There once lived in the district of Ushigome, in Yedo, a hatamoto
(1) called Iijima Heizayemon, whose only daughter, Tsuyu, was
beautiful as her name, which signifies "Morning Dew." Iijima took
a second wife when his daughter was about sixteen; and, finding
that O-Tsuyu could not be happy with her mother-in-law, he had a
pretty villa built for the girl at Yanagijima, as a separate
residence, and gave her an excellent maidservant, called O-Yone,
to wait upon her.

O-Tsuyu lived happily enough in her new home until one day when
the family physician, Yamamoto Shijo, paid her a visit in company
with a young samurai named Hagiwara Shinzaburo, who resided in
the Nedzu quarter. Shinzaburo was an unusually handsome lad, and
very gentle; and the two young people fell in love with each
other at sight. Even before the brief visit was over, they
contrived,--unheard by the old doctor,--to pledge themselves to
each other for life. And, at parting, O-Tsuyu whispered to the
youth,--"Remember! If you do not come to see me again, I shall
certainly die!"

Shinzaburo never forgot those words; and he was only too eager to
see more of O-Tsuyu. But etiquette forbade him to make the visit
alone: he was obliged to wait for some other chance to accompany
the doctor, who had promised to take him to the villa a second
time. Unfortunately the old man did not keep this promise. He had
perceived the sudden affection of O-Tsuyu; and he feared that her
father would hold him responsible for any serious results. Iijima
Heizayemon had a reputation for cutting off heads. And the more
Shijo thought about the possible consequences of his introduction
of Shinzaburo at the Iijima villa, the more he became afraid.