The Ten Foot Square Hut and Tales of the Heike Read online

  And so of the two hundred odd ships five at last got away. These five were, first the Hōgwan's ship; then Tajiro-no-Kwanja's ship; then that of Gotōbyōye and his son; then that of the brothers Kaneko, and that of Yodo-no-Gonai Tadatoshi, who held the office of Funa-bugyo, or Marshal of the Ships. The rest of the ships, whether from fear of Kajiwara or the weather, did not put out.

  "There's no need to stop for the others," said Yoshitsune, "at ordinary times the enemy would be afraid and on the alert, but on a stormy day like this we can land at a place where he won't be expecting us; thus we can attack him to advantage. And take care to cover your lights. If the enemy sees many lights he will take alarm. Follow my ship by keeping your eye on my head and stern lights." So they sailed on all night, and in six hours covered a distance that usually took three days. It was about two o'clock in the morning on the sixteenth day of the second month that they set sail from Watanabe and Fukushima in Settsu, and they arrived off the coast of Awa the next morning about seven.

  THE CROSSING OF OSAKA

  Yoshitsune next asked Kondō Roku how many men the Heike had at Yashima, to which he replied that the number was not more than a thousand horsemen. "How is it that there are so few?" said the Hōgwan. "Because they have stationed bands of fifty or a hundred men at every creek and island round Shikoku, and also because an army of three thousand horse under the command of Dennai Saemon Noriyoshi, the eldest son of Awa-no-Mimbu Shigeyoshi, has gone over tō Iyo to attack Kōno Shirō of that province, because he would not join them when they summoned him."

  "Ah, that's a fine opportunity! I have them. And how far is it to Yashima from here?" "About two days march," replied Kondō. "Then let us hurry up and get there before they get wind of us." And so they started off, sometimes running and sometimes marching, making as great a speed as they could, until by night they came to the mountain pass of Osaka on the borders of Awa and Sanuki, and began to cross it.

  About the middle of the night as they were pushing on over the mountain, they came up with a man carrying a letter. As it was dark he had not the least idea that they were enemies, but thought they were Heike soldiers going to Yashima, and began to talk to them quite freely. "You seem to be going to Yashima, so I suppose you know the way," said Yoshitsune. "Can you guide us?" "Certainly," replied the man, "I often go there, so I know the road very well." "Who is that letter from, and who is it for?" asked Yoshitsune. "It is from the Ladies in Miyako, and I am taking it to the Daijin Munemori in Yashima," was the reply. "What is it about?" "The Genji have already got as far as Yodo and Kawajiri, so no doubt it is to send him tidings of it." "Ah, no doubt that is so," exclaimed the Hōgwan, "seize that letter, men! But don't kill him," he added as they took the letter, "for that would be a useless crime."

  So they bound the man to a tree in the mountains and passed on. When Yoshitsune opened the letter and read it, he found that it was indeed from the Ladies in Miyako. "Kurō is a shrewd fellow," he read, "and will not fear to attack however rough the weather may be, so take care not to scatter your force, and be very much on the alert." "This letter is godsend to me," said Yoshitsune, "we must keep it and show it to Yoritomo." And he stowed it away very carefully.

  Now at Yashima Dennai Saemon Noriyoshi, the eldest son of Awa-no-Mimbu Shigeyoshi, had ridden into the province of Iyo with three thousand horse to chastise Konō-no-Shirō for not coming to join them when he was summoned, but Konō himself had escaped him, so he cut off the heads of some hundred and fifty of his retainers and marched back with them to the Palace. But as he thought it was not proper to bring the heads of rebels to the Palace for inspection, he took them to the headquarters of Munemori, when suddenly his men began to shout out that the houses of Takamatsu were on fire. "As it is daytime it is not likely to be accidental," he cried. "It must be the enemy who is here and has set them on fire. They are sure to be in great force, so we can do nothing. Come! Come! Into the boats!" And in great hurry and confusion they scrambled aboard the ships that were moored in rows along the beach in front of the main gate.

  In the Imperial Ship were the Imperial Consort Kenrei-mon-in, the mother of the late Emperor and the Nii Dono* with their Ladies-in-waiting, while Munemori was in another with his son, and the others got on board any ship they could find, and all the ships immediately rowed out a cho or thirty or forty yards from the shore. Scarcely had they done so when the seventy or eighty horsemen of the Genji, all armed alike, galloped smartly up to the beach in front of the main gate.

