KIBUN DAIZIN

“As the two boys were steadily gazing, up came the shark”

KIBUN DAIZIN

OR

FROM SHARK-BOY TO

MERCHANT PRINCE

BY

GENSAI MURAI

TRANSLATED BY MASAO YOSHIDA

WITH ILLUSTRATIONS

BY GEORGE VARIAN

NEW YORK

The Century Co.

1904

Copyright, 1904, by

The Century Co.

────

Published October, 1904.

The DeVinne Press.

PUBLISHERS’ NOTE

The Century Co. counts itself fortunate in being able to present to young readers an admirable story from the Japanese, written by one of Japan’s most popular novelists and filled with the spirit of that great Oriental nation. The author of this story, Gensai Murai, was once a student of the Waseda School, founded by Count Okuma, leader of the Progressive Party in Japan. There he studied English Literature as well as Japanese, and after completing his course of study he was employed by one of the well-known Tokio daily papers, called the “Hochi,” to write stories for it. His writings soon arrested the attention of the reading circles in Japan. Several of his novels went through as many as ten editions within two years.

This story of Kibun Daizin is founded upon the life of Bunzayemon Kinokuniya, a Japanese merchant of the eighteenth century, whose pluck, wisdom, and enterprising spirit made him one of the most prosperous and respected men of his time. He is much admired by his countrymen, and is talked of familiarly, even to this day, by the Japanese, under the nickname of “Kibun Daizin.” “Ki” and “Bun” stand for the initials of his personal and family names, while “Daizin” means “the wealthiest man.”

The shrewdness and dauntless ambition of the young hero of this story will commend him to the admiration of American boys, and in Kibun Daizin, as here pictured, they will find a true representative of the wonderful nation which, within thirty years, has entirely changed the modes of life that it had followed for more than twenty centuries, and has suddenly fallen into line with the most civilized countries of the world.

The story was translated especially for St. Nicholas, and many quaint terms and expressions have been purposely retained, although the pronunciation and meaning of the Japanese words are given wherever necessary.

CONTENTS

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

KIBUN DAIZIN

KIBUN DAIZIN

OR

FROM SHARK-BOY TO MERCHANT PRINCE

CHAPTER I
AN AMBITIOUS BOY

“IF you please, sir,—”

And, attracted by a voice behind him, a well-dressed gentleman turned round and saw a boy of about thirteen or fourteen hurrying toward him,—“if you please, sir, are you the head of the Daikokuya[^[1]]?”

[1]. Pronounced Dy-ko-koo’ya, meaning “dry-goods house.”

“Yes, I am,” answered the gentleman, eying the boy with surprise. “What can I do for you?”

“I come from Kada-no-Ura,” said the boy, making a polite bow, “and I wish to ask you a great favor. Will you please take me into your shop as an apprentice?”

“Your request is rather a strange one,” said the gentleman, smiling. “Pray tell me why it is that you wish to come to me.”

The boy raised his head. “Oh, sir, yours is the chief business house in Kumano, and I would be so glad if I might learn under you.”

“You wish to become a business man, do you?” said the gentleman, with a friendly nod; upon which the boy drew himself up and exclaimed, “Yes; I mean, if I can, to become the leading merchant in Japan!”

“‘If you please, sir, are you the head of the Daikokuya?’”

The master of the Daikokuya instinctively studied the boy’s face. There was a certain nobleness and intelligence about it; he had well-cut features, a firmness about the lips, and quick-glancing eyes, and, although his clothing showed poverty, his bearing was quiet and his speech refined. These things confirmed the gentleman in the opinion that the boy was not the son of any common man; and having, as the employer of many hands, a quick eye to read character, he said:

“Very good, my boy! So you mean to become the leading merchant in Japan? A fine notion, to be sure. However, before I engage a boy, you know, I must have somebody to recommend him, and he must give me references. Have you any relatives in this place?”

“No, sir; I know no one,” answered the boy.

“Why, where have you been until now?”

“I have only just come from my country. The fact is, I heard your name, sir, some time ago, and being very anxious to enter your service, I left my country all by myself to come to Kumano. But I have not a single acquaintance here, nor anybody to whom I can turn. My only object was to come straight to you; and I was asking a man on the road if he could direct me to your house, when the man pointed to you and said, ‘Why, that gentleman just ahead of us is the master of the Daikokuya.’ And that is how it comes that I ran up to you all of a sudden in this rude way.”

There was a charm in the free utterance with which the boy told his story, and, having listened to it, the gentleman said: “I understand. It is all right. As you have no friends here, I will do without a recommendation, and you shall come just as you are”; and, saying this, he brought the lad back with him to his house.

The Daikokuya, you must know, was the chief clothing establishment, or “dry-goods house,” in Kumano, and did a larger business than any other in the town. On arriving there, the master took the boy with him into an inner room, and, telling his wife what had taken place, called the boy to his side. “Tell me, my boy, what is your name?”

“My name is Bunkichi.”[^[2]]

[2]. Pronounced Boon-kee’chee.

“Are your parents living?”

At this question the boy hung his head sorrowfully. “I have neither father nor mother,” he answered, with a choking voice and eyes filled with tears.

Filled with pity, the others asked him how long he had been left alone in the world.

“I lost my mother,” he said, “more than three years ago, and my father only quite recently.”

“And what was your family? Were you farmers or tradesmen?”

