CHAPTER XXII.
THE MIKADO.
Thus it was that Kioto escaped the danger which it had incurred; thebattle was over, the fires quenched. The Queen, carried off by guiltyhands while the city was given over to terror and dismay, was broughtback by the Prince of Nagato to a people drunk with joy. The houses,so tightly closed a few hours before, were thrown wide open; everybodyflocked into the streets; the inhabitants chatted with the soldiers;barrels of saki were rolled out and tapped. Men danced and sang; theythought themselves dead, and were alive. There was good cause forrejoicing; shouts went up from every street and square; they spreadfrom mouth to mouth, and soon the whole city repeated: "Glory to theMikado!" "Death to Hieyas!" "Curses on his race!" "Blessings on GeneralYama-Kava!" "Praises to the Knights of Heaven!"
"And glory to the Prince of Nagato, to whom we owe the victory!" criedone fellow.
"And who restores our divine Kisaki to us," said another.
The Prince at this moment appeared, leading the horse that bore theKisaki. The crowd parted, and fell prostrate before her in suddensilence, which ceased abruptly as soon as she had passed.
The Queen had drawn her veil over her face; with one hand she heldits light folds upon her breast. The horse, flecked with foam, puffedand panted as he moved. Nagato held the animal by the bridle, andoccasionally turned to the Queen, who smiled at him behind her gauzyveil, while every forehead touched the ground.
Thus they reached the fortress of Nisio-Nosiro, and crossed itsramparts. The Knights of Heaven came out to receive the Kisaki. Herwomen remained at the summer-palace; she was asked whether they shouldbe summoned.
"Why should they?" said she; "shall we not return to the palace?"
No one dared to tell her that the Mikado, his fears still unallayed,refused to quit the fortress, and intended to leave it no more.
The Son of the Gods was indignant; victory had not appeased either histerror or his wrath. He, attacked in his own palace,--not by Mongols,nor by Chinese! His own people--that is, his slaves, those who werenot worthy to utter his name--had had the unheard-of audacity to takeup arms against him! His sacred person was constrained not only towalk, but to run! The Mikado, whose mere glance should reduce a man toashes, had fled, pale with fear; the stiff folds of his satin robeswere disturbed; he stumbled over the abundance of his drapery as he ranthrough the streets! What had become of the sacred majesty, the divineprestige, of the descendant of the Gods amidst this fatal adventure?
Go-Mitzou-No, furious, trembling, and astounded, was not assuaged byvictory. He ordered a general massacre of all the soldiers who hadsurrendered.
"They will rise against me again!" he said. "Kill them, to the lastman!"
"We will kill them by and by," ventured to reply the Minister of theRight Hand, one of the highest dignitaries of the Dairi; "just nowthose ten thousand additional troops are most necessary to us."
Then the Mikado cried out: "Let Hieyas be brought before me! Let hiseyes be put out, his entrails torn from him; let him be cut into smallpieces!"
"By and by," said the Minister of the Left Hand "just now Hieyas is outof our reach."
"Assemble all your warriors, all the princes and ministers," thenscreamed the Mikado; "I desire to inform them of my will."
No one had any objection to make; but the general surprise was great.The Mikado having a will of his own; manifesting the desire to make aspeech! Such a thing had never occurred since Yorimoto, in the reign ofTsoutsi-Mikado, repulsed the Mongol invasion, and received the titleof Shogun for that brave deed. Since that time the Shoguns had reignedin the name of the Mikados, who had never dreamed of taking back thesceptre intrusted by them to other hands. Had the true master wakedat last from his long torpor? did he intend to grasp the power oncemore, and govern his kingdom for himself? The ministers looked at eachother in vague alarm. Some of them secretly favored Hieyas; others werefaithful to the dynasty of the Mikados; but they lacked energy, anddreaded any revolt against those who were masters of the army.