  As the tide was at its lowest ebb in the tidal bay, the water came up to the horses' chests, or knees, or girths in some places, and in others it was shallower still, and so as they dashed through the waves, kicking up a mist of foam and spray all round them, out of which their white banners appeared fluttering here and there, it was no wonder that the Heike, doomed as they were, should imagine that a great army was upon them. Especially was this so in that Yoshitsune, not wishing that the enemy should see the smallness of his force, had divided it up into small groups of from five to ten horsemen each.

  He was attired that day in a hitatare of red, and armour of shaded purple, and wore a helmet surmounted by golden horns, a gold-mounted sword, and a quiver of black and white feathered arrows, twenty-four in number. Grasping his rattan-bound bow in the middle he glared fiercely at the enemy out in the offing, and shouted with a loud voice: "I am Minamoto Yoshitsune, Lord High Constable, Envoy of the Hō-ō." After him the rest of the leaders of the Genji proclaimed their names and titles. As they came riding up, shouting their war-cries, the Heike seized their bows and began to shoot from far and near, but the Genji took but little heed of them, ducking to left and right to avoid the shafts, and taking the opportunity to rest and breathe their horses under the lee of those ships that were in shallow water, all the while shouting and fighting furiously.

  THE DEATH OF TSUGINOBU

  Now Gotōbyōye Sanemoto, a veteran warrior, did not stop to take part in the fight on the beach, but went on and burst into the Palace and set it on fire, so that it went up in flames in a moment. The Daijin Munemori, seeing this, turned to his retainers and inquired: "How many men have the Genji?" "Not more than seventy or eighty horsemen, it seems," was the reply. "Ah, so few?" exclaimed Munemori; "if the hair of their heads was counted one by one, they would not equal our force! Why did you lose your heads and run away to the ships, and let them through without a blow to set fire to the Palace? Is not Noritsune here? Let him land and give battle to these fellows!"

  At this order Noto-no-kami Noritsune landed with some five hundred men in small boats, under the command of Etchū-no-Jirōhyōye Moritsugu, and took up a position on the beach in front of the burnt-out main gate. Yoshitsune also drew up his eighty horsemen opposite them, about a bowshot away. Then Etchu-no-Jirōhyōye came forth on to the deck-house of his boat and shouted in a loud voice: "Ho, there! You may perhaps have declared your name and titles once already, but as it was far away over the sea, we could not hear. So who is the leader of the Genji with whom we have to do to-day?" "It is needless to repeat it," shouted Ise Saburō in reply, "but here is the Lord Yoshitsune, the younger brother of Yoritomo, lord of Kamakura, descended in the tenth generation from the Emperor Seiwa!"

  "Oh!" retorted Moritsugu, "then that is the wretched little stripling, who was left an orphan when his father was killed in the Heiji fighting, and who became an acolyte at Kurama temple, and ran away to Mutsu carrying baggage in the train of a gold merchant."

  "Why show off your eloquence in such talk about our lord," replied Yoshimori, drawing nearer, "I fancy you are one of those who got yourself well beaten at Tonamiyama in the north, and just escaped with your life, to beg your way home all the way from the Hokurikudo, aren't you?"

  "What need to be a beggar when one has a bounteous lord to depend on?" said Moritsugu, "I didn't get my living and keep my family on robbing and thieving in Suzugayama in Ise, and being a low retainer, as you did." At this point Kaneko-no-Jōrō came forward and interrupted them. "Wh
at's the good of all this useless talk? Calling one another names is a thing anyone can do. These lords know what our young warriors of Musashi and Sagami can do from what they saw at Ichi-no-tani last spring."

  And as he spoke his younger brother, who had so far stood by his side without a word, took an arrow twelve handbreadths and three fingers long, fitted it to his bow and drew with all his might, so that the arrow flew straight at Moritsugu and stuck in his breastplate with such force as to pierce it right through, thus putting an end to the wordy warfare.

