CHAPTER IV

THE TABLES TURNED

BUNKICHI, with the help of a few others, set the boat up, and, bailing the water out, got in and went out again to sea. Putting a rope round the body of the shark, which was being tossed about by the waves, they drew it close to the foot of the bluff. While Bunkichi by himself rowed back home, the young men dragged the dead monster along the coast toward the Daikokuya. The crowd on the bank applied themselves as one man to the task, and got hold of the rope, and the shark was finally landed. Amusing it was to see that old woman pull hard along with the rest.

After this heroic deed the reputation of Bunkichi spread through the length and breadth of Kumano town, and he was nicknamed as the _Wanizame-Kozo_, or Shark-Boy; but who started the name no one can tell. His exploit, however, was soon carried to the ear of _Odaikan_,[18] and this great person himself came down to the shore and made a thorough inspection of the monster. Ten pieces of silver were awarded by the lord of the province to Bunkichi in recognition of his noble services in putting a stop to the scourge of the town. The master was proud of Bunkichi, and the town people rejoiced at his good fortune.

Footnote 18:

The name given to the local magistrate in olden days.

The size of the shark which the lad killed was more than three _ken_, or some eighteen feet in length, and its skin was so hard that the sharpest sword could not pierce it. The dealers in swords vied with one another in the offers they made the master for the skin, for they knew it would make an excellent binding for sword-hilts. Bunkichi asked his master to sell it, and the transaction was soon made, and the master handed over the whole of the price to Bunkichi as the fruit of his brave deed. The lad would not even touch it. He had heard, he said, that the fishermen in the neighborhood, from not being able to go out as hitherto on account of the shark, were in great straits even for their daily food, and therefore he wished to distribute the money among them. The proposal was at once accepted, and the money was divided either among the people who had suffered on account of the shark, or among the bereaved families whose members had fallen victims to its voracity.

That Bunkichi was possessed of courage, his actions had abundantly proved; the people were now profoundly struck by his moral virtue since they had received his alms. The name of _Wanizame-Kozo_ soon got its suffix _Sama_, or its equivalent in English of “Mr.,” and whenever he appeared in the streets everybody, whether personally known to him or not, seemed to thank him by making him the most courteous obeisances.

In course of time, as the people in remote country places came to hear of Bunkichi’s exploit, they pressed in large numbers to the shop of the Daikokuya, not so much to buy clothing as for the purpose of seeing the little hero’s face. From that day the master doubled the amount of his daily receipts, as his trade prospered. Because of the prosperity brought to the house by the lad, the household of the Daikokuya accorded him special treatment, quite different from that given the other boys in the shop; in fact, he was treated as if he were the son of the family. But Bunkichi, on his part, served his master better than the other boys were able or willing to. In spite of his master’s forbidding him, he was first on the scene in the morning to sweep the street in front of the shop and to put the shop in order and to sell goods to customers however early they might come. Then, having carefully settled accounts at the close of the day, he would devote his evenings to the mastery of the abacus and to writing Chinese characters. His praiseworthy behavior impressed everybody who saw or heard him.

Two or three months passed in this way, and the lad’s fame became ever greater, and further prosperity was brought to the house. Then the master took counsel of his wife:

“As we haven’t any boys, Chocho being the only child we have, sooner or later we shall have to adopt a son. I don’t care to have any one of whose intentions and character I know nothing. Rather it would please me to have Bunkichi as our foster-son. What do you think about this?”

His wife said gladly:

“I agree with you, my husband; he would be just the one to whom to leave the conduct of the business, and if we could make him our adopted son, what a pleasure it would be! You had better do it quickly.”

The master pondered awhile and then said:

“But, you see, he hopes to become the leading merchant in Japan, and thereby to raise the name of his ancestors; therefore he would not like to be adopted into another family. This would be the first hitch in the arrangement, I fancy.”

“No, my dear; our intention, of course, is to give him the whole of this our property—and that certainly should be sufficient inducement to any one.”

“No, I think not,” said the other, as he put his head on one side in contemplation; “he is not the boy who will prize such a small property as ours. I don’t care to run the risk of humbling myself by speaking to him rashly. What I want is to ascertain his intention at some opportune moment.”

