Ugetsu Monogatari or Tales of Moonlight and Rain (Routledge Revivals) by Ueda Akinari

Author:Ueda Akinari
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Taylor and Francis

VI THE CALDRON OF KIBITSU

(Kibitsu no Kama)352

‘You may hate the clamours of a jealous wife,353 but when you grow old you'll learn her true worth.’ Who was it that uttered those words? Even if a jealous wife does not cause you great misfortune, she will interfere with your business affairs, destroy your possessions, and bring down on you your neighbours’ criticism. And if she does cause you genuine calamity, you might lose your home, ruin your country, or become an object of ridicule for the whole world. Since ancient times the poison of jealousy has stricken untold multitudes of men.

When a jealous woman dies, she may become a serpent. She can wreak her fury with a thunderbolt.354 Even if you should cut the flesh of a vengeful woman into mincemeat,355 it wouldn't help. True, these are extreme examples, and if a husband watches closely over his own conduct and educates his wife, he can surely avoid such disasters. Nonetheless, if a man is overcome by some capricious whim and arouses his wife's jealous nature,356 he may end up by doing harm to himself. ‘To tame a bird it takes determination; to tame a wife it requires a husband's native manliness.’ This saying is certainly true.

In the province of Kibi,357 in the district of Kaya, in the village of Niise, there lived a man named Izawa Shōdayū. His grandfather had served the Akamatsu of Harima,358 but after the war in the first year of Kakitsu the old man fled from the Akamatsu castle and settled in Niise. Down to Shōdayū’s time three generations had passed; the men plowed in the spring and reaped in the autumn, and their household grew prosperous. But Shōdayū’s only son, Shōtarō, hated farming. He was drunken and dissipated, and he abandoned himself to lust, ignoring his father's admonitions. Because Shōtarō’s conduct upset them, his parents often discussed the problem with one another.

‘Surely,’ they decided, ‘if we can marry him to a lovely girl from a good family, he will straighten out of his own accord.’ They asked people to search everywhere throughout the province, and fortunately a matchmaker came and said,

‘The head priest of the Kibitsu Shrine, Kasada Miki, has a daughter named Isora, whom nature has blessed with great beauty. Even more, she serves her parents well, is clever at verse, and can play the zitheren. Her family descends from the Kamowake of Kibi359 and is therefore of good lineage; so, should she become connected with your house, it would be a good omen, and I ardently wish for such a union to take place. Now, sir, how do you feel about the proposition ?’

‘It sounds like a splendid idea,’ said Shōdayū, greatly pleased. ‘The match would be the opportunity of a thousand years for us. But the Kasadas are nobility in this province, and we are nameless peasants. And since our house hardly compares with theirs,360 I don't see how they could ever accept the offer.’

‘You mustn't depreciate yourself so much!’ laughed the old matchmaker.

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