九 2
Given the circumstances, the sender turned out to be a member of the peerage. After reading the letter silently once through, the master immediately rolled it back into its envelope and pretended nothing had happened. He will probably not make any donation. Ever since he put up two or three yen for the relief fund for the poor harvest in the Northeast the other day, he has been going around boasting to everyone he meets that he was made to pay, made to pay, for relief. If it says 'relief,' then of course it is something one offers, not something one is made to pay. It is not as if he was robbed; to say he was 'made to pay' is inappropriate. Nevertheless, the master seems to think as though he had suffered some theft. Be that as it may, no matter how much they talk of welcoming the army, no matter how much they cite the peerage's solicitation, unless they strong-arm him into it, he is not the sort of man who would part with money over a printed letter. From the master's point of view, before welcoming the army, he would first like to welcome himself. Once he has welcomed himself, he would probably welcome most anything, but while he is beset morning and night, he seems resolved to leave the welcoming to the peerage. The master picked up the second letter and said, 'Hmph, this one's printed too.'
As the autumn chill deepens, I offer my congratulations on the ever-increasing prosperity of your esteemed household. As you are aware, our school, having been obstructed since the year before last by two or three ambitious troublemakers and brought to a temporary standstill, I attribute wholly to my own shortcomings as the unworthy Hari-saku, and taking deep warning unto myself, through bitter perseverance and hardship I have at last, by my own efforts alone, found means to procure the funds for a new schoolhouse suited to my ideals. This is simply the publication of a book titled separately 'Outline of Secret Needlework Techniques.' This book is written by the unworthy Hari-saku upon the principles of craft long and painfully studied, with truly flesh-rending, blood-wringing devotion. Thus we wish to offer this book broadly to all households at cost of binding plus a slight profit, and request your purchase; on one hand to aid the advancement of this art, and on the other to accumulate slight profit toward the schoolhouse building fund. Therefore, though I am lately exceedingly abashed, I beg you to consider a donation toward our building fund, and to purchase the enclosed 'Outline of Techniques' and distribute it among your ladies-in-waiting, thereby expressing your endorsement. I humbly entreat you. Respectfully yours.
“Stories of the world, in your language.”