Some days later Akinosuke was again summoned to the throne-room.On this occasion he was received even more graciously than before;and the King said to him:--
In the southwestern part of Our dominion there is an island called Raishu.We have now appointed you Governor of that island.You will find the people loyal and docile;but their laws have not yet been brought into proper accord with the laws of Tokoyo;and their customs have not been properly regulated.We entrust you with the duty of improving their social condition as far as may be possible;and We desire that you shall rule them with kindness and wisdom.All preparations necessary for your journey to Raishu have already been made."
So Akinosuke and his bride departed from the palace of Tokoyo,accompanied to the shore by a great escort of nobles and officials;and they embarked upon a ship of state provided by the king.And with favoring winds they safety sailed to Raishu,and found the good people of that island assembled upon the beach to welcome them.
Akinosuke entered at once upon his new duties;and they did not prove to be hard.During the first three years of his governorship he was occupied chiefly with the framing and the enactment of laws;but he had wise counselors to help him,and he never found the work unpleasant.When it was all finished,he had no active duties to perform,beyond attending the rites and ceremonies ordained by ancient custom.The country was so healthy and so fertile that sickness and want were unknown;and the people were so good that no laws were ever broken.And Akinosuke dwelt and ruled in Raishu for twenty years more,--making in all twenty-three years of sojourn,during which no shadow of sorrow traversed his life.
But in the twenty-fourth year of his governorship,a great misfortune came upon him;for his wife,who had borne him seven children,--five boys and two girls,--fell sick and died.She was buried,with high pomp,on the summit of a beautiful hill in the district of Hanryoko;and a monument,exceedingly splendid,was placed upon her grave.But Akinosuke felt such grief at her death that he no longer cared to live.
Now when the legal period of mourning was over,there came to Raishu,from the Tokoyo palace,a shisha,or royal messenger.The shisha delivered to Akinosuke a message of condolence,and then said to him:--
"These are the words which our august master,the King of Tokoyo,commands that I repeat to you:'We will now send you back to your own people and country.As for the seven children,they are the grandsons and granddaughters of the King,and shall be fitly cared for.Do not,therefore,allow you mind to be troubled concerning them.'"
On receiving this mandate,Akinosuke submissively prepared for his departure.When all his affairs had been settled,and the ceremony of bidding farewell to his counselors and trusted officials had been concluded,he was escorted with much honor to the port.There he embarked upon the ship sent for him;and the ship sailed out into the blue sea,under the blue sky;and the shape of the island of Raishu itself turned blue,and then turned grey,and then vanished forever...And Akinosuke suddenly awoke --under the cedar-tree in his own garden!
For a moment he was stupefied and dazed.But he perceived his two friends still seated near him,--drinking and chatting merrily.He stared at them in a bewildered way,and cried aloud,--
"How strange!"
"Akinosuke must have been dreaming,"one of them exclaimed,with a laugh."What did you see,Akinosuke,that was strange?"
Then Akinosuke told his dream,--that dream of three-and-twenty years'sojourn in the realm of Tokoyo,in the island of Raishu;--and they were astonished,because he had really slept for no more than a few minutes.
One goshi said:--
"Indeed,you saw strange things.We also saw something strange while you were napping.A little yellow butterfly was fluttering over your face for a moment or two;and we watched it.Then it alighted on the ground beside you,close to the tree;and almost as soon as it alighted there,a big,big ant came out of a hole and seized it and pulling it down into the hole.Just before you woke up,we saw that very butterfly come out of the hole again,and flutter over your face as before.And then it suddenly disappeared:we do not know where it went."
"Perhaps it was Akinosuke's soul,"the other goshi said;--"certainly I thought I saw it fly into his mouth...But,even if that butterfly was Akinosuke's soul,the fact would not explain his dream."
"The ants might explain it,"returned the first speaker."Ants are queer beings --possibly goblins...Anyhow,there is a big ant's nest under that cedar-tree."...
"Let us look!"cried Akinosuke,greatly moved by this suggestion.And he went for a spade.
The ground about and beneath the cedar-tree proved to have been excavated,in a most surprising way,by a prodigious colony of ants.The ants had furthermore built inside their excavations;and their tiny constructions of straw,clay,and stems bore an odd resemblance to miniature towns.In the middle of a structure considerably larger than the rest there was a marvelous swarming of small ants around the body of one very big ant,which had yellowish wings and a long black head.
"Why,there is the King of my dream!"cried Akinosuke;"and there is the palace of Tokoyo!...How extraordinary!...Raishu ought to lie somewhere southwest of it --to the left of that big root...Yes!--here it is!...How very strange!Now I am sure that I can find the mountain of Hanryoko,and the grave of the princess."...
In the wreck of the nest he searched and searched,and at last discovered a tiny mound,on the top of which was fixed a water-worn pebble,in shape resembling a Buddhist monument.Underneath it he found--embedded in clay --the dead body of a female ant.
