“As I have come to this country,” said I, “after so much trouble, I wish to inform the Pope that I am a Japanese, and here is the letter to the Pope written for that purpose.”
I took out the letter from my pocket and handed it to the ex-Minister, and continued:
“It is no difficult thing to present it to the Pope, but in doing so I must consider whether you might suffer from it, for you have been my friends and patrons for a long time. Therefore please bind me with a rope, take me to the court and tell the officers that you have found out that I am a foreigner. If you do so, you are surely free from trouble. As to myself, I will explain to the Government the causes of my intrusion into this country.”
While I was speaking thus the frowns on his face had increased, and when I concluded he interrupted:
“That will not do, my Japanese friend. If you take such a measure you will certainly be taken to prison, where you will die of hunger and cold, and if you don’t die of such causes you will be killed. Of course the Government will not sentence a foreigner to death, but then they can procure the same effect by using poison in secret. You have no need to hasten your destruction. What is the use of killing yourself?”
I was somewhat surprised to hear of such awful means to be used in the Tibetan jail, but I replied:
“It is of no use for me to succeed if my success is gained by the loss of others; it is far better to die and do others no harm. I shall not fly from danger and allow my benefactors to suffer, who have shown me as much kindness as parents show to their children.”
The affectionate old woman, who was listening to me with a sorrowful face and trembling limbs, could not bear any more, and threw herself down and wept bitterly.
Then the ex-Minister spoke to me in a determined tone: “It will never do to allow such a noble mind to die in order that we who are not far from the grave should survive. Though humble, I believe truly in the Buḍḍha, and cannot do such an action as to sacrifice a man to save myself. I know you too well to take you for a spy, or for a thief of the national religion. I know it from my long intercourse with you. Even I were to be killed for it, I could not rid myself of danger by persecuting a man who came here to study Buḍḍhism. How could I do such a thing? But now, in the present state of things in Tibet, it is not a good opportunity to disclose your nationality. Therefore return home for this time, and wait till the time will come. I am a brother and disciple of Ganden Ti Rinpoche, from whom I received the lesson of the ‘Great Benevolence.’ I cannot expose you to death while I myself escape from calamity. If we are to suffer after your departure, we must take it as due to a cause existing in a previous life, and resign ourselves.”