number … The priests and other enemies of the mission may persuade people that fever and other diseases have been cured, not by our medicines, but by the intervention of the gods; but the relief from toothache is too unmistakable, and because of this, tooth-extracting has been more than anything else effective in breaking down prejudice and opposition."
Book recommended. The Island of Formosa, Past and Present, History, People, Resources, and Commercial Prospects, by J. W. Davidson.
Forty-seven Rōnins. Asano, Lord of Akō, while at Yedo in attendance on the Shōgun, was entrusted with the carrying out of one of the greatest state ceremonies of those times,—nothing less than the reception and entertainment of an envoy from the Mikado. Now Asano was not so well-versed in such matters as in the duties of a warrior. Accordingly he took counsel with another nobleman, named Kira, whose vast knowledge of ceremonies and court etiquette was equalled only by the meanness of his disposition. Resenting honest Asano's neglect to fee him for the information which he had grudgingly imparted, he twitted and jeered at him for a country lout unworthy the name of Daimyō. At last, he actually went so far as to order Asano to bend down and fasten up his foot-gear for him. Asano, long-suffering though he was, could not brook such an insult. Drawing his sword, he slashed the insolent wretch in the face, and would have made an end of him, had he not sought safety in flight. The palace—for this scene took place within the precincts of the palace—was of course soon in an uproar. Thus to degrade its majesty by a private brawl, was a crime punishable with death and confiscation. Asano was condemned to perform harakiri that very evening, his castle was forfeited, his family declared extinct, and all the members of his clan disbanded: in Japanese parlance they became Rōnins, literally "wave-men," that is, wanderers, fellows without a lord and without a home. This was in the month of April, 1701.
So far the first act. Act two is the vengeance. Ōishi Kurano--
