Book: Bakemono Yashiki (The Haunted House)

J >> James S. De Benneville >> Bakemono Yashiki (The Haunted House)



* * * * *

+------------------------------------------------------------+
| TRANSCRIBER'S NOTES |
| |
| Accents and diacritical marks have generally been |
| standardised. Where there is a single instance of a word |
| with an accent, and one without, no change has been made |
| to the original (e.g. Shigenari/Shigenari, Uesugi/Uesugi). |
| |
| The letter o with a macron is represented as o[u]. |
| The letter u with a macron is represented as u[u]. |
| The letter e with a macron is represented as e[e]. |
| |
| Kanji and hiragana characters in the original book are |
| shown enclosed in square brackets: for example, [sara]. |
| |
| The italicisation of Japanese words has been standardised. |
| |
| Hyphenation and capitalisation has been standardised. |
| |
| Punctuation and obvious printer's errors have been |
| corrected. For a complete list, please see the bottom |
| of this document. |
| |
+------------------------------------------------------------+

* * * * *

[Illustration: EDO WAN (TOKYO BAY)]




LEGEND.


The outline of the map is that found in Volume I. of the Edo Sunago,
published Keio 2nd year (1866). The detail of district maps found in the
book is worked in, together with that from the sectional map of Edo
published Ansei 4th year (1857), and from the Go Edo Zusetsu Shu[u]ran
published Kaei 6th year (1853). The map therefore shows in rough outline
the state of the city just before the removal of the capital from
Kyo[u]to; the distribution of the castes.

The Pre-Tokugawa villages (Eiroku: 1558-1569) indicated on the map found
in the "Shu[u]ran" are:--

North and South Shinagawa: Meguro-Motomura: Gin-Mitamura: Mitamura:
O[u]nemura: Upper and Lower Shibuya: Harajuku-mura: Kokubunji: Azabu:
Kawaza Ichi: O[u]zawa-mura: Imai-mura: Sendagaya: Yamanaka-mura:
Ichigaya: Ushigome: Kobiko-mura: Upper and Lower Hirakawa-mura: Ochiya:
Sekihon: Ikebukuroya: Tomizaka-mura: Ishibukero-mura: Tanibaragaike:
Neruma-mura: Okurikyo[u]: Nakarai-mura: Koishikawa: Zoshigayatsu:
O[u]ji: Shimura: Takinogawa: Kinsoboku-mura: Harajuku-mura (II.):
Komegome-mura: Taninaka-mura: Shimbori-mura: Mikawajima-mura:
Ashigahara-mura: Haratsuka: Ishihama-mura: Senju[u]-mura: Suda-mura:
Sumidagawa: Yanagijima: Jujo[u]-mura: Itabashi: Sugamo-mura: Arakawa
(river): Kandagawa pool (_ike_): Kanda-mura: Shibasaki-mura:
Shin-Horima-mura: Yushima-mura: Shitaya-mura: Torigoe-mura:
Shirosawa-mura: Asakusa-mura: Harai-mura: Some-Ushigome: Ishiwara:
Kinoshitagawa: Ubagaike (pool): Negishi-mura: Kinsoki-mura: Kameido-mura
(near Ueno): Shinobazu-ike (pool).

From South to North circling by the West.
Shinagawa: Mita-mura: Takanawa:
Near Imai-mura is a Myo[u]jin shrine, close by the
mouth of the present Akabane river.

Ikura: Hibiya: Tsukiji: Tsukuda: Tame-ike (pool): Tsukuda Myo[u]jin:
Ota's castle: Sanke-in: Hirakawa-mura: Sakurada-mura: Honju[u]-mura:
O[u]tamage-ike: Kametaka-mura. To the East.

77 villages, total.

Pronounce as in Italian, giving vowels full value: ch- as in "church."