“Neither one nor the other. My father formerly served under the Lord of Wakayama, and received an allowance of eight hundred koku[^[3]] of rice. His name was Igarashi Bunzayemon;[^[4]] but, losing his position, he came to Kada-no-Ura, where we had to live in a very poor way. My father, however, would never allow me to forget that the ancestor of our house was Igarashi Kobunji,[^[5]] who served in old days at Kamakura, and gained a name for himself as a brave warrior. ‘And when you become a man,’ my father used to say, ‘you must win your way to fame, and so uphold the honor of the family; but, unlike the past, our lot to-day is cast in peaceful times when there is little chance of winning distinction in arms; but become, if you can, the leading merchant in Japan, and you will bring honor to our house.’ Such was my father’s counsel to me, and not long since he was taken with a severe illness and died. And now, if you please, I wish to learn the ways of business, that I may become a merchant, and I have journeyed to Kumano to throw myself on your kindness.”

[3]. One koku equals about five bushels.

[4]. Pronounced Ee-gar-ash’ee Boon-zy’e-mon.

[5]. Pronounced Ee-gar-ash’ee Ko-boon’jee.

The gentleman listened to the boy’s clear account of himself and expressed his admiration. “Ah! I was right, I see, when I thought you were not the son of an ordinary man. Your ambition to become the chief merchant in Japan is a high one, certainly; but the proverb says, ‘Ants aspire to the skies,’ and anything is possible to a man who puts his whole heart into his work. You are still quite young, I should say, though you have come all the way from Kada-no-Ura by yourself, and though you talk of your affairs in a manner that would reflect credit on a grown-up man. Come, tell me, how old are you?”

“I am fourteen,” he answered.

“What, not more than that?”

And the master’s wife, who was by his side, could not repress her surprise, either.

At this point the shoji, or paper sliding doors, opened, and in ran a pretty little girl of about eleven. Her hair was drawn up into a little butterfly device on the top of her head, which shook to and fro as she ran up to her mother. Stretching out a small maple-leaf hand, with a winsome look, she said:

“Mother, please give me a cake.”

“Why, my dear, where are your manners? What will our young friend here think of you?”

At this the child looked around, and, for the first time becoming aware of the boy’s presence, turned shy and sat down. Looking gently in her face, her mother then asked her what she had been doing. Afraid of the stranger, she whispered in her mother’s ear: “I have been playing oni[^[6]] with Sadakichi in the garden. But I don’t like Sadakichi. When he was the oni he just caught me at once.”

[6]. A play similar to tag or prisoner’s base.

“But that often happens in playing oni,” said the mother, with a smile.

“Yes, but he does it too much; he has no right to catch people in the way he does, and I don’t wish to play with him any more.”

“Well, if that is so, how would you like to play with Bunkichi here instead?”

Accepting it as one of the duties that might fall to him, to act as the child’s companion and caretaker, Bunkichi, rather pleased than otherwise, offered to go out and try to amuse her. The little girl looked into her mother’s face, and then at Bunkichi. “Mama, how long has he been here?” she asked in a low voice.

“He only came to-day, but he’s a fine boy, and I hope you’ll be a good little girl and show him the garden.”

But the child’s thoughts seemed suddenly to take a new turn, and, sidling up to her mother, she begged to be given a cake. The mother opened the little drawer of the hibachi,[^[7]] and, taking out two or three sugar-plums, put them into her hand. The child then, with barely a glance at Bunkichi, ran through the shoji out of doors.

[7]. Pronounced he-bah’chee. A wooden fire-box where a charcoal fire is kept for warming the hands.

“Take care and don’t stumble,” her mother called out. “Do you mind just seeing after her?” she said to Bunkichi, who at once got up and went out on the veranda.

No sooner was Chocho Wage,[^[8]] or “Butterfly Curls” (so named from the way in which her hair was dressed), outside in the garden than she began quarreling with the boy from the shop. “No, Sadakichi; I’m not going to play with you. Mama says that the other boy who has just come is a fine boy, and I’m going to play with him.”

[8]. Pronounced Cho’cho Wah’gay.

“What! another boy has come, has he?”

“Yes; there he is. Go and fetch him.”

Sadakichi called to Bunkichi, “You will find some geta[^[9]] there, if you will come out.”

[9]. Pronounced gay’tah. Foot-wear or wooden clogs.

So Bunkichi came out to the garden.

It was not a very large one, but it was a pretty spot, for beyond it sparkled the bay that lay at the back of Kumano. Bunkichi had soon joined the two others, and Sadakichi, turning to the little child, said, “Well, shall we three play at oni?”

“No,” she answered; “you are always catching me, and I don’t care to play.”

“I won’t catch you, then, Chocho, if you don’t like it.”

“All the same, I’d rather not.”

A thought struck Bunkichi, and, addressing himself to the child, he said: “Would you like me to make you something? I would if I only had a knife and some bamboo.”

The child was at once interested, and told Sadakichi to go and get what was wanted. So Sadakichi strolled off and brought a knife and some bamboo chips. “Now, then, what are you going to make?” said he.

“A nice bamboo dragon-fly,” Bunkichi answered; and, taking the knife, he split a bit of the bamboo, shaved it fine and smooth, and fixed a little peg in the middle of it.

Sadakichi, quickly guessing what it was, said: “Ah, it’s a dragon-fly. I know! I once went with the banto[^[10]] to Kada-no-Ura, and every one there was flying those dragon-flies, and, now I think of it, the boy who was selling them looked just like you.”

[10]. Clerk.

Not a bit disconcerted, Bunkichi replied: “Yes, you are quite right. I was the boy who made them and was selling them.”

“Bah! Mr. Dragon-fly-seller!” blustered out Sadakichi, with a face of disgust.

“Don’t speak like that,” said the little girl, turning sharply upon him, and then to Bunkichi: “What made you sell them?” she asked, speaking out to him for the first time.

