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.
[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.
“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.