While staying with Osamu the priest, Ho-ichi received an invitation to tell stories to “a lord of high degree,” an invitation he could not refuse.

“In those days the order of a samurai was disobeyed at the risk of one’s head. So I put on my sandals, picked up my biwa, and stood up.

‘How will I follow you since I am blind?’ I asked, still frightened.

“Suddenly, a vise-like hand clenched my fist.

‘Come!’ said the warrior.

“The samurai guided me skillfully off my porch, around the gate of the temple, and onto the path to the village. But he walked quickly and I struggled to keep up.

“When I regained my composure I began to imagine my good fortune at being summoned to perform for such a noble assembly. ‘I will be rewarded handsomely. ‘Maybe I will not have to work anymore,’ I mused.

“The samurai led me from the temple down into the village and then up a hill. After a while we stopped. I listened as the warrior banged loudly on what I realized was a large gate. I was puzzled for I could not recall such a large gate in that part of town.

‘Open! I have brought the storyteller!’ cried the samurai as he pounded again on the gate.

“I hear someone unbar and open the gate. The warrior tugged on my wrist and we proceeded. Then we came to another entrance.

“Again the warrior shouted, ‘Open! I have brought Ho-ichi!’

Next time: “In the Presence of Nobility”