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The Orphan's Prayer
Notes:
- Samurai 7 opens 13 years after the year Genna 1. (Kikuchiyo's genealogy chart lists his birthdate as Genna 1). Historically, the Genna period was preceded by the Keicho period, which lasted 19 years.
- Traditionally, white was the color of mourning for many Asian countries, from India to Japan. Though as Japan accepted Western influence, white became the bridal color (originally red) and black became the funeral color.
- vocab: kami – god, buke – warrior class
-Values touted as uniquely 'samurai' were actually practiced with equal fervor by non-samurai. Westbrook/Ratti wrote in Secrets of the Samurai:
"In the provinces… the farmer remained a potentially formidable opponent with whom most warriors preferred not to tangle, if at all possible. A traditionalist by nature, he also adopted the stern code of ethics which had inspired the buke, and, steeped as he was in the territorial tradition of the clan, he was particularly influenced by the Confucian ideals of loyalty to father and lord. Fearless peasants of both sexes often set out with impressive determination to avenge a mortal offense to their family or clan. … one of the most popular tales … is the story of Miyagi and Shinobu, who in the 17th century… avenge the murder of their peasant father, slain by a daimyo's kerai."
- Keeping one's word was also a Confucianist ideal (and an ideal of many other religious and philosophical systems around the world). There is nothing particularly 'samurai' about it. And even Confucius was flexible enough to say that people are not obligated to keep promises made under duress.
Keicho Era, Year 18
The tow-headed peasant boy knelt silently before the two mounds of fresh earth. A sword with a dark brown scabbard and square cross guard was stuck into one of the mounds. The other grave was unadorned. The sword that perhaps should have marked this grave lay across the boy's lap. This one had a dark red scabbard and a round cross guard.
Behind the boy were eight older peasants, some of them weeping. The boy himself did not weep. Slowly and carefully, the red-eyed child placed the sword on his lap down on the ground on his right. Then he silently picked up the lotus leaf package that lay on his left. The young boy unwrapped the leaves carefully and removed two rice balls from the packet. These he placed in front of the two graves, each on its own leaf.
At this moment one of the peasants finally spoke. "My boy, your family is already dead. The food was for you." The farm boy wearing the white cloth of mourning did not acknowledge the speaker. Silently, the fair-headed child re-tied the lotus leaf package and placed it in his traveling bag. With slow deliberateness, he strapped his two training swords to his back and hoisted his bag over his shoulders. Then he picked up the sword with the red scabbard.
The thin child bowed his head to the ground three more times before the two graves. All of his motions had been careful and slow until this moment. Thus, the watching peasants were surprised when the 10-year-old rose to his feet with a sudden resoluteness. With an almost savage quickness, he ripped off the white mourning cloth bound above his brow. As their neighbors' child turned towards them, the peasants saw that his face was no longer the face of a mourner. It was the face of a warrior.
"Thank you for your kindness," the pale child bowed quickly to his neighbors. Then without a backward glance, he was gone, walking swiftly down the country road leading away from Shirase Village.
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On the sixth night of the seventh month of the eighteenth year of the Keicho era, one would have seen under the moonlight a thin pale boy hurrying through the Gray Forest. His eyes were fixed on Mount Keian in the distance while his lips were moving ever so slightly in a soundless prayer:
Kami, are You near me?
Kami, can You hear me?
Kami, can You see me in the night?
How will You punish me?
Can anyone forgive me?
Kami, I was weak, I failed to fight
In my ears I hear
A million accusing voices
Which ones are Yours?
Where were You when
The sword came unbidden
To our doors?
The air is so much colder
The night is so much darker
The road is so much longer
Now that I'm alone
I remember things they taught me
And things I should not have said
Can the naked blade alone
Help me to face what lies ahead?
Kami, will You hear me?
Kami, will You help me
Kami, give me a light
To guide me through the night
Author's Comments:
- The scene in which the mourner bows before the dead, then suddenly rises, rips off the mourning cloth and heads off to seek vengeance is inspired by Fist of Legend, in which Jet Li's character pays his last respects before the altar of his teacher.
-Kyuuzou's prayer inspired by "Papa can you hear me?" from the Yentl soundtrack.
