"Yes, I caught Tajomaru. The one that everyone talks about," the constable says, smiling and proud. "Yes, this is the same bandit, Tajomaru, your honor!"

You sit, tied and bound. You look at the clouds.

"When I finally caught him, he was dressed like he is now."

You have a length of cloth tied around your neck and down to your waist.

"And he carried that Korean sword!" The policeman bows again.

You can hear the pleasure in his voice.

"It was dusk, two days ago, by the riverbank at Katsura." He says he walked along and came across you, collapsed on the riverbank and a horse drinking nearby. "There were 17 arrows with feathers, a bow, and a horse."

A white horse, you think to yourself.

"And they all had belonged to the murdered man. Just imagine Tajomaru being thrown by the horse he stole! It was retribution."

That snaps you from your stupor. You turn to face the policeman with an insane laugh. "Retribution?" you say. "Don't be stupid! On that day while I was riding that horse, I suddenly got thirsty. So near Osakapan I had a drink. There must have been something in that stream because after a few hours I began to feel quite ill," you add, snarling. "Soon, I could bear it no longer. I got off the horse to lay down." Again, you burst into the insane laugh at the policeman. "And you thought I'd fallen, that's a pretty stupid idea! It's the truth. I know you'll kill me sooner or later! I'm not hiding anything. It was me, Tajomaru, who killed that man. It was on a hot afternoon that I saw them. All of a sudden there was this cool breeze. If it hadn't been for that breeze, I might not have killed."
 

 
You are resting against a tree when you first see the man and the mounted woman. You think nothing of it as they pass by you...until the woman's veil lifts on a breeze.

"Just a glimpse, then she was gone," you say to the magistrate. "I thought I'd seen an angel. I decided I'd take her, even if I had to kill the man! But, if I could do it without killing, all the better. So, I decided not to kill, but to get the woman alone. The road to Yamashina was hardly the place, though."

You hurry after the two, coming up behind them.

The Man's Perspective

 
"What do you want?" the man says.

You calmly go around the horse to get a look at the woman.

"What do you want?" the man repeats, louder this time.

You squat down in the road in front of them.

"What is it?!"

You make as if you are going back the other way, then draw your sword. You swipe at the man and start laughing wildly at him.

The man partially draws his sword from its sheath and stands ready.

"Isn't this nice?" you say. You hold the sword into the sunlight. "Look! Isn't this nice?" You approach the man. "Here, look at it," you say, holding the hilt of the sword out towards the man.

The man doesn't move.

"Over there, I found this tomb with lots of things in it." You point back down the road. "I broke it open. Inside I found swords, daggers, mirrors... I buried them all in the woods. Only I know where they are. If you're interested, I might sell some cheap." You hold out the sword again.

The man returns his sword fully to its sheath and takes the blade. He turns it over a few times in the sunlight, examining it. It seems he has agreed.

As you and the man go along through the foliage, you draw your sword and laugh as the man steps back and prepares to draw his own sword. You then start hacking a way through the bush. The man cautiously follows.

Finally, "It's over there," you say.

"Walk ahead of me," the man says. The two of you continue for a time.

"Well, it's over there," you say again, pointing with your sword, then sheathing it.

The man walks ahead of you to the place you point to.

You come up behind him and knock him to the ground. You struggle. Time passes. You come running and laughing through the forest, your victory complete. You approach the woman. "Your husband, he's been bitten by a snake!"
 

The Woman's Perspective

 

You continue to tell your story before the magistrate. "She turned pale and stared as if her eyes were frozen. She looked like a child turned suddenly serious. Her look made me jealous of that man. I started to hate him. I wanted to show her how he looked, tied up like that. I'd not thought of such a thing before, but now I did."
 

You take her running through the forest to where her husband is. She loses her hat. Finally, you come to him. She looks at her husband, who in turn glares at you. You look somewhat satisfied in return. Without warning, the woman draws a knife in the sash about her waist and comes at you. You jump and dodge and play with her.

"She was fierce, determined," you tell the magistrate.

You grab her and have her subdued for a moment, but she bites your wrist. You laugh at her, mocking her. Finally, she collapses, crying. As you grab her, she tries one last time to kill you, but you avoid the knife. After a brief struggle, you kiss her. After a time she stops struggling. She puts her arms around you and returns your affection.

You let loose with a laugh before the magistrate. "And so I had her, and without killing her husband. Besides, I hadn't planned to kill him. But, then..."

Having got what you wanted, you walk away, but the woman chases after you.

She falls at your feet. "Wait! Stop, one of you must die! Either you or my husband!" You and the husband glare at each other. "Either you or he must die! To be doubly disgraced, disgraced before two men is more than I can bear. I will belong to whoever kills the other."

You go back and cut his bonds and give him back his sword.

The man draws it in one swift motion and begins a furious attack. You duel back and forth, jabbing, parrying. Then the man falls into a copse of trees and laughing, You finish him.

"I wanted to kill him honestly," you tell the magistrate, "since I had to kill him. He fought really well, we crossed swords 23 times. No one ever crossed swords with me more than 20 times. But then I killed him. What? The woman? Oh, her! She wasn't around. Probably got frightened and ran away. She must have been really upset. Returning down the path, I found the horse grazing there. About that woman, it was her temper that interested me. But she turned out just like any other. I didn't even look for her. What? His sword? I sold it and drank up the money. Her dagger? I remember it looked valuable, some kind of inlay in it. Know what I did? I forgot about it. How foolish. The biggest mistake I ever made!" You go into wild laughing.