Sadakichi, who had been playing in company with the little girl on the veranda outside the _shoji_, first heard this conversation, and one day told Bunkichi about it. The latter said to himself:

“My intention has been to win fame and thereby to raise our ancestors’ name, so it would never do for me to be adopted into another family. Trouble will come if I stay here any longer, and I shall be put in such a strait that I shall feel obliged to fall in with this proposal.” So he thought he would do best to leave the house quickly and try his hand independently at some trade.

One evening he sought his master and said:

“Sir, it is rather an abrupt request to make of you, but I have conceived a plan by which I can earn money; so please let me trade by myself. As capital to start with, it will be sufficient for me to employ those silver coins which I received for reward and which you have kept for me.”

The master, without knowing the lad’s secret intention, said: “If you wish to trade on your own account, I will lend you capital or give you any help you want; but what is the plan you have in mind?”

“It’s simply this, sir. Since the disappearance of the _wanizame_ the people nowadays get an abundant catch of fish, and in consequence I hear there is a scarcity of fishing-tackle, nets, and their belongings. So I wish to go up to Osaka and get a supply.”

The master made one clap with his hands in token of his approval, and said:

“Well thought of, my lad! If you get a supply from Osaka now, you are sure to reap a good profit. Besides, all the fishermen round about here received your alms and regard you as one of the gods. If they hear of your selling fishing-tackle, they will gladly come to purchase of you. But you cannot transact the business by yourself alone, so I will send some one to assist you, and also I will lend you as much capital as you wish. Therefore, go and make whatever investment you think necessary.”

Bunkichi did not wish to receive this favor, as he intended trading without the help of any one.

“Sir, let me trade with my own capital alone without any other help in this instance,” he replied. “Only, when the cargo comes, will you please give it storeroom for me?”

As the master knew Bunkichi would not be induced to accept others’ advice when he had definitely made up his mind, he said:

“Very well, then; you may try to manage for yourself. No other boy of your age could transact the business, but probably you may succeed.” Thus saying, he went himself and brought a packet of money.

“This is the money I have been keeping for you.” And then he produced another packet which contained fifty pieces of silver, saying:

“This is only a trifling recognition of your services in the shop, by which we have enjoyed much prosperity; I hope you will accept it.”

Bunkichi again and again refused to accept this additional gift, but in vain, for the master almost forced him to receive it, and said:

“When you come back from Osaka, you will stay again with us, won’t you?”

Bunkichi hesitated and stammered out: “Yes, sir; I might trouble you again, though I intend to continue in some trade of my own.”

“Of course you may go in for whatever trade you like, and if you can conveniently carry on your trade while you stay at my house, please make yourself at home in it, and do not think that you need help in my shop on that account.”

As Bunkichi had no other home, he accepted this kind offer for his future protection after his return, and the next day, when he had prepared himself for the journey, he left the Daikokuya for Osaka.

Though he was a boy in appearance, his mind was equal to that of a full-grown man. At the time of his leave-taking, the master was insisting on getting him a through _kago_, or Japanese palanquin, to Osaka, which he had refused as unnecessary. In his courageous onward march he came to a lonely part of the road; he was, however, well used to traveling, owing to those early days of wandering when he sold the dragon-flies for the support of his family, and by the experience of his lonely journey to Kumano. But in this present journey, as he carried with him a great sum of money in his pocket, he felt somewhat encumbered and could not walk as lightly as he wished.

On the afternoon of the day when he came to the mountainous region he was well-nigh tired out, and he hired a _kago_ to carry him. The coolies no sooner put him into the palanquin than they started off at almost a running pace, and after a short time they turned off from the highway into a bypath. The lad called out, in suspicion:

“Aren’t you taking a rather strange road?”

Both coolies answered in one voice:

“This is a short cut, lad.”

As they went on they got more and more into the wilds of the mountains, and Bunkichi thought to himself that they might belong to that class of rascals who prey on the traveler’s pockets. Nevertheless it was too late to do anything against them, so he kept himself in perfect peace by determining not to show that he suspected them.

When the coolies were come to a trackless thicket, they put the _kago_ down, and, thinking to pull out the boy, looked in and found him fast asleep.

They stared at one another in astonishment and said: “Why, he is sleeping! The fellow takes life easy, eh? Come, my boy, get up! get up!” and one of them poked him on the shoulder, and the other, taking hold of his foot, pulled him out.

