Then Nobuyoshi was much surprised, and sorrowed greatly; but, thinking to himself that indeed it could not be helped, he called Shuntoku to him, and said:—
"Son, this sickness which you have seems to be leprosy; and one having such a sickness cannot continue to dwell in this house.
"It were best for you, therefore, to make a pilgrimage through all the provinces, in the hope that you may be healed by divine influence.
"And my storehouses and my granaries I will not give to Otowaka-maru, but only to you, Shuntoku; so you must come back to us."
Poor Shuntoku, not knowing how wicked his stepmother was, besought her in his sad condition, saying: "Dear mother, I have been told that I must go forth and wander as a pilgrim.
"But now I am blind, and I cannot travel without difficulty. I should be content with one meal a day in place of three, and glad for permission to live in a corner of some storeroom or outhouse; but I should like to remain somewhere near my home.
"Will you not please permit me to stay, if only for a little time? Honored mother, I beseech you, let me stay."
But she answered: "As this trouble which you now have is only the beginning of the bad disease, it is not possible for me to suffer you to stay. You must go away from the house at once."
Then Shuntoku was forced out of the house by the servants, and into the yard, sorrowing greatly.
And the wicked stepmother, following, cried out: "As your father has commanded, you must go away at once, Shuntoku."