Yendo, ass that you are, pretending ancestral birth befitting to serve a lord daimyo so good and great as I, come hither and bow low before the father of Shibusawa. Go carry Maidos command to the temple of Yeiheiji that seven times seven solemn strokes be sounded, calling upon the spirit of Amaterasu to awaken, that she may welcome the new born. Send swift running messengers to notify all the people that Maido, their lord and master, is the father of a son, christened Shibusawa, whom it has pleased the gods shall rule his ancestral heritage in obedience to the dictates of his own conscience and with honour to his majestys shogun. Cause to be hung above the entrance to every house red and yellow lanterns that all may take notice, for to those who remain ignorant shall appear spirits mounted upon dragons with eyes of fire and nostrils belching clouds of flame and smoke, as they charge down through the heavens toward Ema-O.
Convey to the people my command that from the new to the old moon, following next, none shall eat more than half his allowance of rice or drink more than half his sake, bringing the remainder to their daimyos storehouse that a great feast may be indulged. They shall also bring of their silk one-half and of their potted flowers many, that Kakezara, the noble mother, may have kimonos without number and her gardens may be filled with beauty and fragrance. Those engaged in the making of sweets shall make such as will please her taste, and beware that none displease, for better that ten thousand times ten thousand slaves perish at their labour than Kakezara, queen of Maidos household, be not served without the slightest displeasure. Let the most famed of workers in wood and lacquer be called together that they may counsel with one another about the making for Kakezara a chair; and, as I myself have taught them well in this art, let all beware that when the work is done there be none other so good; for I shall not be so base as to spare even one who shall in the least manner slight his labour or fail in his part.
I command that the governor of each province select the fairest daughters from among his kinsmen, that there may assemble at the shibai (place of amusement), during the first moon of the iris and the lotus, not less than seven times seventy-seven virgins with rosy complexions and pleasing manners, for the goddess Benten has willed Maido the pleasures of at least three moons. Tell the household keeper to make ready chambers fronting on gardens filled with the perfume of flowers and the song of birds, and, when the hour has come, to assemble these fairies in the silken hall of love, that their lord daimyo, like Jimmu of old, may descend the fêted stair into a world of beauty and pleasure.
And when all else has been done you will instruct him that henceforth Kakezara shall occupy the choicest pillow at the head of Maidos lawful wives, and that of them her voice shall be first in authority: that her rank at bath shall be next to Shibusawas and first among her sex.
The news of Shibusawas birth and christening soon spread, and the excitement wore heavily from the meanest coolie to Maido himself, though probably none was more worried than Yukesan, the oldest and meanest servant in the household. This faithful old slave had climbed daily, for seven successive days before the christening, to the top of Onnasaka, and each time as often bumped her head upon the cold hard stone at the base of Kishemogins tomb, praying for the goddess mother of fiends to come and claim the new born. For seven months prior thereto even, she had importuned this fiendish goddess to render Maidos lawful wives incapable of bearing a male child, hoping that her own fatherless imp, Okyo,now seven years of age, with slight form and stooped shoulders, his eyes small and his head peaked, whose hair stood out like bristles on a porcupine, while his nose looked owlish and his ears as a squirrels,might naturally be adopted and thus become the inheritor of his masters rank and place.
The rest of the household busied themselves with the days rounds or discussing the probable change at the castle, for little were they interested in outside affairs. They were not concerned with the possible new daimyos bearing upon the welfare at large, for they were destitute of power to aid, hence without any inclination to heed; where the only hope in life was to do the bidding of a master. Each courted his own content and permitted others likewise to suffer or adapt their own circumstances. They were an independent lot, hence their abject dependence.
When, therefore, the hour for feasting had arrived, and each little tray, hustled in and set upon the floor in front of the person served, was seen to contain a small satsuma bowl, filled with a rare delicacyconsisting of real live worms (a kind of salt water shrimp), wriggling and crawling, and served only upon extraordinary occasionseverybody accounted his master a noble of the royal blood. Eating, smoking, and drinking were interspersed with a lagging conversation until the last was stretched at length upon the spotless matting, his only place of sleeping. Maido, too, had gone to sleep at an early hour, and when he awakened the next morning he felt refreshed, and was well pleased with a recollection of preceding events. Without rising, he reclined on his elbow and looked out at the landscape around, for early in the morning servants had noiselessly removed the outer partitions so that their master could lounge on the floor and enjoy the open air at his pleasure. This morning the suns rays seemed to give a little more warmth than usual, and as they fell amongst the green foliage the large drops of dew reflected sparkling gems that lolled on the hollow leaflets, or trickled down the long and bended blades of grass.
What a glorious world, and how sweet to live in! thought he, as he lay there revelling in the beauties of art and nature.
Strong and vigorous of body, mind, and heart, as only those are who are at peace with the world, he arose and briskly crossed the room to the inner veranda. Then, casting off his night kimono, he lightly tripped down upon a marble slab, and running along the smooth footpath to an arbour, overhung with vine and flower, plunged into the bracing waters already prepared for his coming. After the bath, massage, and shave, attended by waiting servants, he donned walking apparel and sprang down along the winding walk among dwarfed trees, under artificial cliffs, and around miniature mountains; here he crossed a red-lacquered bridge and there passed a gorge or waterfall; coming, presently, to a crystal lake, he made an unsuccessful throw or two, then cast his rod aside and continued his tramp in the open or through the brush and bamboo to a distant corner of the garden. Here he slackened his gait and with reverence approached the solemn shrine wherein stood the tomb of Hajama, the illustrious founder of his august family; and there, in the quiet, and alone, at the base of this strangely carved monument, he knelt and clapped his hands and reverently bowed to the spirit of his immortal ancestor.
When his morning prayer was finished Maido quietly left the misty place and walked out again into the freshness of life and past the playground where groups of children romped on the green or chattered with childish glee. As he passed them by he paused only to look at them for a moment and then walked on toward the great gate in front. Now and then he stooped to pluck a leaflet, or stood listening to the tuneful zephyrs as they played among the branches; sometimes he stopped to watch the light and shadows chase each other across the grassy sward, or started at the sonorous, Haugh! Haugh! Haugh! wafted from high overhead.