[NIROKUDO[U] ISSUES]

TALES OF THE TOKUGAWA II

BAKEMONO YASHIKI

(THE HAUNTED HOUSE)



RETOLD FROM THE JAPANESE ORIGINALS

BY

JAMES S. DE BENNEVILLE


"Woman's greatest need,
The base of all governance,
Is governance; Seldom found,
And rarely applied."--_Seishin_

YOKOHAMA

1921




PREFACE


In 1590 A.D. the Ho[u]jo[u] were overthrown at Odawara by the Taiko[u]
Hideyoshi, and the provinces once under their sway were intrusted to his
second in command, Tokugawa Iyeyasu. This latter, on removing to the
castle of Chiyoda near Edo, at first paid main attention to
strengthening his position in the military sense. From his fief in
To[u]to[u]mi and Suruga he had brought with him a band of noted
captains, devoted to his service through years of hardest warfare. He
placed them around his castle ward, from East to South in a great
sweeping arc of detached fortresses, extending from Shimo[u]sa province
to that of Sagami. Koga was the chief stronghold on the North, against
what was left of the Uesugi power. The most devoted of his captains,
Honda Tadakatsu, was established at Kawagoe. Odawara, under an O[u]kubo,
as always, blocked the way from the Hakone and Ashigara passes. In the
hands of Iyeyasu and his captains, the formidable garrison here
established was not likely to offer opportunity of a second "Odawara
conference," during which dalliance with compromise and surrender would
bring sudden attack and disaster. At this period there is no sign that
in his personal service Prince Iyeyasu made changes from the system
common to the great military Houses of the time. The castle ward and
attendance always were divided up among the immediate vassals of the
lord. The basis was strictly military, not domestic. Even the beautiful
_kami-shimo_ (X), or butterfly hempen cloth garb of ceremonial
attendance was an obvious reminder of the armour worn in the field.

Great statesman and warrior that he was, the Taiko[u] Hideyoshi must
have realised the difficulties confronting his House. The formidable
power he had created in the North was no small part of them. On several
occasions he sought a quarrel with Iyeyasu; sought to humiliate him in
small ways, to lower his prestige and provoke an outbreak. Such was the
trifling incident of the lavish donation required of Iyeyasu to the
Hachiman shrine at Kamakura. But Hideyoshi, as with Elizabeth of
England, looked rather to the balance of cost against result, always
with possibility of failure in view. When he died in 1598, and left
Tokugawa Iyeyasu practically regent of the land, his expectation can be
judged to be, either that the loyal members of the council of regency
would at least balance the Tokugawa power for their own sakes, or that
the majority of his son Hideyori, then a mere infant, would witness no
question of supremacy. In the one event the glory and prestige of his
House would stand. In the second case the safety of his posterity would
be assured. With his experience, and belief in the over-riding power of
Nobunaga and himself, the first was as likely to happen as the second;
and the influence of the Toyotomi House was the means necessary to
insure to Iyeyasu the position already secured, against the jealousy of
the other lords. Time showed that he granted a perspicuity and energy to
the members of his council which Iyeyasu alone possessed.

With Sekigahara (1600) the situation was definitely changed. In 1603
Iyeyasu was made Sho[u]gun, and the first steps were to organize the
Eastern capital at Edo on an Imperial scale. The modest proportions of
the Chiyoda castle of Ho[u]jo[u] times--the present inner keep--had
already grown to the outer moat. Around these precincts were thrown the
vassals of the Sho[u]gun. The distribution at first was without much
method, beyond the establishment of greater lords in close proximity to
the person of the Sho[u]gun. This feature was accentuated in the time of
the third Sho[u]gun Iyemitsu. Immediately allied Houses and vassals
occupied the castle ward between the inner and outer moats, from the
Hitotsubashi gate on the North, sweeping East and South to the Hanzo[u]
gate on the West. The Nishimaru, or western inclosure of the castle,
faced this Hanzo[u] Gomon. From this gate to a line drawn diagonally
north eastward from the Kanda-bashi Gomon to the Sujikae Gomon, the
section of the circle was devoted to the _yashiki_ (mansions) of the
_hatamoto_ or minor lords in immediate vassalage of the Sho[u]gun's
service. Kanda, Bancho[u], Ko[u]jimachi (within the outer moat), the
larger parts of Asakusa, Shitaya, Hongo[u], Koishikawa, Ushigome
(Ichigaya), Yotsuya, Akasaka, Azabu, and Shiba, were occupied by
_yashiki_ of _hatamoto_ and _daimyo[u]_--with an ample proportion of
temple land. It would seem that there was little left for commercial
Edo. Such was the case. The scattered towns of Kanda, Tayasu,
Ko[u]jicho[u], several score of villages on the city outskirts, are
found in this quarter. The townsmen's houses were crowded into the made
ground between the outer moat of the castle and the _yashiki_ which
lined the Sumida River between Shiba and the Edogawa. In 1624 the
reclaimed ground extended almost to the present line of the river. The
deepening of the beds of the Kanda and Edo Rivers had drained the
marshes. The use of the waters of the Kandagawa for the castle moat had
made dry land of the large marsh just to the south of the present Ueno
district. Thus Hongo[u], in its more particular sense, became a building
site.

