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Kwaidan-Part8_Lafcadio Hearn(1850-1904)_English Literature(文学名著)-第2页

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degree that, without further preliminary, he asked the old people to give

him their daughter in marriage,-- telling them, at the same time, his name



and lineage, and his rank in the train of the Lord of Noto.

They bowed down before him, with many exclamations of grateful



astonishment. But, after some moments of apparenthesitation, the father

replied:--



"Honored master, you are a person of high position, and likely to rise to

still higher things. Too great is the favor that you deign to offer us;--



indeed, the depth of our gratitudetherefor is not to be spoken or

measured. But this girl of ours, being a stupid country-girl of vulgar



birth, with no training or teaching of any sort, it would be improper to

let her become the wife of a noble samurai. Even to speak of such a matter



is not right... But, since you find the girl to your liking, and have

condescended to pardon her peasant-manners and to overlook her great



rudeness, we do gladly present her to you, for an humble handmaid. Deign,

therefore" target="_blank" title="ad.&conj.因此；所以">therefore, to act hereafter in her regard according to your august



pleasure."

Ere morning the storm had passed; and day broke through a cloudless east.



Even if the sleeve of Aoyagi hid from her lover's eyes the rose-blush of

that dawn, he could no longer tarry. But neither could he resign himself to



part with the girl; and, when everything had been prepared for his journey,

he thus addressed her parents:--



"Though it may seem thankless to ask for more than I have already

received, I must again beg you to give me your daughter for wife. It would



be difficult for me to separate from her now; and as she is willing to

accompany me, if you permit, I can take her with me as she is. If you will



give her to me, I shall ever cherish you as parents... And, in the

meantime, please to accept this poor acknowledgment of your kindest



hospitality."

So saying, he placed before his humble host a purse of gold ryo. But the



old man, after many prostrations, gently pushed back the gift, and said:--

"Kind master, the gold would be of no use to us; and you will probably



have need of it during your long, cold journey. Here we buy nothing; and we

could not spend so much money upon ourselves, even if we wished... As for



the girl, we have already bestowed her as a free gift;-- she belongs to

you: therefore" target="_blank" title="ad.&conj.因此；所以">therefore it is not necessary to ask our leave to take her away.



Already she has told us that she hopes to accompany you, and to remain your

servant for as long as you may be willing to endure her presence. We are



only too happy to know that you deign to accept her; and we pray that you

will not trouble yourself on our account. In this place we could not



provide her with proper clothing,-- much less with a dowry. Moreover, being

old, we should in any event have to separate from her before long.



Therefore it is very fortunate that you should be willing to take her with

you now."



It was in vain that Tomotada tried to persuade the old people to accept a

present: he found that they cared nothing for money. But he saw that they



were really anxious to trust their daughter's fate to his hands; and he

therefore" target="_blank" title="ad.&conj.因此；所以">thereforedecided to take her with him. So he placed her upon his horse,



and bade the old folks farewell for the time being, with many sincere

expressions of gratitude.



"honored Sir," the father made answer, "it is we, and not you, who have

reason for gratitude. We are sure that you will be kind to our girl; and we



have no fears for her sake."...

[Here, in the Japanese original, there is a queer break in the natural



course of the narration, which therefrom remains curiously inconsistent.

Nothing further is said about the mother of Tomotada, or about the parents



of Aoyagi, or about the daimyo of Noto. Evidently the writer wearied of his

work at this point, and hurried the story, very carelessly, to its



startling end. I am not able to supply his omissions, or to repair his

faults of construction; but I must venture to put in a few explanatory



details, without which the rest of the tale would not hold together... It

appears that Tomotada rashly took Aoyagi with him to Kyoto, and so got into



trouble; but we are not informed as to where the couple lived afterwards.]

...Now a samurai was not allowed to marry without the consent of his lord;



and Tomotada could not expect to obtain this sanction before his mission

had been accomplished. He had reason, under such circumstances, to fear



that the beauty of Aoyagi might attract dangerous attention, and that means

might be devised of taking her away from him. In Kyoto he therefore" target="_blank" title="ad.&conj.因此；所以">therefore tried



to keep her hidden from curious eyes. But a retainer of Lord Hosokawa one

day caught sight of Aoyagi, discovered her relation to Tomotada, and



reported the matter to the daimyo. Thereupon the daimyo -- a young prince,




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