Page:Tales from old Japanese dramas (1915).djvu/180

126 "Oh horror! What follows?" exclaimed the disappointed suitor.

"Well, as to the rest—"—Kosuké rapidly ran his eye over the remaining part of the letter—"I think you had better not hear it. I won't read it. If I did you would not find it interesting. I am afraid you must consider your generous thank-offering as so much money lost. You might as well have dropped it in a well or a gutter."

Sashirō's face suddenly fell, as if he brooded over the fruitlessness of all his prayers, and the "hundredfold penance."

"To tell you the truth, sir," said Kosuké, "your love is thwarted by that stripling Hisamatsu. I have no doubt that O-Somé is bewitched by him. Therefore I think the best thing for you to do is to get a necromancer to offer prayers for severing their relations. What do you think of that, sir?"

"That is a capital idea," said Sashirō, recovering his spirits. "First of all I will ask a fortune-teller whether my love will be attained, and in case there is hope, I must make him offer prayers."

Thus the guileless Sashirō was entrapped, and they went together to consult the aforesaid diviner.