“My father was ill in bed,” he answered, continuing to scrape the bamboo, “and, as our family was poor, I managed to buy him rice and medicine by selling these dragon-flies.”

Child as she was, this touching story of filial piety made her respect Bunkichi all the more.

“Oh, wasn’t that good of him!” she said, turning to Sadakichi. “Do you think you could have done it?”

“I—yes; only there would have been no need for me to sell dragon-flies. I should have sold the wearing-things in our shop,” he answered, arrogantly.

“‘Why, it’s just like a real dragon-fly!’ she cried, with delight”

Bunkichi had now finished making the dragon-fly, and, holding it between his hands, he spun it round, and up it went into the air with a whirring sound, and lighted on the ground again some five or six paces away.

“Why, it’s just like a real dragon-fly!” cried the child, with delight. “Do let me have it!” And, taking it in her hands, she tried to set it flying, but she could only make it go up a little way.

Then Sadakichi, wishing to try his hand, pushed forward. “Let me have it,” he said, “and I’ll show you how well I can do it”; and, seizing hold of it, with the force of both hands he sent it flying high into the air. “There, now—see how it goes!” and, while the little girl was watching it with delight, the dragon-fly flew over the wall fence and dropped into the water beyond.

The little child ran after it, followed by Sadakichi and Bunkichi. There was a little gate in the garden, opening on a jetty. Through this they passed and stood together on the plank, watching the dragon-fly tossing about on the water.

“Oh, I wish we could get it,” said the little girl, looking at it wistfully; “if it would only come just in front of us!”

“Take care,” said Sadakichi, holding her back, while the dragon-fly, bobbing up and down among the ripples, gradually drifted farther off.

Now Bunkichi, seeing there was a small boat lying alongside the jetty, had said to Sadakichi, “Let me row out and get it,” and was drawing the boat toward him, when he was abruptly stopped by Sadakichi. “No, no; you mustn’t think of putting out from the shore. If you do, you are certain to be eaten up by the wanizame.”[^[11]]

[11]. Pronounced wah-ne-zah’may, meaning a huge shark.

“Yes, it’s quite true,” chimed in the little girl. “There’s a horrid wanizame that prevents any one going on the sea. Only yesterday it captured somebody.”

“Yes—a young man from the brewery,” said Sadakichi. “He had some barrels in his boat, and he had gone only two or three hundred yards when the shark came up and overturned his boat and seized him.”

“It doesn’t matter about the dragon-fly; I don’t want it; let us go back to the house.” And the little child, frightened in good earnest, took hold of Bunkichi’s arm.

It was the first time Bunkichi had heard about the wanizame. “Is it really true, miss, that there is a wanizame in the bay?” he asked.

“Yes; I can tell you it’s very serious. I don’t know how many people it has eaten in the last month.”

“Really! But how big is it?”

“I don’t know what you would call big,” broke in Sadakichi. “But it’s about as big as this house. If it sees a small boat, it overtakes it in no time and topples it over, and if it is a big boat it gets in the way and stops it so that it can’t move, and so the fishermen can’t go out, and no cargo can come into the port. I suppose it must be want of food that has brought it into this harbor; but, however that may be, it thinks nothing of upsetting the small craft, so that for a month no one has ventured out at all. Well, there was the brewer’s man. Yesterday he thought it would be safe to go just a short distance, but he very soon got swallowed up. And what is the consequence? Why, the fishing is stopped, and there’s no trade, and the place is going to ruin. The fishermen and hunters have tried over and over again to kill it with spikes and guns and with all kinds of things. But what is the use? Their weapons only snap in two or glance off its back, and they only get killed themselves. So they have given up trying.”

Bunkichi listened to every word, and then suddenly went into the house and stood before the master.

CHAPTER II
BUNKICHI PLANS TO KILL THE SHARK

THE master and his wife were engaged in conversation, but on seeing Bunkichi the merchant said, “Well, have you been to see the garden?”

“Thank you, I have enjoyed it very much,” answered Bunkichi, politely.

“Why, bless me, he has all the manners of a little samurai[^[12]]!” exclaimed the master to his wife. “There is no comparison between him and the other boys. But dancing attendance on a little girl is not the sort of employment for a lad who has the ambition to become the leading merchant in Japan. No, no; he wants to get into the shop as soon as he can and learn the ways of business—eh, my boy?”

[12]. Pronounced sahm’oo-rye. The samurai were the military class of Japan, corresponding to the knights of the middle ages in European countries.

The master exactly interpreted Bunkichi’s wishes, and Bunkichi felt very grateful to him, but he only answered: “I shall esteem it a great favor to be allowed to serve you in any way. But, master, with your leave, I would ask you: Is it true, as I hear, that there is a wanizame lately come into this bay, and that people are suffering a lot of harm from it?”

“Ah, me! Yes, it’s a sore trouble, that wanizame; our fishermen are doing nothing, our boat traffic is stopped, and if things go on in this way the place will be ruined. All sorts of attempts have been made to kill it, but, alas! all to no purpose.”

Then respectfully, in a kneeling posture, approaching nearer, Bunkichi thus addressed his master: “Master, in the request I am now going to make of you, I fear you will put me down as a child with a vain, childish notion of doing great things; none the less, I am bold to ask you, in all seriousness, will you give me leave to attempt the destruction of this wanizame?”

