IV
OWANNON'S BEWITCHING HAND
In the establishment of the Tokugawa dynasty the daimio to whom Kito's ancestor owed allegiance lost his head; whereby Kito's father and his father before him were left to draw their sword for whom they pleased—which meant, in truth, wherever plunder or affection invited. But in the latter years of Kito's father the empire began to draw together, which circumscribed his military usefulness to such an extent that he became, perforce, in his age, a law-abiding citizen, coming to live at last by the labor of his son's hands. To see this son of his gathering the beggarly rice which he had once won by a sweep of his halberd was like wormwood to him. And so, one day, after an explosion of wrath, he spat blood and died. But not before he had sent for Madzuri, his neighbor, and had a mysterious conference. After that he said a pleasant farewell to his son and died with satisfaction.
His death made no difference in the affairs
