taking it under his arm, ran off towards the hills. The guardsmen accordingly pursued him, shooting their arrows at him from both sides of a river, but none of them were able to hit (XXI. 12.) him. Hereupon one of the guardsmen ran on swiftly, and got before Yorodzu. Lying down by the river's side, he aimed at him, and hit him on the knee. Yorodzu forthwith pulled out the arrow, and stringing his bow, let fly his arrows. Then prostrating himself on the earth, he exclaimed aloud:—"A shield of the Emperor, Yorodzu would have devoted his valour to his service, but no examination was made, and, on the contrary, he has been hard pressed, and is now at an extremity. Let some one come forward and speak with me, for it is my desire to learn whether I am to be slain or to be made a prisoner." The guardsmen raced up and shot at Yorodzu, but he warded off the flying shafts, and slew more than thirty men. Then he took the sword which he wore, and cut his bow into three pieces, and bending back his sword, flung it into the midst of the water of the river. With a dagger which he had besides, he stabbed himself in the throat, and died. The Governor of Kahachi reported the circumstances of Yorodzu's death to the Court, which gave an order by a stamp[1] that his body should be cut into eight pieces and disposed for exposure among the eight provinces. The Governor[2] of Kahachi accordingly, in obedience to the purport of the stamped order, was about to dismember him for exposure, when thunder pealed, and a great rain fell. Now, there was a white dog which had been kept by Yorodzu. Looking up, and looking down, he went round, howling beside the corpse, and at last, taking up the head in his mouth, placed it on an ancient mound. He then lay down close by, and starved to death in front of it. The Governor of Kahachi, thinking that dog's conduct very strange, reported it to the Court. The Court could not bear to hear of it for pity, and issued a stamped order to this effect:—"The case of this dog is one that is rarely heard of in the world, and should be shown to after ages. Let Yorodzu's kindred be made to construct a tomb and bury their remains." The kindred of Yorodzu accord-