The master exclaimed in astonishment: “What! You think that you are going to kill the wanizame? It would be the greatest thing in the world if you could, but already every means has been tried. Whaling-men have tried to kill it with their harpoons, the hunters of wild game on the mountains have tried to shoot it with their guns; but the wanizame has defeated all their schemes, and, to say nothing of the money it has cost, several men have lost their lives in their attempts to kill it, and our citizens have given it up as hopeless. Son of a samurai though you may be, this is no task for a boy of thirteen or fourteen. No; you may have seen in the seas around Kada-no-Ura sharks of four or five feet in length, but just go out to the hill above the town and look over the bay until you catch sight of our monster. The very sight of it is enough to terrify most people.”

“You mistake me, master,” said Bunkichi, sitting up straight. “I have no thought of trying my strength against the wanizame. But I have a trick in my mind I should like to play, if you would allow me.”

“Oh, it’s a trick, is it? And what is the trick our crafty youngster is going to propose for killing the wanizame, I should like to know?” said the master, smiling.

“The plan I have is simply this: First, to make a straw figure and to fill up the inside with poison. Then I shall dress it in a man’s clothes and take it out into the bay, and, when we see the shark coming, throw it out to him to eat. Sharks are senseless creatures and ready to eat anything, so he is sure to swallow the straw man, and if he does the poison will at once take effect and kill him. That’s my plan; what do you think of it?”

“Yes; I think your plan of making a straw man is not at all a bad one, and I have little doubt, as you say, that the shark would swallow it. In that case it would certainly die and we should be free at last from our great calamity. But wait a minute; I am afraid, when the doll is made, there is nobody who will venture to take it out to the sea. People have had so many bitter lessons from trying to kill this shark that, however much money you offer, no one, I fear, will agree to take it out into the bay.”

Bunkichi without any hesitation replied: “I will undertake the task of taking the doll out for the shark to swallow. As I grew up by the seaside at Kada-no-Ura, I can row a boat well and can swim better than most people. I saw a boat just now fastened at the jetty in your garden. Please lend it to me and I will go out alone upon the bay.”

Astonished by the audaciousness of the lad, the master said: “It is too wild an idea, my boy. What if the shark upsets your boat? He will swallow you up in an instant.”

“As to what you say about drowning, that doesn’t disturb me at all. Suppose I have no luck and lose my life, there is nothing to be regretted if by my death I succeed in removing the great calamity under which many are now suffering. And, as I said before, it is my determination to become the leading merchant of Japan; but if I am to realize my ambition I must be prepared to run many risks. If fortune favors me I shall come safe through them and attain my object; if, however, this first venture goes against me, and I go out to sea and fall a prey to the wanizame, it simply means that I must accept it as the decree of fate, and, as far as my life is concerned, I am quite ready to risk it.”

The master, who was much struck by his fearless determination, worthy of the boy’s descent, said to him, “Indeed, your magnanimity is greater than ours, but for that very reason we should be all the more sorry to lose you.”

Saying this, he turned round to his wife, who whispered in his ear: “I quite agree with you: if he be swallowed up by the shark, we couldn’t possibly get another like him; send some other one instead!”

Just then in came the girl, attended by Sadakichi, who had long been waiting for the boy, and said, “Bunkichi, please be quick and make me another dragon-fly.”

Her mother, however, at once stopped the girl, saying: “Come, come; Bunkichi has something else to think about besides dragon-flies: he’s just saying that he wants to go out to sea and kill the wanizame.”

The girl was startled, for she was only a child. “Does he go alone?”

“Yes, that is what he says he will do.”

“Don’t, please, mother; I don’t like your sending him to sea.”

“Why, my child?”

“I want him to make me a bamboo dragon-fly.”

His curiosity aroused at hearing the little girl speak of the dragon-fly, the father said, “What do you wish him to make for you?”

“Oh, father, it’s a bamboo dragon-fly—an amusing toy which flies up high, whizzing,” was her confident answer.

“Ah, I see,” he remarked, as he understood the girl’s request; “that flying bamboo thing I often see when I go out on the streets. The toy, I remember, was first made by a boy of great filial virtue in a certain country district, and even here they talk about him; it is clever of you, Bunkichi, to have learned how to make them.”

Then Sadakichi interrupted, saying: “No wonder! Why, he was the hawker of the toy; I know all about it, as I saw him selling it at Kada-no-Ura.”

“Are you, then, the inventor of the toy?” asked the master, to whom the boy at once replied in the affirmative. The master, who was more than ever struck by the boy’s character, said, “Are you, then, the same boy whom all the people talk about and praise for his devotion to his parent?”

Then the girl, who remembered what had been told her a little while before, said: “Father, his family was very poor, and, as his father was laid up on his sick-bed, he sold those dragon-flies and bought medicine or a little rice for the family. He told me so.”

As she was listening to this conversation, tears stood in the mother’s eyes, and she said: “He is really a model boy, is he not? I can’t possibly let him go to sea.”

The master, who was much of the same way of thinking as his wife, answered, “Of course, I have been persuading him to give up his idea”; and, turning to Bunkichi, said, “Yes, do give it up, my boy.”

And the girl, seemingly with the intention of inspiring the boy with dread and deterring him from his purpose, remarked solemnly, “Oh, it is dreadful to be swallowed by the shark on going to sea!”

Bunkichi, having once determined, was immovable. “Sir, trading to a merchant is the same that fighting is to a knight. It has been ever regarded honorable in a knight that he should hazard his life many a time, even in his early youth. If fate be against him, he will be put to death by his enemy. The knights of old faced the dangerous issues of life or death as often as they went out to battle. As they attained to renown by passing through these ordeals, so, too, must the merchant who aspires after a leading position not shrink from braving many dangers in his life. Sir, methinks the present is the opportunity given me to try my hand; and if fate sides with me and I succeed in killing the wanizame, in future I shall have courage to venture out on other great undertakings. If one begins to be nervous at the outset, one will go on being nervous forever; but there is no fear, I think, for a man who is ready to sacrifice even his own life.”

