TO
MY DEARLY BELOVED SISTER EMILIE
In Brotherly Affection
THIS BOOK IS DEDICATED
BY THE AUTHOR
PREFACE.
This story is an original tale of Old Japan, written almost from a Japanese point of view. It might be translated into that language; and, rendered in book form or told on a street corner by one of the itinerant story-tellers, the reader or listener would think it to accord fully with the traditions of the period in which it is supposed to have been enacted. Whether such a treatment will meet with approval here, it remains for the public to say. I have adhered to it against the advice of several eminent literary friends, to bring the story more into accord with our canons of style and construction. From the standpoint of a Japanese, none of the incidents or situations are in the slightest degree strained or exaggerated, and none of the characters overdrawn. All the historical allusions are strictly true and authentic,—as far as present knowledge on the subject goes,—and have been carefully and painstakingly culled from native chronicles.
The five engravings on copper have been executed by a young Japanese, Mr. Nakamura Munehiro, of Tokio, one of the best engravers in Japan, who also made the original drawings for the same. The other pictures were drawn by Shirayama Dani, a young porcelain painter in the employ of Fujiyama, of this city. It shows the versatility of Japanese artists, that although the young man had never in his life done anything but porcelain painting, which is done in pure wash, he succeeded without instruction, in a very few days, in making pictures for reproduction. In spite of their sharp outline they are done not with pen and ink, but with a Japanese brush.
LOUIS WERTHEIMBER.
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
| PAGE | |
| ETCHINGS ON COPPER. | |
| Muramasa invoking the Blessing of the Gods on a newly forged Sword | [Frontispiece] |
| Muramasa and his Son at the Forge | [48] |
| O Tetsu | [74] |
| Sennoske showing his Sword to his Father | [92] |
| The Duke receiving Sennoske | [176] |
| RELIEF ENGRAVINGS. | |
| Japanese Title | [Facing English title] |
| The Old Jinrikisha Man and his Wife | [3] |
| Japanese Sword | [6] |
| Farm Laborer | [8] |
| Woman sowing Rice | [9] |
| Mythological Gods of Japan | [12] |
| The Duke’s Attack on the Ambassador | [15] |
| Street Board for Government Edicts | [18] |
| Emperor of Japan | [19] |
| Empress of Japan | [23] |
| Sword-daggers | [25] |
| Singing Girls | [26] |
| The Duke receiving Mutto | [29] |
| Sword Ornaments | [33] |
| Writing Table | [35] |
| Street Scene in Kuwana | [38] |
| Japanese Fishes (Two) | [42] |
| Japanese Landscape | [45] |
| An Eta | [47] |
| Sword-guard | [49] |
| Landing-place at Kuwana | [51] |
| A Ronin | [54] |
| Deserted Buildings | [57] |
| O Tetsu and the Two Beldames | [61] |
| Sword-guard | [64] |
| Inkio (Retirement from Worldly Affairs) | [66] |
| Male and Female Nakōdō (Marriage Negotiators) | [68] |
| Sennoske and his Father | [71] |
| Sosanoô Mikoto, the Patron God of Swords and Inventor of Poetry | [73] |
| Yoritomo liberating a Thousand Cranes in honor of his Victories | [77] |
| Man in Armor | [79] |
| Peasant | [85] |
| Sennoske receiving the Sword from the Smith | [87] |
| Resenting an Insult | [91] |
| Saddle, Stirrup, and Saddle-cloth | [96] |
| Sennoske in Battle | [99] |
| Seeing a Disguised Hōjō Spy in Nitta’s Camp | [102] |
| Nitta praying to the Gods before throwing his Sword into the Sea | [105] |
| Scene at the Storming of Kamakura | [107] |
| Sennoske on his Return | [109] |
| Pilgrims to Fujiyama | [111] |
| Roadside Tea-house | [112] |
| Fujiyama, with Angel hovering over it | [113] |
| Court Lady’s Head-dress and State Fan | [115] |
| Yamagawa discovering his Mistake | [119] |
| Roadside Hotel | [124] |
| Buddhist Temple (Monk and Acolyte) | [127] |
| Yamagawa committing Seppuku (Hara-Kiri) | [129] |
| Arrows and Military Head-dress | [132] |
| Sending a Present | [134] |
| A Karo (Chief Counsellor) | [135] |
| An Execution | [138] |
| A Lord entering his Nori-mono | [140] |
| Ōtō no Miya, the Mikado’s Son, in his Mountain Retreat when fleeing from the Hōjō | [143] |
| A Prison | [145] |
| Postal Couriers | [147] |
| State Sword and Head-dress | [151] |
| A Fencing Match | [156] |
| Sennoske facing his Enemies | [159] |
| A Funeral | [163] |
| Helmet | [167] |
| News of the Arrival of the Courier at the Court | [169] |
| Serving Refreshments | [171] |
| Japanese Room | [173] |
| Marriage Scene | [178] |
| Female Musicians | [180] |
| Tail-piece (Masks) | [181] |
| Ornament | [182] |
| Gathering Tea-leaves | [183] |
| Yamato-dake no Mikoto, Semi-divinity of War | [184] |
| Marshal’s Baton, War-fan, and Head-dress | [188] |