“To the gallant Ninety-eight Hundred and Thirty-seventh—I know the man. His name is Sakko-Samshi.”
“Let him be brought before me,” said the Mikado to an attendant, and a half-hour later the culprit stood in the Presence.
“Thou bastard son of a three-legged hunchback without thumbs!” roared the sovereign—“why didst thou but lightly tap the neck that it should have been thy pleasure to sever?”
“Lord of Cranes and Cherry Blooms,” replied the executioner, unmoved, “command him to blow his nose with his fingers.”
Being commanded, Jijiji Ri laid hold of his nose and trumpeted like an elephant, all expecting to see the severed head flung violently from him. Nothing occurred: the performance prospered peacefully to the close, without incident.
All eyes were now turned on the executioner, who