The master, meeting with such unflinching determination, knew not how to stop him, but said: “I must confess you have more in you than I thought. I am ashamed of myself to be thus taught by you the secret of success in trade when I should be in a position to teach you. Well said, my boy; trading is to a business man what fighting is to a knight. If you begin by being weak and timid, you will never be capable of bold enterprise. If you have a mind to divine your future by embarking on this exploit, go in for it with all your might. As to the preparations for making the straw man, as far as buying the poison is concerned, I will do it all for you. You had better go up to the mountain yonder, and ascertain the place where the shark is generally to be seen coming up to the surface. You, Sadakichi, had better take him up to the Sumiyoshi[^[13]] bluff, and point him out the monster if it should come up and show itself on the surface of the water in the mouth of the harbor.”

[13]. Pronounced Soo-mee-yo’shee.

Bunkichi, who was much delighted at having gained his wish, said: “Then, sir, please let an apothecary prepare a lot of drugs which are likely to be the best poison for a wanizame, and I will go and have a lookout for the appearance of the monster.”

As he was about to start, the girl asked him, in a little voice of remonstrance, “But when will you make a dragon-fly for me, Bunkichi?”

“When I come back, miss,” was his reply.

“Come, come; he can’t be bothered about such a trifle now,” said her mother.

Meanwhile the two lads, Bunkichi and Sadakichi, hand in hand, went up to the Sumiyoshi bluff, which stood just outside the town on the eastern side of Kumano Bay. The mountain rose precipitously from the sea, whose fathomless water washed its southern base. A thick forest of pines covered the mountain, and the vibrating of their needle foliage in the breeze added a strange harp-like accompaniment to the perpetual roaring of the waves below. On reaching the summit, Bunkichi threw himself down on a knotty root of pine near the edge of a precipice and gazed out on the broad expanse of Kumano Bay. As far as his view reached, no shore could be descried; only the line where the dome of the azure sky circled the deep blue of the ocean.

After sitting thus in silent contemplation for a few minutes, Bunkichi suddenly turned round and said to Sadakichi: “Sea scenery is always fine to look at, isn’t it? I am fond of this sort of rough sea. I should like to have a swim in it.”

“Don’t talk such nonsense; you would no sooner get into it than you would be swamped,” was the reply.

“That’s just what I like. I should dive deep down into the water and get out of the whirlpool. And now, tell me where it is the wanizame generally pops out its head.”

“It generally comes out just below this headland,” the other answered, “at the mouth of the harbor.”

As the two boys were steadily gazing on the surface of the water, sure enough, up came the shark, and startled Sadakichi by cleaving the water with its back. Whether it was in frolic or in quest of prey, the monster swam to and fro, now showing its head and now its tail. Its rock-like back and its iron-like fins were horrible enough to inspire even men with awe.

Sadakichi, feeling nervous at the sight, said to his companion, “Bunkichi San, now you see the monster, you will be for giving up your grand job, I fancy.”

“What! You don’t suppose I’m frightened, do you,” was his scornful retort, “at the sight of such a little fish?”

“What do you say?” said the other.

“Well, if the chance came in my way, I might even kill a leviathan or a crocodile!”

As these two were thus talking, a gust of wind from the high Nachi Mountain swept down on the forest of Sumiyoshi and awakened the myriad tiny harps of the pines, while the waves rolled one after another against the rocks below. These sounds combined to drown the voices of the lads, one of whom seemed to be persuading the other that it was time to go back, while the other seemed to be insisting on staying a little longer to enjoy the wild scenery and to think over the issues of his scheme.

CHAPTER III
A BOAT CAPSIZED—A HAIRBREADTH ESCAPE

THE master of the Daikokuya, who had been much struck by the wisdom and courage of Bunkichi, lost no time in going to an apothecary to get plenty of the poisonous stuff for the wanizame, while he ordered some of his men to prepare the straw dummy.

In course of time the two lads, Bunkichi and Sadakichi, came back from Sumiyoshi bluff. The master welcomed them into his own room, and said:

“How now, Bunkichi? Did you see the shark?”

“Yes, sir, I saw it,” was the reply.

“And now that you have seen the monster are you less disposed to go out to sea?”

“No; on the contrary,” replied the lad, “I am the more ready to go.”

“Isn’t that obstinacy on your part?”

“Not in the least, sir,” the lad said, as he drew himself up; “the greater the opponent, the greater the interest and strength that are called for; and I am about to do this at the risk of my life. I well observed the spot where the shark comes up, and noticed a large pine-tree which projects over the sea from the precipice. If some one will let fall a stout rope from one of its branches, I will row over to it, and there I shall entice the shark to swallow the straw dummy; then if the shark, in plunging about, should upset my boat, I shall take hold of the rope and climb or be hauled up the precipice.”

The master, who was once more struck by words which showed so much sagacity as well as courage, said:

“That’s a very good idea of yours. Then this is what we shall decide to do, is it? I shall send out some of my young men to the Sumiyoshi bluff to fix a rope to the pine branch from the precipice, and you will tie the rope to your waist before you go out on your venture. I and others will stand upon the cliff and watch you, and should you be in danger of being swallowed by the monster, we shall lose no time in hauling you up. Is that to be our plan of action?”

“Yes, that’s the plan,” was the boy’s reply.

“Well, then, I have bought the poison, and can soon have ready as many as three dummies. When do you think of setting out?”

“Now, at once,” answered Bunkichi.

“That is rushing it too quickly, my lad. Wouldn’t it be better for you to wait till to-morrow?” remonstrated the master.

