Recitative. The hunters all leave her and go to their own homes. The mother, amid her tears, comes close to Kanpei.
Mother. Now, my son, I thought my suspicions unjust; but there is one thing I cannot understand. Though you were, it is true, formerly a samurai, yet one would have expected you to be amazed when you saw your father-in-law’s dead body. When you met him on the road, did you not receive money from him? What did he say to you? Now, tell me. Say it. Ah, you cannot answer; and this is the reason why.
Recitative. And she puts her hand into Kanpei’s bosom and draws out the pouch.
Mother. A while ago I caught sight of this pouch. See, it is stained with blood, and you must have killed the old man.
Kanpei. No, this........
Mother. What of it? You may try to hide it; but the all-seeing Heaven reveals it. And the money for which you killed the old man, for whom was it intended? Yes, I see. You thought that your father-in-law, being poor, would keep back a half of the money for which he sold his daughter, and not give you the whole of it; and so you killed him and took it all. How it galls me to think that until this very day we were deceived and believed you to be an upright man, you inhuman monster! I am so astonished that tears refuse to flow. Oh, poor Yoichibei, you did not know what a brute your son is; in your wish to restore him to the samurai’s rank, you ran about, old man as you were, in Kyoto without taking a night’s rest, and at expense to yourself, you helped him; and all this has led to your own undoing, and you are bitten by the dog that you have been feeding. How could you have killed him in this cruel manner, you devil, you serpent? Return me father, restore to life my old man.
Recitative. In her fury, she seizes him by the hair, and pulling him towards her, beats his head on the floor.
Mother. My anger would not be satisfied even if I tortured you to death inch by inch.
Recitative. With revengeful words, she lays her face on the floor and gives way to tears. For his misdeed, Kanpei feels his whole body covered with boiling sweat; he clings to the mat, and he knows that the punishment of Heaven has come upon him. At this moment arrive two samurai, wearing deep wicker hats.
