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A STORY OF OLD JAPAN.
Many, many years ago there lived in Nara,
the ancient Capital of Japan, a wise State minister, by name Prince
Toyonari Fujiwara. His wife was a noble, good, and beautiful woman called
Princess Murasaki (Violet). They had been married by their respective
families according to Japanese custom when very young, and had lived
together happily ever since. They had, however, one cause for great sorrow,
for as the years went by no child was born to them. This made them very
unhappy, for they both longed to see a child of their own who would grow
up to gladden their old age, carry on the family name, and keep up the
ancestral rites when they were dead. The Prince and his lovely wife, after
long consultation and much thought, determined to make a pilgrimage to the
temple of Hase-no-Kwannon (Goddess of Mercy at Hase), for they believed,
according to the beautiful tradition of their religion, that the Mother of
Mercy, Kwannon, comes to answer the prayers of mortals in the form that
they need the most. Surely after all these years of prayer she would come
to them in the form of a beloved child in answer to their special
pilgrimage, for that was the greatest need of their two lives. Everything
else they had that this life could give them, but it was all as nothing
because the cry of their hearts was unsatisfied. So the Prince Toyonari and his wife went
to the temple of Kwannon at Hase and stayed there for a long time, both
daily offering incense and praying to Kwannon, the Heavenly Mother, to
grant them the desire of their whole lives. And their prayer was answered.
A daughter was born at last to the
Princess Murasaki, and great was the joy of her heart. On presenting the
child to her husband, they both decided to call her Hase-Hime, or the
Princess of Hase, because she was the gift of the Kwannon at that place.
They both reared her with great care and tenderness, and the child grew in
strength and beauty. When the little girl was five years old
her mother fell dangerously ill and all the doctors and their medicines
could not save her. A little before she breathed her last she called her
daughter to her, and
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gently stroking her head, said:
"Hase-Hime, do you know that your
mother cannot live any longer? Though I die, you must grow up a good girl.
Do your best not to give trouble to your nurse or any other of your family.
Perhaps your father will marry again and some one will fill my place as
your mother. If so do not grieve for me, but look upon your father's
second wife as your true mother, and be obedient and filial to both her
and your father. Remember when you are grown up to be submissive to those
who are your superiors, and to be kind to all those who are under you.
Don't forget this. I die with the hope that you will grow up a model woman."
Hase-Hime listened in an attitude of
respect while her mother spoke, and promised to do all that she was told.
There is a proverb which says "As the soul is at three so it is at
one hundred," and so Hase- Hime grew up as her mother had wished, a
good and obedient little Princess, though she was now too young to
understand how great was the loss of her mother. Not long after the death of his first
wife, Prince Toyonari married again, a lady of noble birth named Princess
Terute. Very different in character, alas! to the good and wise Princess
Murasaki, this woman had a cruel, bad heart. She did not love her
step-daughter at all, and was often very unkind to the little motherless
girl, saving to herself: "This is not my child! this is not
my child!" But Hase-Hime bore every unkindness with
patience, and even waited upon her step-mother kindly and obeyed her in
every way and never gave any trouble, just as she had been trained by her
own good mother, so that the Lady Terute had no cause for complaint
against her. The little Princess was very diligent,
and her favorite studies were music and poetry. She would spend several
hours practicing every day, and her father had the most proficient of
masters he could find to teach her the koto (Japanese harp), the art of
writing letters and verse. When she was twelve years of age she could play
so beautifully that she and her step-mother were summoned to the Palace to
perform before the Emperor.
It was the Festival of the Cherry Flowers,
and there were great festivities at the Court. The Emperor threw himself
into the enjoyment of the season, and commanded that Princess Hase should
perform before him on the koto, and that her mother Princess Terute should
accompany her on the flute. The Emperor sat on a raised dais, before
which was hung a curtain of finely-sliced bamboo and purple tassels, so
that His Majesty might see all and not be seen, for no ordinary subject
was allowed to looked upon his sacred face. Hase-Hime was a skilled musician though
so young, and often astonished her masters by her wonderful memory and
talent. On this momentous occasion she played well. But Princess Terute,
her step- mother, who was a lazy woman and never took the trouble to
practice daily, broke down in her accompaniment and had to request one of
the Court ladies to take her place. This was a great disgrace, and she was
furiously jealous to think that she had failed where her step- daughter
succeeded; and to make matters worse the Emperor sent many beautiful gifts
to the little Princess to reward her for playing so well at the Palace.
There was also now another reason why
Princess Terute hated her step-daughter, for she had had the good fortune
to have a son born to her, and in her inmost heart she kept saying:
"If only Hase-Hime were not here, my
son would have all the love of his father."