“Unless things of this kind are done quickly and made easy work of, some obstacles may arise and frustrate our plans; so I will just do it with as little concern as you snap your fingers,” said the lad.

“You can’t do things so lightly as you say,” was the master’s reply.

And his wife, who had been listening, and who regretted having given her consent to the boy’s rash project, added: “Bunkichi, do stay at home to-day and spend it in preparation and do the work to-morrow.”

And the little girl also said: “I don’t care for your going to sea.”

But Bunkichi, having once made up his mind in the matter, was not to be moved by any one’s entreaties.

“Then, by your leave, sir,” he said, “I will take that little boat at the jetty.” And without more delay he rose up to go.

His master knew not how to stop him, but said: “No, no; that small boat is dangerous; and, if you must go, you had better go out in the temmabune.”[^[14]]

[14]. Pronounced Tem-mah-bonn’ay. A larger boat.

“No, sir,” said the lad; “the temmabune is too big for me to row alone, so I prefer the small one.”

“But I am in great concern about your personal safety if you go alone,” said the master. “I will give ten rio to any one who will go with you.”

Though he quickly made known this offer to the members of his household as well as among his neighbors, no one ventured to offer himself on account of the people’s repeated and terrible experiences. Bunkichi soothed his master, saying that he was much freer if left to act by himself than he would be if there were others with him. Quickly putting the three dummies into the small boat outside the garden gate, with marvelous coolness, as if he were going out for pleasure, he said: “Good-by, everybody; I will go now, and be back again soon.”

The master, who was first to stir, led out to the jetty some of his young men as well as some strong coolies. Three or four big ropes having been made ready, he said:

“Now, Bunkichi, tie one of these to your waist.”

“It’s no use, sir, till I get near the mountain,” replied the lad, but the master said:

“But just think, if on your way out the shark should turn up! We shall pull you along the coast while you will row as near as you can to the land.”

Bunkichi, who couldn’t resist the master’s persuasion, let him tie the rope round his waist, and the master himself took hold of the end of it and together with others went along the shore toward Sumiyoshi bluff.

Bunkichi, having been brought up at the seaside, was an excellent rower, but as they pulled along the rope he rowed but slightly. Suddenly he took out a dagger which had been handed down from his ancestors and unsheathed it, smiling as he noted the temper of the steel.

Who spread the news no one knew, yet the people in the town came out in a crowd, and every one was surprised to see a boy, alone in a boat, sallying forth to kill the monster.

“Isn’t he a wonderfully courageous boy!”

“He is no common boy. Perhaps he may yet be as famous as our great hero Kato Kiyomasa.”[^[15]]

[15]. The conqueror of Korea in 594 A.D.

“Isn’t he cool!”

“Hasn’t he wonderful presence of mind!”

Such expressions as these escaped from everybody’s lips. Thus praising him as they went along, the crowd followed the master.

From among the crowd an old woman stepped out with a rosary in one hand and said to the master:

“Sir, please let me hold the rope, Namu-Ami-Dabutsu.”[^[16]]

[16]. An expression used in one of the Buddhistic prayers. Among a certain class of Japanese it was believed that by repeating this phrase frequently their chances of going to heaven were increased.

The young men turned to her and said:

“Ill omen! Don’t say such a thing as Namu-Ami-Dabutsu. This is not the rope for you to pull.”

In spite of the taunt she still muttered the sacred charm of the Buddha sect, saying:

“But do let me hold it. I am the leader in pulling timbers for the repairing of the Hongwanzi[^[17]] temple. Yet I must have my share, because I am sure that the lad is a hero sent by Buddha himself to save us from our troubles. Namu-Ami-Dabutsu,” repeated the woman.

[17]. The headquarters of the Buddhist religion in Kioto.

Just then a maid-servant carrying a little girl on her back came along the shore after the woman. The latter turned to the little girl and said:

“Ah, you are the daughter of the Daikokuya. Do you want to pull this rope, too? Namu-Ami-Da—”

The girl wouldn’t listen to her words, but, looking intently at the boat in the distance, called out aloud, “Bunkichi!”

The other bystanders, who heard the name for the first time, said: “Ah, his name is Bunkichi, is it?” and at once shouted, “Bunkichi Daimiozin,” which is a title they give to the gods.

The lad, taking little notice of the stir on the shore, soon came to the foot of the bluff. The master and others went up the hillside along the edge of the precipice, while the lad began to prepare for his task.

The long summer day was already declining and a cool breeze from the far ocean blew about his broad sleeves, and the voice of the crowd grew fainter and fainter as, hidden by the pine-trees, they wound their way up to the top of the hill. Yet now and then Bunkichi heard his master’s voice faintly calling to him, to which he made reply to assure him of his safety. Looking out toward the ocean there was no sail or boat to be seen, probably owing to the people’s fear of meeting the shark. A checkered bank of white and dark clouds was massed on the sky above the horizon, while the waves chased one another below.

Any ordinary man would have quailed at such a scene as this; but Bunkichi, with no sign of nervousness, put the straw figures in the bow of the boat and proceeded toward the place where the shark usually made its appearance. He could now see the master and others above the precipice as they began attaching the rope to a strong limb of the sturdy pine which projected seaward. Thus all the preparations were made for hauling him up at the given signal, while the lad was also preparing himself for the encounter and reconnoitering the scene from his boat.

At last the iron-like fin of the monster was seen to cleave the water. Apparently rejoiced at the sight of a man, as Bunkichi’s figure must have been now and then reflected on the water, the shark in quest of prey raised its head above the water and made for the boat.

