Shino and Hamaji
[Hakkenden, xxv] by Takizawa Bakin
The commanding literary figure in Japan during the first half of the nineteenth century was Bakin (1767–1848). His novels were widely read and extravagantly admired. He wrote in several distinct genres; of these his didactic worlds (yomihon), in which he sought to “encourage virtue and chastise vice,” were the most important if not the most popular. His greatest work, “The Biographies of Eight Dogs" (Satomi Hakkenden, 1814–1841) is an immensely long novel telling of the exploits of eight heroes who have the same noble dog as their spiritual ancestor. Each of them symbolizes a virtue: the first, Shino, stands for “filial piety.”
The number of readers of the “Eight Dogs” is dwindling, but those who peruse its pages will probably be held by the story, however fantastic it may be, and will be rewarded by episodes such as the one given here. Shino is being sent away from home by his wicked aunt and uncle (the foster parents of Hamaji) so that they can find a more desirable son-in-law. Shino suspects this, but his desire to restore his family fortunes (impelled by filial piety) causes him to leave the woman to whom he is engaged.
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Shino had gone to bed, but could not sleep in his impatience for the dawn. His head was filled with thoughts about the future. He realized that he was alone, that there was no one to stop him from leaving, but he could not help feeling unhappy that he was now to go far from the graves of his parents and the place where he was born. Hamaji, who regretted his departure no less than he, slipped out of bed and, taking care lest her parents now snoring in the
