CHAPTER III

A BOAT CAPSIZED—A HAIRBREADTH ESCAPE

THE master of the Daikokuya, who had been much struck by the wisdom and courage of Bunkichi, lost no time in going to an apothecary to get plenty of the poisonous stuff for the _wanizame_, while he ordered some of his men to prepare the straw dummy.

In course of time the two lads, Bunkichi and Sadakichi, came back from Sumiyoshi bluff. The master welcomed them into his own room, and said:

“How now, Bunkichi? Did you see the shark?”

“Yes, sir, I saw it,” was the reply.

“And now that you have seen the monster are you less disposed to go out to sea?”

“No; on the contrary,” replied the lad, “I am the more ready to go.”

“Isn’t that obstinacy on your part?”

“Not in the least, sir,” the lad said, as he drew himself up; “the greater the opponent, the greater the interest and strength that are called for; and I am about to do this at the risk of my life. I well observed the spot where the shark comes up, and noticed a large pine-tree which projects over the sea from the precipice. If some one will let fall a stout rope from one of its branches, I will row over to it, and there I shall entice the shark to swallow the straw dummy; then if the shark, in plunging about, should upset my boat, I shall take hold of the rope and climb or be hauled up the precipice.”

The master, who was once more struck by words which showed so much sagacity as well as courage, said:

“That’s a very good idea of yours. Then this is what we shall decide to do, is it? I shall send out some of my young men to the Sumiyoshi bluff to fix a rope to the pine branch from the precipice, and you will tie the rope to your waist before you go out on your venture. I and others will stand upon the cliff and watch you, and should you be in danger of being swallowed by the monster, we shall lose no time in hauling you up. Is that to be our plan of action?”

“Yes, that’s the plan,” was the boy’s reply.

“Well, then, I have bought the poison, and can soon have ready as many as three dummies. When do you think of setting out?”

“Now, at once,” answered Bunkichi.

“That is rushing it too quickly, my lad. Wouldn’t it be better for you to wait till to-morrow?” remonstrated the master.

“Unless things of this kind are done quickly and made easy work of, some obstacles may arise and frustrate our plans; so I will just do it with as little concern as you snap your fingers,” said the lad.

“You can’t do things so lightly as you say,” was the master’s reply.

And his wife, who had been listening, and who regretted having given her consent to the boy’s rash project, added: “Bunkichi, do stay at home to-day and spend it in preparation and do the work to-morrow.”

And the little girl also said: “I don’t care for your going to sea.”

But Bunkichi, having once made up his mind in the matter, was not to be moved by any one’s entreaties.

“Then, by your leave, sir,” he said, “I will take that little boat at the jetty.” And without more delay he rose up to go.

His master knew not how to stop him, but said: “No, no; that small boat is dangerous; and, if you must go, you had better go out in the _temmabune_.”[14]

Footnote 14:

Pronounced Tem-mah-bonn’ay. A larger boat.

“No, sir,” said the lad; “the _temmabune_ is too big for me to row alone, so I prefer the small one.”

“But I am in great concern about your personal safety if you go alone,” said the master. “I will give ten _rio_ to any one who will go with you.”

Though he quickly made known this offer to the members of his household as well as among his neighbors, no one ventured to offer himself on account of the people’s repeated and terrible experiences. Bunkichi soothed his master, saying that he was much freer if left to act by himself than he would be if there were others with him. Quickly putting the three dummies into the small boat outside the garden gate, with marvelous coolness, as if he were going out for pleasure, he said: “Good-by, everybody; I will go now, and be back again soon.”

The master, who was first to stir, led out to the jetty some of his young men as well as some strong coolies. Three or four big ropes having been made ready, he said:

“Now, Bunkichi, tie one of these to your waist.”

“It’s no use, sir, till I get near the mountain,” replied the lad, but the master said:

“But just think, if on your way out the shark should turn up! We shall pull you along the coast while you will row as near as you can to the land.”

Bunkichi, who couldn’t resist the master’s persuasion, let him tie the rope round his waist, and the master himself took hold of the end of it and together with others went along the shore toward Sumiyoshi bluff.

Bunkichi, having been brought up at the seaside, was an excellent rower, but as they pulled along the rope he rowed but slightly. Suddenly he took out a dagger which had been handed down from his ancestors and unsheathed it, smiling as he noted the temper of the steel.

Who spread the news no one knew, yet the people in the town came out in a crowd, and every one was surprised to see a boy, alone in a boat, sallying forth to kill the monster.

“Isn’t he a wonderfully courageous boy!”

“He is no common boy. Perhaps he may yet be as famous as our great hero Kato Kiyomasa.”[15]

Footnote 15:

The conqueror of Korea in 594 A.D.

“Isn’t he cool!”

“Hasn’t he wonderful presence of mind!”

Such expressions as these escaped from everybody’s lips. Thus praising him as they went along, the crowd followed the master.

From among the crowd an old woman stepped out with a rosary in one hand and said to the master:

“Sir, please let me hold the rope, _Namu-Ami-Dabutsu_.”[16]

Footnote 16:

An expression used in one of the Buddhistic prayers. Among a certain class of Japanese it was believed that by repeating this phrase frequently their chances of going to heaven were increased.

The young men turned to her and said:

“Ill omen! Don’t say such a thing as _Namu-Ami-Dabutsu_. This is not the rope for you to pull.”