“Come on, you villain,” muttered the lad, who stood up in the bow with the dummy in his hand.

The terror-stricken young men at the top of the precipice no sooner saw the monster than they were on the point of pulling up the rope; but the master stayed them, saying: “Steady, men, steady! Wait till he gives us a signal.”

The master anxiously watched the lad’s action, while the crowd hardly breathed as they stood still with hands clenched.

With a splash, Bunkichi threw the figure in the way of the wanizame; the shark turned over, the white portion of its body gleamed, and it snapped the stuffed figure, drawing it under the water. Up it came again, and the lad threw out the second dummy; but the monster did not take any notice of it, but made straight for the lad. Above, on the top of the precipice, the master awaited Bunkichi’s signal with breathless interest, but no signal was given yet. With his dagger drawn in one hand and raising the third straw figure in the other, Bunkichi threw it at the enemy’s head. Whether it was that the poison was already taking effect or that the charm of the noted sword frightened the monster, it turned back on a sudden and retreated a few yards. Before the anxious crowd could divine the next movements of the shark, it began to plunge about in and out of the water on the farther side of the boat. Then, seemingly in agony, it swam about with almost lightning speed, now toward the shore and now toward the ocean, and the sea became like a boiling whirlpool in which the little boat seemed every moment in danger of being overwhelmed.

Bunkichi, who saw his plan had succeeded, at once began to row back. At this juncture, as fate would have it, the monster made a sudden dash at the boat, which was at once overturned. The signal had hardly been given when, after a moment of awful anxiety, the lad was in the air, suspended by the rope. The monster again made a mad rush, only to bruise its head against a rock, and with weakened strength returned toward the deep, riding on the retreating tide.

“The lad was in the air, suspended by the rope”

As for Bunkichi, the rope was drawn up steadily and with care, and he soon found himself safely perched on the stout branch of the pine.

The master of the Daikokuya, when he saw Bunkichi once again on solid ground, never uttered a word, but took his hand and put it on his forehead in token of his unutterable gratitude, while tears of joy flowed from his eyes. The others knew not how to do otherwise on the sudden alternation from dread to joy.

After a while Bunkichi left the crowd and went to the most commanding position on the precipice and gazed down upon the sea, and saw the shark on its back floating to and fro, the sport of the waves. His joy knew no bounds, and he said:

“I thank you all; I have been saved by your help. The shark now seems to be dead.”

These words he uttered with his customary coolness, showing that he had not been at all frightened by the terrible experience he had passed through, while the others could hardly yet shake off the dread they had felt.

Addressed thus by the lad, the master now recovered his speech, and said:

“No; it isn’t you who have been saved by us, but we who have all been saved by you. The shark dies and the people live, or the shark lives and the people must die. I have no words to express my gratitude to you. And now we must get back as soon as possible and let the people know the joyous news.”

While the master thus hurried the others to go back, Bunkichi stopped him and said: “Sir, if we leave the shark as it is, it may revive. It is a pity to leave it, now that it is as good as killed. Let us haul it up by the aid of the rope. It seems that the boat, which was upset, has drifted to the base of the bluff. Let some of us get down and bail the water out of it, and I will, with the help of you all, try to secure the shark.”

The master agreed to the proposal and called for volunteers, but in vain. Some young fellows pretended to be ill, and others suspected the shark might yet be alive and swallow them if they went near it.

At last, however, the master prevailed on a few of them to go down with the lad to help him.

CHAPTER IV
THE TABLES TURNED

BUNKICHI, with the help of a few others, set the boat up, and, bailing the water out, got in and went out again to sea. Putting a rope round the body of the shark, which was being tossed about by the waves, they drew it close to the foot of the bluff. While Bunkichi by himself rowed back home, the young men dragged the dead monster along the coast toward the Daikokuya. The crowd on the bank applied themselves as one man to the task, and got hold of the rope, and the shark was finally landed. Amusing it was to see that old woman pull hard along with the rest.

After this heroic deed the reputation of Bunkichi spread through the length and breadth of Kumano town, and he was nicknamed as the Wanizame-Kozo, or Shark-Boy; but who started the name no one can tell. His exploit, however, was soon carried to the ear of Odaikan,[^[18]] and this great person himself came down to the shore and made a thorough inspection of the monster. Ten pieces of silver were awarded by the lord of the province to Bunkichi in recognition of his noble services in putting a stop to the scourge of the town. The master was proud of Bunkichi, and the town people rejoiced at his good fortune.

[18]. The name given to the local magistrate in olden days.

The size of the shark which the lad killed was more than three ken, or some eighteen feet in length, and its skin was so hard that the sharpest sword could not pierce it. The dealers in swords vied with one another in the offers they made the master for the skin, for they knew it would make an excellent binding for sword-hilts. Bunkichi asked his master to sell it, and the transaction was soon made, and the master handed over the whole of the price to Bunkichi as the fruit of his brave deed. The lad would not even touch it. He had heard, he said, that the fishermen in the neighborhood, from not being able to go out as hitherto on account of the shark, were in great straits even for their daily food, and therefore he wished to distribute the money among them. The proposal was at once accepted, and the money was divided either among the people who had suffered on account of the shark, or among the bereaved families whose members had fallen victims to its voracity.

That Bunkichi was possessed of courage, his actions had abundantly proved; the people were now profoundly struck by his moral virtue since they had received his alms. The name of Wanizame-Kozo soon got its suffix Sama, or its equivalent in English of “Mr.,” and whenever he appeared in the streets everybody, whether personally known to him or not, seemed to thank him by making him the most courteous obeisances.

