RECITATIVE. Yuranosuke looks around and, by the light of the hanging lantern, he reads Lady Kaoyo’s letter which tells in detail the enemy’s condition. Being a woman’s letter with many redundant phrases he cannot read it quickly. Thinking with envy that it is a letter from some loved woman, Okaru looks down; but she cannot distinguish the characters in the dim light. She thinks of her metal mirror; and bringing it out, she reads the letter by its reflection. Little dreams Yuranosuke, being no god, that [Illustration: Yuranosuke reading a long letter; Kudayu reads it hidden below the deck] under the verandah Kudayu is reading the same letter by the moonlight as it unrolls and hangs down. Okaru’s hair-pin comes loose and falls on the ground. At the sound Yuranosuke looks up and hides the letter behind him; under the verandah Kudayu is still in smiles; and on the upper floor Okaru conceals her mirror. OKARU. Is it you, Master Yura? YURANOSUKE. And you, Okaru? What are you doing there? OKARU. You gave me so much to drink and I feel so dizzy that I came here to cool myself in the breeze and drive away the effects. YURANOSUKE. Oh, Okaru, I have something to say to you. With you over there, we are as if on the opposite sides of the Milky Way[5] and I cannot speak to you from here. Will you not come down for a moment? OKARU. What you want to tell me, is it something you wish to ask? YURANOSUKE. Well, something of the sort. OKARU. I will come round. YURANOSUKE. No, no. If you go round by the stairs, the waitresses will catch you and make you drink again. OKARU. What shall I do? YURANOSUKE. Oh, see, happily here is a nine-runged ladder. Please, come down by it. RECITATIVE. He leans it against the eaves of the lower floor. OKARU. This ladder is not of the ordinary make. Oh, I am afraid. Somehow it looks dangerous. YURANOSUKE. Never mind, never mind. In the old days you might have been afraid or shrunk away from a ladder. But now you are old enough to come down three steps at a time. OKARU. Don’t talk foolishly. It feels like being in a boat; I am afraid. If you will not keep quiet, I will not come down. YURANOSUKE. If you will not, I will bring you down. OKARU. Oh, there you are again at your tricks! YURANOSUKE. You are noisy as a little miss. I will catch you from behind. RECITATIVE. He catches her from behind and puts her on the ground. YURANOSUKE. Now, did you see anything? OKARU. Oh, n-n-no. YURANOSUKE. I am sure you saw. OKARU. Yes, something that looked like an interesting letter. YURANOSUKE. Did you read it all from over there? OKARU. Oh, how tiresome! YURANOSUKE. Then your life is in danger. OKARU. What are you talking of? YURANOSUKE. What I am talking of, Okaru? Though it is a stale thing to say, I am in love with you. Will you not be my wife? OKARU. Oh, stop. That is not true. YURANOSUKE. Well, truth will not take root unless it comes out of falsehood. Say you will be my wife. OKARU. No, I will not.