Page:Tales from old Japanese dramas (1915).djvu/373

 IV

their escape from Kamakura, Katsugorō and Hatsuhana wandered about here and there for many months. One day when they were in the neighbourhood of an out-of-the-way village adjoining the boundary between Shimozuké and Ōshya, unfortunately Katsugorō was taken ill. Hatsuhana nursed him devotedly by day and by night. Doctors were summoned from neighbouring villages, and they did their utmost, but it was of no avail. Gradually the patient's condition went from bad to worse, until he became so crippled that he could not walk even a step. To make matters worse, all of Katsugorō's little supply of money was used up to pay the expenses of his illness. It soon became impossible for the couple to remain any longer in the inn. They removed to a miserable hovel which was built on the outskirts of the village by some kind peasants. There they were reduced to making a bare existence by begging for coppers from passers-by. It is easy to imagine Katsugorō's feelings in those days. 297