As they were speaking, the waitresses brought in fish and wine, and Jiurozayémon pressed Chôbei to feast with him; and thinking to annoy
Chôbei, offered him a large wine-cup, which, however, he drank without shrinking, and then returned to his entertainer, who was by no means so well able to bear the fumes of the wine. Then Jiurozayémon hit upon another device for annoying Chôbei, and, hoping to frighten him, said--
“Here, Chôbei, let me offer you some fish;” and with those words he drew his sword, and, picking up a cake of baked fish upon the point of it, thrust it towards the wardsman's mouth. Any ordinary man would have been afraid to accept the morsel so roughly offered; but Chôbei simply opened his mouth, and taking the cake off the sword's point ate it without wincing. Whilst Jiurozayémon was wondering in his heart what manner of man this was, that nothing could daunt, Chôbei said to him--
“This meeting with your lordship has been an auspicious occasion
For a moment Banzayémon was taken aback, but quickly recovering himself, he replied, “Ah! Sir Sanza, you may well be angry with me; but since I stole the Muramasa sword and fled to Gim I have known no peace: I have been haunted by remorse for my crime. I shall not resist your vengeance: do with me as it shall seem best to you; or rather take my life, and let there be an end of this quarrel.” “Nay,” answered Sanza, “to kill a man who repents him of his sins is a base and ignoble action. When you stole from me the Muramasa blade which had been confided to my care by my lord, I became a disgraced and ruined man. Give me back that sword, which I may lay it before my lord, and I will spare your life. I seek to slay no man needlessly.” “Sir Sanza, I thank you for your mercy. At this moment I have not the sword by me, but if you will go into yonder tea-house and wait awhile, I will fetch it and deliver it into your hands.” Sanza having consented to this, the two men
It was at this time that Shirai Gompachi, who was living under the protection of Chôbei, the Father of the Otokodate, was in love with Komurasaki, the beautiful courtesan who lived at the sign of the Three Sea-shores, in the Yoshiwara. He had long exhausted the scanty supplies which he possessed, and was now in the habit of feeding his purse by murder and robbery, that he might have means to pursue his wild and extravagant life. One night, when he was out on his cutthroat business, his fellows, who had long suspected that he was after no good, sent one of their number, named Seibei, to watch him. Gompachi, little dreaming that any one was following him, swaggered along the street until he fell in with a wardsman, whom he cut down and robbed; but the booty proving small, he waited for a second chance, and, seeing a light moving in the distance, hid himself in the shadow of a large tub for catching rain-water till the bearer of the lantern should come up. When the man drew nea
XI The room was quiet, Yanta sat near the princess. His eyes were focused on her. She was the most energetic of all his grandchildren. Yet, she had something in her, which remained him of his sister that left him long ago in search for a better place. He searched far and wide for her, but alas, there were no signs, not even a single clue. Yanta gave up. He returned to the place he called home. His thoughts wander to place to place. The princes played with her scroll. He looked at her, smiled and returned to his thoughts. “Not bad,” the princess said, playing the scroll in front of her. “What isn’t bad?” he asked. “The previous story,” the princess stood up. “You think?” “Yes. Where did you hear that one?” “Somewhere,” Yanta replied, stretching his paws. “What do you mean somewhere?” “Everything is somewhere to me.” “How come, grandpa?” the princess widened her eyes.
Somewhere, high above the mountain region of Felt, a group of knights is gathered to discuss their next move. They look at each other in silence, looking who will break the silence. No one did. They looked again, but this time the things were different. The oldest of the knights decided it was time speak. "Gentlemen, it is an honor to have you all here. It evens a greater honor to sit amongst you, the greatest of knights in the empire,"he said. "The same,"they replied. "As you all know, we need to decide what will be doing from now on." "What are our options?"one of them asked. "We have two options." "And, they are?" "The first one is to sit here and do nothing." "That isn't our style." "I know that you will say that." "And the second one…" "We kill those foul orcs in their caves, once and for all." "I'm with you." "Count me too, my lords!" "We all are wi
KNIGHTS Months passed, the knights returned to the emperor. The throne room was clouded in a thin layer of mist. "My Emperor, this mist isn't natural,"the kneeling knight said. "I know. It's that mage again. He and his experiments,"the emperor said while moving from one armrest to the other. "What have you discovered?" "Nothing much, My Emperor." "There must be something?" "The elves have returned to their old tricks." "That's something new." "I don't like it. If anything happens, you know what to do." "We all know." "Leave me." The knight left the room. The emperor was surrounded only by a layer of thin mist. His gaze moved from one part of the room to the other. Who knows, what the cards of faith have planned for us, he thought. Will my son, ever become the emperor he was destined to be? Only time will tell.
Vision Ientered the room on the first floor. My heart was beating heavily. The room was bright; I neededa few moments to adjust. In the middle of the room a palantir stood. The stone slab, where the crystal stood, was covered in spider's web, so thick, I couldn't recognize the marking on the stone. The crystal itself was the largest I ever saw. My curiosity took over and I touched the crystal. Visions flashed before my eyes. Some were good, some were dark. I saw my family, friends, the people I loved, what fates were in stored for them. A large army gathers to invade my empire… drums… horns… men… knights. I could see everything. Icould hear everything. Icould see them all but they couldn't see me. Iwas like a ghost. To me itseemed like the tall man on the horse was looking at me. The horse changed pace, the others followed their leader. The man's armor was dark, made from plates that we
OGRE Antius stood on the riverbank. The night was cold, the wind howled through the branches that were shaped like fingers. The trees were watching him. Watching his every step, he was sure about it. There is nothing that he could do. Nothing…the sorceress he loved has left him for another. He needed to act fast. He wasn't a type of man that will sit down and think a plan; his plan was always to act fast. So, he did. He rushed up the mountain, up a step goat path. He waited and waited. Nobody came. He waited. The ground shook; Antinus turned and saw a large ogre standing behind him. "What do you want, you ape?"he said. The ogre looked at him: "The only ape are you, nobody freely enters these parts." "Don't come any closer?" "Why wouldn't I?" "I'm a wizard!" "Listen here, friend, you think I care." "I hope." A sound of wood breaking against fresh, muscl
THE GAME BEGINS The emperor sat in his chair, moved from left to right. He has been waiting for them, since dawn. It's starting to bore him. They said that; they will be here in three hours. Eight hours have passed. He straightened himself on the throne. The wait game is five hours long. Who knows how long it will last? There was nothing else than he can do, but to wait. The emperor placed himself, comfortably, on the throne. The game continues. One of the servants entered, knelt in front of the throne: "They are here." "Send them in,"the emperor said without emotion. His eyes followed the servant as he left the throne room. The emperor stood up. The servant returned after a few moments, behind him a tall man slowly walked down the hallway. His gaze went from one column to the other. He walked slowly, taking his time. The stage was his. He could do whatever he wanted. The emperor's eyes followed hi