46 lines
2.7 KiB
Plaintext
46 lines
2.7 KiB
Plaintext
THE SEVEN OLD SAMURAI
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Once upon a time, in far off Japan, a band of fierce robbers had their
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hiding place on top of a mountain almost always covered with grey clouds,
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windswept and battered by storms. The robbers lived in a large cave where they
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had piled their spoils. Now and again, they went down the mountain, attacked a
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village, murdered the poor folk they chanced upon, stole whatever they could
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lay hands on and burned it to the ground. Wherever the robbers passed, there
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was nothing but smoking ruins, weeping men and women, misery, mournlng and
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desolation.
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The Emperor, worried at this, had sent his soldiers to attack the mountain,
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but the robbers had always managed to drive them off. The Emperor sent for one
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of the last remaining Samurai, old Raiko, and said to him:
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"Raiko, you've served me for many years. Do my bidding for one last time.
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Go to the mountain at the head of an army and wipe out these bloodthirsty
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bandits." Raiko sighed.
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"Your Majesty, if I were young again I'd do it alone. Today I'm too old,
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far too old to do that, or to command an army."
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"Must I then," said the Emperor, "submit to the force of these marauding
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robbers?" The old Samurai replied:
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"No, I'll go up there with six Samurai like myself."
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"But if they're all as old as you, how can they help you?"
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"Have faith in us!" said Raiko.
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A few days later, the seven Samurai set off on their journey, not with
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horses, swords, shields and armour, which they could no longer have worn
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anyway, but dressed as humble pilgrims. From the summit, the bandits watched
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them come, and their leader said,
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"Who cares about seven beggars. Let them climb up." The seven reached the
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cave and Raiko humbly said,
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"Let us come in, it's cold outside. There's a wind blowing and we, as you
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can see, are old men. We'll be no trouble to you." The leader of the gang
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scornfully replied:
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"Come in, old men, and stay in a corner." And so. the seven pilgrims
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huddled in a corner while the bandits ate their meal of food stolen from the
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villages nearby.
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Now and again, they threw scraps of food and leftovers to the old men,
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saying: "Eat this, and it is much too good for you." A few hours later, Raiko
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rose to his feet saying:
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"The wind has dropped. We can go on our way. In thanks. for your
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hospitality, we would like to offer you this liqueur, it is sake, rice wine.
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Drink our health with it." The robbers needed no second telling. In the blink
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of an eye, they had emptied the goatskin bottle Raika held out to them. And in
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the blink of an eye they all lay dead, for the sake contained a very potent
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poison. And so, the seven Samurai, too old to wield a sword, served the
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Emperor for the last time.
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