But since the fancy took the Son of the Gods to issue his commands,his ministers could not refuse to obey. The nobles and warriors werespeedily assembled in the most spacious hall in the fortress. TheMikado sat cross-legged upon a dais surrounded by a low balustrade; thefolds of his robes were arranged about him. Then the lords took theirseats on the floor, each holding a long, narrow screen before his face,to oppose some obstacle between his gaze and his sovereign's face.
The Prince of Nagato, with Farou-So-Chan, leader of the Knights ofHeaven, Simabara, General Yama-Kava, all the ministers, and all thenobles, were present.
Go-Mitzou-No's angry eye wandered over their heads; he swelled up hischeeks, which were even more pasty than usual; then breathed noisily,as if he wanted to scatter a few grains of dust. At last he foundspeech,--abrupt, and somewhat plaintive.
"So," he said, "I am no longer master; I am no longer therepresentative of the Gods! I am besieged, I am outraged; an attemptis made to seize upon my person! I am amazed that you still live. Whatdoes all this mean? Is this the way you treat a god? I am the Mikado;that is, the supreme lord. Do you forget that fact? I am here on earthfor the good of mankind, when I might be with my family in heaven. Ifthings go on in this way, I will desert you. What! you do not tremble?What are you thinking of? Have you not noticed the signs of anger givenby my celestial progenitors? Reflect and remember! But a short timesince, a mountain suddenly rose out of the sea opposite the Island ofFatsisio. Is not that terrible? Is not that a mark of the displeasurewith which mankind has inspired the Gods? The earth shall shake yetagain, and all shall be overthrown. Did there not fall a rain of hairylocks in the suburbs of Osaka only a few days after that mountain roseup out of the water? Was not that a sign of misfortune? Are you blindand deaf? Have you ceased to understand the threats of Heaven? Are youhardened in crime? Do you fear nothing, that you do not shake beforethe breath of my wrath?"
"We are your faithful servants!" said the Minister of the Right Hand.
"I, Go-Mitzou-No, the one hundred and nineteenth of my race," said theMikado, "have been insulted; and if the earth is not cleft in twain, itis solely because my feet yet rest upon its surface; it is spared formy sake. Yes, my subjects--mere men--came to the Dairi; they forced thedoors; they strove to seize upon me,--to imprison the Son of the Gods!And to escape them I was forced to fly! A Mikado fly from men! I amchoked with rage. I will plunge you all into darkness; I will put outthe sun; I will turn the sea topsy-turvy; I will dash the earth into athousand pieces."
"We are your submissive slaves!" said the Minister of the Left Hand.
"If you are my slaves, obey!" screamed the Son of the Gods. "I commandthat all shall come to an end; the war shall cease, and everythingreturn to its accustomed order."
"Divine Lord! master of our destinies!" said the Prince of Nagato,"will you allow me to speak in your presence?"
"Speak!" said the Mikado.
"The monster whose name is Hieyas," said the Prince, "fears nothing,and insults the gods. But if the command which you have just issuedwere made known to him in the face of all Japan, he would be obliged toobey, and consent to peace."
"Explain yourself," said Go-Mitzou-No.
"It is with pain that I confess," continued the Prince, "that, in spiteof the many defeats he has undergone, Hieyas is still the stronger; hisallies increase daily. But they would rapidly diminish, and all wouldsoon abandon him, if he should openly resist an order universally knownto emanate from the Mikado."
"No doubt of that," exclaimed the ministers and nobles.
"What shall I do?" asked the Mikado, turning to the Prince of Nagato.
"Sublime master," said the Prince, "my opinion is that you shoulddespatch a herald to proclaim your will in every city and village; atthe same time addressing to Fide-Yori and Hieyas a large deputation,charged to inform them that the war is to cease, since such is yourpleasure."
"Your advice shall be followed," said the Mikado; "it is good. Toreward you for it, I give
you the title of Nai-dai-Tsin."
"Sire," cried the Prince, "I am not worthy of such an honor."
