Page:Tales from old Japanese dramas (1915).djvu/375

Rh "Are you a beggar girl?" he asked. "Surely you are too beautiful for such a life! Aha! You must be the much-talked-of cripple's wife. I will, of course, give you as much money as you require, but in return you must yield to my desire"

So saying, he seized Hatsuhana by the hand, and drew her to him. She controlled her anger and said with feigned calm: "It is not seemly for a lord to joke with a beggar woman!" and she struggled to shake off his hand. But the impudent man only tightened his grasp, and tried to embrace her. Hatsuhana could remain passive no longer. She was well skilled in jūjutsu or "the art of self-defence without weapons," which she had learned under her father's instructions. She pinioned his arms, and threw him with a thud to the ground.

"Yai, beggar woman!" cried he, springing to his feet. "What insolence, to fling down a warrior like myself!"

"Oh, no, sir! By a mere accident your honour stumbled against a stone."

"It is false!" he cried. "It is a disgrace that I, a daikwan, governing seven villages should be