TAIKO: AN EPIC NOVEL OF WAR AND GLORY IN FEUDAL JAPAN

'The master drives me like a horse. The people here bully me, they call me 'monkey’. all the time, so I'd like to become a bandit like you and get even with them.'

'All right, I'll let you join us, but only after you prove yourself. Now explain what said before.'

'About you all being killed?'

'Yes.'

'Well, your plan's no good. This evening you disguised yourself as a guest and mixed with a large group of people.'

'Yes.'

'Someone recognized you.'

'That's impossible.'

'Think what you like, but the master clearly knew who you were. So, earlier this evening, on his instructions, I ran to the house of Kato of Yabuyama and let him know we would surely be attacked in the middle of the night and would appreciate his help.'

'Kato of Yabuyama… that would be the Oda retainer Kato Danjo.'

'Because Danjo and my master are relatives, he got hold of a dozen samurai who live around here, and they all came in during the evening, dressed as guests. They're on watch for you at the house right now, and that's no lie.'

Hiyoshi could see from the pallor of his face that Tenzo believed him.

'Is that so?' he said. 'Where are they? What are they doing?'

'They were sitting in a circle, drinking sake and waiting. Then they decided you probably wouldn't attack this late, so they went to sleep. They made me stand watch out in the cold.'

Tenzo grabbed Hiyoshi, saying, 'It's your life if you cry out.' With the huge palm of his hand, he covered Hiyoshi's mouth.

Struggling, Hiyoshi managed to say, 'Mister, this isn't what you promised. I won't make any noise. Take your hand away.' He sank his fingernails into the robber's hand.

Tenzo shook his head.

'Nothing doing. I am, after all, Watanabe Tenzo of Mikuriya. You want me to believe this house is prepared. Even if that's true, if I left empty-handed I wouldn't be able to face my men.'

'But…'

'What can you do?'

'I'll bring out anything you want.'

'You'll bring it out?'

'Yeah. That's the way to do it. That way you can finish this thing without the danger cutting people down or being cut down yourself.'

'Without fail?' He tightened his grip on Hiyoshi's throat.

The gate was still closed. Afraid and suspicious, his men kept calling out in loud whispers and rattling the gate.

'Hey, boss, are you in there?'

'What's going on?'

'What's the matter with the gate?'

Tenzo loosened the bar halfway and whispered through the gap, 'Something's wrong here, so keep quiet. And don't stay in a group. Split up and hide.'

Going for what Tenzo had asked for, Hiyoshi crawled quietly from the entrance of the male servants' quarters into the main house. Once there, he saw that a lamp was lit in Sutejiro's room.

'Master?' Hiyoshi called out as he seated himself respectfully on the veranda. There was no answer, but he sensed that both Sutejiro and his wife were awake.

'Madam?'

'Who is it?' asked Sutejiro's wife, her voice trembling. Either she or her husband had awakened and shaken the other awake because just a moment ago there had been a vague rustling and the sound of voices. Thinking it might be an attack by bandits, both had shut their eyes in fear. Hiyoshi opened the sliding door and moved forward on his knees. Both Sutejiro and his wife opened their eyes wide.

'There are bandits outside. A lot of them,' Hiyoshi said.

Husband and wife swallowed hard, but said nothing. They looked incapable of speech.

'It'd be terrible if they came rushing in. They'd tie you two up and leave five or six dead or injured. I've thought of a plan, and I've got their leader waiting for your answer.'

Hiyoshi told them of his conversation with Tenzo, and ended by saying, 'Master please let the robbers have what they want. I'll take it to Tenzo, and he'll go away.'

There was a slight pause before the merchant asked, 'Hiyoshi, what in the world doe; he want?'

'He said he came for the akae water pitcher.'

'What?'

'He said that if I handed it over, he'd go away. Since it's not worth anything, won't you let him have it? It was all my idea,' Hiyoshi explained proudly. 'I'll pretend I'm stealing it for him.' But the despair and fear hovering around the faces of Sutejiro and his wife were almost palpable. 'The akae pitcher was taken out of storage for the tea ceremony earlier today, wasn't it? The man must be a fool to tell me to bring that worthless thing to him!' Hiyoshi said, looking as if he found the whole matter hilarious.

Sutejiro's wife was extremely quiet, as though she had been turned to stone. With a deep sigh, Sutejiro said, 'This is awful.' Lost in thought, he too became quiet.

'Master, why look at it that way? One piece of pottery can finish all this without bloodshed.'

'It's not just any piece of pottery. Even in the country of the Ming there are few pieces like it. I brought it back from China after considerable hardship. What's more, it is a keepsake from Master Shonzui.'

'In the pottery shops of Sakai,' said his wife, 'it would fetch over a thousand gold pieces.'

But the robbers were more to be feared. If they resisted them, there would be a massacre, and there had been cases of mansions being burned to the ground. Neither event was unusual in these unsettled times.

In such a situation, a man did not have much time to make up his mind. For a moment, Sutejiro seemed to be unable to break free from his past attachment to the pitcher. But finally he said, 'It can't be helped.' He felt a little better after that. He took the key to the storehouse from a small drawer of a lacquer cabinet.

'Take it to him.' He threw the key down in front of Hiyoshi. Vexed at the loss of the precious water pitcher, Sutejiro could not bring himself to praise Hiyoshi at all, even though he thought the scheme was well devised for a boy of his age.

Hiyoshi went alone to the storehouse. He came out holding a wooden box and returned the key to the hand of his master, saying, 'It would be best if you put out the light and quietly went back to bed. You needn't worry.'

When he brought the box to Tenzo, the bandit, only half believing what was happening, opened it and examined the contents carefully. 'Hm, this is it,' he said. The lines of his face softened.

'You and your men should get out of here fast. When I was searching for this in the storehouse just now, I lit a candle. Kato and his samurai are probably waking up at this very moment, and will soon start to make their rounds.'

Tenzo made hastily for the gate. 'You come and call on me in Mikuriya anytime. I'll take you on.' With these words he disappeared into the darkness.

The fearful night was over.

It was about noon of the following day. Because it was the first week of the New Year, an endless procession of guests, coming in twos and threes, made their way to the main house. Yet the atmosphere in the pottery shop was strangely uneasy. Sutejiro was moody and sullen, and his usually cheerful wife was nowhere to be seen.

Ofuku quietly went to his mother's room and sat down. She had not fully recovered from the nightmare of the previous night and lay in bed, her face a sickly white.

'Mother, I've just now come from talking with Father. It's going to be all right.'

'Really? What did he say?'

'At first he was skeptical, but when I told him about Hiyoshi's behavior and the time when he grabbed me