atest public
commotion. Not as a matter of private interest, but of public utility
his interference was sought. If Iemon thought to abstract a copper
"cash" from the priestly treasury he made a gross mistake. Besides, the
individual who disturbs the public peace suffers severely from official
mediation, no matter what form this takes. Shu[u]den inquired minutely
as to the visit of the Daiho[u]-in, of which he seemed to have heard.
What information Iemon might have withheld, or minimised, or given a
different complexion, was cheerfully volunteered by others, who also
corrected and amplified any undue curtailing or ambiguity of their
spokesman. Shu[u]den listened to Iemon with a gravity and an expression
hovering between calculation and jeering comment. He turned from him to
the committee, giving great attention to those scholiasts on the text of
the orator. He gravely wagged his head in agreement with the rival
prelate, whose acumen he highly extolled. Memorial services were to be
provided for a year. It was, after all, merely a form of restitution to
the wronged lady. But also the wandering spirit of O'Iwa was to be
suitably confined. Here lay the difficulty. Recitation of the sutra for
seven continuous days; proper inhumation of the substitute beyond
possibility of disturbance, would surely lay a spell on the enraged
lady, and put an end to the curse of one dying an unworshipped spirit.
For the burial a bamboo was to be provided--of length one _shaku_ eight
_bu_ (one foot nine inches) between the joints.

With this notice Iemon and his companions withdrew. He was resigned to
the payment of the fifty _ryo[u]_ necessary for the memorial services
extending over the year. The inclusion in the bamboo was another affair.
The finding of such was about as easy as the fishing for black pearls.
He soon found that securing the substitute and securing the body of
O'Iwa San for proper inhumation were kindred problems. After looking
over all the bamboo which had drifted to Edo and was in the hands of the
world secular--and most of it at surprisingly cheap rates--the committee
was driven back on the religious world. They soon found that the article
in question was kept in stock only at the Gyo[u]ran Kwannondo[u].
Resorting to the priestly offices, Iemon felt convinced that the grave
salutation of the incumbent official--they directed him to the
treasury--concealed a derisive grin at his expense. He was sure of it
when he learned that