"Well, I'm going to take you back," Mikawa offered.

Hideyoshi looked grimly in the other direction and said nothing. Meanwhile, his host had prepared a bowl of tea for himself. After drinking it in a dignified manner, he put away the tea implements.

"I know this is selfish, but let me stay here a while longer, please," Hideyoshi said, and did not make a move. His expression indicated that he probably could not have been moved with a lever.

"You can stay there as long as you like, but it won't do you any good."

"Not necessarily."

"There are no two ways about what I said just now. What are you going to do here?'

"I'm listening to the sound of the water boiling in the kettle."

"The kettle?" he laughed. "And you said you didn't know anything about the Way of Tea!"

"No, I don't know the first thing about tea, but it is a pleasant sound, somehow. Maybe it's from hearing nothing but war cries and the whinnying of horses during this long campaign, but it's extremely pleasant. Let me sit here for a moment by myself and think things through."

"It won't make any difference what your meditations are. I'm certainly not going to let you meet Lord Nagamasa, or even step one foot closer to the keep," Mikawa said as he got up to leave.

Hideyoshi made no answer other than to say, "This kettle really has a nice sound to it." He edged a little closer to the hearth and, lost in admiration, gazed intendy at the iron kettle. What had suddenly caught his attention was the pattern raised on the antique sur­face of the iron. It was hard to say whether it was a man or a monkey, but the tiny crea­ture, its arms and legs supported by the branches of a tree, was standing insolently between heaven and earth.

It looks like me! Hideyoshi thought, unable to suppress a spontaneous smile. He suddenly recalled the time he had left the mansion of Matsushita Kahei and roamed the mountains and forests with nothing to eat and nowhere to stay.

Hideyoshi did not know whether Mikawa was outside, peeping in on him, or had gone away in exasperation, but in any case, he was no longer in the teahouse.

Ah, this is interesting. This is really interesting, thought Hideyoshi. He looked as if he were talking to the kettle. Alone, he shook his head. As he did so, he thought about his decision not to move, no matter what.

Somewhere in the garden, Hideyoshi heard the guileless voices of two young children, trying hard not to burst out laughing. They were looking at him through the gaps in the fence around the teahouse.

“Look how much he looks like a monkey."

"Yes! He's just like one."

“I wonder where he's come from."

“He must be the messenger from the Monkey God."

Hideyoshi turned his head and spotted the children hiding behind the fence.

While Hideyoshi had been engrossed in the design on the kettle, the two children had been secredy observing him.

Hideyoshi was struck with jubilation. He was certain that these were two of Nagamasa's four children—the boy, Manju, and the girl his elder sister, Chacha. He shot them a smile.

"Hey! He's smiling!"

"Mister Monkey smiled."

The two children immediately started whispering. Hideyoshi pretended to scowl at them. This had even more of an effect than smiling. Seeing that the monkey-faced stranger was so quick to join in their games, Manju and Chacha stuck out their tongues and made faces at him.

Hideyoshi glared at them and the two children glared back, trying to see who could last the longest.

Hideyoshi burst out laughing, conceding defeat.

Manju and Chacha laughed excitedly. Scratching his head, Hideyoshi beckoned them with a wave to come over and play another game.

The two children were intrigued by his invitation, and stealthily pushed open the brushwood gate.

"Where did you come from, mister?"

Hideyoshi came down from the veranda and began to tie the cords of his straw sandals. Half in fun, Manju tickled the back of Hideyoshi's neck with a stalk of pampas grass.  Enduring this mischief, Hideyoshi finished tying the cords.

But when he stood up to his full height, and they saw the look on his face, they lost heart and tried to run away.

For his part, Hideyoshi was taken by surprise. As soon as the boy began to run away, he caught him by the collar. At the same time, he tried to grab Chacha with his other hand, but she screamed at the top of her voice and ran off crying. Manju was so shocked at being caught that he did not let out a whimper. But, falling down, he looked up underneath Hideyoshi, and seeing the man's face and the entire sky upside down, he finally screarmed.

Fujikake Mikawa had left Hideyoshi alone in the teahouse and was walking along the garden path. He was the first to hear Chacha's cries as she fled and Manju's screams, Alarmed, he ran back to see what the matter was.

"What! You wretch!" He let out a horrified shout, and his hand instinctively grasped the hilt of his sword.

Standing astride Manju, Hideyoshi shouted in a commanding voice for the old man to stop. It was a difficult moment. Mikawa was about to strike Hideyoshi with his sword, but shrank back in fear when he saw what Hideyoshi was ready to do. For Hideyoshi's eyes and the sword he held in his hand both showed that he was ready to cut Manju's throat without the least hesitation.

The skin of the self-possessed old general turned to gooseflesh, and his white hair stood on end.

"Y-you wretch! What are you going to do with the boy?" Mikawa's voice was almost plaintive. He edged closer, his whole body shaking with regret and anger. When the retainers who had accompanied the general understood what was happening, they yelled for all they were worth, waving their hands, informing everyone of the situation immediately.

The guards from the central gate and the inner citadel had also heard Chacha's cries and now hurried toward the scene.

Around this bizarre enemy who glared at them while holding his sword at Manju's throat, the samurai formed a steel circle of armor. They remained at a distance, frightened perhaps at what they saw in Hideyoshi's eyes. They had no idea what to do, other than raise an uproar.

"General Mikawa!" Hideyoshi called out at one face among them. "What is your answer? This method is a bit violent, but if I don't do this, I don't see any other way of not embarrassing my lord. If you don't give me an answer, I'm going to kill Master Manju!" He looked around with big fiery eyes and went on, "General Mikawa, have these warriors withdraw! Then we'll talk. Is it so difficult to see what to do? Your understanding is slow. It would be difficult, after all, to kill me and save the boy's life without causing him injury. It's exactly the same as Lord Nobunaga taking this castle and wanting to save Oichi. How could you save Master Manju's life? Even if you shot me with a musket, this blade would be likely to pierce his throat in that very moment."

For some time it was only his tongue that was enlivened, and it had been like a rush­ing stream. But now his eyes were moving as well as his tongue, and along with his elo­quence, all of the extremities of his body were keenly and constantly attentive to the enemy on all sides.

No one was able to do a thing. Mikawa felt the immensity of his mistake, and seemed to be listening carefully to what Hideyoshi was saying. He had recovered from his temporary shock and returned to the calm he had displayed in the teahouse. Mikawa could move at last; he waved his hand at the men around Hideyoshi. "Move away from him. Leave this to me. Even if I have to take his place, the young lord must not be harmed. Each of you return to your posts." Then he turned to Hideyoshi and said, "As you wished, the crowd has dispersed. Now, would you please hand over young Manju to me?"

"Absolutely not!" Hideyoshi shook his head forcefully, but then changed his tone of voice. "I will return the young lord, but I want to return him to Lord Nagamasa in per­son. Will you please see about getting me an audience with Lord Nagamasa and Lady Oichi?"