Page:Anthology of Japanese Literature.pdf/350

346 to Mōemon and Osan. Then, as a final precaution, they even left their coats and sandals at the foot of a willow by the shore. And since there lived at the lakeside men with a long tradition as experts in fishing, who could leap from the rocks into the water, Mōemon secretly hired two of them and explained his plan. They readily agreed to keep a rendezvous with the couple that evening.

When Mōemon and Osan had prepared themselves properly, they opened the bamboo door of the inn and roused everyone by shouting, “For reasons best known to ourselves we are about to end our lives!” They then rushed away, and presently from the height of the craggy rock faint voices were heard saying the nembutsu, followed by the sound of two bodies striking the water. Everyone wept and raised a great commotion over it. Meanwhile Mōemon, carrying Osan on his shoulder, made his way to the foot of the mountains and plunged into the dense growth of fir trees, and the two fishermen, who had dived under the waves, surfaced on the beach at a place where no one would expect them.

All the people were beating their hands and lamenting the tragedy. With help from men living along the shore they made a search but found nothing. Then, as dawn broke, more tears fell upon the discovery of the lovers’ personal effects. These were quickly wrapped up and sent back to Kyoto.

Out of concern for what people would think, the families involved privately agreed to keep the matter to themselves. But in a world full of busy ears the news was bound to leak out, and all spring long it gave people something to gossip about. There was indeed no end to the mischief these two souls created.

Hand in hand, Mōemon and Osan trekked across the wilderness of Tamba. They had to make their own road through the stubborn