It soon became known amongst the people of Abé Shirogorô that the
mother of Matagorô had been imprisoned for her son's crime, and they
immediately set about planning her rescue; so they sent to the palace
of my Lord Kunaishôyu a messenger, who, when he was introduced to the
councillor of the Prince, said--

"We have heard that, in consequence of the murder of Yukiyé, my lord
has been pleased to imprison the mother of Matagorô. Our master
Shirogorô has arrested the criminal, and will deliver him up to you.
But the mother has committed no crime, so we pray that she may be
released from a cruel imprisonment: she was the foster-mother of our
master, and he would fain intercede to save her life. Should you
consent to this, we, on our side, will give up the murderer, and hand
him over to you in front of our master's gate to-morrow."

The councillor repeated this message to the Prince, who, in his
pleasure at being able to give Kazuma his revenge on the morrow,
immediately agreed to the proposal, and the messenger returned
triumphant at the success of the scheme. On the following day, the
Prince ordered the mother of Matagorô to be placed in a litter and
carried to the Hatamoto's dwelling, in charge of a retainer named
Sasawo Danyémon, who, when he arrived at the door of Abé Shirogorô's
house, said--

"I am charged to hand over to you the mother of Matagorô, and, in
exchange, I am authorized to receive her son at your hands."

"We will immediately give him up to you; but, as the mother and son
are now about to bid an eternal farewell to one another, we beg you to
be so kind as to tarry a little."