And never having learned to control
herself, she allowed this wicked thought to grow into the awful desire of
taking her step-daughter's life. So one day she secretly ordered some
poison and poisoned some sweet wine. This poisoned wine she put into a
bottle. Into another similar bottle she poured some good wine. It was the
occasion of the Boys' Festival on the fifth of May, and Hase-Hime was
playing with her little brother. All his toys of warriors and heroes were
spread out and she was telling him wonderful stories about each of them.
They were both enjoying themselves and laughing merrily with their
attendants when his mother entered with the two bottles of wine and some
delicious cakes.
"You are both so good and happy."
said the wicked Princess Terute with a smile, "that I have brought
you some sweet wine as a reward— and here are some nice cakes for my
good children."
And she filled two cups from the
different bottles. Hase-Hime, never dreaming of the dreadful
part her step-mother was acting, took one of the cups of wine and gave to
her little step brother the other that had been poured out for him.
The wicked woman had carefully marked the
poisoned bottle, but on coming into the room she had grown nervous, and
pouring out the wine hurriedly had unconsciously given the poisoned cup to
her own child. All this time she was anxiously watching the little
Princess, but to her amazement no change whatever took place in the young
girl's face. Suddenly the little boy screamed and threw himself on the
floor, doubled up with pain. His mother flew to him, taking the precaution
to upset the two tiny jars of wine which she had brought into the room,
and lifted him up. The attendants rushed for the doctor, but nothing could
save the child—he died within the hour in his mother's arms. Doctors did
not know much in those ancient times, and it was thought that the wine had
disagreed with the boy, causing convulsions of which he died.
Thus was the wicked woman punished in
losing her own child when she had tried to do away with her step-daughter;
but instead of blaming herself she began to hate Hase-Hime more than ever
in the bitterness and wretchedness of her own heart, and she eagerly
watched for an opportunity to do her harm, which was, however, long in
coming. When Hase-Hime was thirteen years of age,
she had already become mentioned as a poetess of some merit. This was an
accomplishment very much cultivated by the women of old Japan and one held
in high esteem.
It was the rainy season at Nara, and
floods were reported every day as doing damage in the neighborhood. The
river Tatsuta, which flowed through the Imperial Palace grounds, was
swollen to the top of its banks, and the roaring of the torrents of water
rushing along a narrow bed so disturbed the Emperor's rest day and night,
that a serious nervous disorder was the result. An Imperial Edict was sent
forth to all the Buddhist temples commanding the priests to offer up
continuous prayers to Heaven to stop the noise of the flood. But this was
of no avail. Then it was whispered in Court circles
that the Princess Hase, the daughter of Prince Toyonari Fujiwara, second
minister at Court, was the most gifted poetess of the day, though still so
young, and her masters confirmed the report. Long ago, a beautiful and
gifted maiden-poetess had moved Heaven by praying in verse, had brought
down rain upon a land famished with drought—so said the ancient
biographers of the poetess Ono-no-Komachi. If the Princess Hase were to
write a poem and offer it in prayer, might it not stop the noise of the
rushing river and remove the cause of the Imperial illness? What the Court
said at last reached the ears of the Emperor himself, and he sent an order
to the minister Prince Toyonari to this effect.
Great indeed was Hase-Hime's fear and
astonishment when her father sent for her and told her what was required
of her. Heavy, indeed, was the duty that was laid on her young
shoulders—that of saving the Emperor's life by the merit of her verse.
At last the day came and her poem was
finished. It was written on a leaflet of paper heavily flecked with
gold-dust. With her father and attendants and some of the Court officials,
she proceeded to the bank of the roaring torrent and raising up her heart
to Heaven, she read the poem she had composed, aloud, lifting it
heavenwards in her two hands. Strange indeed it seemed to all those
standing round. The waters ceased their roaring, and the river was quiet
in direct answer to her prayer. After this the Emperor soon recovered his
health. His Majesty was highly pleased, and sent
for her to the Palace and rewarded her with the rank of Chinjo—that of
Lieutenant-General—to distinguish her. From that time she was called
Chinjo-hime, or the Lieutenant-General Princess, and respected and loved
by all. There was only one person who was not
pleased at Hase-Hime's success. That one was her stepmother. Forever
brooding over the death of her own child whom she had killed when trying
to poison her step-daughter, she had the mortification of seeing her rise
to power and honor, marked by Imperial favor and the admiration of the
whole Court. Her envy and jealousy burned in her heart like fire. Many
were the lies she carried to her husband about Hase-Hime, but all to no
purpose. He would listen to none of her tales, telling her sharply that
she was quite mistaken.
