arson—there must be some way for you to stay here, and I shall discover it. And if a time should come when we can no longer meet, did our promises of love hold only for this world? There have been those before us who have chosen death. At the Mountain of Death, by the River of Three Ways,[1] none will hinder and none will be hindered in love.
Narrator: Amidst these words of strong encouragement
She falters, choked by tears, and then resumes
Ohatsu: The seventh is tomorrow. Return the money quickly, since you must hand it over in any case. In that way you may get into your uncle’s good graces again.
Tokubei: I agree with you, and I’m impatient to give it back. But on the twenty-eighth of last month Kuheiji the oil merchant, whom you know, implored me to lend him the money. He said he needed it just for one day, and promised to return it on the morning of the third. I decided to lend the money to him since I didn’t need it until the seventh, and it was for a friend as close to me as a brother. He didn’t get in touch with me on the third or the fourth, and yesterday he was out and I couldn’t get to see him. I intended to call on him this morning, but I’ve spent the whole time making the rounds of my customers in order to wind up all my business by tomorrow. I’ll go see him tonight and settle things. He’s a decent fellow and he knows the predicament I’m in. I can’t imagine that anything will go wrong. Don’t worry, Ohatsu!
Narrator: “Hatsuse is far away,
So is Naniwa-dera;
The sounds of the temple bells
At many famous places
Are voices of the Eternal Law.
If, on an evening in spring
One visits a mountain shrine
One sees …” but who comes now singing?[2]