With elaboration of the outer defences went elaboration of the immediate
service on the Sho[u]gun. There was no sudden change. The military forms
of the camp stiffened into the etiquette of the palace. The
_Sho[u]inban_ or service of the audience chamber, the _Ko[u]sho[u]gumi_
or immediate attendants, these were the most closely attached to the
Sho[u]gun's person. To be added to these are the O[u]bangumi or palace
guard, the _Kojuningumi_ and the Kachigumi which preceded and surrounded
the prince on his outside appearances. These "sections" formed the Go
Banshu[u], the _honoured_ bodyguard. In the time of Iyemitsu a sixth
_kumi_ or section was formed, to organize the service of the women
attendants of the palace, of the _oku_ or private apartments in
distinction from the _omote_ or public (men's) apartments, to which the
Go Banshu[u] were attached. Given the name of _Shinban_ (New) this
_kumi_ was annexed to the Banshu[u]. This aroused instant protest. The
then lords of the Go Ban inherited their position through the merits of
men who had fought on the bloody fields of war. Now "luck, not service,"
was to be the condition of deserving. The protest was made in form, and
regarded. Iyemitsu gave order that the Shinbangumi retain its name, but
without connection with the Banshu[u].

At this point the confusion of terms is to be explained. All through the
rule of the first three Sho[u]gun a gradual sifting had been taking
place. Into Edo were crowding the _daimyo[u]_ who sought proximity to
the great man of the land. Then came the order of compulsory residence,
issued by Iyemitsu himself; seconded by the mighty lords of Sendai and
Satsuma, who laid hands on sword hilts, and made formal statement that
he who balked nourished a treacherous heart. The support of one of them
was at least unexpected. The acquiescence of both cut off all
opposition. Most of the ground now within the outer moat was devoted to
the greater lords in immediate service on the Tokugawa House. The
_hatamoto_ were removed to the outer sites in Koishikawa, Ushigome,
Yotsuya; to the Bancho[u], the only closer ward they retained; or across
the river to Honjo[u] and Fukagawa. Those in immediate service were
placed nearest to the palace. From the beginning the favoured residence
site had been just outside the Hanzo[u] and Tayasu Gomon, across the
inner moat from the palace. Hence the district got the name of
Bancho[u]. _Go Ban_ ([go ban]) in popular usage was confused with ([go
ban])--"five" instead of "honoured." In course of time the constant
removals to this district made it so crowded, its ways so intricate,
that one who lived in the Bancho[u] (Ban ward) was not expected to know
the locality; a wide departure from the original checker board design on
which it had been laid out, and hence the characters [bancho[u]]
(Bancho[u]) used at one time. This, however, was when Edo had expanded
from its original 808 _cho[u]_ (20200 acres) to 2350 _cho[u]_ (58750
acres). The original Bancho[u] included all the ground of Iidamachi, and
extended to the Ko[u]jimachi road. Ko[u]jimachi (the _mura_ or village)
was then in the Bancho[u], and known as _samurai ko[u]jimachi_
[ko[u]jimachi] (by-way), not the present [ko[u]ji] (yeast). In the time
of the third Sho[u]gun the Bancho[u] was as yet a lonely place--to the
west of the city and on its outskirts. The filling in process, under the
Government pressure for ground, was just under way. Daimyo[u]-ko[u]ji,
between the inner and outer moats, through the heart of which runs the
railway spur from Shimbashi to To[u]kyo[u] station, was being created
by elimination of the minor lords. At the close of Kwanei (1624 A.D.)
all the Daimyo[u]-koji was very solid ground; an achievement of no
little note when the distance from the Sumidagawa is considered. At
Iyeyasu's advent to Edo the shore line ran close to the inner moat of
the castle. The monastery of Zo[u]jo[u]ji then situated close to the
site of the present Watagaru gate, was converted by him into the great
establishment at Shiba; and placed as close to the waters of the bay as
the present Seikenji of Okitsu in Suruga--its fore-bear in the material
and ecclesiastical sense.

