We looked for a moment upon the road to the north, where it ran obscurely off toward Nambu, and went our way, stopping that night at Iwade. We had decided to pass by Ogurozaki and Mizunoojima, following a route past Narugo Hot Springs to the Barrier of Shitomae, then crossing the mountains to Dewa Province. Because there are so few travelers on this route, the barrier guards treated us with great suspicion, and we were let through only after much delay. We struggled up a steep mountain trail and, finding that the day had grown dark, stumbled into the house of a provincial border guard and asked to be let lodging for the night. A fierce rainstorm howled for three days, keeping us in those worthless lodgings in the mountains.

Fleas and lice,
And the sound of horses pissing
Disturb my pillow.

Our host told us that high mountains separated this area from Dewa and that since the roads were not at all clearly defined we would do best to make the crossing with a guide. "By all means," I told him, and the person he found for us turned out to be a most reliable-looking young man with a short curved sword at his waist and a live-oak staff. I thought to myself, "We will surely run into trouble today," and followed close after him, overcome with fright. As our host had warned us, we had to struggle over high, heavily forested mountains, where not a single birdsong was to be heard. It was so dark beneath the trees and so thick with leafy growth that we might have been journeying by night. And as Tu Fu wrote, "Whirlwinds of dust blow down from the clouds, bringing darkness." We struggled to make our way through dense patches of bamboo grass. We forded streams, and we stumbled over stones. Dripping with cold sweat, we came out at last on the Mogami plain. The young man who had guided us said, "I have never made this crossing without something happening. We have really done something wonderful to get here without trouble." We parted amid rejoicing on both sides and later heard confirmation of what the guide had said. It made us tremble to think of what we had gone through.