Page:Eminent Authors of Contemporary Japan.pdf/26

14 *Osayo.—But, I hate to leave here! Oh, Mother, please!

(Her mother tugs at the girl’s dress, and drags her on again until they disappear round the path on the right side of the cliff. For a time Osayo’s cries can be heard.) Let me go! Oh, Mother, let me go, I say! (And then her voice dies away in the distance.)

(There is a long pause. The moonlight streams full into the valley, and shines into the interior of the cottage. Many insects can be heard purling, and the ripplings of the crickets fill the air with sound. The only other sound is the running of the stream over the rocks.

Suddenly, Kakutaro makes his appearance among the rocks high up in the bed of the river. He seems to have climbed down the rocks from above. He wears a very worn kimono, with sleeves badly tom. Japanese zori, or sandals, worn threadbare are on his feet. He jumps from rock to rock, endeavouring to reach the bridge. Suddenly he slips on a big rock, and tottering, he falls on his face. He remains very still, as if he were badly hurt.

There is a long pause. Insects sing noisily in the bushes and trees and the rushing of the water are the only sounds heard.

Suddenly, Osayo is seen approaching rapidly round the cliff-road where she disappeared some time before. As she hurries on, she keeps turning her head to make sure she is not being pursued by her mother. After crossing the log-bridge, she reaches the cottage,