No Remuneration due to Buckwheat Noodles and Tanishi (Pond Snail)

Mrs. Rin was going to boil some buckwheat noodles, and we were going to wait for them to be ready.　

At the sunken hearth, she was working giving us her back at us.

When my sensei mentioned about how fast she was, Mr. Tahei agreed.

"That's right. I can't decide who is really faster: the horse or Mrs. Rin."

"Well, the horse is faster, of course," I stated, but Mr. Tahei shook his head.

"No. Well, I can't really tell because I couldn't catch up with any of them either. Let's have a race next time!"

"I'm sorry. I was in a hurry for your sake," said Mrs. Rin turning around with an angry look on her face.

"Oh, I'm awfully sorry."

Mr. Tahei seemed to be recovering much quicker than before. He was aware of it, so he shared it with the doctor.

"The diarrhea seems to have subsided."

"I'm glad to hear that."

"I wonder if the tanishi (pond snails) were bad."

"What?"

"I ate tanishi. Is it bad for digestion?" Mrs. Rin asked with a startled expression.

"When did you eat them?"

"Yesterday, I got them from a samurai at work."

"A samurai?"

Dr. Tokuhon reacted sensitively to the word samurai and suddenly became much more serious, as if he sensed a war coming.

"Please, tell me more about it."

"Right away."

Everyone looked at Mr. Tahei 's subsequent words and actions.

At first, he looked embarrassed under everyone's stare, but a moment later, perhaps sensing the seriousness of the situation, he sat up properly and began to speak in a low voice. According to him, this is what happened:

As usual, Mr. Tahei was pulling a horse, going back and forth from the Inn town of Motoyama to Narai and then over the pass to the Inn town of Yabuhara.

On his way back from dropping off a traveler at Yabuhara, he was pulling his horse toward Narai when someone came up to him. As he turned around, he saw a two-sworded samurai.

The latter asked, "Is there any way to get to Narai without going over the pass?" to which Mr. Tahei replied, "Well, the fastest way is over the pass."

"I'm not asking you about shortcuts, I'm asking if there is a way!" cried out the samurai. He looked as if he was about to use his sword, so Mr. Tahei hurriedly replied.

"If you go around to Kamiya, you will come to Narai."

The samurai looked satisfied with his answer and requested him in a more friendly tone.

"Would you be my guide, please?"

Unable to say no, Mr. Tahei ended up showing him the way to the detour.

As a token of appreciation, the samurai gave him boiled tanishi (pond snail).

When my sensei heard the story, he thought about it for a while. Then he began to speak with a stern face.

"First of all, I have to correct myself about the reason for the diarrhea. It did stop, but it was not only due to the cold; it was also because the buckwheat noodles and the tanishi were in his stomach together. Both of them are hard to digest."

"Is that so? I see. So that's why the menu didn't agree with my stomach." Mr. Tahei nodded as if he was impressed.

"Nisuke."

"Yes, sir?"

"Get ready to write something for me, please."

"Right away, sir."

I took out ink, inkstone, tanzaku, and brushes from the tool bag and prepared them. By the way, a tanzaku is a long, narrow strip of paper on which Japanese poems are written vertically. I will call it a strip of paper.

"By the way, Mrs. Rin."

"Yes, doctor?"

"We'd like to leave here as soon as possible, so we'll postpone the buckwheat noodle treat for another time."

"Oh, okay."

Mrs. Rin brought the pot and she was very upset: the noodles were overcooked and too soft.

"I forgot about it. I'm sorry!" She apologized bowing her head.

"Don't worry."

My sensei picked up a strip of paper and wrote with an elegant calligraphy.

"Nisuke. Can you read it, please?"

"Yes, sir!"

I know how to read and write. I can do so because Dr. Tokuhon taught me. I received the piece of paper from the doctor and I read it aloud:

"The bad combination of foods will make you sick,

Buckwheat noodles and tanishi together is not a good pick."

"Give it to one of them."

"Yes, sir."

Sometimes my sensei would compose a chant like this to convey an important message, so that it would be easy for the patients to remember.

Mr. Tahei graciously accepted it.

The doctor was already wearing a strawberry shoe at the rim of the dirt floor.

He did want to leave soon, just like he said. Well, in situations like these, he was as quick as a monkey.

Mrs. Rin brought a drawstring bag and asked the teacher.

"Are you sure that 16 mon is enough?"

"No, since I misdiagnosed your husband, you don't need to pay me anything."

"I beg your pardon!?"

I was completely taken aback, and so was Mrs. Rin, who could not hide her surprise with her mouth hanging open.

Why couldn't he accept a payment after coming all the way back here for a treatment?

The doctor stated in a serious manner, "Medicine is a double-edged sword: a wrong diagnosis can sometimes lead to death. I'm glad to know that it worked this time, but this circumstance does not allow me to demand any sort of remuneration."

When I thought about it more carefully, I realized that the doctor was right.

Those who practice medicine are in a position to take care of people's lives. You can't just be satisfied with the fact that you happen to be cured of a disease.

"Are you sure you want to do this?"

When Dr. Tokuhon nodded, Mrs. Rin performed a heart-felt dogeza. Seeing this, Mr. Tahei did the same.

My sensei, who had been bowed by both of them, smiled awkwardly as he wriggled his butt because he felt uncomfortable. Then, without a sound, he stood up and told me, "All right. Shall we get going?"

"Yes."

The doctor left quickly. As I hurriedly put on my sandals, I heard a voice calling me from the front.

"Nisuke. Hurry up."

"I'm coming."　

February 16, 1582, AKA the 10th year of Tensho.

The allied forces of Nobunaga Oda and Yoshimasa Kiso, under the orders of Nobunaga, defeated the Takeda forces at the Torii Pass.

The Takeda forces crossed the pass and attempted to defeat Yoshimasa, but a detachment of Oda forces appeared behind them, causing a rout.

The path used by the Oda forces was probably the detour route taught by Mr. Tahei.

My sensei and I had crossed the pass two days earlier, so we were not involved in the battle.

The Inn towns of Yabuhara and Narai were devastated by the war, but the Motoyama one was still in one piece.

Well, I should not worry about Mrs. Rin because even if she was caught up in the battle, her fast pair of legs would allow her to escape.