Page:Tales from old Japanese dramas (1915).djvu/462

374 was delighted to find itself free and immediately flew away to some reeds which were growing at a little distance from that spot; while the clam sank to the bottom of the water.

The sun was setting and the rain was beginning to patter down. Kokusenya and his wife were just preparing to go home, when they were surprised to see a curious-shaped boat approaching. To their astonishment, a beautiful and noble-looking maiden was sitting in it. She seemed to be exhausted like "a kaidō blossom tortured by rain."

"Oh!" whispered Komutsu, "she looks like a Chinese beauty, such as one often sees in pictures. I suppose she has been exiled to some island on account of an intrigue."

"I thought she must be the ghost of the beautiful Empress Yōki."

"If you were in China, you could have taken such a beautiful girl to be your wife. What a pity it is that you were born in Japan, and have married a woman like myself. Ha! Ha!"

As they laughed and talked in this manner, the beautiful damsel came ashore, and stepping out of the boat, said something eagerly to them.