Today we passed the most trying part of our northcountry journey, going through dangerous places with such horrible names as Deserting- Parents-Abandoned-Children, Excluded Dog, and Rejected Horse. I was so tired that I searched out a pillow and lay down as soon as I could. Two young women were talking, however, in the next room but one, toward the front of the building. Mingled with their voices was that of an old man, and from what was said I understood that the women were from Niigata in Echigo Province, and that they were prostitutes. They were on their way to worship at the Ise Shrine, and the man had come to see them as far as this barrier at Ichiburi. He would go back to Niigata tomorrow, while they were writing letters and giving him various broken messages to carry back.

The conversation floated to me. "We are as they say waves falling upon the beach, coming to ruin on the shore, expecting no better end than 'fisherwomen' like us ever have. People treat us with disgust, and we fall lower and lower. Each night we are pledged to love a different man. To have to endure such a shameful life, what terrible things we must have done in a previous existence?"

I fell to sleep with their words in my ears, and just as we were setting out the next morning, the two women came up to us weeping.

"We don't know what route to take," they said "and so we are terribly worried about our trip. Our anxiety has made us miserable about what lies ahead, and we wonder, may we follow you - at a distance far enough so we would not embarass you? Your clothes show that you are priests, and that means you will have pity. The boundless grace of the Buddha can be bestowed even on such as we, so please help our souls to enter his Way." They continued in tears as they spoke.

"I regret it very much," I told them, "but we are not so much travelling anywhere as stopping here and there for periods of time. It would really be better for you if you accompanied ordinary travellers. The favor of the gods should enable you to get to Ise without trouble." With that we set out on our way, but the great pity of their situation troubled me for some time.

Prostitutes and priest
Slept under a roof lent a beauty
By bush clover and the moon.

I spoke out the verses to Sora, who set them down in his Diary,

They say that Kurobe has forty-eight rapids, and although I do not know how many rivers we crossed, we came at last to a bay called Nago. We were told that while it was not the proper spring season for seeing the famous wisteria at nearby Tako, the place was still worth a look in early autumn. When we asked where it was, we were told, "Well, you would have to go about twelve miles along the coast and so into that area hidden by the mountains. There are only a few miserable huts of fishermen, and you probably would not be able to obtain lodging for the night." Intimidated by that, we walked on to Kaga Province.

The ripening grain,
Walking in the fragrance while on the right
The rocky shore of the sea.