At last the step-mother, seizing the
opportunity of her husband's absence, ordered one of her old servants to
take the innocent girl to the Hibari Mountains, the wildest part of the
country, and to kill her there. She invented a dreadful story about the
little Princess, saying that this was the only way to prevent disgrace
falling upon the family—by killing her. Katoda, her vassal, was bound to obey his
mistress. Anyhow, he saw that it would be the wisest plan to pretend
obedience in the absence of the girl's father, so he placed Hase-Hime in a
palanquin and accompanied her to the most solitary place he could find in
the wild district. The poor child knew there was no good in protesting to
her unkind step-mother at being sent away in this strange manner, so she
went as she was told. But the old servant knew that the young
Princess was quite innocent of all the things her step-mother had invented
to him as reasons for her outrageous orders, and he determined to save her
life. Unless he killed her, however, he could not return to his cruel
task-mistress, so he decided to stay out in the wilderness. With the help
of some peasants he soon built a little cottage, and having sent secretly
for his wife to come, these two good old people did all in their power to
take care of the now unfortunate Princess. She all the time trusted in her
father, knowing that as soon as he returned home and found her absent, he
would search for her.
Prince Toyonari, after some weeks, came
home, and was told by his wife that his daughter Hime had done something
wrong and had run away for fear of being punished. He was nearly ill with
anxiety. Every one in the house told the same story—that Hase-Hime had
suddenly disappeared, none of them knew why or whither. For fear of
scandal he kept the matter quite and searched everywhere he could think
of, but all to no purpose.
One day, trying to forget his terrible
worry, he called all his men together and told them to make ready for a
several days' hunt in the mountains. They were soon ready and mounted,
waiting at the gate for their lord. He rode hard and fast to the district
of the Hibari Mountains, a great company following him. He was soon far
ahead of every one, and at last found himself in a narrow picturesque
valley. Looking round and admiring the scenery,
he noticed a tiny house on one of the hills quite near, and then he
distinctly heard a beautiful clear voice reading aloud. Seized with
curiosity as to who could be studying so diligently in such a lonely spot,
he dismounted, and leaving his horse to his groom, he walked up the
hillside and approached the cottage. As he drew nearer his surprise
increased, for he could see that the reader was a beautiful girl. The
cottage was wide open and she was sitting facing the view. Listening
attentively, he heard her reading the Buddhist scriptures with great
devotion. More and more curious, he hurried on to the tiny gate and
entered the little garden, and looking up beheld his lost daughter
Hase-Hime. She was so intent on what she was saying that she neither heard
nor saw her father till he spoke.
"Hase-Hime!" he cried, "it
is you. my Hase-Hime!"
Taken by surprise, she could hardly
realize that it was her own dear father who was calling her, and for a
moment she was utterly bereft of the power to speak or move.
"My father, my father! It is indeed
you—oh, my father!" was all she could say, and running to him she
caught hold of his thick sleeve, and burying her face burst into a passion
of tears. Her father stroked her dark hair, asking
her gently to tell him all that had happened, but she only wept on, and he
wondered if he were not really dreaming. Then the faithful old servant Katoda came
out, and bowing himself to the ground before his master, poured out the
long tale of wrong, telling him all that had happened, and how it was that
he found his daughter in such a wild and desolate spot with only two old
servants to take care of her. The Prince's astonishment and indignation
knew no bounds. He gave up the hunt at once and hurried home with his
daughter. One of the company galloped ahead to inform the household of the
glad news, and the step-mother hearing what had happened, and fearful of
meeting her husband now that her wickedness was discovered, fled from the
house and returned in disgrace to her father's roof, and nothing more was
heard of her. The old servant Katoda was rewarded with
the highest promotion in his master's service, and lived happily to the
end of his days, devoted to the little Princess, who never forgot that she
owed her life to this faithful retainer. She was no longer troubled by an
unkind step-mother, and her days passed happily and quietly with her
father. As Prince Toyonari had no son, he adopted
a younger son of one of the Court nobles to be his heir, and to marry his
daughter Hase- Hime, and in a few years the marriage took place. Hase-Hime
lived to a good old age, and all said that she was the wisest, most
devout, and most beautiful mistress that had ever reigned in Prince
Toyonari's ancient house. She had the joy of presenting her son, the
future lord of the family, to her father just before he retired from
active life. To this day there is preserved a piece of
needle-work in one of the Buddhist temples of Kioto. It is a beautiful
piece of tapestry, with the figure of Buddha embroidered in the silky
threads drawn from the stem of the lotus. This is said to have been the
work of the hands of the good Princess Hase.
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