Bunkichi rubbed his eyes and yawned twice or thrice.

“Well, Mr. Coolie,—I mean you two,—what’s the matter?”

The coolies said somewhat fiercely: “Look here; you’ve got some money with you, haven’t you?”

He answered in perfect coolness, as if nothing had happened, “Yes, I have.”

They thought more and more the lad was a pretty easy simpleton to deal with, and said: “We knew you had some fifty or sixty _rio_, and that is why we brought you here. Come, now, hand out all you’ve got, for if you refuse you’ll suffer for it.”

The lad burst out into laughter, saying: “If you want the money you shall have it”; and he took out the wrapped package of money and threw it down in front of them.

The coolies, seeing the perfect composure of the lad, wondered who this boy could be, and they began to grow nervous, and one of them said in a whisper to the other: “May he not be a fox?”

“We don’t know but what this money may turn into tree-leaves,” was the answer, and both looked into the boy’s face.

The boy said, as he smiled: “You cowardly thieves, are you afraid?”

He stepped out a pace before them, while they stepped back a little and said, “We are not afraid,” visibly suppressing their fear.

The lad peered into their faces. “If you aren’t afraid, why do you tremble so?”

“We’re cold; that is why.”

“You cowards! Take the money and be gone!”

The coolies looked at each other, and wouldn’t take the money up into their hands, while the lad stood firmly grasping the hilt of the dagger of Kiku-ichi-monji within his pocket, ready to fight it out in case they might treat him roughly.

They were thoroughly outwitted by the audacity of the lad, and said: “Where have you come from?”

“Kumano is my home.”

One of them turned pale. “Why, maybe he is the Shark-Boy!”

“Yes, I am that very boy,” retorted the lad.

No sooner did the coolies hear this than they cried with one voice: “Let us up and be gone!” As they were about to turn on their heels, Bunkichi said, as he drew his dagger:

“If you run off I will cut you in two.”

As though they were stricken by thunder at the boy’s words, down they tumbled on the ground, and could not rise in spite of themselves. “Only spare our lives, if you please!”

As they begged for mercy, the lad coldly smiled, saying: “What is it you fear?”

“Please spare us! We cannot bear the thought that you will finish us off as you did the _wanizame_,” they gasped in a trembling voice. These coolies had heard of his brave deed in killing the shark, and they thought that he had killed it by a feat of swordsmanship, and that he was a warrior general like him of Ushiwaka-maru[19] of old. He at once perceived what was the cause of their fear, and said:

Footnote 19:

A boy hero who learned fencing from a mountain elf in the wilderness of Atago.

“Are you weaker than the _wani_?”

“No, sir; we sha’n’t be beaten by the _wani_,”—though they still trembled.

Bunkichi resheathed his short sword as he said: “Then take me to where we agreed.”

With a prompt “Yes, sir,” they rose up, while the lad got into the palanquin. They took up the money and nervously brought it to the lad, who said as he glanced at it:

“Put it on the top of the _kago_.”

“We’re afraid it may drop down unnoticed,” was their answer.

“It’s too heavy for me to carry; tie it somewhere where it will be safe.”

Then the coolies tightly tied the package to the pole by which the _kago_ was carried. He did not take the money with him again, for fear that they might harm him in case their avaricious temper got the upper hand and they should make off with it.

The coolies, however, had no courage left to renew their attempt; but they went on most solemnly and steadily, as though they were carrying the _tengu_.[20] Bunkichi, finding the situation rather too quiet and tame, addressed them: “Do you often play the part of villains?”

Footnote 20:

A mountain elf.

“No, sir. It was the first time, sir. We were tempted to the wickedness when we saw you were carrying a lot of money; we knew it by your manner of walking.”

“I don’t believe you. I suspect you have committed villainous acts a good many times, but henceforth there must be an end of them.”

“Yes, sir; we have had a lesson and sha’n’t try that game again!”

The lad laughed and said: “That is interesting!” This was a peculiar exclamation he used often to make.

Meanwhile Bunkichi came to a certain station where he got out of the _kago_. He gave the coolies something extra to their fare, while warning them against the continuance of their evil practices.

No sooner had they got their money than they slunk away as quickly as they could.