Musashi - Eiji Yoshikawa [484]
“There you go, preaching self-righteously, just like any other samurai. Say what you please. We still have to protect our name.”
“If samurai and outlaws fight over whose rules are to prevail, the streets will be filled with blood. The only place to settle this is at the magistrate’s office. How about it, Nembutsu?”
“Horse manure. If it was something the magistrate could settle, we wouldn’t be here to begin with.”
“Listen, how old are you?”
“What business is it of yours?”
“I’d say you look old enough to know you shouldn’t be leading a group of young men to a meaningless death.”
“Ah, keep your smart talk to yourself. I’m not too old for a fight!” Tazaemon drew his sword, and the hoodlums moved forward, jostling and shouting.
Musashi dodged Tazaemon’s thrust and grabbed him by the back of his gray head. Covering the ten paces or so to the moat in great strides, he summarily dumped him over the edge. Then, as the mob closed in, he dashed back, picked Shinzō up by the waist and made off with him.
He ran across a field, toward the middle reaches of a hill. Below them a stream flowed into the moat and a bluish marsh was visible at the bottom of the slope. Halfway up, Musashi stopped and stood Shinzō on his feet. “Now,” he said, “let’s run.” Shinzō hesitated, but Musashi prodded him into motion.
The hoodlums, having recovered from their shock, were giving chase.
“Catch him!”
“No pride!”
“That’s a samurai?”
“He can’t throw Tazaemon in the moat and get away with it!”
Ignoring the taunts and slurs, Musashi said to Shinzō, “Don’t even consider getting involved with them. Run! It’s the only thing to do in a case like this.” With a grin, he added, “It’s not so easy to make good time on this terrain, is it?” They were passing through what would someday be known as Ushigafuchi and Kudan Hill, but now the area was heavily wooded.
By the time they lost their pursuers, Shinzō’s face was deathly pale. “Worn out?” Musashi asked solicitously.
“It’s … it’s not so bad.”
“I suppose you don’t like the idea of letting them insult us like that without fighting back.”
“Well…”
“Ha, ha! Think about it quietly and calmly, and you’ll see why. There’re times when it makes you feel better to run away. There’s a stream over there. Rinse your mouth out, and then I’ll take you to your father’s house.”
In a few minutes, the forest around the Akagi Myōjin Shrine came into view. Lord Hōjō’s house was just below.
“I hope you’ll come in and meet my father,” Shinzō said when they came to the earthen wall surrounding the house.
“Some other time. Get plenty of rest and take care of yourself.” With that, he was off.
After this incident, Musashi’s name was heard quite frequently in the streets of Edo, far more frequently than he would have wished. People were calling him “a fake,” “the coward to end all cowards,” and saying, “shameless … a disgrace to the samurai class. If a fraud like that defeated the Yoshiokas in Kyoto, they must have been hopelessly weak. He must have challenged them knowing they couldn’t protect themselves. And then he probably ran away before he was in any real danger. All that phony wants to do is sell his name to people who don’t know swordsmanship.” Before long, it was impossible to find anyone who would put in a good word for him.
The crowning insult was signs posted all over Edo: “Here’s a word to Miyamoto Musashi, who turned tail and ran. The Hon’iden dowager is eager for revenge. We, too, would like to see your face instead of your back for a change. If you are a samurai, come out and fight. The Hangawara Association.”
Book VI • SUN AND MOON
A Chat with the Men
Before having breakfast, Lord Hosokawa Tadatoshi began his day with the study of the Confucian classics. Official duties, which often required his attendance at Edo Castle, consumed most of his time, but when he could fit it into his schedule, he practiced the martial arts. Evenings, whenever possible, he liked to spend in the company of the young samurai