The same rapid development of the town took place on the eastern side of
the river. Honjo[u] and Fukagawa became covered by the _yashiki_ sites,
interspersed with the numerous and extensive temple grounds. Iyeyasu was
as liberal to the material comforts of his ghostly advisers, as he was
strict in their supervision. One fifth of Edo was ecclesiastical. One
eighth of it, perhaps, was given over to the needed handicrafts and
tradesmen of the Kyo[u]bashi and Nihonbashi wards along the river, with a
moiety of central Honjo[u]--and to the fencing rooms. The balance of the
city site was covered by the _yashiki_. Thus matters remained until the
Meiji period swept away feudalism, and substituted for the military town
the modern capital of a living nation. So much for the Edo with which we
have to deal, apart from its strange legends and superstitions, its
malevolent and haunting influences, working ill to the invaders, daring to
encroach upon the palace itself and attack the beloved of the Sho[u]gun
and his heir, only to be quelled by the divine majesty of his look--as
expounded in such tangle of verities as the Honjo[u]-Nana-fushigi (seven
marvels of Honjo[u]), the Azabu Nana-fushigi, the Fukagawa Nana-fushigi,
the Bancho[u] Nana-fushigi, the Okumura Kiroku, the temple scrolls and
traditions, and many kindred volumes.

In reference to the Bancho[u]: the stories outlined in the present
volume date from the period of the puppet shows and strolling reciters,
men who cast these tales into their present lines, thus reducing popular
tradition to the form in which it could be used by the _ko[u]danshi_ or
lecturers on history, or by those diving into the old tales and
scandals connected with the _yashiki_ of Edo town. In the present volume
main reliance for the detail has been placed on the following
_ko[u]dan_:--

"The Bancho[u] Nana-fushigi" of Matsubayashi Hakuen.

"The Bancho[u] Sarayashiki" of Momogawa Jo[u]en.

"The Bancho[u] Sarayashiki" of Byo[u]haku Hakuchi, in the
"Kwaidan-shu[u]" published by the Hakubunkwan.

"The Bancho[u] Sarayashiki" of Ho[u]gyu[u]sha To[u]ko.

"Yui Sho[u]setsu" of Ko[u]ganei Koshu[u].

These references could be extended. The story of the Sarayashiki figures
in most of the collections of wonder tales. The Gidayu of the "Banshu[u]
Sarayashiki" by Tamenaga Taro[u]bei and Asada Itcho[u] finds no
application. It deals with Himeji in Harima. As for the stories from an
esoteric point of view, as illustrations of the period they have a
value--to be continued in those more historical, and which deal with the
lives and deeds of men of greater note and influence in this early
Tokugawa court. The present volume instances the second class of wonder
tales referred to in the preface to the Yotsuya Kwaidan.

O[u]marudani, 14th November, 1916.




CONTENTS

PAGE

Preface v

Map of Edo _Facing_ xii

PART I.

TALES OF THE EDO BANCHO[U]:
WHO AOYAMA SHU[U]ZEN WAS 1

Chapter I. The Chu[u]gen Rokuzo 3

II. The Bakemono Yashiki 17

III. Nakakawachi Shu[u]zen 26

IV. The O'kage Sama 38

V. The Report to the Tono Sama 48

VI. The Shrine of the O'Inari Sama 55

VII. The Luck of Okumura Shu[u]zen 64

VIII. Aoyama Shu[u]zen 76

IX. Shu[u]zen meets Shu[u]zen 84

X. The Meeting of the Gaman Kwai 89


PART II.

BANCHO[U] SARAYASHIKI:
WHAT AOYAMA SHU[U]ZEN BECAME 97

Chapter XI. The Yoshida Goten 99

XII. The Ko[u]jimachi Well 111

XIII. The Sen Himegimi (Princess Sen) 122

XIV. Shu[u]zen Adolescens 130

XV. The God favours Shu[u]zen 142

XVI. The Affair of the Asakusa Kwannon 150

XVII. Emma Dai-O[u] gives Judgment 156

XVIII. Kosaka Jinnai 165

XIX. A Matter of Pedestrianism 171

XX. The Affair of Kishu[u] Ke 179

XXI. If old Acquaintance be forgot 192

XXII. The Shrine of the Jinnai-bashi 201

XXIII. A Winter Session 212

XXIV. The Tiger at the front Gate; the Wolf at
the Postern 218

XXV. Chu[u]dayu wins his Suit 229

XXVI. Sampei Dono 236

XXVII. Aoyama wins his Suit 245

XXVIII. The Sarayashiki 251








PART I


TALES OF THE EDO BANCHO[U]

WHO AOYAMA SHU[U]ZEN WAS.




