tsuke no
Suke. This Oishi Kuranosuke was absent at the castle of Ako at the
time of the affray, which, had he been with his prince, would never
have occurred; for, being a wise man, he would not have failed to
propitiate Kotsuke no Suke by sending him suitable presents; while the
councillor who was in attendance on the prince at Yedo was a dullard,
who neglected this precaution, and so caused the death of his master
and the ruin of his house.

So Oishi Kuranosuke and his forty-six companions began to lay their
plans of vengeance against Kotsuke no Suke; but the latter was so well
guarded by a body of men lent to him by a daimio called Uyesugi Sama,
whose daughter he had married, that they saw that the only way of
attaining their end would be to throw their enemy off his guard. With
this object they separated and disguised themselves, some as
carpenters or craftsmen, others as merchants; and their chief,
Kuranosuke, went to Kioto, and built a house in the quarter called
Yamashina, where he took to frequenting houses of the worst repute,
and gave himself up to drunkenness and debauchery, as if nothing were
further from his mind than revenge. Kotsuke no Suke, in the meanwhile,
suspecting that Takumi no Kami's former retainers would be scheming
against his life, secretly sent spies to Kioto, and caused a faithful
account to be kept of all that Kuranosuke did. The latter, however,
determined thoroughly to delude the enemy into a false security, went
on leading a dissolute life with harlots and winebibbers. One day, as
he was returning home drunk from some low haunt, he fell down in the
street and went to sleep, and all the passers-by laughed him to scorn.
It happened that a Satsuma man saw this, and said: "Is not this Oishi
Kuranosuke, who was a councillor of Asano Takumi no Kami, and who, not
having the heart to avenge his lord, gives himself up to women and
wine? See how he lies drunk in the public street! Faithless beast!
Fool and craven! Unworthy the name of a Samurai!"[5]

[Footnote 5: _Samurai_, a man belonging to the _Buke_ or military
class, entitled to bear arms.]

[Illustration: THE SATSUMA MAN INSULTS OISHI KURANOSUKE.]

And he trod on Kuranosuke's face as he slept, and spat upon him; but
when Kotsuke no Suke's spies reported all this at Yedo, he was greatly
relieved at the news, and felt secure from danger.

One day Kuranosuke's wife, who was bitterly grieved to see her husband
lead this abandoned life, wen