Page:Eminent Authors of Contemporary Japan, volume 2.pdf/21

Rh *Gohei.—He is a strange man! But he cannot be our enemy, madam, for a man who is being hunted as a bitter enemy, and who is believed by all the clansmen to be a coward, would never come so near to us without fear.
 * Okuni.—But the character of a man who tried to force his immoral affections upon me, and who killed my husband so shamefully under the cover of darkness, is capable of anything, and may still be following me.
 * Gohei.—Such a thing may be probable, if he is brave enough to give up his life to follow you. If you were alone, I could perhaps credit such a thing, but so long as I am escorting you, madam, such a weak coward would never dare to come so close. I cannot believe that the komuso-priest is he. Ikeda is an unskilled fencer. He is a man of graceful appearance, and as fair as a woman, but the priest was a man with a dark brown face, and with protruding cheek-bones.
 * Okuni.—Yes, I know it, Gohei, but Ikeda is a great coward, and we must be on our guard, for he may suddenly attack us; you never know where he may be hiding.
 * Gohei.—I am always watchful, so have no fear; moreover, our enemy is a weak samurai. As soon as we find him, we will at once kill him. But he seems to be able to keep out of our path always, and it is curious that he is able to keep in hiding from us.
 * Okuni.—It will be exactly four years next month,