CHAPTER I

THE _Chu[u]gen_ ROKUZO


Rokuzo the _chu[u]gen_ sighed as he faced the long slope leading to the
Kudanzaka. Pleasant had been his journey to this point. From his master's
_yashiki_ in Ichigaya to the shop of the sandal maker Sukebei in lower
Kanda it had been one long and easy descent. Sukebei had gratified Rokuzo
with the desired and well established commission or "squeeze." Orders for
sandals in the _yashiki_ of a nobleman were no small item. Rokuzo was
easily satisfied. Though of a scant thirty years in age he had not the
vice of women, the exactions of whom were the prime source of rascality in
the sphere of _chu[u]gen_, as well as in the glittering train of the
palace. At the turn of the road ahead Rokuzo could eye the massive walls
of the moat, which hid the fortress and seraglio built up by the skilful
hands of Kasuga no Tsubone in her earnest efforts to overcome the woman
hating propensities of the San-dai-ke, the third prince of the Tokugawa
line, Iyemitsu Ko[u]. Rokuzo was a _chu[u]gen_, servant in attendance on
his master Endo[u] Saburo[u]zaemon, _hatamoto_ or immediate vassal of the
commander-in-chief, the Sho[u]gun or real ruler in the land of Nippon
since the long past days of Taira Kiyomori.

Rokuzo had no great lady in charge of his domestic arrangements, one
whose obsession it was to overcome his dislike of man's natural mate.
Nor had he such mate to administer reproof for his decided liking for
the sherry-like rice wine called _sake_. Sukebei had rigidly performed
his part in the matter of the "squeeze"; but Rokuzo considered him
decidedly stingy in administration of the wine bottle--or bottles.
Willingly would he have sacrificed the commission for an amplitude of
the wine. But even _chu[u]gen_ had their formulae of courtesy, and such
reflection on his host would have been too gross. With a sigh therefore
he had set out from the shop of the sandal maker, eyeing the wine shops
passed from time to time, but not fortunate enough to chance upon any
acquaintance whose services he could call upon in facing him over a
glass. Rokuzo had the virtue of not drinking alone.

Kanda village once passed, the _yashiki_ walls hemmed in the highway
which ran through a district now one of the busiest quarters of the
city. This sloping ground was popularly known as Ichimenhara, to
indicate its uniformity of surface. There was not a hint of the great
university, the long street of book-stores close packed side by side for
blocks. Their site was covered by the waters of the marsh, almost lake,
of the Kanda River, then being slowly drained into the castle moats. The
top of the hill reached, at what is now South Jimbocho[u], the shops and
houses of the one village hereabouts, Tayasu-mura, offered a last chance
for diversion. The steep slope of the Kudan hill was now before Rokuzo,
and beyond he had to pass through the lonely wood which harboured a
temple to the war god Hachiman, and which covered the site of the
present Sho[u]konsha or shrine to the spirits of the soldiers killed in
Nippon's wars. This road ran through the San-Bancho[u], then a lonely
quarter in which stood isolated from each other _yashiki_ of the
_hatamoto_. The district was filling up, under press of the needs of the
castle service for space immediately round about. But the process was a
slow one, and the district one much suspected by the lower classes.

Rokuzo was not fat. He was short, thick necked, sturdy with a
barrel-like roundness, and, owing to his drinking propensities, endowed
with legs the thinness of which found the conveyance of the upper
massiveness no mean task. Hence he stopped at the foot of the hill to
wipe the sweat from his face. He eyed with envy a low caste being, a
_heimin_ and labourer. Clad in a breech-clout the fellow swung rapidly
down the hill with his load of charcoal balanced at each end of the
carrying pole. It was etiquette, not modesty, which confined Rokuzo to
the livery of his master. He was compelled to a coat which, light and
thin as it was, cut off all the breeze from his muscular shoulders.
Well! Up the hill he must get. The rolling down was a matter of the
past. The _yashiki_, the house officer (_kyu[u]nin_) to whom report was
to be made, lay beyond. About to make the start a voice spoke in his
ear. Though soft and gentle it would have had no particular attraction
for the now thirsty Rokuzo. But apart from thirst Rokuzo was of the
thoroughly good natured kind. He was surprised at the beauty of the face
on which his eyes rested; still more so at the size of the bundle she
was trying to carry, and which plainly was far beyond her strength. The
rashness of benevolence overcame the not too energetic Rokuzo. Sigh as
he did over the conveyance of his carcass up the steep hill, he sighed
still more at thought of this fragile creature attempting to carry such
a burden.

