A Case of Child Murder
65
Answer me now truthfully. Why did you commit this crime upon your own flesh and blood?
- Asa.—(Weeping again) I killed it—out of pity. Sir! That is why I killed it!
- Koyama.—What! Out of pity, you say! Nonsense! If you had the maternal love you speak of, you would have cherished it and would have died yourself to save its precious life. What makes you say “Out of pity,” when you took its wee life?
- Asa.—Yes, what you say is right, Sir.
- Koyama.—Then, why did you do it? Tell me.
- Asa.—It is every parent’s duty to cherish and to care for her child. Every parent in the world does it, but—I cannot—I cannot do it, Sir.
- Koyama.—Why?
- Asa.—Why, Sir
- Koyama.—Now, come; tell me all about it.
- Asa.—It would be no use telling you. Sir. It would be too much to tell
- Koyama. Well, then, I will question you more slowly. You told me that your husband died three months ago. How did he die?
- Asa.—He died of illness, Sir.
- Koyama.—Died of illness?
- Asa.—Yes; he had a dreadful cough. One day he coughed up more than one sho of blood, and died. They say that he had some lung disease, but I don’t know
- Koyama.—I see. Then, after that you became a woman coolie?
