Saigo no chuushingura Page #2

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...stay in her mouth...

...but her eyes say...

...everything.

Tokubei removes his hat.

"You look a trifle tired."

"Of what does this tell?"

Through fingertips...

...pass feelings...

...of concern...

...and love.

"Living in tears as I do..."

"...this heart of mine you do not know."

"To ask why I am so thin..."

"...is heartless of you..."

"...Tokubei."

Well, Kichie?

It's like they're alive.

They hardly seem like puppets.

Isn't she beautiful!

Kichiemon...

Why is he here?

Magoza? What's wrong?

Magoza, the play's only half-over.

I'm sorry.

I just remembered something.

I want to know how it ends.

What happens to them?

Love-suicide, I think.

Love-suicide?

Why do they have to die?

Love is something

I don't understand at all.

"Well, Tokubei?

Shall we die together?"

"Tokubei..."

"I will die..."

"...together with you."

She holds out her foot.

Under the veranda, in tears...

...he takes her foot...

...and lifts it.

Magoza...

Come over here.

No. I'm fine here.

You used to eat beside me.

Do that now.

That was when you were small,

to teach you table manners.

I prefer that.

Magoza, come close.

Miss Kane, is something wrong?

Magoza...

...you always keep disappearing.

Well, you know...

It's business. I'm sorry.

I get so lonely I don't know

what to do with myself.

That will not do.

Why not?

A lady of the warrior caste

must never say...

...words like "lonely" or "dear".

And what should I say when I feel lonely?

For that...

...nothing.

Such self-indulgent thoughts

must never lodge...

...in a warrior's heart.

So it's wrong to feel lonely

when you're away?

Yes.

And I shouldn't think of you

as the dearest thing in the world?

That's what you used to say

when you were a little girl.

"Dear Magoza"...

"Dear Magoza"...

When I was little,

I used to sleep in your arms.

Magoza...

...aren't you lonely

when you're away from me?

Let's eat.

You don't mind?

You're not lonely?

Magoza, answer me!

Well...

...I guess I'm a bit lonely.

You're just like me, then.

A certain young lady?

Yes.

We saw her the other day

at the puppet theater.

A very beautiful young lady.

My son fell in love at first sight.

I was amazed a beauty

could exist so hidden from society.

But I have no idea who she is

or who her people are.

I see...

So Mr. Kariya...

...as a dealer in antiques...

...you must know many of

samurai or official status.

I thought perhaps

you might have some idea.

No?

If not...

...could I ask you to undertake

to look seriously for her?

If I were to find this lady...

...what might your intentions toward her be?

Well...

...for generations our house

has fostered such arts as...

...tea, incense,

flower arrangement, calligraphy...

She would need the airs and graces

of a cultivated woman.

So she could not be a bride here

simply because she was beautiful...

I don't know...

A proper young lady,

could come to the theater...

...and sit in our box

among our retainers and maids.

But that's about all.

Let's forget it, then.

No.

It's not just my son who's in love.

So am I.

Beauty that striking and pure...

If I can have it, I want it

for the House of Chaya.

Well, I might come across her...

...as I go around in search of antiques.

That's what I want, Mr. Kariya.

That's what I ask.

They want Miss Kane as a bride?

Yes.

That Shirojiro!

He has a good eye.

But...

It's a fine match!

Why would you hold back?

Magoza...

I've told you all about me being

a courtesan in Shimabara.

So isn't it right that you'd tell me...

...what secrets you're hiding?

The fact that you won't...

...must mean it's something very serious.

It was snowing that night, too, wasn't it.

16 years ago...

...when you came through the snow...

...with a baby in the fold of your kimono.

I'm told that a woman here...

...just had a baby.

A girl marked to a peasant

nearby is back with her baby.

Would she nurse this child?

Her mother's dead.

She'll never survive.

Please!

She's freezing cold!

Isn't she pretty!

You've raised her as if

she were your own daughter.

You've taught her etiquette, writing, music...

...everything.

Painting and music

are a courtesan's skills.

I'm embarrassed I can teach them.

However...

...going as a bride to

the land's richest merchants.

Why wouldn't you jump at the chance?

Magoza...

The authorities aren't after you

for anything, are they?

One day I swear

I will tell you everything.

Until then...

...forgive me.

Miss Kane...

...how old are you now?

What a strange thing to ask!

I'm 16.

Sixteen...

A proper age.

A proper age?

Yes.

Most woman marry at 15 or 16.

I have no wish to go into a house

of which I know nothing.

I'm happy here.

I can't agree to that.

My orders were to see to...

...your happiness.

Your orders?

Yes.

You raised me on orders?

Does my "happiness" mean going as a bride?

Miss Kane...

...your late mother....

...as she breathed her last..

...took my hand...

...and said. "A warrior's lot

is an unhappy one."

"If you can, make Kane the wife of a merchant."

The head of a merchant family....

...wants you to come into his household.

I won't have it.

I want to live here with you!

"We will be the stars that shine

for wives and for husbands."

"We will," she says and clings to him.

Between them...

...fall the tears...

...so many the river surface...

...must have...

...risen.

"How long will we go on talking like this?"

"To hesitate over death

is the shame of all shame!"

"Now is the moment!"

"Steel yourself!"

He swiftly draws...

...his dagger.

But against this skin...

...the blade...

...falters...

..and its point goes weak...

Um... I've been waiting here,

hoping to see you again.

The other time you left halfway through.

I've been waiting for you

to come and see the rest.

What do you want?

My name is Chaya Shuichiro.

My family are clothiers.

May I ask your name?

Kane.

Miss Kane? Where is your home?

Miss Kane? Where is your home?

I can't say.

I can't say.

Why not?

I've been told not to.

By whom?

I can't say.

So her name's "Kane"?

Yes.

That's all I know.

Very mysterious.

And she seems to be fond of someone.

You mean she has a man?

That I don't know.

We have found out at least

that her name is Kane.

Oh.

Does that name ring a bell?

Not yet, I'm afraid.

I'm told there's a man she's fond of.

I hear you met Mr. Chaya.

"Chaya"?

He spoke to you at the theater.

Oh, that gentleman...

Chaya Shuichiro. Heir to

the rich clothing merchant.

Oh?

He says there seems to be

a man you're fond of.

This man you're fond of,

who might he be?

I don't want to tell you.

Miss Kane told you

there's a man she's fond of?

But she didn't want to tell me who it was.

Do you have any idea?

Miss Kane is in love.

In love?

With whom?

A gentleman named Seno Magozaemon.

Mistress Yu!

That wouldn't happen in a million years!

I've raised her since she was a baby.

She's the last of a great house.

That can't be right.

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