She followed his eyes to the bundle. "Alas! Honoured Sir, what is to be
done? The _furoshiki_ is far beyond one's poor strength. Though the
distance is not great--only to Go Bancho[u]--yet it could as well be a
pilgrimage to Ise. Surely the hills of Hakone and Iga are no steeper
than this Kudanzaka." She sighed; and apart from a weariness of voice
there was a suspicion of moisture in her eyes. The more Rokuzo looked at
her, the greater waxed his pity and benevolence. Barely of eighteen
years she was a beautiful girl; not a servant, yet not one of the
secluded and guarded daughters of a noble House. Perhaps she was the
young wife of some soldier, and he was surprised at her being
unattended. She noted this, and readily explained the fact. There were
purchases yet to make, close by in Tayasu. Here a servant was to be at
hand, but wearied by waiting the woman had made off. "To offer a wage,
good sir, seems impolite; yet the way being the same deign to grant the
favour of your strength." In the petition her face was wreathed in
admiring smiles at Rokuzo's fine figure of a man. A light in the eyes,
captious and coquettish, the furtive glances at his broad shoulders and
stout neck, betrayed him into the indiscretion of volunteering a service
promptly accepted. This done, the lady, without losing sight of display
of her charm of manner, was all business.

Rokuzo had much to learn, and he was not one to profit much by his
lessons. If he was virtuous, he was by nature a very Simple Simon. A
greater liking for women might by contact have sharpened wits rather
dulled by drinking. As it was, anyone in the _yashiki_, who wished to
shift some unpleasant obligation, found in Rokuzo the one to be
impressed by the most specious excuse, and the one whose kindness of
heart undertook and carried out the purpose of avoidance by assumption
of the task. Instead of concocting some pretext to carry off Sukebei, or
one, or all, of his apprentices to the neighbouring street and a grog
shop, his inexperience and diffidence had carried him away still
thirsty. Instead of bumping into some passing fellow _chu[u]gen_ on the
street, and wiping out the insult with wine, he had idled along, leaving
to every man his share of the roadway, and to the thirsty with burdens
more than their share. Hence this uncongenial company of thirst and a
woman. She had halted at a grocer's shop, and his eyes were soon agog at
sight of her investments--mushrooms, not of much weight, but in bulk
forming almost a mound; the dried sliced gourd called _kambyoku_, of
which she seemed very fond; marrow, _to[u]gan_ (gourd-melon),[1] the new
and expensive potato (_imo_), for money was no object in her purchases.
A second shop close by caught her eye. Here were added to the pile the
long string beans, doubtless to roast in the pod for an afternoon's
amusement and repast, _kabocha_ or squashes, large stalks of _daikon_
(radish) two feet in length, _go[u]bo[u]_ or burdock, and a huge
watermelon. The list is too long to quote except for the report of a
produce exchange. Indeed it was rather a case of what she did not buy,
on a scale to furnish forth a _yashiki_. Then she made her way to a
confection and fruit shop just opposite the scene of her last purchases.
Pears were coming into season--weighty in measure and on the stomach.
But the lady was not frightened. She bought for yesterday, to-day, and
to-morrows, in fruit and cakes of all kinds. Conveyed by the divers
attendants her goods lay piled up at the last source of supply. Puzzled,
she regarded the huge mass; then took eye measure of the shoulders of
Rokuzo. They inspired confidence. She laid a gentle and admiring hand on
his massiveness. She looked into his face with enticing smile. There was
a silvery little laugh in her voice. Concealing their grins the shop
attendants fled to their different haunts. Here they smothered cries and
roars of coarse merriment; and one man nearly smothered himself by
sticking his head in the brine cask. This _chu[u]gen_ was no servant of
the lady. He was a volunteer conveyancer caught by a pretty face. They
knew her.

Copyright (c) 2007. knowncrafts.net. All rights reserved.