The Heike Story (31 page)

"Itoroku has fallen! Tametomo shot him. Your lordship, you'll be his next target if you don't get beyond the range of his arrows."

"What, Itoroku fallen? Why should we fear Tameyoshi's youngest son?"

"Your lordship, see for yourself—this arrow!"

From his shoulder-piece the warrior drew out an oversized shaft and handed it to Kiyomori. It was a polished length of bamboo of three years' growth, tipped with iron sharpened to a chisel edge, and fletched with pheasant.

"I see—a wicked-looking one, fit for bringing down demons. Good reason that the men fear him."

Kiyomori examined the arrow interestedly, then abruptly said: "There's no reason why we should attack this gate. I had no orders to do so and only chose this at random. If we find this somewhat forbidding, we'll try the North Gate. To the North Gate!"

As the order went out, Kiyomori's troops made a concerted move to the north, but Kiyomori's eldest son, Shigemori, who heard the command, cried out:

"What folly! Folly, indeed, to choose the North Gate, because of Tametomo's arrows. A shame on us who are under orders from the Emperor!"

Calling to some thirty horsemen about him, Shigemori impetuously started toward the enemy.

"Stop him! Bring him back!" Kiyomori cried in alarm to those around him, "only a madman would be rash enough to face that bow and risk his life!"

Even at a distance Shigemori presented a fine target for his enemies, for he wore that day a tunic of red brocade under his armor and carried a sheaf of twenty-four arrows in his quiver. The warriors restrained him with some difficulty, for Shigemori, protesting loudly and scornfully at his father's cowardice, struggled to escape, until one of his men said: "Let me go in your stead and face Tametomo himself." The soldier was off before his comrades could restrain him, and there were shouts of "Come back, come back!" But Koreyuki, looking back over his shoulder, replied: "I ask no one to come with me, nor do I wish any of you to follow me. Just watch!"

Accompanied by two foot-soldiers, he forded the river. Tametomo came out to meet Koreyuki, but, seeing him hesitate, retired inside his gate and closed it. When he was within shooting distance of the gate, Koreyuki loudly challenged Tametomo, who finally rode out, smiling scornfully, and replied: "Welcome, foolhardy one! I am Tametomo. You shall release the first arrow at me. The second is mine."

Before he even finished speaking, Koreyuki's arrow pierced the left tasset of Tametomo's armor. As he watched Koreyuki hurriedly fitting another arrow to his bow, Tametomo released his own, which dug through the thickest part of his opponent's thigh and lodged in his saddle, pinning the rider there for an instant. Koreyuki's soldiers quickly ran forward as he pitched backward and fell from his horse, and, hoisting him to their shoulders, ran back to their lines as fast as their legs would carry them.

The riderless mount, covered with blood, galloped wildly back and forth along the riverbank, then made its way downstream in the direction of Yoshitomo's lines. Some of Yoshitomo's soldiers ran out to meet the fear-crazed horse, lest it plunge among their troops and cause a stampede. There were shouts of "Catch him, catch him, step on his bridle!" until they had finally caught it; then they found a stirrup filled with blood, and a giant arrowhead embedded in the saddle.

"Here, is this really an arrowhead? Who owns such a powerful bow?"

"That must be Tametomo of the Genji."

One of Yoshitomo's retainers led the horse to where his master was, and said: "Sir, just look at this! I've heard of such arrows, but I never believed I would ever see anything like this."

Yoshitomo, however, did not appear surprised. A wry smile appeared on his lips as though he pitied Masakiyo for his timidity. "Come, Tametomo is not a man yet and cannot draw such a strong bow. This looks to me like a clever trick to frighten us. Masakiyo, the troops will be divided into two companies, of which one will attack Tametomo's gate."

Masakiyo, accompanied by two hundred foot-soldiers, rode toward a gate in the western wall, and in the accustomed manner challenged Tametomo, who appeared at once.

