Page:Eminent Authors of Contemporary Japan, volume 2.pdf/18

6 * accomplish our wish very soon.
 * Okuni.—No labour or trouble is too great for me to accomplish my end, for it is for my dear husband’s sake … but … Gohei, I am deeply sorry for you.
 * Gohei.—Madam, when you speak such words, it wounds my feelings very deeply. Am I not your retainer?
 * Okuni.—Indeed, that is true, but you have not been our retainer from my father’s time, for only two or three years you have been our follower … While my husband was alive, he looked upon you as a retainer, and you considered yourself as such, but now I do not deem you my retainer.
 * Gohei.—Your words are generous, madam, and as I was your husband’s retainer, I must do everything I can for you when you are in need of so much help. Though it was only for two or three years, I received too many gracious favours from you and your husband ever to forget …
 * Okuni.—It is loyal of you to say that. There are indeed very few such loyal retainers in the world nowadays. My husband would be deeply thankful if he were alive now, and I am sure that your kind words will reach him now in the shadowy region of meido, where his spirit is living.
 * Gohei.—Until we meet our enemy, I will be your faithful follower, even if I have to serve you for five, ten, or even twenty years. I believe our enemy has fled to Oshu, but if he is not in Oshu, we