  Now Noto-no-kami Noritsune was attired as for a sea-fight without hitatare and full armour, but in a short under-robe dyed in variegated colours, and armour laced with Chinese silk. His sword was mounted in gold and silver, and he carried a "Shigeto" bow and a quiver of twenty-four arrows feathered with hawk's tail-feathers. He was the most redoubtable archer in the Imperial Camp and it was said of him that he never missed anyone he aimed at.

  With the intention of putting an end to Yoshitsune at a single shot he stood watching his mark, but the Genji perceived this, and Ise Saburō, Satō Saburōhyōye Tsuginobu, Satō Shirōhyōye Tadanobu, Eda-no-Genzō, Kumai Tarō and Musashi-bō Benkei rode up in a line close together in front of Yoshitsune to protect him from the arrows, so that it was impossible for Noto-no-kami to hit him. "Get out of the way of the arrows, you fellows!" he shouted, and drawing his bow again and again with great speed and accuracy he shot down ten of the Genji soldiers, among whom Satō Saburōhyōye, who was in the forefront, received an arrow that pierced him through from the left shoulder to the right armpit, and no longer able to sit his horse, fell headlong to the ground.

  Then one of Noto-no-kami's young men named Kikuō Maru, a very strong fighter, wearing a body armour of green colour and a helmet of three plates, drew his sword and ran out to take the head of Tsuginobu. At this his younger brother Tadanobu, who was standing beside him, drew his bow and shot Kikuō Maru under the skirts of his armour, so that he sank down on to his knees.

  When Noritsune saw this, still holding his bow in his left hand, with his right he seized Kikuō Maru and flung him back into his own ship. Thus he prevented the Genji from taking his head, though he died later from the wound.

  Then Yoshitsune, ordering them to carry Tsuginobu to the rear, sprang down from his horse and took him by the hand, saying: "How do you feel, Saburōhyōye?" "It is the end, my lord," answered Tsuginobu. "Is there anything you would wish for in this world?" inquired Yoshitsune. "What is there that I should want? Only that I regret that I shall not live to see my lord come to his own. For the rest, it is the destiny of one who wields the bow and arrow to fall by the shaft of an enemy. And that it should be told to future generations that I, Satō Saburōhyōye Tsuginobu of Mutsu, died instead of my lord at the fight on the beach of Yashima in Sanuki, in the war of the Genji and Heike, will be my pride in this life and something to remember on the dark road of death." And so he died.

  Stout warrior as Yoshitsune was, he was so overcome with grief that he pressed the sleeve of his armour to his face and wept bitterly. He then asked if there was any reverend priest in those parts, and when they had found one he said: "A wounded man has just died; I wish you to recite the Sutras for him for one day," and he presented him with a stout black horse with a fine set of trappings.

  This was the horse that Yoshitsune, when he received the Fifth Rank, also raised to the Fifth Rank and gave the name of Taiyū Kurō. It was the one on which he had descended the Hiyodorigoe pass behind Ichi-no-tani. When the other samurai, and especially Tsuginobu's younger brother Tadanobu, saw this, they were moved to tears and exclaimed: "For the sake of a lord like this, who would consider his life more than dust or dew?"

  NASU-NO-YŌICHI

  Now as those warriors of Awa and Sanuki who wished to throw off their allegiance to the Heike and join the Genji began to emerge from their caves and mountains in small bands of fifteen and twenty, and ride in to join him, Yoshitsune soon found himself in command of a force of some three hundred horse.

  By this time the sun was sinking and both armies were preparing to retire, as no decision could be reached that day, when from the offing a small boat, with no special decoration, was seen to come rowing to the shore. When it had reached a distance of seven or eight "tan" from the water's edge, it swung round broadside on, and while the Heike wondered what it would do, a girl, some eighteen or nineteen years old, wearing a five-fold robe of white lined with green, and a scarlet hakama, took a red fan with a rising sun on it and hung it up on a pole fastened to the gunwhale of the boat.

  Calling Gotōbyōye Sanemoto, Yoshitsune asked him what was the meaning of it. "It is to shoot at, no doubt," replied Gotō, "I expect it is a plan of theirs to get you to come and look at this charmer, and entice you out in front into bowshot, but at any rate we ought to shoot it away." "Who is the best archer we have?" asked Yoshitsune. "There are several good shots, but the best is Yōichi Munetaka, the son of Nasu-no-Tarō Suketaka of Shimozuke. He is a small man, but a most skilful archer." "What proof have you?" asked Yoshitsune. "He can hit two or three birds on the wing with anybody." "Then call him," was the reply.