"So it's you, Masakiyo, a retainer to Lord Yoshitomo. Have you come to offer yourself as a mark?"

Masakiyo quailed for an instant, but mustered up courage to call out defiantly: "I am one of the Emperor's loyal followers. My duty is to kill traitors!" And with these words he released an arrow, then quickly made his way back to his men. The arrow pierced the neck-piece of Tametomo's helmet. Plucking it out, Tametomo dashed it to the ground and cried out: "So you dare insult me, Masakiyo? Let me catch you with these bare hands so I can look at your face and see who you are."

With this, Tametomo started in pursuit of Masakiyo, who, uttering a yell of terror, fled before him. Tametomo, his bow under one arm, his other arm waving, continued to gallop after Masakiyo until the frantic cries of his soldiers made him wheel abruptly and return to his post.

Yoshitomo, who looked on from a distance, saw his brother retreat and ordered five of his best warriors to ride out and engage him, saying: "Tametomo's bow is good in a sea fight, but his horsemanship is weak compared with ours."

The sun was now high in the sky, and the summer trees were filled with the droning of cicadas.

Tametomo turned at the sound of cries behind him and made a rush at the approaching horsemen, who gave way before him. One figure on a coal-black stallion, whose appearance proclaimed him to be a general, stood in his path. He wore a horned helmet and the armor of the Genji.

"This is I, Yoshitomo of the Genji, who come in the Emperor's name. Who are you to raise your sword against rightful authority? If you are of the same clan, lay down your arms and disperse your men. I warn you for your own sake."

Tametomo stared full at his brother's face and cried out: "Let me tell you who I am. I am the son of Tameyoshi of the Genji, who sprang to the call of his liege lord, and I am he who will stay with his father in life and in death. I am not so ungrateful as to forget my own father for love of fame. I'm no cur, and I, Tametomo, will fight any dog or whoever calls himself my enemy."

"You dare say that to me, Tametomo?"

"I do. I have itched many days to tell you this."

"Do you, my brother, dare fight me? Do you refuse to acknowledge the authority of the Emperor? If you revere him and honor the ways of virtue, then lay down that bow and prostrate yourself before me."

"I may be wrong in fighting a brother, but is it right for you to raise your hand against your own father?"

The tree-lined road along the western and northern walls of the Hoshogon-in Temple between Shirakawa and the Kamo was the scene of the bloodiest fighting that day. Across the road a stream twisted its way through the flat landscape, broken only by a grove encircling the roofs and spires of the Shichikatsu-ji Temple, and beyond it rose the foothills of Mount Hiei, and here the two armies fought each other with a copious spilling of blood, and even at sunset the slaughter went on. Between the clouds of dust which partly concealed the foe, Tametomo sometimes caught sight of his brother, Yoshitomo, recognizable in his Genji armor, and was tempted time and again to send his arrows at that soldierly figure. Implausible as it seemed, Tametomo was tempted to believe that a secret compact existed between his father and Yoshitomo and that the victors would sue for mercy for the vanquished. Tametomo did not use his bow unless challenged, and saw that his brother did the same. Yoshitomo's soldiers, however, were not afraid of Tametomo's deadly bow and attacked one after another so boldly that there was no way of telling who was friend or foe.

Though twenty-three of Tametomo's best horsemen were killed and the rest wounded, fifty-three of Yoshitomo's finest men were cut off in death and some eighty maimed, and the battlefield was piled with the bodies of the dead and flowed with their blood while the struggle went on. Believing that the odds were against Yoshitomo, Tametomo called to his men:

"I'll frighten the general with a shaft and, when the enemy begins to fall back, plunge in and scatter his troops."

Tametomo locked his fingers around his heavy bow and arched it.

"Ah, is it safe, sir? What if—'

"Easy enough, my arm remembers its skill."

