“Heigh! Okyo, it is because our ancestral gods have so created it.”

“But why do not the gods create vines so large and so beautiful for all men?”

“Because, my child, all men are not given to such beauty.”

“Are all daimyos inclined toward only that which is beautiful?”

“Yes. They are descended from the gods of goodness and love, and as the spirits of these gods dwell in the realms of heavenly beauty so do the minds of daimyos dwell upon things of earthly beauty.”

“If daimyos think and do only things which are beautiful, why do they cut men’s heads off?”

“That is done in obedience to the commands of our superiors; and, I assure you, there is nothing more beautiful than an act of obedience to our masters.”

“Will Shibusawa be a daimyo when he grows up?”

“Yes; if his head be spared so long and his father’s not.”

“Will I, too, be a daimyo when I am a man?”