Samurai Summer Read Online Free Page B

young.”
    “Okay.”
    “Kojiro came from one of the best sword-fighting schools,” I continued, “and he had also defeated everyone he had ever faced in a duel.”
    “Otherwise he wouldn’t have still been alive, right?” asked Sausage.
    “That’s right. Kojiro was considered the most formidable of all samurai. He almost seemed super-human. He was a master of the sword. Of course, it was a steel sword. His specialty was something they called “the Swallow” where he brought the sword down with such lightning speed that it was like a diving swallow.”
    “Wow!” said Sausage. You’d think he was hearing the story for the first time.
    “He regarded Musashi as his greatest foe.”
    Sausage nodded. I could see him there in his bed almost as clearly as during the day. It got light quickly at the camp.Soon it would be morning. Dragon Morning.
    “It had been decided that the duel would be fought at the Hour of the Dragon,” I continued. “That meant at eight o’clock in the morning. And when it was just a little before eight, Kojiro’s men rowed him out to a narrow sandbank that lay between the two biggest islands of southern Japan. And there he waited for Musashi. There was a cold wind blowing. Minutes passed. Hours passed. But Musashi didn’t show.”
    “I know what happened,” said Sausage. “Musashi overslept.”
    “That’s right,” I said. “He barely had time to wash himself before he was driven down to the shore and rowed out to the sandbank. He was still sleepy and dozed off in the boat. He woke up with just enough time to carve himself a sword out of one of the oars.”
    “Neat!” said Sausage.
    “Then he jumped ashore. Kojiro mocked him about the oar. But Musashi just pointed the oar at Kojiro’s neck, and that was the signal that the duel had begun. They circled around each other. Both of them knew that one little mistake would mean death. And it was deathly silent too. The only sound you could hear was the waves washing against the shore and the screech of a few birds.”
    “Like here,” said Sausage as he gestured with his arm to mean everywhere, “last night.”
    I had tried to see if I could hear any sounds from outside. There may have been the cry of a bird. But I couldn’t hear any waves. The lake was calm last night.
    “They stood there face to face,” I continued, “and all of a sudden, Kojiro lunged with his sword.”
    “The Swallow,” said Sausage.
    “That’s right, he did the Swallow. And at exactly the same split second, Musashi threw himself forward and brought his oar crashing down on Kojiro’s head. They both stood there as if turned to stone. Seconds went by and no one who saw the duel could tell the outcome. Then a little gust of wind came and Musashi’s headband was carried away with the breeze. It had been sliced in two. And Kojiro slowly began to sink to the ground.”
    “Dead!” said Sausage.
    “Yes, stone dead. Musashi’s oar had crushed Kojiro’s skull. But in order for him to do that, Musashi had to move in just close enough for Kojiro to slice the headband from his forehead with his sword.”
    “But no closer!”
    “Not even a hundredth of an inch closer,” I said.
    “His own sword was too short,” said Sausage.
    “Yes. Musashi needed something longer since Kojiro had the longest sword in all of Japan. But Musashi could not use another sword because Kojiro was the best when it cameto judging the length of an opponent’s sword. So Musashi knew that he would have an advantage if he got hold of a new weapon at the last second.”
    “The oar,” said Sausage.
    “It was perfect,” I said, “perfectly calculated.”
    “Now I can sleep soundly,” said Sausage.

4
    B ut I didn’t sleep soundly. I hadn’t in a long time. There was too much spinning around in my head. A few times I tried counting sheep, but that was even more boring than not being able to sleep. Janne, who slept three bunks away from me, talked in his sleep sometimes. Weird