Tametomo aimed his shaft at the star in Yoshitomo's helmet. Clouds of dust and the flourishing of weapons obscured his view, but he drew a deep breath and released an arrow. He watched it as it sped toward that distant speck in Yoshitomo's helmet, scraped the mark, and traveled on until it embedded itself in one of the pillars of the temple gate. When Yoshitomo saw this he grasped his reins and rode furiously at Tametomo, crying: "A poor hand, indeed, for one who has no rivals in Kyushu!"

"No, no, you may be an enemy, yet my heart tells me you are my brother, and I only shot at the star in your helmet. If you want me to, I can do better," Tametomo replied.

Tametomo, now filled with rage, set another arrow to his bow, when one of Yoshitomo's retainers, fearing for his master's safety, rushed forward with his lance aimed at the legs of Tametomo's horse. An ugly, strangling sound was heard; blood and dust mingled as the soldier fell, skewered through the throat by Tametomo's shaft.

Both armies had now drawn close together in a hand-to-hand struggle to the death. Tametomo's lieutenant fell, and only a few of his Kyushu soldiers were still alive, for Tametomo's feats with his bow were no match for Yoshitomo's superior numbers. It suddenly became dark, though a few hours still remained before nightfall, and through black clouds of smoke the sun could be seen suspended like a copper disk in the western sky.

A short while before, Yoshitomo had sent a messenger to the Imperial Palace, saying: "As matters now stand, victory is in the balance. I cannot vouch for what will happen if the enemy's reinforcements arrive tonight; the conflict may spread to the capital itself. We can win only by setting fire to the Palace at Shirakawa. Much as I shrink from desecrating the holy buildings close by and seeing them needlessly reduced to ashes, to spare the citizens of the capital a like fate I beg for orders to proceed. If the command is to continue fighting, that shall be done."

The reply came back that Yoshitomo should act as he thought fit. His soldiers thereupon chose a building to the leeward of Shirakawa Palace and set fire to it. There had been no rain for several days, and everything was as dry as tinder; a brisk west wind soon helped the flame spread to the stables and servants' quarters to the south of the Palace, and in no time the north section was also wrapped in smoke.

"They've done it! I feared that more than Yoshitomo's soldiers. He knows how to win." Tametomo stood still on the field where his fallen comrades lay about him, and stared at the flames lapping at the sky, and laughed in his despair. "He is fearless, but I fear for my aging father. We must find a way to retreat in safety."

Gathering the remainder of his warriors round him, Tametomo galloped off in a shower of arrows.

Tameyoshi and his five other sons successfully defended the west and south walls of the Palace all day, but Tadamasa, who guarded the east wall, had to call for help several times when the enemy broke through. He had all but lost the will to fight, for defeat seemed inevitable. Flames leaped across the walls and spread relentlessly from tree to tree, advancing on the Palace itself and wrapping it in thick smoke.

SWORDS AND ARROWS

The war-cries of the soldiers and the whistling of arrows approached the gates like a storm. Cries of despair rang through the Palace' halls, and the sound of running feet echoed along the galleries.

"For your lives—for your lives—now!"

"His majesty! He must escape. . . ."

"The enemy are at the gates! No time must be lost! Now is the time to fly or the flames will overtake us!"

Iyehiro and his son burst into the apartments where the ex-Emperor Sutoku and his dazed attendants sat immobilized with fear.

"To the small gate at the south—we can get through there. Fly now!"

Yorinaga, roused from his stupor, cried out: "Iyehiro, Iyehiro, save us!"

The end of a balustrade, running the length of the apartments, suddenly took flame and soon was a blazing framework from which choking smoke billowed downward, enveloping those below it and their horses in strangling fumes. The ex-Emperor Sutoku, who was hurriedly lifted to his horse, clung to his saddle, helpless to control the rearing animal, until a secretary sprang up behind him and spurred the horse toward a gate. Yorinaga followed close behind, a courtier riding pillion. The maze of buildings on the north side of the Palace were now a roaring, burning mass; flames consumed tree after tree and showered down sparks. The searing blast soon caused a whirlwind, which blew men and horses hither and thither.