The Thread from the Spool Shizu no odamaki 賤のおだまき

In the past, when the Shimazu and the Ijūin armies were fighting for two straight years in Shōnai district, the entire male population of Satsuma province, not only the valiant youth in their prime but also the elderly who walked with a cane, achieved military feats in order to acquire glory, emulating the example of Zhong You. In the fierce conflicts, sons preceded their parents in death, disrupting the natural order; everybody wet their sleeves with tears. For some it was a master who was slain. For others a brother. A rage like a devastating fire burned in the chests of the survivors. Such separations felt certainly painful, and yet it was the fate of a boy named Hirata Sangorō Munetsugu that caused the most excruciating sorrow.