“No, not a year--no year, but an eternity,” said Flower of the Cherry. “Think no more of me,” she said; but the lover thought of nothing else. His young blood was on fire. He could not eat, nor drink, nor sleep. He pined and grew pale, he wandered day and night, his heart heavy with longing. He lived in torment; weak he grew, and weaker. One night he fell fainting at the entrance of the street of the _geisha_. Sakura-ko came home at dawn from a festival in a great house. There she found him. She said no word, but she bore him to his house outside Yedo, and stayed with him there full three moons. And after that time he was nursed back to ruddy health. Swiftly, swiftly, the glad days sped by for both of them.
“This is the happy time of all my life. I thank the dear gods,” said Flower of the Cherry one evening.
“My dear,” the young man bade her, “fetch hither your _samisen_ and let me hear you sing.”
So she did. She said, “I shall sing you a song you have heard already.”
“My mother bade me spin fine thread Out of the yellow sea sand-- A hard task, a hard task. May the dear gods speed me! My father gave me a basket of reeds; He said, ‘Draw water from the spring And carry it a mile’-- A hard task, a hard task. May the dear gods speed me! My heart would remember, My heart must forget; Forget, my heart, forget-- A hard task, a hard task. May the dear gods speed me!”
“Sweet,” he said, “what does this song mean, and why do you sing it?”
She answered, “My lord, it means that I must leave you, and therefore do I sing it. I must forget you; you must forget me. That is my desire.”
He said, “I will never forget you, not in a thousand existences.”
She smiled, “Pray the gods you may wed a sweet wife and have children.”
He cried, “No wife but you, and no children but yours, O Flower of the Cherry.”
“The gods forbid, my dear, my dear. All the world lies between us.”
The next day she was gone. High and low the lover wandered, weeping and lamenting and seeking her both near and far. It was all in vain, for he found her not. The city of Yedo knew her no more--Sakura-ko, the beautiful dancer.
And her lover mourned many many days. Howbeit at last he was comforted, and they found for him a very sweet fair lady whom he took to wife willingly enough, and soon she bore him a son. And he was glad, for time dries all tears.