  Yōichi was then barely twenty years old. He was wearing a hitatare of greenish blue with the collar and edges of the sleeves ornamented with brocade on a red ground. His armour was laced with light green and the mounts of his sword were of silver. He carried twenty-four arrows with black and white feathers, or rather dark-grey, in which hawks' wing-feathers were mixed. A turnip-headed arrow pointed with staghorn was also stuck in his quiver. Carrying his Shigeto bow under his arm, and with his helmet slung to his breastplate, he came into the presence of the Hōgwan and did obeisance.

  "How now, Yōichi," said Yoshitsune, "can you hit that fan right in the middle, and show the enemy how we can shoot?" "I cannot say for certain," replied Yōichi, "and if I should miss, it would be a lasting reproach to the skill of our side. So it would be better to entrust it to some one who could be quite sure."

  This reply greatly angered Yoshitsune. "Those who came from Kamakura with me on this campaign must obey my orders," he exclaimed, "those who do not had better go back there again!" Then Yōichi, thinking it would not do to refuse again, replied: "I may not succeed in hitting it, but as my lord commands, I will try." And retiring he mounted a fine black horse with saddle ornamented with gold, and taking a fresh hold on his bow, he gripped the reins and rode into the sea. Those on his own side, looking after him, exclaimed: "Ah, that young fellow is sure to bring it down!" And the Hōgwan also thought he had not misplaced his trust.

  As it was a little beyond bowshot he rode about one tan into the water, but still the fan seemed about seven tan*' away. It was the eighteenth day of the second month, and the Hour of the Cock (6 p.m.). The wind was blowing rather strongly from the north, and the waves were running high on the beach. Out in the offing the ships were rising and falling as they rode on the swell, and the fan was fluttering about in the breeze. The Heike had ranged their ships in a long line to see better what would befall, while on land the Genji lined the shore in expectation. The whole of both armies were watching the scene.

  Then Yōichi closed his eyes and prayed: "Hachiman Dai-bosatsu, God of Battles, and ye deities of my homeland, the Gongen of Nikko, Yuzen Daimyōjin of Nasu of Utsunomiya, I pray you grant that I may strike the centre of that fan. For if I fail, I will break my bow and put an end to my life, showing my face no more among men. If therefore you will that I see home again, let not this arrow miss its mark." After praying thus silently he again opened his eyes, and the wind had abated a little so that the fan looked easier to hit.

  Taking the turnip-headed shaft he drew his bow with all his strength and let fly. He was short of stature, it is true, but his arrow measured twelve hand-breadths and three fingers, and his bow was a strong one. The shore echoed to the whirr of the arrow as it flew straight to its mark. Whizzing it struck the fan an inch from the rivet, so that it flew up into the air as the arrow fell into the sea. O
nce and again the spring breeze caught it and tossed it up, then suddenly it dropped down into the water. And when they saw the scarlet fan gleaming in the rays of the setting sun as it danced up and down, rising and falling on the white crests of the waves, the Heike in the offing beat applaudingly on the gunwales of their ships, while the Genji on the shore rattled their quivers till they rang again.

  THE DROPPED BOW

  Unable to restrain himself in his excitement over the enjoyment of this feat, an old warrior of some fifty years of age, in armour laced with black leather, sprang up on one of the ships just in the place where the fan had been and began to dance, twirling a white-handled halberd in his hand.

  Seeing this, Ise Saburō Yoshimori came up behind Yōichi and said: "It is our lord's command that you bring down that fellow too." So Yōichi took one of the middle arrows of his quiver, drew his bow and let fly. The arrow flew straight to the mark, hitting the dancer right in the middle of his body so that he fell back into the bottom of the boat. There were some who applauded this shot also, but most showed their disapproval by shouting: "Too bad! Too bad! That was a cruel thing to do." Silence now ensued on the side of the Heike, though the Genji still continued to rattle their quivers.

  Then from the Heike side, still disinclined to rest under their discomfiture, there came three warriors, one armed with a bow, the second carrying a shield, and the third a halberd. Springing on shore they dared the Genji to come on, whereat Yoshitsune called out to know who of the younger of his best horsemen would try conclusions with these insolent fellows.