“Putting a rope round the body of the shark”

In course of time, as the people in remote country places came to hear of Bunkichi’s exploit, they pressed in large numbers to the shop of the Daikokuya, not so much to buy clothing as for the purpose of seeing the little hero’s face. From that day the master doubled the amount of his daily receipts, as his trade prospered. Because of the prosperity brought to the house by the lad, the household of the Daikokuya accorded him special treatment, quite different from that given the other boys in the shop; in fact, he was treated as if he were the son of the family. But Bunkichi, on his part, served his master better than the other boys were able or willing to. In spite of his master’s forbidding him, he was first on the scene in the morning to sweep the street in front of the shop and to put the shop in order and to sell goods to customers however early they might come. Then, having carefully settled accounts at the close of the day, he would devote his evenings to the mastery of the abacus and to writing Chinese characters. His praiseworthy behavior impressed everybody who saw or heard him.

Two or three months passed in this way, and the lad’s fame became ever greater, and further prosperity was brought to the house. Then the master took counsel of his wife:

“As we haven’t any boys, Chocho being the only child we have, sooner or later we shall have to adopt a son. I don’t care to have any one of whose intentions and character I know nothing. Rather it would please me to have Bunkichi as our foster-son. What do you think about this?”

His wife said gladly:

“I agree with you, my husband; he would be just the one to whom to leave the conduct of the business, and if we could make him our adopted son, what a pleasure it would be! You had better do it quickly.”

The master pondered awhile and then said:

“But, you see, he hopes to become the leading merchant in Japan, and thereby to raise the name of his ancestors; therefore he would not like to be adopted into another family. This would be the first hitch in the arrangement, I fancy.”

“No, my dear; our intention, of course, is to give him the whole of this our property—and that certainly should be sufficient inducement to any one.”

“No, I think not,” said the other, as he put his head on one side in contemplation; “he is not the boy who will prize such a small property as ours. I don’t care to run the risk of humbling myself by speaking to him rashly. What I want is to ascertain his intention at some opportune moment.”

Sadakichi, who had been playing in company with the little girl on the veranda outside the shoji, first heard this conversation, and one day told Bunkichi about it. The latter said to himself:

“My intention has been to win fame and thereby to raise our ancestors’ name, so it would never do for me to be adopted into another family. Trouble will come if I stay here any longer, and I shall be put in such a strait that I shall feel obliged to fall in with this proposal.” So he thought he would do best to leave the house quickly and try his hand independently at some trade.

One evening he sought his master and said:

“Sir, it is rather an abrupt request to make of you, but I have conceived a plan by which I can earn money; so please let me trade by myself. As capital to start with, it will be sufficient for me to employ those silver coins which I received for reward and which you have kept for me.”

The master, without knowing the lad’s secret intention, said: “If you wish to trade on your own account, I will lend you capital or give you any help you want; but what is the plan you have in mind?”

“It’s simply this, sir. Since the disappearance of the wanizame the people nowadays get an abundant catch of fish, and in consequence I hear there is a scarcity of fishing-tackle, nets, and their belongings. So I wish to go up to Osaka and get a supply.”

The master made one clap with his hands in token of his approval, and said:

“Well thought of, my lad! If you get a supply from Osaka now, you are sure to reap a good profit. Besides, all the fishermen round about here received your alms and regard you as one of the gods. If they hear of your selling fishing-tackle, they will gladly come to purchase of you. But you cannot transact the business by yourself alone, so I will send some one to assist you, and also I will lend you as much capital as you wish. Therefore, go and make whatever investment you think necessary.”

Bunkichi did not wish to receive this favor, as he intended trading without the help of any one.

“Sir, let me trade with my own capital alone without any other help in this instance,” he replied. “Only, when the cargo comes, will you please give it storeroom for me?”

As the master knew Bunkichi would not be induced to accept others’ advice when he had definitely made up his mind, he said:

“Very well, then; you may try to manage for yourself. No other boy of your age could transact the business, but probably you may succeed.” Thus saying, he went himself and brought a packet of money.

“This is the money I have been keeping for you.” And then he produced another packet which contained fifty pieces of silver, saying:

“This is only a trifling recognition of your services in the shop, by which we have enjoyed much prosperity; I hope you will accept it.”

Bunkichi again and again refused to accept this additional gift, but in vain, for the master almost forced him to receive it, and said:

“When you come back from Osaka, you will stay again with us, won’t you?”

Bunkichi hesitated and stammered out: “Yes, sir; I might trouble you again, though I intend to continue in some trade of my own.”

“Of course you may go in for whatever trade you like, and if you can conveniently carry on your trade while you stay at my house, please make yourself at home in it, and do not think that you need help in my shop on that account.”

As Bunkichi had no other home, he accepted this kind offer for his future protection after his return, and the next day, when he had prepared himself for the journey, he left the Daikokuya for Osaka.

Though he was a boy in appearance, his mind was equal to that of a full-grown man. At the time of his leave-taking, the master was insisting on getting him a through kago, or Japanese palanquin, to Osaka, which he had refused as unnecessary. In his courageous onward march he came to a lonely part of the road; he was, however, well used to traveling, owing to those early days of wandering when he sold the dragon-flies for the support of his family, and by the experience of his lonely journey to Kumano. But in this present journey, as he carried with him a great sum of money in his pocket, he felt somewhat encumbered and could not walk as lightly as he wished.

On the afternoon of the day when he came to the mountainous region he was well-nigh tired out, and he hired a kago to carry him. The coolies no sooner put him into the palanquin than they started off at almost a running pace, and after a short time they turned off from the highway into a bypath. The lad called out, in suspicion:

“Aren’t you taking a rather strange road?”