The Reconciliation 



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HERE was a young Samurai of Kyoto who 

 had been reduced to poverty by the ruin 

 of his lord, and found himself obliged to 

 leave his home, and to take service with the 

 Governor of a distant province. Before quitting 

 the capital, this Samurai divorced his wife, a 

 good and beautiful woman, under the belief 

 that he could better obtain promotion by another 

 alliance. He then married the daughter of a 

 family of some distinction, and took her with 

 him to the district whither he had been called. 



But it was in the time of the thoughtlessness 

 of youth, and the sharp experience of want, that 

 the Samurai could not understand the worth of 

 the affection so lightly cast away. His second 

 marriage did not prove a happy one ; the charac- 

 ter of his new wife was hard and selfish ; and he 

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