"Let the envoys he sent off promptly," said the Mikado. "No more war;let us have peace and repose as of old. I feel exhausted by all theseemotions," he added in a lower tone, turning to the prime minister; "itmight easily kill me."
They soon separated. On leaving the castle, the Prince of Nagato met amessenger in search of him.
"Whence come you?" asked Iwakura.
"From Nagato."
Then the messenger related all the events that had occurred in thatprovince,--the various battles, the taking of Hagui, and the capture ofFatkoura by the lord of Tosa.
"What!" cried Nagato, "Fatkoura is in the hands of that scoundrel,who beheads princes! I must not delay my vengeance another moment. Iwill set off at once to deliver her, and make that infamous wretch paydearly for his crimes and his impertinence."
He then inquired for his little troop, anxious to learn how many theskirmish of the morning had left him. Of the two hundred sailors,eighty had been killed, and fifty wounded; about sixty being in fitcondition to resume their march.
Raiden's arm had been pierced by an arrow; but the bone was uninjured.The sailor had had his wound dressed, and declared that it did not painhim at all. He begged the Prince to let him go with him.
"The journey will do me good," said he; "besides, there are not morethan sixty of us. That's very few to capture a kingdom; and in so smalla number, one man more or less counts for something."
"I need twenty thousand men to march against Tosa," said the Prince; "Ishall ask the Shogun to let me have them. So you see that you may wellafford yourself a little rest."
"Is it because I have not behaved well, that you want to drive me fromyou?" asked Raiden.
"No, brave servant," said the Prince, smiling; "come if you will. Youcan stay at Osaka if your wound troubles you."
"Shall we start at once?" asked the sailor.
"Are you crazy?" cried the Prince. "We have spent a hard night, and astill harder day; you are wounded: and it never occurs to you to takea little rest! I confess that, if you are indefatigable, I, who am bynature very inert, feel quite exhausted."
"If sleep is permitted, I shall sleep with a good will," said Raiden,laughing; "but if you thought best to start off again, I could haveheld out a little longer."
"Where is Loo?" asked the Prince; "I lost sight of him in the thick ofthe fight."
"He's asleep in a house on the shore, and so sound asleep that I couldpick him up and carry him off without his ever knowing it. That youngSamurai earned his sleep well; he snatched a gun from one of our deadcomrades, and I hear that he fought like a little devil."
"Is he wounded?"
"Fortunately, he escaped without a scratch."
"Well, go join him, and take a little repose; to-morrow, at noon, wewill start."
Next day Nagato went to take leave of the Kisaki. She had returned tothe summer-palace, where he found her surrounded by her women.
"You leave the city which owes its triumph to you so soon, and withouttaking time for rest?" she exclaimed.
"I leave with an aching heart," said the Prince; "but an imperativeduty calls me. Before the peace is signed, I must avenge the insult tomy name; I must save Fatkoura, my betrothed."
"Is Fatkoura in danger?"
"She is the prisoner of the Prince of Tosa; a messenger brought me thenews yesterday."
"Such reasons admit of no reply," said the Queen. "Make haste to punishthat villain; and may the God of Battles be with you."
Her voice trembled slightly as she spoke: he was about to run newdangers; to expose his life,--perhaps to die.
"I believe that I am invincible," said Nagato; "an all-powerful goddessprotects me."
The Kisaki forced herself to smile. "May you triumph, and returnspeedily," said she.
The Prince retired. As he left the hall he fixed a last lingering lookupon her; a singular feeling of disquiet chilled his blood.
"Every time that I part from her I feel as if I should never see heragain," he muttered.
She too gazed at him, a prey to the same anguish; she pressed to herlips the tip of the fan which the Prince had given her.
He tore himself from her presence. That very night he reached Osaka,and went at once to the Shogun.
"Is it you!" joyfully exclaimed Fide-Yori. "I did not hope to see youso soon; your presence is a consolation to me amid the cares thatoverwhelm me."
"What!" said Iwakura, "when we are victorious! Why are you sad?"
