the heart of the
city,—which covered one _cho_ square. Always strenuously pushing forward
his business, he at last, as had been his ambition, became the leading
merchant in the whole of Japan. As the old verse says:
The heavy gourd from slender stem takes birth,
From strenuous will spring deeds of weighty worth.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
● Transcriber’s Notes:
○ Missing or obscured punctuation was silently corrected.
○ Typographical errors were silently corrected.
○ Inconsistent spelling and hyphenation were made consistent only
when a predominant form was found in this book.
○ Text that was in italics is enclosed by underscores (_italics_)
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