Page:Tales from old Japanese dramas (1915).djvu/493

Rh my stepdaughter my words would prove false. It will not only be my own shame, but also a disgrace to Japan. I can't bear the thought of it." She had scarcely uttered these words, when she snatched Kinshō's dagger, and plunged it into her own throat. Kanki and Kokusenya sprang up with horror. "Don't either of you be surprised!" said the old woman with dying gasps. "Don't grieve at our deaths! Regard the King of Tartary as the enemy of your mother and of your wife, and be sure to take revenge upon him. You will thus do your best for the restoration of the Ming dynasty. Farewell!"

Almost at the same moment, the old woman and Kinshō breathed their last.