Rurouni Kenshin Manga Translations
Volume Ten--Master and Student of the Sword
Part 77--The Curtain Rises on a Brush with Death
Okina: Are you all right, Himura?
Kenshin: I think so.
Okina (pushing Misao's head down in a bow): See what happens when you fool around like that.
Kenshin: Oh no, I was being careless.
Okina: In any case, you're going to give up on having Seikuu make the sword for him!
Kenshin: Exactly.
Misao: But--
Okina: That's enough out of you!
(Meanwhile)
Seikuu: My father's . . . last work?
Chou: That's what they tell me. The last work of the swordsmith Arai Shakkuu. Mind if I
have a look?
Seikuu (thinking): Where did he . . .
(Chou stares him down.)
Seikuu (after a long pause): I . . . I don't know. The whereabouts of my father's last sword
are unknown. It wasn't entrusted to me.
(Azusa comes around the house upon the scene.)
Chou: Hmm. Guess it was my mistake. Sorry about this. (flipping one of his swords around)
You see, I love swords. I just love 'em. I'm a swordsman; I get to try out all different
kinds, all different styles.
(He hooks Iori's shirt with the sheathed sword and lifts him up.)
Seikuu: What are you--
Chou: Watch this.
(He sends Iori and the sword's sheath flying straight up in the air, holding the sword
directly beneath them.)
Seikuu: Iori!!
(Chou neatly catches the sheath on the sword. Iori starts to cry.)
Chou: You're in the presence of a swordsman who can do the Sakasa-chuukuu Noutou.(1) Not bad, huh?
But I'm really shocked you don't know where Shakkuu's last work is. Of all my swords,
Shakkuu's is my favorite. Oh--now this isn't good. I'm so shocked, I'd probably miss if I
tried this again.
Seikuu (running forward): Iori!
(Chou hits him with the other sword.)
Azusa: Dear!
Chou: I've never shown anyone this move twice in a row. Sit back and enjoy.
Azusa: Please, wait!
Seikuu: Azusa!
Azusa: His father's sword isn't here! It's already been dedicated to the Hakusan shrine as a
holy sword!
Chou: I thought so. You knew where it was, but you said you didn't. You two are bad people.
You're such bad people I'm going to have to go off and pray. (He turns away, dangling Iori
from the sword) Until you can tell the difference between a lie and the truth, I'm going to
hang on to the kid. Oh, it's probably not a good idea to call the police. I'm not scared of
'em, but Lord Shishio says they can get pretty rough. I don't really need to tell you what's
gonna happen if you talk.
(He leaves. Misao is walking up to the house.)
Misao: No matter what Himura and Gramps say, he'd better hurry and get that sword. If we just
lean on him a little--
Seikuu: Why did you tell him?
(Misao stops to listen.)
Seikuu: That last work was made to be a holy sword. It's never been drawn from its sheath.
It alone of my father's swords has never been tainted with blood. If it is, my father won't
be a true swordsmith, but a man who made tools for murderers . . .
Azusa: But if I hadn't what would have happened to Iori? Your father's name is important, but
Iori's life is more . . .
Seikuu: You fool. You didn't see his eyes. Those weren't the eyes of someone who loved swords!
They were the eyes of someone who loved to kill with them! If he finds my father's sword
he'll test it out on whatever he has at hand. . .
Azusa: Iori . . .
Seikuu (head in hands): Damn it . . . I gave up making swords, and this still happens . . .
(Misao rushes in.)
Azusa: You were here the whole . . .
Misao: Tell me everything that happened. It's all right, just hurry!
(A little later, Misao runs to a teashop.)
Misao: Aunt Oshige!
Oshige: Oh, Misao, you're back in Kyoto?
Misao: I have urgent news for Gramps! Use the First Ru!
(Kenshin and Okina are sitting upstairs beside the broken window, when a pigeon with a note
tied to its leg swoops out of nowhere and pecks Kenshin on the forehead.)
Kenshin: Oro!!
Okina: Oh, it's the First Ru from Shige.
Kenshin: Oro?
Okina: An essential way of conveying information for the Oniwabanshuu. The districts of Kyoto
are given one to three characters from the iroha(2) and matched with one of 141 carrier pigeons.
We can send messages literally with the speed of a bird in flight. (unfolding the letter)
Oh, it's from Misao. She went out but-- (He pauses, then slowly folds the letter.) Seikuu's
son was taken hostage by one of Shishio's men.
(Kenshin snatches the note out of his hand and runs out.)
Okina: Wait, Himura! You can't use a broken sword! Even if you go, you won't be able to
fight! You'll just get killed! Himura!!
(Meanwhile, Chou climbs the steps to the shrine.)
Chou: That took a while. I can't stand the way Kyoto's laid out. Well now, Shakkuu's
last work. I wonder what kind of killer sword it will be--
(Kenshin is waiting for him in the courtyard.)
Iori (recognizing Kenshin): Gojaru!!(3)
Chou: You're not here to visit the shrine. Who are you?
(In answer, Kenshin tears the bandage away from his cheek.)
Chou: That cross-shaped scar . . .
Kenshin: Release the child.
(Chou smiles.)
Notes:
(1) Sakasa-chuukuu Noutou--Reverse Mid-air Sword-sheathing
(2) "I ro ha" is the beginning of a Japanese poem that uses each hiragana symbol exactly once.
It's used sometimes to put things in a kind of alphabetical order.
(3) As you may know, Kenshin tends to end his sentences with "de gozaru," a polite expression.
Iori picked up on this and nicknamed him "Gojaru." Naturally, this was impossible to translate.
For a long time I had this down as Himra, meant to
be a corruption of Himura (Iori never heards anyone call him Kenshin) and I briefly had Carrot
(meant to refer to Kenshin's red hair, and someone pointed out it could also be a reference to
the carrot Kenshin produces to test the knift, which I thought was pretty clever until I realized
it was actually a daikon). I finally gave up and left it as it was in the Japanese. My thanks
to everyone that emailed or listened to me agonize about this relatively trivial detail ~_~`
By the way, if anyone comes up with a brilliant baby-talk nickname for Kenshin in English, I'd still
love to hear it ..
translations by maigo-chan
last updated 5 august 1999