Page:Tales from old Japanese dramas (1915).djvu/404

326 This state of affairs was very similar to the Wars of the Roses in English History.

The Southern Dynasty was the legitimate line, so all the loyal patriots espoused its cause; but Taka-uji's forces were so powerful, that Kusunoki Masashigé, Nitta Yoshisada, and many other heroes, were slain in the struggle against him.

Nitta Yoshi-oki, who was as brave as his father Yoshisada, now became a pillar of the Southern Court. The Emperor Go-Murakami, the son of Go-Daigo, commanded him to march to Kamakura in order to subjugate Taka-uji. But Yoshi-oki earnestly remonstrated with the Emperor, saying that it was not the right time to punish the traitor. The latter's army was too powerful, so it was absolutely necessary for the Southern Court to drill its troops for a few years, and lay in a store of provisions and ammunition, before it could hope to conquer the enemy. But the Emperor refused to listen to Yoshi-oki's suggestions, for