47 Ronin. John Allyn

      “The matter does not concern Ono,” he told Yoshida. “We can decide what must be done among ourselves.”

      Oishi glanced at Hara as he finished speaking and saw the big man nod vigorously. He had no more use for Ono than his leader did.

      There was silence for a while as each sat busy with his own thoughts. To dull his bitter sense of loss, Oishi deliberately turned his mind to the past, to memories of the instructions he had received as a young samurai. His lessons had been given in this very room and he could hear old Yamaga Soko’s warnings that the times were getting soft and that the strict observance of Confucian ethics was being undermined by the preachers of “new Confucianism” who were beginning to infest the court. That was why Yamaga had been exiled to the countryside—because he was out of step with the times—but he found willing listeners in the samurai of Ako, who were far removed from the softness and politics of the court. Oishi heard his condemnation of the Edo court again as though they were being spoken at this moment: “The sacrifice of the noble to the elegant.” And that had turned out to be a prophecy of Lord Asano’s death.

      He thought of the circumstances of his master’s attack on Kira. He had no doubt it was justified, but if only it had taken place somewhere else!

      It was not his place to criticize the Shogun, no matter what the circumstances, but it was disturbing to consider how inconsistent their ruler was in his observation of the teachings of Buddha. True, a Buddha-like detestation of violence and cruelty was at the core of his Life Preservation Laws, but had they been applied equally to the life of Lord Asano? And what of the vanity of wealth and power, the duty of abstinence from the grosser pleasures, the beauty of the life of seclusion and pious meditation? No, Tsunayoshi took from Buddhism only what suited his own purposes and this left his policies open to question by anyone bold enough to do so.

      Oishi raised his eyes from the pictures he had been seeing in the glowing coals of the hibachi and saw that old Yoshida was watching him. No doubt he had been thinking the same thoughts and there was no need to say them aloud. Yoshida shivered and shook his head, then rubbed his hand over his close-cropped hair.

      “We must make some sort of plan,” he offered in a vague manner.

      The words struck Oishi strangely. He had been counting strongly on the old man’s advice but now he saw that there was little to hope for from this direction. Nothing like this had ever happened before in the history of the clan, and Yoshida was no more able to cope with it than the youngest samurai in the castle. Oishi would be glad to have the old man’s counsel, but he knew that from now on all decisions must come from him as chief retainer. He had no fear of not being strong enough to make them and to see that they were carried out; he only hoped that his judgments would be carefully arrived at and truly best for the house of Asano and the spirit of his departed master.

      Hara rubbed his hands together and restlessly changed his position. In his mind this meeting was a council of war and its object was to map a plan of defense for the castle.

      “Shouldn’t we summon all the men?” he growled.

      Oishi hesitated and was glad when Yoshida cleared his throat as a signal that he would answer.

      “Let’s wait until daybreak,” the old man said. “If our warriors are to be needed for any extraordinary purposes, even if it is only to receive the announcement of their master’s death, it would be just as well to let them get all the rest they can beforehand.”

      “I agree with Yoshida-sensei,” said Oishi, giving the old man the honorific title of “teacher” to lend his remarks more weight. “In the morning we will all be able to think more clearly and can face our new problems with more assurance.”

      “We should begin now to think of our defenses,” Hara muttered doggedly, and Oishi, turning aside in annoyance, caught a troubled glance thrown at the grizzled old warrior by Mimura. He sensed that something about Hara’s attitude was upsetting his servant, but he hesitated to ask for fear of embarrassing the clumsy young man. Instead he turned to Hara.

      “Have you told me everything, Hara? Everything I need to know about this tragic affair? Kira was killed and our master was condemned to death and loss of property—is that the whole story?”

      Hara hesitated. “On one point there is some doubt. . . . Kira was taken away in a hurry and it’s possible he could have survived the attack, although it’s not very likely. Otherwise I’ve told you all I know. I still don’t see why you hesitate to plan the defense of the castle. The Shogun’s troops will be arriving any day now and we must be ready to give a good account of ourselves.”

      “We’ll be ready for whatever comes, don’t worry. Now I think the best plan for all of us is to try to get some sleep. I must have more time to think before I can make any sort of worthwhile plans.”

      He rose and stretched, then bowed a polite good-night to the bent form of Yoshida and nodded more casually in Hara’s direction. As he left the room he was followed by Mimura, although there was no real reason for the servant to accompany him. He kept silent until they reached the door of his room, then turned to the gangling young man.

      “Bathe yourself and get some rest,” he told him. “Tomorrow will be a hard day for all of us. I appreciate all you have done and know that you always have the best welfare of the house of Asano at heart.”

      He half-turned to go but was stopped by Mimura’s sudden action of dropping to his knees and touching his head to the floor.

      “I must tell you,” he said in a hoarse whisper. “I was forced by Hara to promise to say nothing, but I feel that would be unfair to you who carries the final responsibility!”

      Oishi gently lifted the boy by the shoulder of his ragged cloak until they were standing eye to eye. He said nothing, waiting for the boy to resolve the conflict within him.

      “Before we left Edo,” Mimura finally blurted out, “we went to visit Daigaku Asano, our Lord’s younger brother, and his uncle Lord Toda, the daimyo of Ogaki. They were holding up under their sorrow as well as could be expected, although as you know Daigaku is a rather frail young man and Lord Toda is now quite old. They knew all that had happened. They knew about the order to surrender the castle at Ako to the Shogun’s representatives.”

      “And?”

      “And they advised Hara to tell you that we should surrender peaceably in order not to increase the disgrace that has already fallen on the family.”

      Oishi let go of the boy and nodded that he might go. Mi­­mu­­ra hurried away down the corridor, praying that he had done the right thing. Even so, Hara might kill him if he found out he had broken his promise.

      Oishi had been given another unpleasant surprise and he appreciated more than ever the complexity of the problems he had to solve. He could not oppose the wishes of the family and yet he could see why a man of action like Hara would refuse to carry their message. When there were two valid viewpoints to reconcile, it was not always easy to choose the side that was right.