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Yorimasa watches the monster approach the Imperial Palace |
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| March 1888 | ||
| Minamoto no Yorismasa (1105-1180) was a distinguished poet and a fearless warrior. One moonlit night a fantastic beast called a nue tried to attack the sleeping Emperor. Yorimasa seized his bow, wounded the creature, and his retainer finished it off with a knife. In gratitude, the emperor rewarded Yorimasa with a sword. At that moment a cuckoo calls and Yorimasa immediately composed the verse, “Does the cuckoo also announce its name from above the clouds? I only bent my bow and the arrow shot itself.” |
