was trying my best to be polite, he mentioned that Inuchiyo had asked him."

"Inuchiyo asked Lord Nagoya?" exclaimed his wife. "Are you saying that he suggested that Nene and Tokichiro get married?"

"It seems as though there was some talk on the road when His Lordship made his secret trip to Kyoto. Well, I suppose His Lordship overheard it."

"My! His Lordship himself?"

"Yes, this is really quite extraordinary. It seems that during the long hours of the trip Inuchiyo and Tokichiro were talking about Nene quite openly, right in front of His Lordship."

"Has Master Inuchiyo given his consent?"

"Inuchiyo went to Lord Nagoya and made the same request, so we won't have to worry about him anymore."

"Well then, did you give a clear answer to Lord Nagoya today?"

"Yes, I told him that I placed the matter entirely in his hands." With that, Mataermon straightened up as though his worries had been completely cleared away.

*  *  *

The year passed, and on an auspicious day in the fall, the wedding was celebrated at the Asano home.

Tokichiro felt restless and fidgety. His household was in confusion, with Gonzo, the servant girl, and the others who had come to help, and he had been able to do nothing  more than ramble in and out of the house since early morning. Today is the third day of the Eighth Month, isn't it? He kept confirming the obvious over and over in his mind. From time to time he would open up his clothes chest or try to relax on a cushion, but he just couldn't settle down. I'm marrying Nene and becoming a member of her family, he reminded himself. It's finally happening tonight, but now I somehow feel ill at ease.

After the wedding had been announced, Tokichiro became uncharacteristically shy. When his neighbors and colleagues heard the news, they came with gifts, but he would turn red and speak as though he were trying to save his reputation. "Well, no, it's really just a family celebration. I had thought it was still a little early for me to get married, but the family wants the wedding to take place as soon as possible."

Nobody knew that his desire had been turned into reality by his friend, Maeda Inichiyo. Not only had Inuchiyo given up Nene, but he had also swayed Lord Nagoya into action.

“I heard that Lord Nagoya made a recommendation in his favor. On top of that, Asano Mataemon's given him his consent, so they must see some promise in Monkey somewhere." So, first with his colleagues, and then with people of both high and low estate, Tokichiro's reputation was enhanced by this marriage, and malicious gossip was held in check.

Tokichiro, however, was unconcerned with gossip, good or bad. To him, informing  his mother in Nakamura was most important. Most assuredly, he had wanted to rush there himself and tell his mother about Nene, her lineage and character, along with all the other talk. But she had told him to serve his lord with diligence, and to let her stay

Nakamura, and not to be distracted by her until he became a person of consequence.

He suppressed his desire to see her right away, and informed her of new developments by letter. And she often wrote in reply. What especially pleased Tokichiro was that the news of his gradual promotion and of his marriage to the daughter of a samurai, through the good offices of one of Nobunaga's cousins, was known in Nakamura. And a result, he knew, his mother and sister were looked upon quite differently now by the villagers.

"Let me do your hair, sir?" Gonzo appeared with a box of combs and knelt beside him.

"What? I have to tie up my hair, too?"

"You're the bridegroom tonight, and you should have your hair done up properly."

When Gonzo had arranged his hair, Tokichiro went out into the garden.

White stars began to appear through the branches of the paulownia trees. The bridegroom was feeling sentimental tonight. Tokichiro was surrounded by great joy. Yet every time he encountered some happiness, he thought of his mother. Thus, there was a little sadness in his happiness. There's no end to our desires. After all, he consoled himself, there are people in the world without mothers.

Tokichiro immersed himself in the bathtub. Tonight he would be especially diligent washing the nape of his neck. When he had finished bathing, put on a light cotton kimono, and gone back into the house, he found it so full of people that it was difficult to tell whether it was his house or someone else's. Wondering why everyone was so busy, he looked once around the living room and the kitchen, and was finally reduced to sharing a corner of a room with the mosquitoes, and looking on as others worked.

Shrill voices gave out orders, and shrill voices responded.

"Arrange all of the bridegroom's personal accessories on top of his wardrobe."

"I've done that. His fan and pillbox are there, too."

There were all sorts of people running about. Whose wife was that? Whose husband over there? These people were not close relatives, but they all worked together harmoniously.

The bridegroom, who was still all alone in the corner, recalled the faces of these people and felt joy in the very depths of his heart. In one room, a boisterous old man was holding forth on the ancient customs and manners of adopting a son-in-law and taking a wife. "Are the groom's sandals worn out? Old sandals just won't do. He has to wear new ones to the bride's house. Then, tonight, the bride's father will sleep holding the sandals, and the bridegroom's feet will never leave the house."

An old lady piped up, "People have to have paper lanterns. You can't just walk to the bride's house carrying torches. Then the lanterns are handed over to the bride's family, and they put them in front of the house altar for three days and three nights." She spoke a kindly way, as though the bridegroom were her own son.

About then, a messenger came to the house, carrying the ceremonial first letter from the bride to the groom. One of the wives stepped timidly through the crowd, carrying a laquered letter box.

Tokichiro spoke from the veranda. "I'm over here."

"This is the first letter from the bride," the woman said. "And it's the custom thatthe bridegroom write something in return."

"What should I write?"

The woman giggled but gave him no instructions. Paper and a writing case were set down in front of him.

Perplexed, Tokichiro picked up the brush. He had never exactly exerted himself in literary matters. He had learned to write at the Komyo Temple, and when he had worked in the pottery shop, his calligraphy had at least been average, so he felt no humiliation about writing something in front of others. He was simply troubled about what to say. Finally he wrote:

On this pleasant night, the bridegroom, too, should come to talk.

He showed it to the housewife who had brought him the writing case.

"Is this all right?"

"It will do."

"You received a letter from your husband at your wedding, didn't you? Don't you remember what he wrote?"

"No," she replied.

He laughed. "When you yourself forget, it must not have been very important."

After that, the bridegroom was outfitted in a ceremonial kimono and given a fan.

The moon shone clearly in the early autumn evening sky, and torches burned brightly at the entrance gates. At the head of the procession was a riderless horse and two spearmen. Following these were three torchbearers, then the bridegroom himself, in new sandals.

There was no gorgeous wedding furniture such as inlaid chests, folding screens, or Chinese furniture, but there was one armor chest and a wardrobe box. For a samurai of that time who commanded thirty foot soldiers, he had nothing to be ashamed of. On the contrary, Tokichiro probably felt some secret pride. For if none of the people who had helped him this evening and who accompanied him now were relatives, neither had they been employed to do so. They had come and rejoiced in this wedding as though it were their own affair.