'Night is falling. For now let us have no more fighting.' So said
the men of both armies who began to withdraw. Suddenly from the offing, a
small well-equipped and beautifully decorated boat was seen rowing toward the
Genji. When it approached within seven or eight tan of the water's edge, it
swung around, boradside to them. Then a court lady of eighteen or nineteen,
wearing a five-layer white robe lined with blue over a scarlet hakama, took
a red fan emblazoned with a gold rising sun and fixed it on top of a pole.
She then stood the pole on the gunwhale and beckoned to the Genji.
Intrigued, Yoshitsune summoned Sanetomo and asked: 'What does that
mean?'
'It may be a mark for us to shoot at, my lord,' replied Sanetomo.
'But there must be some treachery behind this. I think they would like you
to step out of our ranks to look at that beauty. Thus enticing you out to
the boat, they plan to shoot you, my lord. We must hav eone of our men hit
that fan.
Yoshitsune inquired: 'Who is our best archer? Is there anyone who
can bring down that fan?'
'We have quite a number of skilled bowmen, but the best one is Nasu
no Yoichi, the sojn of Nasu no Suketaka, a native of Shimotsuke Province.
He is a small man but a most skillful archer.'
'How can you prove it?'
'In a contest of shotting down birds in flight, he can always hit two
out of three, my oord.'
'Then call him!'
On command, Yoichi stepped forward. This young warrior was but
twenty years old. He wore armor laced with light green silk cords over a
deep blue battle robe. The collar of the robe and the edges of the sleeves
were decorated with red and gold brocade. At his side hung a silver-studded
sheath. In his quiver were the black and white feathered arrows that
remained from the day's battle and a turnip-headed arrow fashioned from a
stag horn and fletched with feathers from a hawk's wing. These could be seen
protruding from behind his head. Under his arm he carried a rattan-bound bow.
With his helmet slung on his back, he came into the presence of Yoshitsune and
made obeisance.
'Well, well, Yoichi!' said Yoshitsune. Can you hit that fan in the
center and show the enemy how skillful we are at archery?'
'My success is not certain, my lord,' replied Yoichi. 'If I happened
to fail it would be a disgrace for my lord and all the men of the Genji.
Would it not be better to entrust this to someone who is confident of his
success?'
Yoshitsune was incensed at his reply and roared: 'All of you who have
come with me from Kamakura to the western provinces must obey my commands!
Any who do not - away with them at once!'
Yoichi knew that he was already committed to shooting down the fan,
so he said: 'I am still uncertain of my success, but inasmuch as this is my
lord's command, I shall try.'
After he had retired from the presence of his master, he mounted a
fine black horse with a lacquered, shell-inlaid saddle and a tassled crupper.
Holding his bow firmly, he gripped the reins and rode toward the sea.
The warriors on his side, seeing him off from the camp, exclaimed: 'This young
fellow will surely bring down that fan!' Yoshitsune too was convinced of his
success.
The fan was too far off for him to make a shot from the beach,
so Yoichi rode about oner tan further into the water. The target still
seemed very distant.
It was about the hour of the cock [6:00 p.m.] on the eighteenth day
of the second month. Dusk had begun to fall. The north wind was blowing
hard, and the high waves were lapping the beach. As the boat rolled and
pitched, the fan atop the pole flapped in the wind.
Out on the offing the Heike had ranged their ships in a long line
to watch the spectacle. On land the Genji lined up their horses neck to neck
in anticipation.
Now Yoichi cliosed his eyes and prayed: 'Hail to the great
bodhisattva Hachiman! Hail to the gods of my native land, Shimotsuke!
Hail to the god Utsu-no-miya of Nikko! Grant that I may hit the center of
that fan! If I fail, I will break my bow and kill myself! Otherwise how
can I face my friends again? Grant that I may once more see my native land!
Let not this arrow miss its target!'
When he opened his eyes, the wind had subsided a little, and the fan
looked easier to hit. Taking the turnip-headed arrow, he drew his bow with
all his might and let fly. Small man though he was, his arrow measured twelve
handbreadths and three fingers, and his bow was strong. The whirring sound
of the arrow reverberated as it flew straight to its mark. It struck the fan
close to the rivet. The arrow fell into the sea, but the fan flew up into the
air. It fluttered and dipped in the spring winds, and then suddenly dropped
into the water. When the ed fan, gleaming in the rays of the setting sun,
bobbed up and down on the white crests of the waves, the Heike offshore
praised Yoichi by beating on the gunwhales of their boats, and the Genji on
the shore applauded him by rattling their quivers.
Yoichi's feat was so exciting that a warrior of some fifty years
of age, unable to restrain himself, sprang up on the boat and began to dance
near the place where the fan had been hoisted. He wore armor laced with black
leather and carried a sickle-bladed halberd with an unlacquered wooden shaft.
Yoshimori rode into the sea and came up behind Yoichi, saying: 'Our
lord has commanded that you shoot that fellow too.'
This time Yoichi took one of his sharpest arrows, drew his bow, and
let fly. The shaft flew true, hit the dancer in the neck, and knocked him
headfirst down to the bottom of the boat. The heike were silent, while the
Genji rattled their quivers again. Some applauded saying: 'A fine shot!'
But some criticized saying: 'That was a cruel thing to do!'