In spite of the taunt she still muttered the sacred charm of the Buddha sect, saying:

“But do let me hold it. I am the leader in pulling timbers for the repairing of the Hongwanzi[17] temple. Yet I must have my share, because I am sure that the lad is a hero sent by Buddha himself to save us from our troubles. _Namu-Ami-Dabutsu_,” repeated the woman.

Footnote 17:

The headquarters of the Buddhist religion in Kioto.

Just then a maid-servant carrying a little girl on her back came along the shore after the woman. The latter turned to the little girl and said:

“Ah, you are the daughter of the Daikokuya. Do you want to pull this rope, too? _Namu-Ami-Da—_”

The girl wouldn’t listen to her words, but, looking intently at the boat in the distance, called out aloud, “Bunkichi!”

The other bystanders, who heard the name for the first time, said: “Ah, his name is Bunkichi, is it?” and at once shouted, “Bunkichi Daimiozin,” which is a title they give to the gods.

The lad, taking little notice of the stir on the shore, soon came to the foot of the bluff. The master and others went up the hillside along the edge of the precipice, while the lad began to prepare for his task.

The long summer day was already declining and a cool breeze from the far ocean blew about his broad sleeves, and the voice of the crowd grew fainter and fainter as, hidden by the pine-trees, they wound their way up to the top of the hill. Yet now and then Bunkichi heard his master’s voice faintly calling to him, to which he made reply to assure him of his safety. Looking out toward the ocean there was no sail or boat to be seen, probably owing to the people’s fear of meeting the shark. A checkered bank of white and dark clouds was massed on the sky above the horizon, while the waves chased one another below.

Any ordinary man would have quailed at such a scene as this; but Bunkichi, with no sign of nervousness, put the straw figures in the bow of the boat and proceeded toward the place where the shark usually made its appearance. He could now see the master and others above the precipice as they began attaching the rope to a strong limb of the sturdy pine which projected seaward. Thus all the preparations were made for hauling him up at the given signal, while the lad was also preparing himself for the encounter and reconnoitering the scene from his boat.

At last the iron-like fin of the monster was seen to cleave the water. Apparently rejoiced at the sight of a man, as Bunkichi’s figure must have been now and then reflected on the water, the shark in quest of prey raised its head above the water and made for the boat.

“Come on, you villain,” muttered the lad, who stood up in the bow with the dummy in his hand.

The terror-stricken young men at the top of the precipice no sooner saw the monster than they were on the point of pulling up the rope; but the master stayed them, saying: “Steady, men, steady! Wait till he gives us a signal.”

The master anxiously watched the lad’s action, while the crowd hardly breathed as they stood still with hands clenched.

With a splash, Bunkichi threw the figure in the way of the _wanizame_; the shark turned over, the white portion of its body gleamed, and it snapped the stuffed figure, drawing it under the water. Up it came again, and the lad threw out the second dummy; but the monster did not take any notice of it, but made straight for the lad. Above, on the top of the precipice, the master awaited Bunkichi’s signal with breathless interest, but no signal was given yet. With his dagger drawn in one hand and raising the third straw figure in the other, Bunkichi threw it at the enemy’s head. Whether it was that the poison was already taking effect or that the charm of the noted sword frightened the monster, it turned back on a sudden and retreated a few yards. Before the anxious crowd could divine the next movements of the shark, it began to plunge about in and out of the water on the farther side of the boat. Then, seemingly in agony, it swam about with almost lightning speed, now toward the shore and now toward the ocean, and the sea became like a boiling whirlpool in which the little boat seemed every moment in danger of being overwhelmed.

Bunkichi, who saw his plan had succeeded, at once began to row back. At this juncture, as fate would have it, the monster made a sudden dash at the boat, which was at once overturned. The signal had hardly been given when, after a moment of awful anxiety, the lad was in the air, suspended by the rope. The monster again made a mad rush, only to bruise its head against a rock, and with weakened strength returned toward the deep, riding on the retreating tide.

As for Bunkichi, the rope was drawn up steadily and with care, and he soon found himself safely perched on the stout branch of the pine.

The master of the Daikokuya, when he saw Bunkichi once again on solid ground, never uttered a word, but took his hand and put it on his forehead in token of his unutterable gratitude, while tears of joy flowed from his eyes. The others knew not how to do otherwise on the sudden alternation from dread to joy.

After a while Bunkichi left the crowd and went to the most commanding position on the precipice and gazed down upon the sea, and saw the shark on its back floating to and fro, the sport of the waves. His joy knew no bounds, and he said:

“I thank you all; I have been saved by your help. The shark now seems to be dead.”

These words he uttered with his customary coolness, showing that he had not been at all frightened by the terrible experience he had passed through, while the others could hardly yet shake off the dread they had felt.

Addressed thus by the lad, the master now recovered his speech, and said:

“No; it isn’t _you_ who have been saved by _us_, but _we_ who have all been saved by _you_. The shark dies and the people live, or the shark lives and the people must die. I have no words to express my gratitude to you. And now we must get back as soon as possible and let the people know the joyous news.”

While the master thus hurried the others to go back, Bunkichi stopped him and said: “Sir, if we leave the shark as it is, it may revive. It is a pity to leave it, now that it is as good as killed. Let us haul it up by the aid of the rope. It seems that the boat, which was upset, has drifted to the base of the bluff. Let some of us get down and bail the water out of it, and I will, with the help of you all, try to secure the shark.”

The master agreed to the proposal and called for volunteers, but in vain. Some young fellows pretended to be ill, and others suspected the shark might yet be alive and swallow them if they went near it.

At last, however, the master prevailed on a few of them to go down with the lad to help him.