Page:Kwaidan; Stories and Studies of Strange Things - Hearn - 1904.djvu/158

 apparel. … Thus was she given back to him;—and the wedding was joyous and splendid;—and precious gifts were made to the young couple by the prince, and by the members of his household.

For five happy years, after that wedding, Tomotada and Aoyagi dwelt together. But one morning Aoyagi, while talking with her husband about some household matter, suddenly uttered a great cry of pain, and then became very white and still. After a few moments she said, in a feeble voice: &quot;Pardon me for thus rudely crying out—but the pain was so sudden! … My dear husband, our union must have been brought about through some Karma-relation in a former state of existence; and that happy relation, I think, will bring us again together in more than one life to come. But for this present existence of ours, the relation is now ended;—we are about to be separated. Repeat for me, I beseech you, the Nembutsu-prayer,—because I am dying.&quot;

&quot;Oh! what strange wild fancies!&quot; cried the startled husband,—&quot; you are only 134