Page:Tales from old Japanese dramas (1915).djvu/339

Rh of agony: "I was told by Jirōzayémon that the remedy he gave to Miyuki was of miraculous potency, and was brought from China. He said, too, that if it were administered mixed with the blood of a man born in the year of the Rat, it would cure, on the instant, any affection of the eyes. By great good fortune I was born in the year of the Rat, and I have resolved to give my life in return for Yuminosuké's kindness. So take my blood, Sekisuké, and, blended with the wondrous cure, administer it to Miyuki."

Sekisuké, his eyes streaming with tears of admiration and sympathy, drew forth a cup and caught in it some of the blood that gushed from the wound of the dying man. Then from the weeping girl's bosom he took the packet of medicine, dropped it into the blood, and presented the mixture to Miyuki. "Words are too weak to utter thanks for such a deed as yours, Tokuyémon," she said, and drank it at a draught. Wonder of wonders—the darkness was gone from her eyes, and at that moment she could "see even the creeping of an ant."

Miyuki's joy knew no bounds; Sekisuké in his delight was moved to dance, and Tokuyémon was