Page:Modern Japanese Stories.pdf/113

into this world as a daimyō, of the strange fascination of eavesdropping, and, despite himself, he listened intently.

The two men had apparently halted by the spring, not more than six yards from the pavilion. Sadayū was speaking, in a confidential tone.

“Tell me, what do you think of the master’s skill?”

Ukon’s reply was spoken with a certain jocular bitterness. “Gossip about his lordship! It’s a suicide for us both if we’re heard!”

“We gossip about the Shōgun, too, on the sly. Come, what do you think? His lordship’s prowess in arms… What is your real opinion?” Sadayū sounded in earnest. He was completely silent for a moment, as if waiting tensely for Ukon’s assessment.

“Well, it’s as they say. He’s pretty good.” Ukon paused abruptly. Lord Tadanao felt as if, for the very first time, he was hearing himself praised without deceit by a retainer. But Ukon continued.

“I allowed him the victory, as usual, but I didn’t exactly exert myself.”

There was a significant silence, during which the two men were doubtless smiling wryly at each other.

Ukon’s words, naturally enough, had a devastating effect upon eavesdropping Lord Tadanao. A great whirl and tumult of emotions suddenly raced within his breast.

Lord Tadanao had never known this feeling before. It was as if he had been trampled on and kicked, from head to toe, by muddy feet. His lips quivered, and the blood in every vein of his body seemed to be boiling over and rushing to his head.

Ukon’s brief words, with their indescribable shock, had hurled Lord Tadanao down from the loftiest heights of human dignity, from the pedestal on which he had stood exalted until this moment, and cast him ignominiously into the dust.

His mood was certainly near to violent rage. But it was very different from the violent rage which stems from a heart