So she did. She said, “I shall sing you a song you have heard already.”
“My mother bade me spin fine thread
Out of the yellow sea sand—
A hard task, a hard task.
May the dear gods speed me!
My father gave me a basket of reeds;
He said, ‘Draw water from the spring
And carry it a mile’—
A hard task, a hard task.
May the dear gods speed me!
My heart would remember,
My heart must forget;
Forget, my heart, forget—
A hard task, a hard task.
May the dear gods speed me!”
“Sweet,” he said, “what does this song mean, and why do you sing it?”
She answered, “My lord, it means that I must leave you, and therefore do I sing it. I must forget you; you must forget me. That is my desire.”
He said, “I will never forget you, not in a thousand existences.”
She smiled, “Pray the gods you may wed a sweet wife and have children.”
He cried, “No wife but you, and no children but yours, O Flower of the Cherry.”
“The gods forbid, my dear, my dear. All the world lies between us.”
The next day she was gone. High and low the lover wandered, weeping and lamenting and seeking her both near and far. It was all in vain, for he found her not. The city of Yedo knew her no more—Sakura-ko, the beautiful dancer.
And her lover mourned many many days. Howbeit at last he was comforted, and they found for him a very sweet fair lady whom he took to wife willingly enough, and soon she bore him a son. And he was glad, for time dries all tears.