KANPEI. I am truly ashamed of myself, and cannot even show my face to an old fellow-retainer like you. Has my samurai’s fortune come to an end? It was my fated ill-luck that when I was in attendance upon my lord, the great calamity should have fallen upon his house. I was not present on the spot at the time, and I could not go back to the mansion; and I thought I could only wait till the fit occasion came to entreat his pardon. But, to my amazement, he was condemned to death. Great Heavens, I cried, this is all Moronao’s doing and I will at least follow my lord to the other world. And I put my hand on my sword; yet, thought I again, what worthy deed have I done that I could appear before my lord and escort him on the lonely road of death? I wore my heart out in pondering over what I should do in atonement. I have secretly heard it rumoured that Master Yuranosuke, his son, and Master Goemon, and others are plotting to avenge our lord’s death. Unhappy as I am, I was not driven out of service; and if I could, by some means, obtain an interview with Master Yuranosuke and be allowed to sign my name in the leaguers’ covenant, it would be an honour to me and my house for ever. Since it is my fortune to meet you, let me avail myself of this rare opportunity and beg you to make me worthy of a samurai. I appeal to our old friendship, to your knightly compassion. RECITATIVE. He lays both his hands before him on the ground, and filled with remorse for his former ill-deed, he weeps manly tears. Pitiful is his plight. Yagoro, though he thinks his old comrade’s repentance but natural, cannot here recklessly reveal the great plot. YAGORO. Now, now, Kanpei, in your confession, you mix up with it something about a plot and a covenant. That is nonsense. There has never been such a rumour. I am taking an urgent message from Master Yuranosuke to Master Goemon. We intend to raise a monument in our late lord’s burial-place. But we, being but _ronin_, are poor, and the monument is a thing which will be pointed out as Lord Enya Hangwan’s to the latest posterity. And so I am going on an errand to collect the money for the purpose and seeking out those who are still grateful for our late lord’s favours. And if you yet feel grateful.........do you understand? RECITATIVE. To make Oboshi’s plot covertly known while speaking of the monument, it is, indeed, an act of true comradeship.