human
Is it you! joyfully exclaimed Fide-Yori.
gpt
I did not hope to see you so soon; your presence is a consolation to me amid the cares that overwhelm me.
human
What! said Iwakura,
gpt
How can you ask me, friend? True, Yoke-Moura drove the enemy from the village that they held near Osaka; but Harounaga has just been completely routed in his retreat on Yamashiro. Two thirds of the kingdom are in the power of our foe.
human
No matter! We won the day at Soumiossi; we cast confusion into the camp of Hieyas; we triumphed at Kioto. And the Son of the Gods, starting for a moment from his torpor, is about to order the two parties to be reconciled.
gpt
Hieyas will refuse.
human
He cannot refuse; he cannot revolt openly against the Mikado.
gpt
He who attacked him with such sacrilegious daring!
human
He attacked him to gain possession of his person, and dictate his own terms to him. The Mikado a captive would be a mere nobody; the Mikado free, and grasping the reins of power once more, is omnipotent.
gpt
Hieyas will impose conditions which I cannot accept. It is his interest to continue the war.
human
Nevertheless, he will be obliged to obey for the moment; and our most pressing need is a few months of respite.
gpt
To be sure; we could then assemble all our forces. Communication is cut off; the armies of the various princes have not arrived.
human
Are Signenari and his twenty thousand men still on the Island of Awadsi?
gpt
Still, said the Shogun;
human
I was just going to ask you to issue orders for him to open the campaign.
gpt
What do you mean?
human
I have a personal injury to avenge. I entreat you to lend me that army.
gpt
On whom do you wish to be revenged, friend?
human
On one of those who betrayed you,--on the Prince of Tosa. He has attacked my kingdom, plundered my fortress, carried off my bride; and deceived by a resemblance into thinking he had captured me, he refused the man the death of a nobleman, and cut off the head of one of my servants.
gpt
Such things can indeed only be washed out in blood, said Fide-Yori.
human
I will give you an order for Signenari, and I put a war-junk at your disposal. Do not spare that infamous Tosa,--that envious, cowardly traitor, unworthy of the rank he holds.
gpt
I will raze his towers, burn his harvests, and kill him as one would butcher a hog, said the Prince;
human
May you succeed! said the Shogun.
gpt
Alas! he added,
human
I was so glad to see you; and you come only to go again! What solitude! what an empty void about me! What sorrow! My heart is gnawed by a secret grief which I must not reveal. Some day I will confide it to you; that will solace me.