sly bent and
displayed its stinging flexibility before the eyes of O'Iwa. The latter
closed them. She would cut off all temptation to weakness. At a sign O'Kin
roughly tore off the _obi_. A twist, and the torn and disordered _kimono_
of O'Iwa fell to her feet with the skirt. She had no shirt. Thus she was
left completely naked. In modesty she sank crouching on the ground. The
cold wind of the March night made her shiver as O'Kin roped her wrists.
Again the woman whispered her counsel in her ear--"When you get enough,
say 'Un! Un!'" Detecting no sign of consent she took a ladder, climbed up,
and passed the ropes through the rings above. She descended, and the two
women began to haul away. Gradually O'Iwa was raised from the sitting
posture to her full height of extended arms, until by effort her toes
could just reach the ground. In this painful position the slightest twist
to relieve the strain on the wrists caused agonizing pains through the
whole body. "Still obstinate--strike!" shouted the wife. O'Kin raised the
bow and delivered the blow with full force across the buttocks. A red
streak appeared. O'Iwa by a natural contortion raised her legs. The blows
descended fast, followed at once by the raised welt of flesh, or the blood
from the lacerated tissue. Across the shoulder blades, the small of the
back, the buttocks, the belly, they descended with the full force of the
robust arms and weight of O'Kin. Every time the legs were raised at the
shock the suspended body spun round. Every time the toes rested on the
ground the bow descended with merciless ferocity. The sight of the torture
roused the fierce spirit in the tormentors. O'Kin redoubled the violence
of her blows, seeking out the hams and the withers, the shoulders, the
tenderest points to cause pain. The wife ran from side to side, gazing
into the face and closed eyes of O'Iwa, trying to detect weakening under
the torture, or result from some more agonizing blow. O'Iwa's body was
striped and splashed with red. O'Kin's hands slipped on the wet surface of
the rod. Suddenly she uttered an exclamation. Blood was now gushing from
the nose, the eyes, the mouth of O'Iwa. "Okamisan! Okamisan! It won't do
to kill her. Deign to give the order to cease. She must be lowered." The
wife coolly examined the victim. "She has fainted. Lower her, and throw
salt water over her. The sting will bring her to." O'Kin followed the
instructions in the most literal sense. She dashed the buck