Thus crying, she stood poised for a moment upon the prow of the ship, and then sprang into the sea.
“SHE SPRANG INTO THE SEA”
Yamato gave a terrible cry and would have followed her, but his chief men laid hands upon him and would not let him go.
The wind sank to quietness, the waves grew calm, the storm ceased, and his headman cried, “My lord, the sacrifice is accepted. We may now pass quickly in safety. Because she would wish it, rouse yourself to strife and conquest.”
When morning broke, the ships were safely moored by the farther shore. As Yamato stepped out upon the sand, the lapping waves cast at his feet the comb of the princess, his wife. He picked it up and commanded that at that spot a temple should be raised to her memory.
Then he made a great conquest for his lord the emperor, and his soldiers boasted of him and said, “He is the greatest warrior in the world, the Prince Yamato Take!”
But he was no longer proud. Instead, when men praised him, and honors were showered upon him, he bent his head and said only, “Azuma! azuma! wa ya!”[37]
Footnotes
[36] Every Samurai carried two swords, a long one to slay his enemies, a short one to kill himself if about to be taken prisoner.