"How can you ask me, friend? True, Yoke-Moura drove the enemy fromthe village that they held near Osaka; but Harounaga has just beencompletely routed in his retreat on Yamashiro. Two thirds of thekingdom are in the power of our foe."
"No matter! We won the day at Soumiossi; we cast confusion into thecamp of Hieyas; we triumphed at Kioto. And the Son of the Gods,starting for a moment from his torpor, is about to order the twoparties to be reconciled."
"Hieyas will refuse."
"He cannot refuse; he cannot revolt openly against the Mikado."
"He who attacked him with such sacrilegious daring!"
"He attacked him to gain possession of his person, and dictate his ownterms to him. The Mikado a captive would be a mere nobody; the Mikadofree, and grasping the reins of power once more, is omnipotent."
"Hieyas will impose conditions which I cannot accept. It is hisinterest to continue the war."
"Nevertheless, he will be obliged to obey for the moment; and our mostpressing need is a few months of respite."
"To be sure; we could then assemble all our forces. Communication iscut off; the armies of the various princes have not arrived."
"Are Signenari and his twenty thousand men still on the Island ofAwadsi?" asked the Prince.
"Still," said the Shogun; "and the young General is desperate at beingreduced to inaction."
"I was just going to ask you to issue orders for him to open thecampaign."
"What do you mean?"
"I have a personal injury to avenge. I entreat you to lend me thatarmy."
"On whom do you wish to be revenged, friend?" said the Shogun.
"On one of those who betrayed you,--on the Prince of Tosa. He hasattacked my kingdom, plundered my fortress, carried off my bride; anddeceived by a resemblance into thinking he had captured me, he refusedthe man the death of a nobleman, and cut off the head of one of myservants."
"Such things can indeed only be washed out in blood," said Fide-Yori."I will give you an order for Signenari, and I put a war-junk at yourdisposal. Do not spare that infamous Tosa,--that envious, cowardlytraitor, unworthy of the rank he holds."
"I will raze his towers, burn his harvests, and kill him as one wouldbutcher a hog," said the Prince; "only regretting that he has but onelife to pay for all his crimes."
"May you succeed!" said the Shogun. "Alas!" he added, "I was so glad tosee you; and you come only to go again! What solitude! what an emptyvoid about me! What sorrow! My heart is gnawed by a secret grief whichI must not reveal. Some day I will confide it to you; that will solaceme."
The Prince raised his eyes to the Shogun's face; he remembered thatseveral times before, a confession had risen to the King's lips, andhad been arrested there by a sort of timid modesty. Now, as then,Fide-Yori was embarrassed, and turned away his head.
"What can it be?" thought Nagato.
Then he added aloud: "My vengeance once appeased, I promise to leaveyou no more."
As he left the Shogun's apartments, the Prince of Nagato met Yodogimi.
"Ah! you are here, illustrious victor!" she said, bitterly; "you cometo receive the praises due your noble deeds."
"It is only when falling from your lovely lips that praise is pleasantto my ear," said the Prince, bowing with somewhat exaggeratedpoliteness; "but you favor me with none but rude and scornful words."
"If we are enemies, it is your own fault," said Yodogimi.
"I never wished to
offend you; it was my slight merit which wrought myruin. You declared war against me; but I never accepted the challenge,and I remained your slave."
"A very humble slave! who attracts all the light to himself, allowingno one else to shine in his presence!"
"Am I really so resplendent?" said the Prince. "Against your will, yousee, you let fall the praises which you refused me."
"Cease your raillery!" cried Yodogimi. "I seize this opportunity totell you that while all the world admire and love you, I detest you."
"She cannot forgive me for Harounaga's defeat," muttered the Prince.
Yodogimi withdrew, hurling an angry glance at Nagato. The beautifulPrincess once loved Iwakura in secret. The Prince would not see herlove; hence the hatred with which she pursued him.
Nagato left the palace; and, a few hours after, set sail for the Islandof Awadsi.