Page:Tales from old Japanese dramas (1915).djvu/470

382 Kokusenya was not at all frightened, and putting his mother in a safe place behind him, he prepared to fight the beast with open hands; for he would not use his sword against it. The tiger, glaring and roaring, sprang at him. Kokusenya encountered it with great skill, at one moment striking it with a clenched fist, at the next seizing its tail. Then he leaped on to its back and brought it down to the ground. After fighting for a little while, the animal drew back exhausted, and crouching on the ground, gasped for breath. Then the heroes mother ran up to him saying: "We are both Japanese, and though we are far away from Japan, there is no reason why the gods of Japan should not protect us!" With these words she handed him an amulet which she always carried about her person. Kokusenya received it reverently, and held it up before the tiger, which suddenly dropped its tail, drew in its paws, and trembled with fear.

At that moment a large band of Chinese soldiers appeared on the scene, and their captain cried out: "Stay! That tiger is our property! We have hunted it, in order to make an offering of it to His Majesty the King of Tartary from our