oth a good scholar and a good
soldier, and continued to enjoy the favor of his prince. Being gifted
with an amiable character, a winning address, and a very handsome
person, he was admired and much liked by his samurai-comrades.

When Tomotada was about twenty years old, he was sent upon a private
mission to Hosokawa Masamoto, the great daimyo of Kyoto, a kinsman of
Hatakeyama Yoshimune. Having been ordered to journey through Echizen,
the youth requested and obtained permission to pay a visit, on the way,
to his widowed mother.

It was the coldest period of the year when he started; and, though
mounted upon a powerful horse, he found himself obliged to proceed
slowly. The road which he followed passed through a mountain-district
where the settlements were few and far between; and on the second day
of his journey, after a weary ride of hours, he was dismayed to find
that he could not reached his intended halting-place until late in the
night. He had reason to be anxious;--for a heavy snowstorm came on,
with an intensely cold wind; and the horse showed signs of exhaustion.
But in that trying moment, Tomotada unexpectedly perceived the thatched
room of a cottage on the summit of a near hill, where willow-trees were
growing. With difficulty he urged his tired animal to the dwelling; and
he loudly knocked upon the storm-doors, which had been closed against
the wind. An old woman opened them, and cried out compassionately at
the sight of the handsome stranger: "Ah, how pitiful!--a young
gentleman traveling alone in such weather!... Deign, young master, to
enter."

Tomotada dismounted, and after leading his horse to a shed in the rear,
entered the cottage, where he saw an old man and a girl warming
themselves by a fire of bamboo splints. They respectfully invited him
to approach the fire; and the old folks then proceeded to warm some
rice-wine, and to prepare food for the traveler, whom they ventured to
question in regard to his journey. Meanwhile the young girl disappeared
behind a screen. Tomotada had observed, with astonishment, that she was
extremely beautiful,--though her attire was of the most wretched kind,
and her long, loose hair in disorder. He wondered that so handsome a
girl should be living in such a miserable and lonesome place.

The old man said to him:--

"Honored Sir, the next village is far; and the snow is falling thickly.
The wind is piercing; and the road is very bad. Therefore, to proceed
further