WAKASANOSUKE. Lady Kaoyo, are you not yet gone? By remaining after you have been dismissed, you are disobeying His Highness. You had better go home at once. RECITATIVE. When she is thus urged to go home, Moronao sees that Wakasanosuke has guessed what he has been doing; still, he shows a brazen front and answers back. MORONAO. You are again presumptuous. When she may go, I will tell her so myself. Kaoyo, Enya’s wife, has besought me to see that her husband performs his duties without any mishap. That is as it should be. Even a _daimyo_’s wife acts thus. You, of low position as you are, to whom do you owe your pittance of a stipend? So precarious is your fortune that a word of mine could reduce you to beggary. And still do you call your-self a samurai? [Illustration: Box of helmets with two on floor in front] RECITATIVE. He abuses him in revenge for his interference. Bursting with anger, Wakasanosuke grasps the hilt of his sword with such fierce force as threatens to crush it; but he recollects that he is in front of the Shrine and in His Highness’s train, and he restrains himself; and yet, one word more, and he will cut him down. Attendants enter announcing His Highness’s return and clear the way. He is compelled to forgo his revenge for the moment; but he is bursting with indignation. Lucky in his evil course, Moronao escapes death; and Enya, who little dreams that he will be his enemy on the morrow, brings up the rear of the procession. Lord Tadayoshi walks with quiet dignity; and his stately bearing is like the dragon frontlet of the helmet which has been placed in the treasure-house of the Shrine. [Illustration: Circle image] [1] The first year corresponds roughly to 1338. [2] The first Shogun of the Ashikaga line, which lasted from 1338 to 1573. Born in 1305 and died in 1358. [3] A celebrated loyalist, born in 1301 and died in the Battle of Fujishima in 1338. [4] Emperor Godaigo reigned from 1319 to 1338. [5] Seiwa Genji: the name Minamoto, or Genji, was first bestowed upon Prince Tsunemoto, a grandson of Emperor Seiwa (856-877), when he suppressed Masakado’s rebellion in 940. The Seiwa Genji were the direct descendants of the prince, while the collateral lines were known as the Yamato, Settsu, and Kai Genji. [6] Daimyo, or great names, were the great territorial lords; and Shomyo, or small names, were those immediately below them in rank. [7] In this era (1331-3), the Emperor made war upon Hojo Takatoki, the last of the Kamakura Regents, who defeated and exiled him to the Island of Oki. [8] One of the most noted poets of his day (1282–1350). ACT II. ACT II. RECITATIVE.